Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Sound Card
Recommendation: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (6.1) OEMPrice: $71
Since many of the packages that come with sound cards add a lot to the cost and little to the value, an OEM version of an Audigy 2 sound card provides the best value for a high-end sound card. If you're a big gamer, love watching movies, or are just someone who wants quality sound, the Audigy 2 is one of the best on the market to fit those needs. This version of the Audigy 2 supports 6 channels of sound and will deliver a great listening experience in any game, and especially ones that support the Audigy 2's special features like EAX. Simply pair the Audigy 2 with the right set of speakers and you'll have the necessary tools for an exceptional listening experience. Other special Audigy 2 features include 24/96 analog playback and recording and "add-ons" like FireWire.
Alternative: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (7.1) retail
Price: $83
The Audigy 2 ZS differs from the regular OEM Audigy 2 mainly in its support of 7.1 channels of sound instead of 6.1 The benefit of going to 7.1 isn't really all that huge, as there's a point that you reach where continually adding more channels yields diminishing returns; that is, your surround sound experience doesn't get a whole lot better going from 6.1 to 7.1 channels, or for that matter, 5.1 to 7.1 channels, depending on how sensitive your ears are. The Audigy 2 ZS is also a retail package instead of OEM, meaning you get additional bundled features, such as video games and a FireWire header.
As we've said before, there are inevitably going to be people who don't need this kind of audio processing power. For those users, we simply suggest that you use your motherboard's onboard sound controller. Some people could care less about their system's sound as long as there isn't any interference or crackling. If that description fits you to a tee, then use the onboard sound controller and forget about the Audigy 2.
Speakers
Recommendation: Logitech Z5300 THX Certified 5.1 speakersPrice: $146 shipped
Logitech, yet again, tops our speaker recommendation this week with their popular Z5300 5.1 THX Certified speaker system. Besides obviously supporting 5.1 channels of sound, the Z5300 is able to boast such features as a 100W subwoofer and a greater than 85 dB signal to noise ratio. The surround sound gaming and movie experience is tremendous, especially paired with a good Audigy 2 sound card. These speakers can also get impressively loud, and best of all, we didn't encounter any sort of crackling or distortion as volume was turned up to excruciatingly loud levels. For the price, these speakers are unbeatable.
Alternative: Creative Labs Megaworks THX Certified 6.1 speakers
Price: $248 shipped
This speaker system justifies its value versus the Logitech Z5300 speakers with:
- 6.1 surround sound instead of 5.1 surround;
- 99 dB signal to noise ratio instead of "somewhere" over 85 dB;
- 150W subwoofer instead of 100W subwoofer;
- 70W per satellite and 75W for the center instead of 35W and 39W center; and,
- Positional audio support.
If, for whatever reason, you're not interested in high end sound and will be gaming or watching movies mostly with your headphones on, obviously an expensive surround sound system will be pretty useless. If that's the case, you may just want to opt for 2.0 or 2.1 speakers, such as the ones recommended in our last Entry Level Buyer's Guide.
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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ghoti - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
Thanks for these Guides! I sure appreciate them.I'm about to build my first system.
Anyone know when the MSI K8N Socket 754 MB (mentioned in the Guide) will be available?
Also, assuming I get the MSI K8N, I plan to use the AMD 64 3200, and would like to put in 2GB(?) memory. Considering possible FUTURE use (in a dual channel application), I guess I'd get a PAIR of 1024's. In checking the MSI memory compatability table, I don't see anything I recognize. Do I need to worry about that? Can I just go ahead and get one of the highly-reviewed brands/ types (e.g., Mushkin Pro). I don't plan to OC, but considering possible FUTURE use in/ with some other MB/ processor, does it make sense to get a higher speed than PC3200?
Thanks for the input.
hifisoftware - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
Good to hear about the changes, hopefuly giuides will even be better with more time dedicated to them.Great review, nice choices.
I would choose few componenets differently though:
1. Secondary choice for the HD. Samsung seems to be faster then Segate in real world benches (From xbitlabs testing). Segate is one of the worst performing brands in their tsting.
2. DVD I like NEC DVD writer more since it cost about the same (+/- few $), but there is a hack to convert it to double layer version.
Still a great guide, lots of usefull info. Cool
Ma10n3 - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
For a total budget of $5,000 or less, why not opt for a mobo that can support two Opteron 250s, but only purchase one initially. The TYAN Thunder K8W supports AGP 8x/Pro, has 4 PCI-X slots (hardware RAID anybody?), and a legacy 32-bit/33MHz PCI slot. Also, the onboard gigabit ethernet chip is connected to the PCI-X bus... absolutely no bottlenecks there. And when the Windows 64-bit Home edition comes out you can slap in the second processor and 4 more DIMMS and effectively double your memory bandwidth, due to the NUMA support in Windows 64.My point is, if you're going to invest so much in a high-end system, why not make it as future-proof as possible by leaving open extreme expandability paths.
PCI-X rulez.
Zebo - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
My bad wesley I was comparing the $404 Opteron 148 (2.2) to the $728 FX 51 (2.2). However I'm building this system with the $210 Opteron 144;) and hope to get the FX53 speeds for 1/4 the price....Wesley Fink - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
#2 - The same speed Opteron is the 150 at 2.4GHz. It is a bit cheaper at $620 but it is hardly half the price. It is also multiplier locked where the FX is completely unlocked. If overclcoking is not important to you, then the Opteron 150 and 3200 Registered memory would be a good choice and save about $150 total.Your point about the Saphire Radeon 9800 PRO is well taken, and I have changed the Alternate to the 256-bit model, which I did find on Pricewatch for $192 shipped.
Zebo - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
#1 I agree or go for one of LG/Philips's 20" 16ms IPS LCD branded by Dell, Viewsonic, NEC, amoung others. At around $700-$1200 it's pretty competitive.Azmedaj - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
Typo on the storage page: "Those concerned about data security more than ultimate speed can configure the drives as RAID 0, or mirroring", it Should be Raid 1Zebo - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
Opteron is half the price as FX and is the same but for top locked multiplier, but with that ram recommedation you can OC with ease, if that's a concern.Also 128MB Saphire Radeon 9800 PRO for $175 shipped is the 128bit verison aka LE, I would get the 256 for $209 shipped.
JGF - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
I like everything except for the CRT monitor. I would swap the samsung out for a 21" mitsubishi diamond pro 2070 or the equivalent NEC model the FP2141SB.