MAINSTREAM Doom 3: CPU and Motherboard
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (Socket 754)Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo (nForce3-250Gb)
Price: CPU - $290 shipped (Retail with HSF). Motherboard - $123 shipped
Mainstream CPU
With Dual-Channel adding just 3% to Doom 3 performance and the 1MB cache just 5% faster than 512k on the Athlon 64, it is clear that the Single-Channel Socket 754 Athlon 64 offers the best performance for the money for most Doom 3 players. Please keep in mind that 3% plus 5% means a Socket 939 with 1MB of cache is 8% to 10% faster than a Socket 754 with 512k cache, so the 754 chips are not a complete free lunch.
There is no doubt that not many buyers are willing to part with $825 for an FX53, and you don't have to step down very far in performance to reach the 3400+. The price of the 3400+, however, is a much more mainstream $290. There are two versions of the the 3400+. The original runs at 2.2GHz and has 1MB of on-chip cache, while the latest Newcastle design runs at 2.4GHz and has a 512K cache. Since we found that Doom 3 responds a bit better to on-chip cache than to a clock speed increase, we recommend that you buy the 1MB cache version for Doom 3 if you can find one. They are disappearing fast as Newcastle core takes over, but the 1MB cache chip is definitely a bit faster in Doom 3. However, the difference is not huge, and either 3400+ will do an outstanding job of driving Doom 3.
Mainstream Motherboard
Our Socket 754 Roundup: Comparing Generation 2 took a close look at the 2nd generation of Socket 754 Athlon 64 motherboards based on the updated nVidia nForce3-250 family and the VIA K8T800 PRO. While there are bargains available from close-out first-generation boards, you are better off buying one of the boards based on the newer chipsets for A64. The reason is simple - the new boards have many more features than the earlier boards. Also, from a performance standpoint, both new chipsets feature higher Hyper Transport speeds and working AGP/PCI locks. The Higher HT and working lock translate into better performance and much higher overclocking capabilities than the first generation nVidia and VIA motherboards.
The MSI K8N Neo Platinum was our Silver Editors Choice in the 754 roundup, but several developments have tilted our choice in that direction. It is now about 25% cheaper than the Gold winner in that roundup, and the MSI is readily available at a good price from many vendors. This of course adds up to good value.
It also helps that the MSI uses the nForce3-250Gb chipset, and therefore, supports all the distinctive nF3 features like on-chip Gigabit LAN, nVidia Firewall, and nVidia RAID, which allows the user to combine SATA and IDE drives in any way they want to create RAID arrays. The rest of the feature set is also top-notch, as you would find on any top-of-the-line motherboard. The MSI K8N Neo has top-line features and performance at a very reasonable price.
Last, but certainly important, is the fact that nVidia 6 series video cards actually perform a bit better on nVidia chipset motherboards. This means that you will be combining an nVidia nForce3-250GB board with the nVidia 6800 GT, which should boost Doom 3 performance a little bit.
You can read more about the MSI K8N Neo Platinum in our review at http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2063.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on the AMD 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.
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Wesley Fink - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
#21 - A recent storage article said there was no need for RAID on the desktop. It did not say there was no need for Raptors. In fact the title of the first article using the new storage benchmarks was "WD Raptors vs. the World"Avalon - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
On another note, you just had an article a while ago saying that there are no need for Raptor HD's on a desktop system, yet you recommend it for the performance segment. May I ask why we should waste $175 on this drive when you yourselves said we had no need for it? Especially if the main goal of this rig is just to play Doom 3.Avalon - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
I'm most definitely complaining about value, not crap. Mainstream Doom 3, while higher than general, is definitely not that freaking high. Who would buy a Dell for a GAMING system? This guide is for those who BUILD there own, so Dell has absolutely nothing to do with this, nor do their horrendously expensive computers. For a mainstream Doom 3 experience, a 6800GT was quoted as being required. This is a $400 card that allows you to practically play the game at 16x12 with AF and AA. Are mainstream Doom 3 users going to run at this setting? No. Even the value recommendations will run Doom 3 at 12x10, no sweat. Value should be those looking to play the game, but not having to spend much money and not caring about high res and eye candy. This is why I dissagree with the recommendations and pricing. If you think I'm wrong, that's your opinion and I could care less. My own personal rig was about $800 with the monitor included, and it runs the game at 10x7 on high detail. I'd consider that more mainstream than what the value recommendations would get you.Pollock - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
May I ask what the point is of having a 12x DVD burner on a mainstream system devoted to playing Doom 3? And by the way, I agree with #1...this is just too much hype. Who would spend $1900 so that they could get "mainstream performance" on another $50 purchase?Myrandex - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
I agree with the CRT recommendations over a LCD. LCDs are coming to amazingly low response time, but I don't think I have ever seen one as good as a CRT. Good recommendations though. Maybe a 5900XT would be an even more value alternative, as I thought if I remmeber correctly it performed alright, overclcoekd a lot on average, and is pretty inexpensive.Randawl - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
It is pretty amazing that you can buy such a powerful system with such a fantastic video card for around $1000. Things have come quite far in such a short time.Zanfib - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
Good enough article, a few typos, but helpful. Still kinda hurts to know that even the value system recommends needs a new (almost next) generation video card, but I can't argue with the value price. $1000 for a pretty good system is quite acceptable.BornStar18 - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
It's a minor correction but you mention that the Chaintech VNF3-250 doesn't have GbE (correctly) in the article but in the table, you mention it has onboard 10/100/1000.Good article, I just wish I had $1000 to be able to play Doom3...
Wesley Fink - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
#10 - We had technical problems with posting today and I did not get to make final changes as usual before the review posted. In fact the Performance system does now have a 2GB memory recommendation since we finally found 1GB dimms that could still give us 1T Command Rates with timings that were still pretty decent. The Guide has been updated with the 2GB recommendation, the revised price, and several other planned edits.kmmatney - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
So looks like I'll be playing Doom3 around April 2005...Its been 10 years since Doom 2, so whats another year.