Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
CPU and Motherboard Recommendations
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX53 1MB L2 cache (2.4GHz)Motherboard: Asus SK8V (VIA K8T800)
Price: CPU - $731 shipped (retail heatsink and fan). Motherboard - $171 shipped
This was a difficult choice when the high-end selections were Athlon 64 3400+ (2.2Ghz), Athlon 64 FX51 (2.2GHz), Pentium 4 3.4C, and Pentium 4 3.4EE. However, the introduction of the FX53 brings us the only current Athlon 64 at 2.4GHz, which makes the FX53 the fastest CPU you can buy. Selecting the FX53 was only a concern because the introduction of Socket 939 is just around the corner. Yes, Socket 939 will be here next month, but the FX53 will still be the fastest Athlon 64 that you can buy; there will just be an additional FX53 for Socket 939. As you had read in our AMD roadmaps, there will also be a 3800+ for Socket 939 with 512KB cache instead of the 1MB available on the FX53 chips, so you know that the FX53 is blazing fast and faster than a 3800+ will be. In addition to the fast 32-bit performance that we found in our review of the FX53, the FX53 also supports 64-bit computing for the future. Prices have also dropped a bit so that the FX53 is about $300 more than a slower 2.2GHz 3400+. While that's a big price difference for a CPU, it is really fairly small in building a high-end system. The FX53 is also now 30% cheaper than Intel's top 3.4EE, which costs over $1000. Furthermore, all current Pentium 4 processors can only run 32-bit code, so AMD's Athlon 64 is unique because it can run 32-bit code as well or better than the top competition in addition to 64-bit code for the future. All-in-all, the FX53 represents a good choice if you are building a high end system today. If not, wait a few weeks and consider this same FX53 in Socket 939 clothes.
For the Socket 940 FX53, there is no better choice than the Asus SK8V. In our roundup of Socket 940 motherboards, the SK8V out-paced the competition in almost every benchmark and earned our Gold Editor's Choice as the best Socket 940 motherboard.
The Asus SK8V earned Editor's Choice because it is simply the fastest AMD motherboard that we have ever tested. Wherever the SK8V is benchmarked, it has earned an Editor's Choice for the kind of legendary performance that makes it the ideal heart for a High End system. Don't confuse the Asus SK8V with the SK8N, which is built on the nVidia nForce3-150 chipset. The VIA K8T800 performs much better than the nF3-150 on the more demanding Socket 940 Dual-Channel platform.
The Asus SK8V is fully decked-out as you would expect from the Asus flagship board for Athlon 64. Features include dual RAID capabilities with both VIA SATA RAID supported by the VIA 8237 and Promise 20378 IDE/SATA RAID. You will also find on-board 6-channel SoundMax audio from ADI AD1985 that includes SPDIF connections, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 2 Firewire 1394a ports, and an Asus WiFi slot for wireless capabilities. An added bonus is that the Athlon 64 FX processors are completely unlocked and the SK8V supports this well with CPU ratios from 800 to 4000 in 100MHz increments. Whatever your FX-53 can do on overclocking is supported on the SK8V. Asus has lavished every top-end feature in their huge arsenal on the SK8V and it definitely wears the features very well. As a personal testimony, the SK8V is a favorite motherboard with Anand and Derek in our Raleigh, NC labs and with me in our New York labs. The best recommendation we could possibly make is that the Asus SK8V is the heart of two of these personal systems.
For those not comfortable with the ECC Registered memory requirements of the Socket 940 for Athlon 64 FX and Opteron, the recommendation is the MSI K8N Neo Platinum or one of several other excellent boards based on the new nVidia nForce3-250 chipset. While VIA may own the performance crown for Socket 940, nF3-250 owns the crown for enthusiast features on the Single-Channel Socket 754. All of the nF3-250 boards that we have tested have working PCI/AGP locks to get the most from any CPU and memory that you choose to use. More information on the MSI can be found in the K8N Neo review. For the Socket 754 Alternate, the Athlon 64 3400+ gets our nod.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on the AMD CPUs and motherboards 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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
59 Comments
View All Comments
Modal - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
RE #25:I just built a system with two 74GB raptors in RAID 0, and I can tell you that they are, surprisingly, not that loud. I'm using a Thermaltake 480W PSU with a fan speed controller; when I have it cranked, I can't hear my hard drives at all. When I have the PSU fan turned down, I can hear them a little, little bit, but its nothing like a 'jet engine.'
KenRico - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
#23 and #24 make good points on structure and the $5k target.If the Display Speaker and KB&Mouse are removed it gives alot more latitude in the System Components with the $5k ceiling.
The FX53 is going up +$66 dollars 06/01 a little bird told me. Hopefully the Opteron 150 will remain the same as it is showing at $600ish
Ma10n3 - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
Oh, I forgot to clarify something...The reason I said AMD was the obvious choice is that the only motherboards available now with support for AGP 8X, PCI-X, and legacy 32-bit PCI currently only support AMD64. Why? Intel doesn't seem to want us to have it all just yet. AMD's chipsets gives us the technology, now.
