Buyer's Guide - Entry Level, October 2004
by Jarred Walton on October 6, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Optical Drives
Prices on optical drives have really bottomed out, and it is now possible to pick up a DVD burner with dual layer support for under $70. We do not feel that a budget system actually needs a DVD recorder, but the option is there should that sort of thing interest you. The only other thing worth mentioning is that you should make sure to get an optical drive that matches the front of your case. Since the two cases that we have selected are black (as you will see later in the guide), we went with black optical drives. Beige models of the same drives are also available.While you might be able to find a CD-ROM drive for less than half the cost of a CD-RW, we recommend that you "splurge" on the CD-RW for a couple reasons. First is that you never know when you might decide to start creating your own CDs, be they music, photo, or other content. Second, CD-R discs are extremely cheap and relatively fast, and they are far more reliable than floppy disks for storing data. Making periodic backups to a CD-R is relatively simply and painless, and each disc can hold a lot of data. There really is no reason not to get one.
Office CD-RW Recommendation: Lite-On SOHR-5238S 52x32x52x CD-RW
Price: $28 shipped
We have chosen to recommend a Lite-On CD-RW drive for this month's budget system. This change is not so much due to an inherent superiority of the Lite-On drive, but instead, it is meant as an alternative to previous recommendations. Nearly all current 52X CD-RW drives are within a few dollars of each other in price, and performance and reliability are all very close together as well. Aopen, ASUS, Sony, Samsung, Pioneer, Plextor, NuTech... for CD-RW drives, we have not seen any major issues that would cause us to seriously recommend one drive over another. Some users also report getting better burn rates and quality by using unofficial BIOS updates - proceed at your own risk if you decide to try out any of these mods.
Gaming CD/DVD Alternative: Lite-On SOHC-5232K CD-RW/DVD Combo
Price: $45 shipped
For gamers, we highly recommend getting a DVD/CD-RW or even a DVD+/-RW drive. There have been a few games recently that have appeared with special DVD-ROM versions, and even though the content is the same, worrying about only one DVD is more preferable to shuffling through four or five CDs, while you try to figure out which is the one that you need to have in the drive to be able to play your game. We can only hope that more future titles will begin to ship on a single DVD instead of multiple CDs, and to facilitate that, we suggest that all gamers have a system that can at least read DVDs. You also get the added benefit of being able to watch movies on your computer, of course. 8X DVD+R drives start at about $10 more, but as we mentioned earlier, we do not really feel that they are necessary, so we are cutting our costs a bit for now.
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Gholam - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
Why not use an nForce2 IGP or KM400 based board and dump the discrete graphics card? Also, $73 case for an office system is waaaaay too expensive - an HEC 6CS3 with a 300W PSU will run you $30-35.Scarceas - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
Ozenmacher - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
I think for a budget office system, someone staring at a monitor all day may appreciate an LCD since they generally have better text and do not flicker. In that case, you can find 15 in LCD's online close to 200 dollars with integrated speakers. While integrated speakers suck, they would suffice for the office user and would reduce clutter. In that case, maybe another recommendation would be to subtract the 16 dollar speakers and add a little money towards an LCD for a slightly higher price. If they are really hurting for money, they definitely could subtract the video card as well.ceefka - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
I second that #8. I like this new style too. Thank you Jarred for going the extra mile.Zebo - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
#7 the best kept secret in ram is the crucial 8T, which Mwave sells also in thier bundles. This stuff can and will clock to 250 Mhz FSB and low timings. 3-3-3 1T. I've talked about it in various threads before and pointed here: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=328636to show it's outstanding charachteristics.
Zebo - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
Excellent work Jarred.I really like the idea of and your explinations of "alternative" goods. Like the monitor, 512 ram and 9800 pro. It gives users who may value of aspect or another, while considering thier intended use, some good clues.
DrMrLordX - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
Interesting guide. I may follow some, if not all of these recommendations soon, if I can actually bear to part with money for a new system anytime soon.I was wondering if you've noticed mwave.com's deals on the Chaintech board you recommended, paired with Athlon 64s and Kingston memory(I think they have a few other brands available). The price on the three components together is very cheap, and could serve as an excellent base for a budget gamer(or overclocker) system.
You can get the above-mentioned combo(the RAM is 1x512 megs Kingston PC3200) for $292 + shipping. You get a free Farcry thrown in as well, and you get a better CPU than the Sempron 3100+.
Also, AMD is reportedly going to be dropping prices across the board on Oct 15. Best to wait 'til then if you're going to buy an AMD system.
ilancas - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
Calin, certain flash USB devices can apparently be configured to function in place of a floppy drive. At least, that's what I've heard - I have never actually used one personally. Like I said in the article, it's worth the $10 for me. :DCalin - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - link
"and installing hard drive controllers for XP are a couple of examples that often benefit from the presence of a floppy drive"Hello, there is no other way to install a driver for an unusual controller - even in Windows 2003. If you don't have a floppy, you're out of luck
Calin