Weekly Buyer's Guide: Entry Level System - August 2004
by Anand Shimpi & Larry Barber on August 9, 2004 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Monitor
Recommendation: Samsung SyncMaster 17" Flat-Tube (model 763MB)Price: $150 shipped
Samsung's SyncMaster series of monitors are very popular for price-conscious buyers. With a 0.20mm dot pitch, 1280x1024 max resolution, and 3-year manufacturer warranty, you're getting a good bang-for-your-buck monitor. You can pick up this monitor at your local Best Buy if you don't feel like waiting several days for your monitor to arrive in the mail. We suggest calibrating your monitor for maximum clarity if you do a lot of desktop work. Consult your manual or an online guide on how to calibrate a monitor.
Monitor Alternative: NEC Diamondtron 17" CRT (model FE771SB)
Price: $183 shipped
This NEC model is one of the lower end models of the famous Diamondtron series of monitors. Max resolution is just 1280x1024 and dot pitch is a mediocre 0.25mm. However, the clarity and viewable area (16") of this monitor are better than the Samsung SyncMaster 763MB, and at just about $33 more, it is a nice little upgrade if you're willing to spend the extra dollars.
Computer Case
Recommendation: CaseEdge TS1 Mid TowerPrice: $40 shipped
You can purchase this case online at www.pcclub.com or go to a local PC Club to pick it up. Not only is the black and silver edition of this case very good looking, but the set-up is very easy to use and convenient in general. For one, the motherboard mounting screws come installed in their proper holes, a welcome change from having to screw them in by hand. Secondly, the hard drive and optical drive bays contain plastic clips that allow you to install your drives simply and easily without screws. All in all, this case basically comes "pre-installed", and even includes a 300W PSU (power supply unit). Any AMD or Intel approved power supply will do for a budget system, considering how little power a system like this draws, but if you're feeling extra cautious (thinking about future upgrades), picking up a Sparkle 300W PSU is a fine choice. The price of a Sparkle 300W PSU is about $23 shipped online.
Alternative: Foxconn Super Case 100-G2-P4 Mid Tower
Price: $45 shipped
While this case isn't quite as easy to use or as aesthetically appealing as the CaseEdge TS1, it is still a fine computer case with all the space that you'll need for your budget system. It comes with an AMD approved 300W PSU, but as we said before, you can always opt for a better 300W power supply if you feel like you need an especially good PSU for future upgrades. Still, a free PSU is usually never a bad thing.
In the end, as long as you purchase a case that accepts an ATX motherboard, the choice of computer case is completely up to you, the consumer. There are many aesthetically appealing computer cases out there, so don't let our preferences stop you from exploring other computer cases online or at a local retail outlet like PC Club, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc.
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thebluesgnr - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
The recommended Seagate ST380013AS is a SATA drive, as the last letter in its name implies. It should be noted that there's no ATA-100 8MB buffer 80GB drive in Seagate's newest line, the 7200.7.I personally disagree with the motherboard. You can find nForce2 Ultra 400 from reputable makers and with much better power regulation for the CPU for less than the A7N8X-X.
#8,
the 9200 with a 128-bit memory interface is about 30-40% faster than the 9200SE with a 64-bit memory.
#1,
not everyone is a gamer. Having said that, you could upgrade this system to 2x256MB (preferably on a KT880 or nForce2 Ultra 400 board) and a Radeon 9550 128-bits ($70 on newegg) and it would play pretty much every game out there. Maybe not with high resolutions or filters, but people who care about those things can upgrade gradually.
Cocophone - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Ok here is a budget system that I just bought.MB Shuttle AN35N Ultra $56.00
RAM Corsair Value 512 MB $77.00
VGA Sapphire Radeon 9200 128MB $64.50
CPU Barton 2500 $87.00
Total $284.50 from Newegg
I already have a case, hard drives, and monitor.
But I think with a little creative searching on the hot deal websites you could spend about $200 for those items.
I've been reading the Entry level guides for a couple of months and decide I wanted something between Entry Level and Mid-Range.
skiboysteve - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Illissius you seem to have simply had a bad experience with your passive cooled card, I use a 9600 nonpro in my shuttle box and it is passive cooled, no problems. My brother also uses a pasive cooled card with no problems.Cosmotic, a integrated solution as been talked about in many buyers guides but they are simply not as good as you think. The performance is very very poor, worse than the add in card mentioned here. They also lack features like DX8 or DX9 (depending on which, but you are refering to the DX7 nforce2 IGP) Also, they have problems with acceptable 2d image quality at higher resolutions like 1280x1024.
Link for performance comparisons:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040211/...
I know toms sucks but the R9200 shows a 40% or so performance advantage over the IGP, not to mention DX8.1 and higher 2d image quality.
skiboysteve - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
The NF7-S rev2 is NOT the AN7 like you say here:"the ABIT NF7-S Rev.2 (also known as the ABIT AN7) "
The AN7 is a more feature rich version which also includes "uGuru" tech.
Illissius - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Here's a factor for the video card I haven't seen being considered: I would not ever again want a card with passive cooling. I had a 9200SE with such, and it routinely overheated, usually during games but sometimes just in windows, and not only on hot days. The config came without a case fan, and adding one helped matters a bit, but it merely caused it to overheat less often - not stop doing it.Seeing as the primary goal for the budget system is stability, I think this should be taken into serious consideration, even if it runs a bit counter to the quietness thing - that's entirely secondary in comparison.
cosmotic - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Ok, seriously, why arent you guys recomending at least dual channel? Its going to increase performance without increasing price! GOD! And again, integrated nVidia Video cards with nForce2 is cheaper and better than these shitty add-in cards. This is so close the the last price guide for budget, yet it still has the same problems that I pointed out last time. You can make a budget system for 400 bucks with monitor shipped... with the same performance as this... Why arent you recomending it?john1022 - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Re: The CaseEdge TS1 case.pcclub shows this at 39.99, plus shipping to my zipcode of @5.00 for a total of 64.99.
NewEgg is offering the SLK3700AMB with 350 watt power supply for $66.00 delivered.
Considering the relative quality, especially the power supply, this seems to be a much better deal to me.
AtaStrumf - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Where's the feakin' Sempron OC article we were promised ASAP almost 2 weeks ago. Damn it, I realy need to know how the 3100+ overclocks.Damn that Doom 3 week! GRRRRRR!
kherman - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
IMHO: Even a value computer these days should be able to play Doom 3. Why not a higher end video card?GhandiInstinct - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
In my opinion, better to save up for a system that can actually run good games than spend $542 on this system.I think buying systems that are near high-end today, so that you are good for some months to come, makes more sense than buying a system that is out of date performance wise.