Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Computer Case
Recommendation: Coolermaster Praetorian (PAC-T01-E1) SilverPrice: $126 shipped
While there are cheaper Coolermaster cases with Aluminum fronts and steel bodies, the Coolermaster All-Aluminum cases are still some of the best for build-quality that you will find anywhere. The Praetorian is a classic Coolermaster Aluminum mid-tower case with 10 drive bays - 4 hidden and 6 front accessible. Aluminum cases dissipate heat more efficiently, but Coolermaster still includes four additional fans for cooling - 2 front fans, a top fan, and a rear exhaust fan.
There is also a sliding panel on the front protecting a great selection of essential front ports - 2 USB, firewire, headphone and mic. You will also find a handy removable motherboard tray for easier mounting and the case is a tool-less design for easy assembly.
The build quality of the Coolermaster is superb, and the reinforced chassis makes the Praetorian stronger than most aluminum cases. Kingwin also makes a decent aluminum computer case, and you will find the Kingwin cases for a little less money. The Kingwin 424 with a window would also be a great match to the DFI 875B LAN party, but there is also an optional windowed side panel for the Coolermaster.
Power Supply
Recommendation: Antec True Power 430WPrice: $68 shipped
For a power supply, we suggest Antec's True Power 430W PSU for $68 shipped. The Antec True Power series provides very consistent power to the rails and has performed very well in AnandTech power supply roundups. It provides extremely stable voltages, a good warranty, quiet operation, low operating temperature, and is a tried and true power supply. The True Power series, in particular, is one of the most trusted power supplies among enthusiasts. While a good quality 350W or 400W power supply might do the job here, you will have the comfort of some reserve for the ever more power hungry processors and video cards. You will also enjoy rock solid stability with the top FX53 Athlon 64.
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).
-------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------
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.