Disclaimer: I used to be a die-hard Intel fan, then after doing a little research I found out that AMD is by far the technology leader for the x86, and not just because of the AMD64 chips.
I guess I couldn't stay off my kick for long...
Ma10n3 - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
I have to agree with #23. There are a lot of possibilities with a $5,000 limit, and a lot of biases toward certain brands among the readers (Intel or AMD).So, since AMD is the obvious choice for the "Uber" system, what about throwing in an Adaptec 2810SA Hardware RAID controller and setup 8 74/36GB Raptors as one RAID 5 array using hot-swappable bays. Of course, you're going to need a serious case for this as well.
Noise? You can't be concerned with noise when it comes to the "Uber" system. Maybe some sound-dampening measures could be taken, but other than that... Besides, could you imagine the sound of 8 10K RPM raptors all churning together? POWER. SPEED. PERFORMANCE. That's the only mantra for the "Uber" system.
Alright, I'll get off my kick for now...
Frallan - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
I love reading your guides I don't always agree on choises but that is not the point is it? Just getting a thought through well argumented article to read in an area where I myself have alot ideas and thoughts is very valueble. So therefore Thx for these guids. (Btw #21 pls read up b4 starting to shout your head off).Now to the issues:
1. Re: the overclocking guide (where I really have an interest) Pls. incl. a top performer kit - means not only the best OC in terms of how OC-able but also a maximum performance OCed kit.
2. Re: The choise of the 10.000 rpm HD:s I have not have the guts to get these drives yet since I have to be in the same room as the box. Just how loud are they in this system? (2*10.000 rpm makes my Jet-enging warning alarm to go off.)
Thx and keep up the good work - you have picked up the slack where other hardware sites have deterioated the last year :).
Mackintire - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
Great job on the guide, I really disagreed on Evan's previous choices. You definately are at least in the ballpark. What confuses me is the $5000 limit. If its a $5000 limit you could do alot more, that would be the only gray area I saw. .............................................otherwise Great Job!TrogdorJW - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
Welcome to the System Guide section, Wesley. Now you, too, can get lambasted every time you put together an article by people like #21. No complaints from me, though: I understand that there are always choices to be made. However, that said, I really doubt many people will really consider buying a $3000 PC. The $2000 high-end systems of the past were at least potentially affordable. Please try not to go much higher (despite the $5000 "limit").Overall, I really like the recommendations with some explanation of other alternatives. It almost seems like we should have four "high-end" system recommendations, though. One for those where money is no concern, a second for those where money is somewhat a concern, and then double that with AMD systems and Intel systems. (There are people out there that will *never* buy AMD and others that will *never* buy Intel.) So we could get an Athlon FX-53/Dual Opteron 250 system, an Athlon 64 3400+ system, an Intel P4EE/Dual Xeon system, and an Intel P4C/P4E system (depending on how things develop in the future).
Not sure how feasible this is, but it seems like you really only need to list CPU, motherboard, and RAM for the four separate configurations. The remaining components could remain as they are, with two recommendations on each item (the "uber" component, and the "good" component).
And finally, I complained about this on other guides, and the high-end guide certainly deserves this complaint as well: why is there no alternate case/PSU recommendation? Surely the Coolermaster with Antec Truepower 430W isn't the only possibility. I would like to see something more silent as a perhaps more expensive option. A case supporing 120mm fans and/or a fanless PSU might be a nice addition.
Overall, though, great job. It's nice to see things mixed up a little after Evan Lieb's choices. Just don't get too set on the choices each month - maybe you two should alternate on the system guides each month? :)
VagrantZero - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
The X800Pro has been shipping for a few weaks now [not in mass quantity but if you want it you can buy it]. It's the XT and 6800U that still hasn't debuted.KenRico - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
Anandtech Rocks...but these guides still don't.Another gentleman already posted but I agree that the OPTERON 148 is a better price/perfomer for the high end. About $20 more than AMD 64 3400+ with Dual Channel action ready to go.
So kind of the guide author to post a video card that is not shipping yet either.
I waded through all the RAM links of "Best Pricing" and the Corsairs specified in the quide are linked below.
I learn nothing from the guides. They specify High End but still look for "value" in onboard NIC ect...then don't post price performance for CPU.
Do we really need a guide to show us an Expensive Processor and Video Adapter?
Where are the benchmarks on this dream system? With no OS quoted this is a collection of parts.
IsThatTheTime - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
I agree with the 200Gb Seagate option, contrary to what was said earlier, they are blisteringly fast compared to their 160Gb and below versions. See Toms Hardware. I just bought four of them for two PCs.Couldn't agree more about the Coolermaster Praetorian, I've two and the solid build quality is breathtaking.....just change all the fans for SilenX one's for a quiet life.
I think a good high end system should have a totally quiet profile too and would suggest the new "Etasis" 0DB! Fanless! PSU (300W) using heatpipe cooling. Totally awesome! and totally quiet. Luxury low environmental noise should come with a luxury £2000 PC.