Buyer's Guide - Mid-Range, October 2004
by Jarred Walton on October 21, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Case and Power Supply Recommendations
Choosing a case can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. Some people want a lot of bling-bling, others want silence, and still others want cooling and expansion capabilities. For a mid-range system, $100 is a good ballpark figure for the cost of the case, although you can easily spend more. A quality case with a 350W or higher power supply (PSU) should be sufficient, but for gaming systems with their more power hungry graphics cards, it might be a good idea to purchase a separate PSU.
Case Recommendation: Antec SLK3700-BQE with 350W PSU
Price: $91 Shipped (Retail)
For a classic design with a reliable power supply and good features, we like the Antec SLK3700-BQE. The hard drive assembly is nice to work with, and the included 120mm fan is nearly silent. The fan on the PSU is a little louder, but not enough to really disturb anyone. Unfortunately, the case requires tools for most of the assembly - only the side panel can be removed without using a screw driver. If you do not upgrade frequently, this is not a major concern. Adding a second 120mm fan on the front of the case can help with cooling, although it does add to the noise levels. There is an easy-to-clean filter in the front of the case, which can help to eliminate bunnies from the inside of your computer. You should still clean your PC interior at least once or twice a year, but it does keep out some of the dust. Overall, the case is very well designed and the included PSU is of relatively high quality.
Case Alternative: Thermaltake VA3000 Dream Tower Tsunami with 400W PSU
Price: $131-135 Shipped (Retail)
We reviewed the Thermaltake Tsunami recently and were impressed with the design and attractive look. It is available in both silver and black, with or without a window, and some vendors include a 400W PSU in the bundle (like Newegg, where we found this price). The windowed version costs a little more, but internally, the cases are the same. The case includes two relatively quiet 120mm fans for effective cooling, and while it may not be the easiest case to set up, it does have a partially tool-less design and the looks make up for many of the deficiencies.
SFF Case Alternative: Shuttle XPC SN95G5
Price: $299 Shipped (Retail)
As a final case alternative, we offer the latest Shuttle XPC SFF case - note that this is only for socket 939 CPUs, but there is a socket 775 version available as well, the SB83G5. These days, you can't swing a bat without hitting a SFF case, so look around a bit if you want something different. (Can you tell that it's playoff season?) While the price is rather high, remember that you do not need a motherboard or a CPU HSF. In the end, the Suttle SFF we recommend here adds about $50 compared to the base socket 939 platform.
We hope to have a review of this case in the near future, but the latest G5 cases from Shuttle appear to be better in most areas when compared to their predecessors. Expansion options are limited compared to tower cases, but if desk space is a concern, SFFs are great. Throw in an LCD, and you're all set. Inexperienced PC builders may find SFF cases a little more difficult to work with, due to the cramped space, but they aren't much worse than regular cases. Note that unlike many other SFF cases, there are no integrated graphics in the SN95G5, so a graphics card is required. Dual-slot graphics cards will not fit in the case, so if you're thinking of getting a 6800 Ultra, you'll want to look elsewhere.
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Avalon - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
For the s754 system, to clarify. Sorry. Wish these posts could be edited :)Avalon - Friday, October 22, 2004 - link
If you wanted to cut an additional ~$50, switch out that MSI K8N Neo Platinum and throw in an Epox 8KDA3J. It's only $73 on newegg, shipped, which is within a dollar or two of the Chaintech VNF-250, but has loads more features. After all, you guys gave the 8KDA3+ an editor's choice award, so why not recommend the "value" board in a mid range rig? It's an option to ponder over.dragonballgtz - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
A $200 CPU would go better with a 9800Pro IMHO for gamers.JarredWalton - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
ksherman, that's basically what I went with, but outside of gaming there is no real need for a fast graphics card. $200 for a graphics card that many people do not want/need is difficult to justify. Rather than create more confusion with talk of gaming alternatives, we are going to look at putting together a Gaming Guide in the near future.The Mid-Range PC is such a broad segment that it is virtually impossible to cover all options without writing a 20,000 word article. This one is already long enough, and that was after I removed the gaming options. Here's the basics, though:
If you want a moderate gaming card for AGP, about the only reasonable choice right now is a 9800 Pro. The 6800/6800GT are too expensive for most people, I think. PCI Express has the 6600GT which tends to be faster than the 9800 Pro by about 10 to 20%. As games are GPU limited in most cases, AMD fans will probably either want to wait for PCI Express motherboards and get a 6600GT, or else bite the bullet and spend $360+ on a 6800GT. Ouch. :)
Beenthere - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
Nice guide. Lotta work !!!I think the biggest issue for most folks looking to build a new PC or even to upgrade within a budget, is prioritizing. As you can see from the comments above, gamers always want a top-of-the-line Video card even when this takes a big bite outta the budget. To do that you gotta cut cost some place else and that may compromise the total system performance.
Seems to me that an easy means to quantify and qualify the real options for an individual system would be by listing the hardware categories as you've done on a spreadsheet then plug in the hardware and prices accordingly. I think some folks would be surprised to see how their total system price climbs way beyond their original budget when you add $50. here and there to get the "best" of a particular component or to step up to the next level of component.
As you pointed out, sometimes like with memory, buying the lowest latency modules may cost more than moving up 200 MHz in CPU speed, so the CPU may be a better choice. Your guide and recommendations give PC builders a great head start on getting the most bang-for-their-buck.
Thanks for the effort!
ksherman - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
also, I think that a good description for a mid range system should be a system with a good amount of power (hence the processor choice) with out the price premium. I like mid-ranges because they offer the power i need with the versitility to do anything I will need to do for a while down the road.ksherman - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
It is kinda weird that you recommend such a low-end card for a mid-range system... to me (as everyone else has stated) the 6600 and 9800's should be in the midrange systems. 9600 and similar should be put into low-end systems... in regards to the x300, you state that it is good for those not into gaming so much as other "basic computing tasks", I think that something like that belongs in the low-end systems category.JarredWalton - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
I have made a few minor corrections, and I also added a $1000 AMD 754 system to the summary page, for those that might feel $1250 is too much. :)#3: Corrected, thanks. MB, GB... sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own.
#7: RAID 1 hardware controllers should not incur any noticeable performance penalty, as they simply tell both hard drives to write the same data. Better RAID 1 controllers will actually have improved read performance, as they can pull data from two sources. I have not done any extensive testing of this, however, and would guess that most integrated RAID controllers lack that feature. If anyone knows for sure, speak up.
#12: I didn't put much of an emphasis on gaming, as I hope to cover that more in an upcoming Gaming Guide. We'll see if that gets a green light - it's been a while since we covered that topic in depth, I think, although the Doom 3 craze touched on it.
#15: Stay tuned. That's all I will say for now. The Pioneer is still a good choice, though.
#16: Is that typo corrected now? If not, which page are you seeing that on, since I checked both the Display and Summary pages for the error.
Thanks!
Desslok - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
That monitor costs as much as the whole system would?NEC/Mitsubishi FE991SB-BK 19" 1274?????
deathwalker - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
Great article...I am a little surprised at the Optical Drive choice of the NEC 3500A @ $73, reason being is that you just reviewed the Pioneer 108 and called it the best drive reviewed to date and its only $78.