Buyer's Guide - Mid-Range, October 2004
by Jarred Walton on October 21, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Memory Recommendations
While many might disagree with this assessment, we are going to increase the RAM recommendation for our Mid-Range Guide to 1 GB, regardless of what type of work you use it for. The truth is that a lot of users do not need more than 512 MB of RAM, but as long as we're being truthful, few people really need something faster than the systems in our Entry Level Guide. If you're willing to spend more money for the added performance and "future-proofing" of faster processors and other components, it doesn't make a lot of sense to skimp on the RAM. This also allows us to avoid recommending 256 MB DIMMs, which we feel are now only an option for the value-minded consumer.As we mentioned in our past Guides, performance does not differ a whole lot between the various manufacturers, and reliability is generally good with any of the major brands. We recommend spending a few dollars extra to get a reputable brand instead of settling for generic RAM. Should any of your DIMMs fail, it is easier to get the advertised "lifetime warranty" honored. Whom do we consider reputable? Well, any of the major brands that we have reviewed in our past RAM articles should be safe: Corsair, Crucial, GEIL, Kingston, Mushkin, OCZ, Samsung and several others. Those should all work well, so on whichever you can get the best price is a good choice.
Our RAM recommendation is going to be split into a Value and a Performance choice. The Value RAM will have higher latencies, but the difference in speed is typically less than 5%. For those willing to spend a little more, the Performance option is there. Those who are interested in getting into the world of overclocking are advised to spend more money on their RAM, as it is often the limiting factor. It is worth mentioning, however, that the cost of high-end RAM can often be more than the cost of the next faster processor, and a faster processor will usually provide more tangible benefits. Reliability is rather difficult to determine, but on the whole, we see fewer problems with expensive RAM than with value RAM. Then again, most hardware failures tend to come from other sources than the RAM; for instance, flaky power supplies and/or motherboards. Keeping your system free from dust will go a long way towards avoiding component failure in our experience.
Value DDR Recommendation: 2x512MB Mushkin PC3200 2.5-4-4
Price: $150 Shipped
We have never had any serious problems with Mushkin RAM, and at $150, the cost of 1 GB of RAM is very reasonable. In fact, users who routinely work on extremely large files in Photoshop might even decide to simply max out their memory system with 4x512 MB DIMMs. Most people don't need that much RAM, but if you do, you already know it. Gamers and software developers should be content with 2x512MB for the next year at least, and the option to add more RAM is always there if you need it.
We do not feel that 1GB DIMMs are really an option yet, since even the cheapest non-generic DIMMs cost over $200. However, anyone interested in trying to reach the advertised 4GB maximum of current systems might take a look at OCZ's 1GB DIMMs. That's not even a remotely mid-range configuration, though - it's more of a moderate server setup. At some point in time, we will actually see a shift to 64-bit OSes running 4GB or more of RAM, but that day is probably at least a couple years off for most users.
Performance DDR Alternative: 2x512MB OCZ EL 2-3-2-6 1T
Price: $224 Shipped
Those looking to gain a bit in performance and lower their memory latency should look at the 2-3-2 RAM options that are out there. While 2-2-2 RAM might be fractionally faster, it costs a bit more. OCZ has impressed us with the quality and reliability of their RAM in the past couple years - for a company that was once considered a "generic" brand, that's saying a lot! The heat spreaders are not really necessary, but they do make your RAM look attractive for those who have windowed cases.
Should you want to go for something a little faster, or perhaps you might want some RAM that could be overclocked at some point in the future, then we recommend Crucial Ballistix PC3200 RAM. Capable of 2-2-2 1T timings up to 220 MHz or so, and with the option to go even higher with relaxed timings, Crucial Ballistix is a great choice for high-end RAM.
