Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range System - August 2004
by Evan Lieb on August 23, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Monitor
Recommendation: Samsung 955DF (19") DynaFlat CRTPrice: $224 shipped
To this day, the 955DF is still one of the best bang-for-the-buck 19" monitors on the market. The .20mm dot pitch, maximum resolution of 1600x1200 @ 68Hz, and well known reliability, usability, low price and picture quality of this monitor are all reasons why we highly suggest taking a look at it. We've had extensive experience with this monitor, having done a review of it back in April 2002. To this day, we are still impressed with this monitor and can still confidently recommend it. As you may have guessed by now, CRT technology (especially in the bang-for-your-buck price range) hasn't moved much in quite some time, but that is the norm in this industry. So, don't be surprised if we continue to recommend this monitor for mid-range Buyer's Guides for some time.
Alternative: NEC Diamondtron 19" CRT (model DP930SB-BK)
Price: $359 shipped
This NEC model is one of the best mid-range models of the famous Diamondtron series of monitors. Maximum resolution is 1920x1440 and dot pitch is an excellent 0.24mm. However, the clarity and refresh capability of this monitor are much better than the 955DF. So, if you're willing to dish out the cash, this is more than a capable alternative.
Computer Case
Recommendation: Antec SLK2650-BQE Mid TowerPrice: $79
Antec is one of our favorite manufacturers due to their superb track record for reliable and powerful power supply units (PSUs). They also make some excellent computer cases, though we've never felt it worthy of recommendation before until now. They certainly make a case worthy of a recommendation, especially when they include good fans for proper ventilation and relatively well organized interior space. It may or may not be aesthetically pleasing to some, though we are somewhat fond of its style (black with silver grey side panels). Probably the best feature about this case is the fact that it's designed well for users who are sensitive to noise; its steel construction and large (120MM) case fans makes it an exceptionally silent system with mid-range level hardware installed.
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Zebo - Saturday, August 28, 2004 - link
Alright, lets just settle in on your orginal statement about different users and uses.:) Overall great guide and I even kept 80% of your recs but some need this Horse power is gaming so mine reflects that.PQI memory is all the rage right now. Check ou this thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=322406
JarredWalton - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link
Overall, it's a good guide. We still need a "gamer" system for the mid-range and high-end markets, as that seems to be what most people are having problems with. "Get a 6800 vanilla!" Well, if you game, go for it, but at $300, that's a waste for a lot of people. Personally, I couldn't see building a system without 1 GB of RAM, but 512MB in one stick is the only possible alternative. Even on P4, start with a 512 MB DIMM (at reduced performance) and go to 2x512 in the future. 256 MB DIMMs are just *so* 2002. :)My one complaint (sort of) is the Antec 2650-BQE case. I suppose some might differ on this, but I believe that case only has a 120 mm fan in the rear and an 80 mm in the front. The drive cage is also "old-style" Antec. For anyone that hasn't used the "sideways" drive setup in the Sonata and 3700-BQE Antec cases, I think they're head and shoulders above the 2650 design. Shipped, they cost $89 at Newegg, so I think it's worth the extra $10. Still, maybe some people like the old style HDD cage? I don't, but to each his own....
jensend - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link
For a mid-range system, I was surprised to see the A64 3000 and the P4 3.0C being recommended. The Paris core Sempron and P4 2.8C offer practically equivalent performance for roughly $30 less in either case (and the 2.8C uses up to 13W less juice than the 3.0C as well). 64-bit capability is not really much of an advantage in the midrange, where the amount of memory addressed will never force a 32-bit processor into PAE mode.Evan Lieb - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link
Zebo, look up the differences between the Chaintech and MSI boards. You aren't paying $50 more for just GbE, you're paying $50 more for GbE, 3 FireWire 400 ports, twice the SATA connectors, two extra USB 2.0 ports, 7.1 sound instead of 5.1, and additional RAID functionality (0 + 1). Yeah, kind of important stuff, wouldn’t you say?And no, I’d say there isn’t that much difference between the 955DF and Diamondtron (I’ve owned both). Also, if you’re going to use PQI memory you might as well buy a PC Chips board powered by a Codegen PSU.
Oh, forgot to mention, the lowest price I was able to find on an NEC FE991SB-BK was $279 shipped, not the $249 you listed. Where’d you find your price?
Zebo - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link
I already said the chaintech was inferior, question is gigabit which no one has in my house worth $50? Nope. The chaintech, overclocking and stabiliy wise was every bit as good as MSI in the 754 mobo roundup done here at anandtech and it's fiddy bucks less. You forgot the additional cost of the diamondtron which is just way better than any shadow mask samsung, use both side by side, you'll never suggest a samsung monitor again. Nothing wrong with PQI and it's half the price.Yup getting double video performance and being able to play all high res games on that beautiful NEC is pretty importatnt to me..Who were you targeting?
8NP4iN - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
i want to see how an overclocked sempron performs...Evan Lieb - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
thebluesgnr, thanks, I fixed that.zebo, you system comes out to $996, not $923. You're also using a clearly inferior motherboard and the cheapest of cheap RAM, and all just to upgrade your video card, which some users may not want to do if they don't game heavily. Again, think about it, different users have different needs.
Milkman95, we’re thinking of upgrading the memory, but are still trying to figure out how many users in this category really need a gig of memory. That said, with newer games coming out and heavy multitasking becoming more common in this segment, I’d say 1GB will be necessary in the near future. Only mid-range users who are on the cusp of high-end would need a gigabyte of memory.
Evan Lieb - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
thebluesgnr, thanks, I fixed that.zebo, you system comes out to $996, not $923. You're also using a clearly inferior motherboard and the cheapest of cheap RAM, and all just to upgrade your video card, which some users may not want to do if they don't game heavily. Again, think about it, different users have different needs.
Milkman95, we’re thinking of upgrading the memory, but are still trying to figure out how many users in this category really need a gig of memory. That said, with newer games coming out and heavy multitasking becoming more common in this segment, I’d say 1GB will be necessary in the near future. Only mid-range users who are on the cusp of high-end would need a gigabyte of memory.
Milkman95 - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
Good guide as always. My only comment is that i think its time to move the mid-range ram to 1 gig. 512 is nice, but gamers will notice performance limitations on newer games such as UT2k4, D3, HL2. I would say currently the ram is the limiting factor on this PC not the video card.mino - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
#12: 4.) that was the reason a wrote IMHO there ...You made a point there.