Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Memory
Recommendation: 1GB Kit (2 X 512MB) OCZ PC3500 EL ECC Registered (or OCZ 3200EL ECC)Price: $339 shipped ($295 shipped)
Socket 940 for A64FX and Opteron requires ECC Registered memory, and the best that we have used is OCZ PC3500 EL ECC Registered. A lot of Registered memory has slow timings, but the OCZ manages 2-2-3 timings at DDR433 while still providing the best compatibility with Socket 940 motherboards. The OCZ 3200 EL ECC Registered uses the same chips and is easier to find, so it is also a good choice. The OCZ 3500 Registered and 3200 Registered are very fast, but they have also worked in situations where other Registered memory from better-known manufacturers were a problem. Keep in mind that ECC Registered memory can only be used on boards that support buffered memory like the Opteron and other server boards. The coming Socket 939 and Intel's Socket 875 do support ECC memory, but they require the unbuffered variety and do not support the Registered or buffered variety. The ECC 3500EL will also handle most any overclocking that can be achieved with the adjustable ratios and no PCI/AGP lock of the Asus SK8V. The 3500EL Registered has reached DDR466 in benchmark testing.
Alternative: 1GB Kit (2 X 512MB) Corsair XMS4000PRO
Price: $305 shipped
Corsair XMS4000PRO, rated at DDR500, is the only memory we have tested that puts on a light show that will match the DFI 875B LAN Party. That alone, however, would not be enough to recommend XMS4000PRO. Corsair is probably the best known manufacturer of enthusiast memory and the LEDs on the PRO series actually provide information about how the memory is performing. You can read more about Corsair PRO series in our review.
The motherboards selected as alternates are very capable of DDR500 performance, and Corsair will certainly provide that, reaching DDR540 in our tests. Perhaps more important, Corsair XMS PRO is one of the high speed memories based on 2nd generation Hynix chips, which is capable of very good 2-3-3 performance at DDR400. This gives the best of both worlds - high speed capabilities for overclocking and decent stock performance at DDR400. If the light show is a turn-off, there are several other second-generation high-speed choices from Mushkin, OCZ and Corsair and you can check those out in any recent memory review at AnandTech.
Another excellent alternative in unbuffered memory is OCZ 3700EB, which takes a different approach to memory timings as you can see in our review. OCZ 3700EB was also a very good match to the single-channel Socket 754 boards for Athlon 64 in particular, and you should definitely consider OCZ 3700EB for a Socket 754 Athlon 64 system purchase.
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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roostercrows - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
The article was excellent, thank you Wesley, and considering all the informed comments it received I'm not alone in looking forward to reading more of them. Not to add yet another category to what must already be a lot of work for you guys but is there somewhere I could see the entire dual processor systems that have been suggested by some advanced members, after they are built and running of course, including performance/prices and why they feel they have assembled a better "bang for the buck" high-end system?roostercrows - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
Sparkywonderchicken - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
Sorry I hit send too fast. I have heard many complaints about DVD-R burning from these units.Ma10n3 - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
I agree with #44--A high-end system and an overclocking rig should not be classified as the same.Sparkywonderchicken - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
Don't you mean NuTech DDW-082?? for the DVD??bigtoe33 - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
Overclocking is mainly about what boards and cpu's will do the high fsb's, also what is the most bang per buck as overclockers mainly buy cheap and clock up to gain the speed.I would expect Wesley will show some 300+fsb action on A64 as well as the cheap 2.4a prescott running 180fsb+....these are things you will find on an overclocking rig and not a high end ;-)
azndelite6983 - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
Thanks for the response, Wesley. I appreciate that you guys do these guides at all, considering the monumental task of trying to keep up with new hardware.What I don't quite understand is that any high-end system would be a terrific overclocking possibility, and although u supposedly have a different guide for that, it might be nice to see some suggestions on oc settings for the high-end system as well as possible mods (cooling mostly). I'm not sure I see the necessity of having an "overclocking system" when the parts remain very close to the high-end system. Also the fact that anyone willing to spend anywhere close to $5000 on a computer should really know what they are doing, but may want some advice on how to get the most out of their already quick setup.
markz - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
I agree with #40.That is all.
Ma10n3 - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
To correct what I said in #39, more games support SMP now than I had previously thought...Link for FAQ:
http://home.swbell.net/m3tech/hard/smp_games.html
Murst - Friday, May 28, 2004 - link
Wesley & Evan,First of all, thanks for the guides (this is my favorite part of anandtech and its probably the reason why I've been visiting this site more than any other lately). I do have some reccomendations, however.
It seems to me that your definitions of low/mid/high are rather difficult to understand. It actually kind of reminds me of intel's new naming policy. Why use words that don't really mean anything when you can give numbers which are descriptive? Here is an exmaple of what I'm thinking (my goal is clarity).
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Old name: New name:
entry-level System for under $800
mid-range System for under $1500
high-range System for under $2500
.......... System for under $4000
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I think this would make your goals in these articles much more clear, as people would understand exactly what goes into making the decisions. Also, my numbers may not be accurate, as I don't have much experience with pricing systems.
Overall, good work on this article, and I do believe that it is much closer to what "I" believe is a high-end system as compared to the last article.
I'll be looking forward to the next system reccomendations, especially to what 939 will bring.