Weekly Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range System - May 2004
by Evan Lieb on May 20, 2004 12:05 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Mid-Range System Summary
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| CPU & Cooling | AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (retail) - $120 | $120 |
| Motherboard | ABIT AN7 (nForce2 Ultra 400) | $96 |
| Memory | 2 X 256MB OCZ PC3200 EL (CAS2) | $135 |
| Video Card | 128MB PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro, DVI, TV-out | $133 |
| Monitor | Samsung 19" DynaFlat 955DF | $200 |
| Computer Case | CaseEdge TS1 Mid Tower plus 360W PSU | $74 |
| Sound Card | Onboard | $0 |
| Speakers | Logitech Z640 5.1 | $59 |
| Networking | Onboard 10/100 Ethernet | $0 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 800BB (80GB) | $68 |
| CD-RW | Lite-On 52x32x52x16 Combo drive | $49 |
| Bottom Line | - | $934 |
$934 is the final price of this week's mid-range system, not including any money that you'll spend on software (Windows XP Home or Professional, Office, etc.) or a keyboard and mouse.
The performance, reliability, features, and warranty/customer support that you get with each of these components is hard to beat for this sub $1000 price tag. You could always upgrade this mid-range system to a 64-bit rig by spending about $80 more, and to some users down the road, that will be a worthy upgrade. Some may decide to add a better sound card or bigger monitor. Whatever your needs, if they weren't addressed adequately by our recommendations, we hope they were addressed with our alternative picks.
Now, go build your system and let us know what you think in our comments section.
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Evan Lieb - Thursday, May 20, 2004 - link
Actually thatsright and Cygni, the only reason I suggested onboard sound is due to the fact that we recommended the ABIT NF7-S Rev.2/AN7, which comes with the MCP-T South Bridge and therefore nForce2 APU (SPDIF and optical out included via the I/O panel). But maybe I'll add a note about adding an add-in sound card next time.Cygni - Thursday, May 20, 2004 - link
I agree, onboard sound is great for Entry level or Budget systems, but by the time we are hitting mid range, its time to spend the $23. ESPECIALLY when using nice a$$ speakers like those. And especially when you can get a Via ENVY 24HT-S based card for $23 at Newegg. Some of the best sound quality in the business at $23? WELL worth the money, imho.thatsright - Thursday, May 20, 2004 - link
Great put-together for a mid-range system. Right now, I lean a bit toward the P4 CPU's, but for low-Mid range systems, the Athlon XP can't be beat. But of course, a few suggestions:-If your trying to keep the overall price tag below $1K, I would still suggest upgrading the video card choice to the Radeon 9800 Pro. Thought it costs an extra $70 more than the 9600 pro, you get such a HUGE performance jump due to the double pipelines
-Even a 'old' Sound Blaster Live 5.1 for around $25 is infinitely better (perhaps with the exception of the Nforce Soundstorm chip) than on board sound as it takes away horsepower from the CPU to do it's sound processing.
-I have the same Western Digital 120GB 8Meg cache HD for nearly a year. BUT virtually all HD's sold today only offer a 1 year warranty. You can get the exact same Western Digital HD from NewEgg for the same price, but it is backed by a 3 year warranty for the OEM drive. The #1 criteria when I buy a HD is the warranty length.
Thats it, really. I think this is the 1st Anand Tech Weekly buyers guide that I agree with wholeheartedly. Good Job Evan!
Evan Lieb - Thursday, May 20, 2004 - link
mkruer, it has been corrected, thanks.mkruer - Thursday, May 20, 2004 - link
Alright AMD deals listed twice (Once for the CPU and Motherboard Recommendations, and the other for the CPU and Motherboard Alternatives)Are you saying that the Alternative is also AMD based? LOL