Weekly Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range System - April 2004
by Evan Lieb on April 22, 2004 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Mid-Range System Summary
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| CPU & Cooling | AMD Athlon XP 2800+ retail | $120 |
| Motherboard | ABIT AN7 (nForce2 Ultra 400) | $104 |
| Memory | 2 X 256MB OCZ PC3200 EL (CAS2.0) | $134 |
| Video Card | 128MB PowerColor 9600 Pro | $124 |
| Monitor | Samsung SyncMaster 19" CRT (955DF) | $200 |
| Computer Case | CaseEdge TS1 Mid Tower plus Enlight 360W PSU | $70 |
| Sound Card | Onboard | $0 |
| Speakers | Logitech Z-640 5.1 speakers | $60 |
| Networking | Onboard 10/100 Ethernet | $0 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 800JB (80GB) | $72 |
| CD-RW | Lite-On 52x32x52x16 | $51 |
| Bottom Line | - | $935 |
$935 is the final price of our mid-range 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.
This mid-range system isn't meant to be the fastest system that you can buy, but it also isn't a bargain basement machine. No, this is a system meant to serve both needs equally well, and for $935, we believe we've done that.
Now, go build your system and let us know what you think in our comments section.
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SKiller - Thursday, April 22, 2004 - link
#3 Close, I was thinking the A64 2800+ at $170.Also, why is a midrange system <$1000?
To me low end ~ $500-$1000, mid range ~ $1000-$1750, and high end ~ $1750-$2500.
KillaKilla - Thursday, April 22, 2004 - link
Unfortunately you can't edit posts ala the forums...Another suggestion: putting in the alternatives in the summary, this way we see what they would cost, all together.
Also, why is the 2.8C recommended over, say, the Athlon 64 3000+? While only about $50 more, it offers a very noticable gain in performance and compatability (the A64, unlike i86, will run future 64 bit OSes and apps).Check the forums, a 2.8C is almost never recomended, except posibly for OCing... and even that may cahnge with the release of the Nforce 3 with working PCI/AGP lock.
KillaKilla - Thursday, April 22, 2004 - link
I dont get the order of impertance, really, they should replace 'midrange' with 'performance'Most people who come here would probobly not get the midrange system for email, webbrowsing, wrod processing, etc. (reliability minded things).
They'd probobly want a bang for buck machine that can play most current games at high settings and future games at medium to low settings.
mlittl3 - Thursday, April 22, 2004 - link
If would be nice if you guys benchmarked these recommended systems. A nice comparison using the usually benchmark tests comparing the entry, mid, high and overclocked systems would show how much bang for your buck you get.If its a matter of time, then some simple logical way of showing that these systems are worth the money other than just looking up prices and giving us technical specs.
An example might be tomshardware.com's fbucks that they used in their VGA charts III article. Total benchmark score divided by price or something like that.
Just a thought.