Weekly Buyer's Guide: Entry Level System - May 2004
by Evan Lieb on May 15, 2004 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Networking
Recommendation: Onboard networkingPrice: $0
Nothing more than onboard networking is needed for an entry level system like the one we're building today. Pretty much every onboard network controller is the same nowadays, so there's usually no need to worry about Internet speed/download issues. This is why a 10/100 solution like the one onboard the A7N8X-X (and NF7-S Rev.2 if you so choose) will suffice for your Internet needs. Gigabit or 802.11a/b networking just isn't necessary unless you have a home network that transfers a lot of data to and from multiple computers, or if you already have an AP (Access Point) setup in your home for wireless Internet.
Storage
Recommendation: Western Digital 400BB (40GB) 7200RPM (2MB cache)Price: $57 shipped
Western Digital continues to make well priced budget drives that are noticeably faster than the 5400RPM variety. Depending on what type of office tasks you perform, a 7200RPM drive like the Western Digital 400BB is going to be faster than pretty much any 5400RPM hard drive on the market, and for not much more money. 40GB should be more than enough if you're just storing mostly Outlook or Word/Excel/PowerPoint documents, a few games, and some MP3's. Of course, as we preached at the beginning of this guide, reliability is always a big deal when you're talking about important data, and luckily, this particular series of Western Digital drives has gained wide acceptance around the industry as extremely reliable. We, here at AnandTech, share this same sentiment, as we have used several WD drives (Caviar series) not only for our personal systems, but our test systems as well.
Alternative: Western Digital 800JB (80GB) 7200RPM (8MB cache)
Price: $69 shipped
A very nice upgrade for $12 can be had with a WD 800JB hard drive. The 8MB cache and additional 40GB of space are both excellent reasons to upgrade to this hard drive. We've been lucky enough to receive several quiet versions of the 800JB, and in our research, we have found that it's one of the quieter WD Caviar hard drives. In other words, you may have less of a chance of encountering the infamous WD "whine" sound from your hard drive if you purchase this model and not, say, a 1200JB. If you're sensitive to noise, a very good alternative to the 800JB is Seagate's 80GB (8MB cache) Barracuda hard drive. Performs almost as well as WD's 800JB and is usually quite a bit quieter.
Optical Storage
Recommendation: Sony 52x32x52 CD-RWPrice: $32 shipped
There aren't too many differences between CD-RW's nowadays, save for reliability among various manufacturers. For the most part, Sony has done a good job with their high-end CD-RW drives and we have had great success with them in the past, which is why we decided to recommend them today. You can burn music CD's in mere minutes, and even a full 700MB or 800MB (with the appropriate media) can be burned in a matter of 15-20 minutes depending on exactly what type of files you're burning. At $32 shipped, you really can't go wrong with this solution.
Alternative: Lite-On 52x32x52x16 Combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
Price: $49 shipped
If you want to be able to watch DVDs, then you can always opt for a combo drive. Its function essentially integrates CD burning and DVD watching into one drive. The added benefit is that you're getting a better price for this combo drive versus purchasing an additional drive. The price difference isn't all that huge ($10-$15) if you were to buy a separate drive, plus that second drive allows you to watch DVDs while you burn CDs, which isn't possible with the combo drive. In the end, the decision is up to you as to how you want to configure your optical storage.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on storage from many different reputable vendors:
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
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Zebo - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
You can get a way better system for a similar price here----------------
Not only is this hyperbole its spam as far as I'm concerned. Prove you can build a better system for cheaper. Burduns on you to List parts from this vendor and price then list same parts and price from newegg. We've had this discussion and comparison numerous times in the forums. Never does retail exceed building your own.
SxRxRnRx - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
You can get a way better system for a similar price here:http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/
I could not build a computer with individual OEM parts cheaper than they are selling them for. Anandtech mihgt as well just recommend some of their specials for the Budget and High End Buyer's Guides.
The default Athlon XP System there has very similar specs for only $424 w/o monitor.
Hard to beat. If you can find a site that is cheaper, please let me know.
