Weekly Buyer's Guide: Entry Level System - June 2004

Memory

Recommendation: 1 X 256MB Kingston PC3200 (DDR400) ValueRAM module
Price: $50 shipped

Kingston ValueRAM modules have decreased in price, about $2 or so, since the last time we took a look at them, and $5 in the last 7 weeks. This is a somewhat positive fluctuation in price, as DDR prices have been slowly on the rise these past few months. Knowing this, it's clear that the time to buy DDR modules is now, if you're going to be purchasing DDR modules at all. Do not wait unless you aren't in a hurry to build your entry level system, as we don't foresee any major increase in DDR memory for quite some time (though that is obviously quite difficult to predict).

We also feel it's necessary to note that we're not recommending PC2100 for our entry level system here today for a reason. That reason is directly related to the recent upward fluctuation of DDR prices; PC2100 and PC3200 modules are priced almost exactly the same. Therefore, it would be pointless to purchase anything but a PC3200 module (in the 256MB variety) right now, as it offers 66.67MHz (133.33MHz DDR) more speed and only 0.5 higher latency (CAS 3.0 instead of 2.5) with this particular Kingston KVR400X64C3A/256 module.

Alternative: 1 X 256MB OCZ PC3200 EL (Enhanced Latency) CAS2.0 module
Price: $65 shipped

OCZ's DDR modules have also dipped in price since we looked at them last month. We've talked about OCZ's troubled past and history in detail before, but thankfully, those issues have been resolved from all indications and OCZ is able to bring great memory to market, and has been doing so for over a year now. With that said, OCZ has had tremendous success with their EL series of modules for a reason: a great price/performance ratio. At only $15 more than the Kingston ValueRAM that we recommended today, you get lower CAS timings (CAS 2-2-3 1T) with OCZ EL modules instead of high CAS timings (CAS 3-3-3 4T) with the Kingston ValueRAM modules. Lower CAS timings along with the EL series' overclocking capability translates into better performance for a great price.

With that all said, be sure to check out Crucial's line of PC3200 modules as well, as they are rightfully known as one of the most reliable and highest quality memory makers on the planet.

Video

Recommendation: 64MB Sapphire Radeon 9200SE
Price: $43 shipped

Just like last month, our recommendation this week is the Radeon 9200SE instead of the regular 9200. While the 64-bit memory interface of the 9200SE (SE indicates the halved memory interface) cripples gaming performance considerably compared to 128-bit video cards, it's still an acceptable card for the light to occasional gamer, and of course, more than necessary for non-gamers. 2D IQ quality will live up to business users' needs as well as the regular Joe Shmoe's needs; that is, crisp text and excellent clarity in general. At $43, it's hard to find a better video card with the said feature set.

Also, we feel that a major point of concern, which we have failed to address adequately in previous Buyer's Guides, is ATI's spotty record for reliable drivers in the past. While this was certainly a major issue in the days of the Radeon 8500 and certainly before then, these days, ATI's Catalyst brand of drivers are delivering excellent stability for each segment of users (entry level, mid-range, high end, etc.). We've been able to verify this fact personally here in AnandTech's own labs. In fact, I, myself, run a 9200SE-powered rig 24/7. It's a very basic, but very reliable box, an SFF (Small Form Factor) box in fact, and I run quite a wide range of tasks on this system. It won't set graphical performance records, but it's not meant to anyway.

Alternative: 64MB Sapphire Radeon 9200
Price: $52 shipped

The Radeon 9200 is the AGP8X version of the Radeon 9000. This is the non-crippled, 128 bit memory interface version of the 9200SE. Vendors may or may not make this information about memory interface differences clear when advertising their 9200 video cards, so be sure to check. Gaming performance is considerably better with this Radeon 9200 than the Radeon 9200SE, and 2D IQ is identical, if not better in some cases, depending on whether or not you choose to pick a higher quality version of ATI's Radeon 9200 (from Gigabyte, for example). You should definitely be considering this card for your entry level system instead of the 9200SE, if you're at all interested in some semi-serious gaming. As far as the onboard video memory size is concerned, 64MB should be more than enough for the majority of video games out there, and certainly enough for entry level users. There are 128MB versions of this card available, but it's completely unnecessary to upgrade to them when looking at the higher price differential.

If you're at all interested in gaming performance at 1024x768 resolutions and up, we highly suggest something more powerful than Radeon 9200, like a Radeon 9600 Pro or GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, for example. Either card will be able to perform significantly more smoothly at those higher than 800x600 resolutions.

Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on ATI video cards 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.