Weekly Buyer's Guide: High End System - April 2004
by Evan Lieb on April 30, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
High End System Summary
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| CPU & Cooling | AMD Athlon 64 3400+ retail | $415 |
| Motherboard | MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R (VIA K8T800) | $123 |
| Memory | 2 X 512MB Mushkin Level One (CAS2.0) | $240 |
| Video Card | 128MB PowerColor 9800 Pro | $206 |
| Monitor | Samsung SyncMaster 21" CRT (1100DF) | $470 |
| Computer Case | Kingwin K11 Aluminum ATX plus $50 400W Antec SL400 PSU | $120 |
| Sound Card | Creative Labs Audigy 2 6.1 OEM | $71 |
| Speakers | Logitech Z-5300 5.1 speakers | $148 |
| Networking | Onboard 10/100/1000 Ethernet | $0 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 1200JB (120GB) | $88 |
| CD-RW | NEC 2500A 8X DVD+/-RW | $84 |
| Bottom Line | - | $1965 |
$1965 is the final price of our high end system this week, not including any money that you'll spend on software (Windows XP Home or Professional, Office, etc.) or a keyboard and mouse.
Save for the recommended video card (due to next generation cards being just around the corner) and HDD (10,000 RPM drives aren't cheap enough yet), this is the fastest desktop system that you can buy, short of full blown FX53 and P4EE systems. You can always opt for the prohibitively expensive processor solutions, but just realize that the performance difference will be negligible.
Now, go build your system and let us know what you think in our comments section.
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00aStrOgUy00 - Sunday, May 2, 2004 - link
Why do the speaker recommendations give no comments on the sound quality, and just gives useless information such as, this has 100W and this has 150W...Seems like you've never even heard the speakers you're recommending.
yz426 - Saturday, May 1, 2004 - link
I would like to see them indicate where they buy the products for the price they claim. Where can you get. quate the Recommendation: 2 X 512MB Mushkin PC3500 Level One Dual Pack (CAS2)Price: $239 shipped. Stop blowing smoke up my a** and say where you purchase the components for the price you say.
Mackintire - Saturday, May 1, 2004 - link
I shall REPEATThe Seagate 7200.7 is quieter, faster, runs cooler and does not have the habit of destroying its bearings.
For a Hard Drive IN THE SAME CLASS there is no comparason.
TrogdorJW - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
You know what they really need to do to appease everyone? They need to have this "high-end" system target the $2000 price range, and then they can put together a "dream" system in the up to $5000 range. Then maybe people would stop whining about the choices. :)For relatively high-end, this setup would be hard to beat. 10-20% more performance from the hard drives for more than twice the cost (you would need two 74 GB Raptors to equal the space offered by the 120GB) is a luxury most aren't able to induldge in. Same with the Athlon FX-53 - it's almost twice the price of the 3400+ and maybe 10% faster on average. It would also need registered DIMMs and a 940 motherboard, which would probably increase costs another $100 or so. So you could get a PC put together that would be 20% faster or so, but it would run closer to $3000 and would still only be the king of the mountain for a few months at best.
Anyway, I think the guide has a lot of good recommendations, but I still don't understand why alternatives aren't listed for some of the items (case) while the sound card had two options with very little difference in price or performance. No need for the four paragraphs extolling the virtues of the Inwin case (again) - list three or four good choices with a short blurb on each!
n4v3k - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
Don't you think that it would be wise to advise that people get a 480+ watt power supply since you mention the GeForce 6800 Ultra in your review and even suggest that it might be wise to wait for it?SonicIce - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
two drives in raid 0 would generate alot more heat and noise than just a single, bigger drive.IceVoltageccs - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
I see no point in using the WD120JB if you have the abilty to use SATA do it its up to you as far as which company you want to go with the 120JD is a fast drive and so is the seagate also sence this is a high end system why not. Also why not a Lan-Li or mabye a Thermaltake Case. Evan i just dont understand you case choices also how about some ram that you can find.IceVoltageccs - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
Gnoad - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
Yeah. I agree, bad choice on the hard drive and the case. Also, where's the FX-53? That must be better than the 3400+.Mackintire - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
I agree about using the raptor drive. I do think that this article should be relabled mid-high end.I have the 74gig WD raptor drive. And yes it does blow the WD 120JB out of the water. But for a machine sitting in my room on all night. I still would prefer the seagate 7200.7, possibly in raid 0. That would still saturate the PCI bus, just like the raid Raptors. Good Idea!