Thanks.
gherald - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
The topic of integrated video has come up before, the problem with that is really crappy 2D IQ and text. And since 2D is very important for an entry level system, you want to have at least a Radeon 9000. Perhaps Evan should mention this in the article.I agree an SLK1600 would be a better entry-level case/PSU combo... but AT seems to like strange cases. I have six SLK1600's in a cluster -- all tacked directly on top of each other, quite an interesting sight :) -- and they take standard ATX boards just fine. You won't be able to use your bottom 5 1/4" bay, but who needs that these days now that we all use combo drives?
Anyway, at least check them out: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?desc...
You don't hear many complaints about Chaintech because no one buys them. Very few, anyway.
You hear a lot of complaints about Asus because every man and his dog owns at least one, including a lot of stupid dogs who take no anti-static precautions and end up with a dead board a few months after intallation.
But if you are worried about board quality, get the Abit. I own three different abit models (four boards in total, two are of that same NF7-S model) and they are fantastic. The only A7N8X-X I bought died on me, though strangely enough I think it was my tricked-out 9500 NP that killed it, since I quite thoroughly voided the warranty on that li'l beastie and it had been showing signs of failure when my A7N8X-X died :(
Zebo - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
Another thing Evan you should really check out Dynatron Copper CPU Cooler Model "BH-610" For only $8 at newegg.It absoluty stomps any sub $20 cooler. Read the user reviews at newegg.com all five stars. My son is running a overclocked 2400 barton to 2.34 Ghz off it and stays below 50C.
Zebo - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
$62 for a processor oouch$70!! for a case really ouch
$69 for a motherboard ouch
Duron 1.8Ghz = $40
POWMAX Case with 400W PSU = $22
Shuttle AN31N = $55
Now go buy some decent amount of ram and a RAPTOR hardrive with the savings.
EPAstor - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
I think this is a matter of what you define as an "entry-level" system... but wouldn't integrated video, as available in either nForce2 or Via's KM line, be both more appropriate and cheaper? Saves roughly $40-50.Also, for another example of price savings, your case specs out at $71 with power supply... if you're willing to get a MicroATX motherboard, which at this point barely impacts the price for Socket A, it's very reasonable to get the Antec SLK1600, with a 300W Antec PS included, for $42.
Oh, and blckgrffn mentioned reliability issues - I know this will sound strange, but I've heard of more problems with Asus boards lately than positive comments. On the other hand, Chaintech sells cheaper boards at the same feature point (several of which are MicroATX as well), and surprisingly, I've never heard a serious complaint.
Just a few ideas.
gherald - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
The statement:"All this adds up to noticeably better performance that, depending on what applications are run, you may or may not notice."
...sounds increadibly silly. You can't go saying it "adds up to noticeably better performance" thereby implying it *DEFINATELY* does so, and then say in the same sentence "may or may not notice"
I suggest you replace the entire sentence and those that follow it with :
1) A clear explanation of which situations the performance *WILL BE* noteiceably better.
2) A clear explanation of which situations the performance *WILL NOT BE* noticeably better.
As things stand, your statement sounds like typical reviewer double talk, that is, unwillingness to take a clear stance on which situations a product performs better than a similar one.
Evan Lieb - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
DanDeighan, that cooler is rated past a 2000+, it's good. Either way, you can get a retail 2000+ for just $5 more anyway, as I mentioned.Grelk, we have corrected that error, thanks.
blckgrffn, neither product has been proven to be more unreliable than their competition. That's true in our own experience as well. I'd be interested in knowing where you got the impression the Sony/WD products I recommended are unreliable.
l3ored, yes, we are currently in the middle of adding guides and switching responsibilities among editors. We will be adding an SFF and gaming guide, and Wesley Fink will be handling the high end and overclocking guides now.
Dismal, we only skipped last week's guide, for good reason. :)
jensend, thanks for the audio correction. I'm not sure what you are referring to in your cpu alternative note.
cosmotic, the nForce2 board we recommended is single channel. nForce2 400. The alternative board is nForce2 Ultra 400 though, yes.
KillaKilla - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
JenSend, rather than that why not look for where they're getting their Sound Cards... after all, a free Audigy 2 is a relatively good deal, compared to the Audigy at $35.cosmotic - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
You should recomend using dual channel memory. 2x128 will be a lot faster then 1x256 in an nForce2 MB.