Gaming Buyer's Guide - November 2004
by Jarred Walton on November 21, 2004 5:54 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Intel Mid-Range Gaming System
Unlike in the value sector, there really isn't much benefit to selecting an Intel system for the Mid-Range. They cost more and offer less performance. How much of a difference is there? Well, the price is about $75 more, which isn't too bad, but the performance of the CPU in games is going to be 10% to 20% slower in CPU-limited situations. With the powerful video cards that we're using, the CPU will definitely play more of a factor than in the budget range. You can refer to the gaming benchmarks in our Athlon FX-55 article for a better look at this. The graphics card used was the X800 XT in both PCIe and AGP versions, and the Athlon 64 3500+ would sit between the 3200+ and 3800+ 939 chips in performance.| Mid-Range Intel Pentium 4 System | ||
| Hardware | Recommended Component | Price |
| Processor | Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHz 1MB Cache | 277 |
| Motherboard | Abit AG8 i915P Chipset | 129 |
| Memory | Mushkin Dual Pack 2x512 PC3200 2.5-3-3 | 159 |
| Video Card | ATI X800 Pro PCI Express VIVO | 449 |
| Hard Drive | Seagate 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Model ST3160023AS | 93 |
| Optical Drive | NEC DVD+/-RW Drive Model 3500A | 72 |
| Case and Power Supply | Antec SLK3700-BQE with 350W | 91 |
| Display | Samsung SyncMaster 997DF 19 CRT | 234 |
| Speakers | Logitech Z-640 5.1 | 52 |
| Keyboard | Logitech Internet Keyboard | 17 |
| Mouse | Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical | 24 |
| Bottom Line | 1597 | |
 Click to enlarge. |
Other than that and the motherboard and processor, our selections remain the same. You might notice that we have stayed with DDR1 RAM instead of DDR2, and the reason for this is that DDR1 almost always outperforms equivalently priced DDR2 RAM, not to mention that you can get inexpensive DDR1 for about $100 less than similar DDR2 RAM. If you are considering an Intel platform, there is little benefit in purchasing a DDR2 configuration. Integrated graphics can use the additional bandwidth that DDR2 offers, but we're obviously not going to recommend an integrated graphics solution for a gaming system.
 Click to enlarge. |
Going back to the AMD side of things, we expect that the first shipping PCI Express motherboards are going to cost somewhat more than currently available 939 boards, and as with this Intel system, the selection of PCI Express graphics cards other than the X700 Pro and 6600GT is limited and rather expensive. Unless you plan on keeping your next video card through several system upgrades, or if you're looking into NVIDIA's SLI functionality, we are more than happy with the price/performance of the AGP cards. SLI is not yet an option on Intel systems either, as the only motherboards supporting dual PCIe X16 slots are workstation boards costing over $300. We are awaiting the release of motherboards using competing chipsets from the likes of VIA and ATI to get dual X16 slots at a reasonable price.
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spartacvs - Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - link
I decided to wait and I'll most probably go for nforce4. One thing I reallly like about your guide is the fact that there is many budgets. Most of the guides provides 3 systems (budget, price/performance and power) but more systems is really helpfull.Careless Joe - Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - link
RE: the "Cheap" psu in the budget case. Its a re-badged fortron. Very reliable.JarredWalton - Saturday, December 4, 2004 - link
Just FYI, I recently upgraded from the integrated audio on my MSI K8N Neo Platinum to an Audigy 2 ZS. My benchmarks in Half-Life 2 (using a measley 9800 Pro) went up a whopping 1 FPS. It might matter more with a faster GPU, but for my setup the sound card didn't matter much. It did, however, eliminate some static/noise from the audio. I couldn't hear it on the speakers, but on headphones it was very noticeable.Was it worth $75? That depends on how much disposable income you have and how annoying any extra static is. Since I often use headphones on my PC at night (no need to wake the wife and neighbors), it was annoying enough for me that I went and spent the money. For most people - particularly those using moderate to cheap speakers - you probably wouldn't notice.
