My basic strategy is to buy the fastest I can afford that is in stock at a shop I trust. My biggest problem with upgrading, has been selecting the right motherboard for the upgrade. I have had lousy luck choosing good boards. I suspect that it is because I choose cheap. Tom Nadeau Speed matters most to me.
Price is secondary.
I've finally learned my lesson re. I'm waiting for RAM prices to fall back to reasonable prices. Tom Strickland you can't go wrong with the Intel brand name. David Cole newest, fastest, biggest, and best. Colin Matlack look forward to the day when price gouging will be a thing of past.