If you are thinking about a Mac Pro, wait for the MacWorld keynote in a weeks time before you buy anything. Its plausibly rumored that the Mac Pro is going to see a big update, which is just as well since the specs have been the same (for the same price!) for more than a year. I know that if an updated one gets announced I'll be pouncing on it 
And yes, Team Fortress 2 does rock
I'm also thinking about upgrading early this year (my computer's mobo is has been dodgy for a while and is starting to annoy me). This 2008 tech roadmap might help you if you've got some freedom regarding timing...
Also, TF2 rocks
I have plenty of freedom on timing - and that roadmap is very interesting. (Thanks Richard.) As always, things don't stand still. I think waiting for the next generation or processors (due February or March according to the roadmap) and then buying the *current* top-level generation is (at a reduced price) seems like a sensible way to go.
Hmm, my home PC is about 28 months old, and still doing fine...but when I do upgrade, I'll build. You get much better control of quality that way - for example, I'll use WD Raptor drives, and I might get some things off eBay (e.g. last gen Quadro card - that worked well for my current system).
For the specs I'm looking at, Apple is way too expensive (and their choice of graphics cards is extremely limited).
I don't think you'll see that much improvement with 8 cores - but it's good investment for a software developer, because it lets you start to play with a large enough number of cores that traditional programming techniques usually can't use well.
The new Mac Pros are awesome. They've slashed the entry price - and the basic machine is now (basically) as good as the top end of the previous range!
I can now afford one, but will probably still hold off for a bit...
My two biggest needs (wants?) are screen real estate and RAM. Even cheap CPUs are fast enough for my needs. I don't compile much and test suites are either fast or so slow CPU doesn't help. For big simulations there is always EC2!
My main dev setup has three Samsung 204T 20" LCDs (two on one linux box, one running windows). LCDs have come down in price so much I'm tempted to replace with three 24" or 28" guys (and for under $2k!). But realistically it wouldn't change my life and getting rid of three perfectly good two year old displays seems silly.
These days we're spoiled by choice. Back in the 90s I remember paying $700 for a 19" CRT that was as curved as a fish bowl.
How does your tech. budget fit into to your commune lifestyle?
Hello Dean,
I haven't lvied in community for about two years now, although I am still very close to the church. I *try* to live as simple a lifestyle as possible, but my tastes in technology are sometimes in conflict with that...
Commenting by HaloScan
