Time to get back into the loop

[HOCP4ME]

Well, I'm only slightly more than three months away from my next upgrade. That means it's time for me to get back into the loop and catch up on what's going on with next-gen hardware. So far, I've got this:

Graphics: G80 coming in November, R600 coming soon after that. Both will have unified shader technology. It isn't know whether ATI will still have an IQ edge or not. G80 is going to require an SLI PSU.

Physics: A PPU isn't going to be required for next-gen, but possibly the generation after that. NVIDIA and ATI are going to market their hardware-physics solutions using the next-gen cards. ASUS is making a mobo that allows SLI graphics and NVIDIA-accelerated physics at the same time. NVIDIA's solution will not necessarily require the purchase of additional hardware.

CPU: Core 2 Duo is the best available right now. It works great with Crossfire boards. Kentsfield is coming soon, as is AMD's 4 x 4. It will be expensive, however.

Windows: Vista is coming in February. It will include DX10. It's going to cost $250.

Games: FSX, Crysis, CF:R, and BF2142 look promising.

Anything else I should know?

 

[engiNURD]

AMD 4x4 will be on Socket F, not AM2... as per current roadmaps. i975X and P965 Express chipsets are compatible with Kentsfield.

nF 650 and 680 chipset based boards are coming soon, too (If you want a good board for SLI and overclocking for intel).

GF 8800GTX will require 450W PSU for single card solution, and 900W for SLI. GF8800GTS will require 400W PSU, and 800W for SLI.