Buyer's Guide - Entry Level to Mid-Range, March 2005
by Jarred Walton on March 15, 2005 1:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Optical Drives
We thought that DVD+RW drives had hit rock bottom, but they continue to drop a few dollars now and then. If you really have no desire to use recordable media - even as a backup device - you could save yourself $40 or so, but the potential uses of a DVDR are just too many to pass up.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $57 shipped
The latest NEC-3520A drives are now down to the prices of the old 3500A, and they have fallen about $10 since our last look. At the current rate of decline, we may actually see DVD-ROM drives disappear, with the DVD+RW models dropping to $30 or less! By then, of course, we'll be looking at the next generation of optical media storage. The only feature that the 3520A is missing is DVD-RAM support, although we've also heard conflicting reports of its Mt. Rainier (Bitsetting) support. LG Electronics offers 16X models with DVD-RAM support, if you require it. The 3520A comes in either black or beige bezels, with the black carrying a slight price premium right now. If you need an aluminum bezel, you'll have to purchase that as an aftermarket part for a few dollars more. If any of you have had serious problems with the 3520A and have a better alternative, drop us a line. As it stands, however, the price of $60 almost makes such devices a throw-away commodity.
Floppy Drive Alternative: 3.5" Floppy Drive
Price: $8 shipped
For these systems, we should finally be at the point where a floppy drive is no longer a necessity. We'd still add it for the small cost, and if you want to install XP to a RAID array, a floppy drive will still be required in most instances. BIOS updates for some boards may also require a floppy disk, although with utilities such as WinFlash, that is becoming less of a concern. We still put a floppy in most of our systems on the odd chance that we'll need it, but it's up to you to decide if you want to try dropping this ancient technology. If you do include a floppy, remember to pay attention to your case colors.
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JarredWalton - Monday, June 13, 2005 - link
58 - ??? The Mid-Range to High-End went up a couple weeks ago. Next update in a couple more weeks, I guess. :Dhttp://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=242...
SAV602 - Thursday, June 9, 2005 - link
This month?spartacvs - Saturday, May 14, 2005 - link
Yepeee!JarredWalton - Saturday, May 14, 2005 - link
It's coming soon! :pspartacvs - Thursday, May 12, 2005 - link
Hey guys, it's time for a new system guide :)TrogdorJW - Friday, March 25, 2005 - link
Sorry - ignore that last post, but I guess my comments name and pass don't work in the forums. Just wanted to check. :)TrogdorJW - Friday, March 25, 2005 - link
Testing....JarredWalton - Thursday, March 24, 2005 - link
jwf1776 sent me a reply email which updates the situation. I'll just post the text with links here:------------------
I don't know why I sent you the link the to enermax site, because the site does make it seem like its atx 2.03 ... but it's all lies...
The manual I got with the power supply was pretty clear about which models had 24pin rails. They have a 24P on the model number or something.
Anyways, the maxpoint site (American enermax distributor?) has the correct stats at
http://www.maxpoint.com/products/pow_supp/spec_pg/...
Also here is a review of the part
http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/power/enerm...
Both sites make clear its atx 1.3
------------------
So, there you have it: the Enermax 375 is *not* a 24-pin EPS 12V compliant motherboard. It *does* have dual rails, which may be sufficient, but that's not the same as supporting the ATX 2.0x standard. It looks like Enermax needs to fix their spec pages....
JarredWalton - Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - link
jwf1776: I sent this in an email to him as well, but here's my question to you all: is this a case of false advertising by Enermax or not? Here is an image for the alternative PSU:http://www.enermax.com.tw/upload/clgcable0217.jpg
It doesn't have a 24-pin connector, per se, but it has a 20 pin with a second 4-pin connector that makes it into a 24-pin. Note that there is *also* a second 4-pin +12V adapter for the standard P4 power connector. Unless someone can confirm that the PSU doesn't include the two 4-pin adapters, I believe it still qualifies as a 24-pin PSU. ATX 12V 2.01 vs. ATX 12V 2.03 - is there really a major difference other than the 24-pin adapter bein in one piece?
Jep4444 - Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - link
48 - the adapter doesn't do very much, it'll work without an adapter