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Confusednewbie1552 - Saturday, October 23, 2004 - link
Great, I've had my computer for 2 months and have been only using it for only a month and already it becomes mid-range. =( I was expecting it to last until at least by spring of 2005Degrador - Saturday, October 23, 2004 - link
I know the graphics issue has been mentioned in these comments already, but I just thought I'd add my 2 cents. A gaming article sounds like a great idea, but many people out there looking for a good computer want an all-in-one system. Especially for family buyers, they'll want systems that can do anything, whether it be office work / home business / kids schoolwork / games / burning CDs & DVDs / web surfing / etc. As such, the alternatives are really really great this time, as they give details and reasons for why people should change to other parts. However, I still think you should have included an option for a faster graphics card. You've given alternatives a high end 300GB 16MB cache HD, as well as the (debateably) higher end Raptor, along with high end RAM, and a separate sound card and good speakers, yet no alternative for even a modestly good AGP graphics card (let's be honest, the 9600 Pro is rather mediocre for the games and cards out there these days). I'm certainly not suggesting a 9800 Pro should be the primary graphics recommendation, but perhaps at least an alternative (or even X600 / 6800).Other than that, great guide :)
JarredWalton - Saturday, October 23, 2004 - link
Wow! The 90nm parts are "hot" - not in terms of temperature but in terms of demand. They'll come back down soon enough. Hell, at $266 not counting the cost of an aftermarket HSF you might as well get the 130 nm 3500+ retail. Monarch Computers is still saying $215 and $179 for the 3200+ and 3000+ parts, respectively, but they are out of stock until ~Oct. 29. Patience may be required if you don't want to spend more than $200. I think the suggested price of the 3200+ was $199 originally, but demand has pushed that up quite a bit.AlphaFox - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
A64 3200+ 90nm 939 is now $266!!! I dont get how it went up $75 in the past 2 days!JarredWalton - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
A few quick comments:Seagate vs. Samsung: As far as I can tell, they're about the same. Yes, Seagate comes with a 5 year vs. 3 year warranty. I've got both, and neither one has given me cause for complaint. Which is "better"? I call it a tie, and since I went with Seagate last time, I decided to toss in a Samsung this time. As the article states, Samsung, WD, Seagate, Maxtor, and Hitachi all make very similar drives. "Reliability" when you're talking about mostly new versions is almost impossible to guess.
NEC vs. Pioneer: Hacked firmware is not necessary, and the drive performs extremely well. There should be a review up sometime soon.
Prices for the Real Time Pricing Engine seem to be having some issues, so double check them. As for the Mushkin RAM listed in the article, it is not the "Blue" line but an older version. Newegg has it for $75 a DIMM (as of the time of writing).
#37: You can have a bad example of any company out there. I've had ASUS and Abit boards in the past that I had to RMA. Does one bad experience make the company untrustworthy? I don't think so, and I continue to use Abit and ASUS boards. For socket 939, the selection is very limited, and we've had good results with the MSI Neo2 Platinum. YMMV, of course. I'm not sure why you even bothered with MSI. If the boards was DOA, Newegg will replace it with no hassle in our experience. It takes an extra two weeks or so, unfortunately.
#34 brings up an interesting argument. If you actually went out and bought the same hardware that goes into a Dell or other OEM system, the price would be a lot lower than what is listed here. Don't even get me started on reliability and warranty concerns. The price of OEM systems appears attractive, but in the end you get what you pay for. DIY PC builders will always get better performance and reliability for the money. Obviously, that's not an option for Apple computers.
RandomCoil - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
As with post #33, I don't understand the switch from Seagate to Samsung. The Seagate should be sufficiently fast for this system and the 5-year warranty and quiet operation are significant pluses.sophus - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
i think the RAM was underpriced (and i realize things might have changed since publication):Mushkin Blue Line 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
clicking the link above (and choosing newegg.com) -> $103 ...need 2 so $206
mushkin.com -> $227
this leads to a difference (approx) of $50 to $75. $200-225 compared to original listed price of $150.
i wanted to be all over 1GB for $150 but was unable to find the price 8(
Bugler - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
You say that the Neo2 939 board has one problem, that being the difficulty removing larger graphics cards. Their bigger problem is unreliability.For months I followed your recommendations for MSI but after the 754 DFI came out, I delayed my purchase awaiting a 939 DFI board. The past week I got tired of waiting for DFI and went ahead and purchased the MSI 939 board.
The damn thing is dead on arrival. In addition, I emailed their tech support before they opened this morning. No response. Newegg had me call MSI. After being put on the call hold dialer for about five minutes, the machine finally said they were hanging up and that I should leave my contact number for tech support to call me back.
However, they never did. Screw MSI---RMA to new egg.
tolerant - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
There are a bunch of 128mb sapphire 9600 pro's on newegg, including an opengl 2.0 bulk card, and an opengl 2.0 retail card. I recently ordered both the 2.0 bulk and retail cards, and instead of being 400 core/300 mem as expected, they ran at 391 core/229 mem. I'm not sure if I had two defective cards, but they got sent back. The price seemed too good to be true when I purchased, and I believe that $108 is a little low too, so if you order this path, make sure you get a 400/300 card.AlphaFox - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
It should be noted that the prices for 90nm CPUs is wacked out: the 3200+ 939 90nm is now $246 and the 3000+ is $215. they have been going UP in the past week; im glad I got my 3200 for $191 a few days ago!