SDA - Saturday, December 4, 2004 - link
Jarred, very true.. I've seen people defend PowerStream purchases after being told that they're the same as Tagans (which I don't do, by the way; I hate to even implicitly insult something that someone else owns) by saying that OCZ is a good name and is better-recognized, as if that really has anything to do with PSU performance. If you ask me, I don't think that sort of thing should really be factored into recommendations.. if someone wants to pay more for a brand name (when it has been demonstrated that there's no functional advantage), they're probably in the minority. (If someone wants to pay more for the PowerStream's looks, they need 20ccs of taste, stat. .. kidding, PowerStream owners ;)Oh, and spartacvs, just remember that integrated audio (non-SoundStorm integrated audio, anyway) will eat more CPU than a dedicated sound card will. It's not much of a big deal with today's overpowered PCs, if you ask me, and you still get plenty of bang for your buck (infinite bang for your buck, actually, since integrated audio is free).
spartacvs - Friday, December 3, 2004 - link
JarredWalton, yes, I think I understand your argument: AGPat the end of his life and PCIe is comming in.I had bad information about integrated audio. Integrated audio is not fantastic but I'm sure it'll be a majhor improvment over my old sb live!value 4.1... And, as I said, it's a way to save a few dollars. Something I, unfortunately, have to be very cautious these days :(
Thank you very much for your wise comments.
JarredWalton - Friday, December 3, 2004 - link
SDA - I understand that the internals are the same. For some people, however, the outside (and the brand) will matter. It doesn't bother me much, but convincing others of this is more difficult to do. I always prefer the weight test for PSUs (assuming you're at a store where you can pick up the PSU). All things being apparently equal, always go with the heavier PSU. :)Spartacvs - *all* motherboards include integrated audio these days. What Nforce4 doesn't include is the SoundStorm audio that was in Nforce1 and Nforce2 (certain models). NVIDIA is supposed to be working on a high-definition audio solution, but when that will actually arrive is a little difficult to say. The audio that will be on Nforce4 is the same as what is on most Nforce3 boards these days, so don't worry too much about that. If audio is really important to you, pick up a Creative Audigy 2 ZS (for games) or the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (for more serious audio work).
SDA - Friday, December 3, 2004 - link
That depends on your definition of close, Jarred ;) The only real differences between them are cosmetic (shell, sticker, brand). The components, layout, and design are nearly identical.If you're having trouble with this concept, here's a parallel for you: Alienware's older notebooks (before they switched to Uniwill) and equivalent Sager notebooks (with a comparable configuration, obviously). Same platform, same layouts, same chassis, same components (possible that they used different brands of memory or something, but that's about it), same party assembling them; the differences are almost entirely cosmetic, and the ones that aren't don't apply to functionality.
Hopefully this is all a little clearer now, the world of computer hardware is really far too convoluted for its own good..
spartacvs - Thursday, December 2, 2004 - link
Ok, thanks for you answer. The place I want to buy have most of the memory brands. It's just muskin, they have only a few models.As for the MB. What I don't like about nforce4 is the lack of integrated audio. It increase the price tag a little bit more and I'm tight on money :(
JarredWalton - Thursday, December 2, 2004 - link
SDA - Just pointing out that they're not identical. Close, perhaps, and which you like more is probably more a matter of preference, but they certainly aren't identical.Spartcvs - Corsair, GEIL, Kingston, OCZ, and quite a few others are decent RAM. For value RAM, Kingston and Corsair are probably the most widely spread, but I don't really know what other countries are like in terms of availability. The difference between the motherboards is more difficult to quantify. I really like Abit boards, but I'm not as keen on the VIA chipset - NVIDIA just seems more stable in my experience. Either one is still a fine motherboard, and there are several other socket 939 NForce3 250 boards available. Now, though, waiting for NForce4 non-SLI might be a good idea - get one of those for ~$130 and get a 6600GT PCIe card.
spartacvs - Thursday, December 2, 2004 - link
Hey guys, I have a few questions.Fisrt, I do not overclock my system and will most probaly go with the Antec 2650 case because it's smaller and still a good case. Will also take the 120 GB HD because 160 is overkill for me (hey I hardly fullfill my actual 40 GB).
I hesitate between the abit board and the msi one. What do I lose going for the abit rather than the msi? The Abit is a via chipset, right?
Where I want to buy they don't have much of the mushkin memory. Can you recommand another brand (and model please because there is so many type of memory modules, it's easy to be lost).
Thanks