Well, just to show you HOW good the price is, it would cost me about $550 just for the PII 400 processor ALONE, wholesale.
I would be inclined to keep that one, even as a spare, if your bank account can handle another one.
But, should you build one, let me give you my take on it. If you're anything like me (I hope not), it will absolutely KILL you if you buy the CPU that is the best at the time. You'll pay today, say prices of $5-800, then die as you see it half that in six months.
Frankly, though some may disagree, CPU speed, for non-professionals, isn't the critical element. While you do see increases in benchmark numbers, in the real world of us shmoes (assuming you're in my group), the quality of RAM, hard drives and to a lesser extent, video cards and motherboards is what is essential. And, as we've discussed many times, even the video card doesn't have to be the very best for standard computing, trading, etc. If you're not heavy spreadsheet cruncher, master gamer, CAD designer, etc, I don't think you'll see the benefit of the faster processor.
Therefore, my practice has been to buy the processor when it is about a year old or so, when it's at a price level where the subsequent price erosion won't be so dramatic. Plus, I'm a cheap bastard.<gg>
If you go the two computer route, you could even use that CPU to be the center of your new system, and buy a slower PII to put into that one. If you'd like, I could even help get you one cheap. Then you really have your dream machine.
Just some thoughts to consider.
Len |
