Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Monitor
Recommendation: Samsung 1100DF 21" (20" viewable) DynaFlat CRTPrice: $447shipped
With even further price reductions, the Samsung 1100DF delivers superb value in a 21" monitor. 21" is a great size for gaming at high resolutions with the new video cards and the Samsung 21 does not disappoint. The 1100DF is capable of refresh rates of 75Hz at 2048x1536 and 85Hz at 1280x1024 and has a dot pitch of 0.20mm. Text clarity is very impressive, glare is non-existent, and gaming performance is top-of-the-line. There are more expensive CRT monitors, but the performance and reliability of this Samsung 21" continues to impress us. The only drawback, as with any large CRT, is the space required to house the monitor. If space is a premium, then take a closer look at our flat panel alternative.
Alternative: Samsung 193P Flat Panel Silver
Price: $778 shipped
While there is no doubt that CRT monitors still represent the best value and best performance for gaming, things continue to improve rapidly in flat panel technology. No High End Buyer's Guide would be complete without a recommendation for a flat panel. Samsung has a sterling reputation for the performance of their flat panel displays, and Samsung's 3rd generation 19" Flat panel has finally started arriving at on-line retailers. The price will likely fall a bit further as stock becomes more readily available and competition increases. Basically, the 193P improves on the very well-regarded 192T with even faster 20ns response times and a greater 800:1 contrast ratio. There are even faster response times available in the market, but for overall balance in a flat panel, Samsung always seems to provide a very good mix of features and performance. The 193P also provides both DVI and standard analog inputs for flexibility and performance. You can find more details on the 193P in the AnandTech exclusive review that was posted last month.
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.