System Summaries
With the Intel and AMD options, we end up with four configurations. The true budget setups will use the cheapest components in each area, while the upgraded alternatives will use the more expensive components. If you only want a few of the upgrades, it is also possible to come up with something in between, but we're only providing the maximum and minimum cost budget configurations.
AMD Budget Summary
| Budget AMD Sempron System |
| Hardware |
Recommended Component |
Price |
| Processor |
AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.6 GHz 256KB L2 |
$89 |
| Motherboard |
EPoX EP-8KDA3J |
$74 |
| Memory |
1x512MB PQI POWER Series CL2.5 |
$51 |
| Video Card |
MSI Radeon 9550 128MB DDR 128-bit 250/400 |
$67 |
| Hard Drive |
Hitachi 80 GB 7200 RPM 8MB SATA |
$60 |
| Optical Drive |
NEC DVD+RW 3520A |
$57 |
| Case |
Rosewill ATX with 400W PSU model TU-155 |
$59 |
| Display |
Samsung 793DF/793MB |
$145 |
| Speakers |
Creative Labs SBS240 2.0 |
$17 |
| Keyboard and Mouse |
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard and Mouse |
$25 |
| Bottom Line |
|
$644 |
AMD Upgraded Summary
| Upgraded AMD Athlon 64 System |
| Hardware |
Recommended Component |
Price |
| Processor |
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8 GHz 512KB L2 90nm socket 939 |
$146 |
| Motherboard |
Chaintech VNF4 Socket 939 |
$91 |
| Memory |
2x512MB PDP/Patriot PC3200, Model PDC1G3200LLK |
$131 |
| Video Card |
Leadtek GeForce 6600 128-bit 128MB PCIe 300/550 |
$109 |
| Hard Drive |
Seagate 160 GB 7200 RPM 8MB SATA |
$94 |
| Optical Drive |
NEC DVD+RW 3520A |
$57 |
| Floppy Drive |
NEC, Sony, TEAC, Samsung, etc. |
$8 |
| Case |
Antec SLK1650B with 350W PSU |
$65 |
| Power Supply |
Enermax Noisetaker 370W model EG375P-VE-SFMA |
$51 |
| Display |
Rosewill R710E 17" 16ms LCD |
$210 |
| Speakers |
Logitech X-530 5.1 or Z-3i 2.1 Speakers |
$57 |
| Keyboard and Mouse |
Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard and Wheel Mouse Optical |
$36 |
| Bottom Line |
|
$1055 |
Intel Budget Summary
| Budget Intel Celeron System |
| Hardware |
Recommended Component |
Price |
| Processor |
Intel Celeron D 325J 2.53 GHz 256K L2 Cache |
$84 |
| Motherboard |
EPoX EP-5EPAJ 915P |
$82 |
| Memory |
2x256MB GEIL Ultra Value 2.5-4-4-7 |
$62 |
| Video Card |
Leadtek GeForce 6200TC 64-bit, 64MB (256 shared) |
$71 |
| Hard Drive |
HItachi 80 GB 7200 RPM 8MB SATA |
$60 |
| Optical Drive |
NEC DVD+RW 3520A |
$57 |
| Case |
Rosewill ATX with 400W PSU model TU-155 |
$59 |
| Display |
Samsung 793DF/793MB |
$145 |
| Speakers |
Creative Labs SBS240 2.0 |
$17 |
| Keyboard and Mouse |
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard and Mouse |
$25 |
| Bottom Line |
|
$662 |
Intel Upgraded Summary
| Upgraded Intel Pentium 4 System |
| Hardware |
Recommended Component |
Price |
| Processor |
Intel Pentium 4 520 2.8 GHz 1024K L2 Cache |
$152 |
| Motherboard |
Gigabyte GA-8I915G Pro i915G |
$99 |
| Memory |
2x512MB PDP/Patriot PC3200, Model PDC1G3200LLK |
$131 |
| Video Card |
Leadtek GeForce 6600 128-bit 128MB PCIe 300/550 |
$109 |
| Hard Drive |
Seagate 160 GB 7200 RPM 8MB SATA |
$94 |
| Optical Drive |
NEC DVD+RW 3520A |
$57 |
| Floppy Drive |
NEC, Sony, TEAC, Samsung, etc. |
$8 |
| Case |
Antec SLK1650B with 350W PSU |
$65 |
| Power Supply |
Enermax Noisetaker 370W model EG375P-VE-SFMA |
$51 |
| Display |
Rosewill R710E 17" 16ms LCD |
$210 |
| Speakers |
Logitech X-530 5.1 or Z-3i 2.1 Speakers |
$57 |
| Keyboard and Mouse |
Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard and Wheel Mouse Optical |
$36 |
| Bottom Line |
|
$1069 |
You'll still need an Operating System as well, unless you plan on running some free OS such as one of the many flavors of Linux. XP Home runs about $90 for an OEM version, which you can pick up from most online sites if you buy qualifying hardware, while XP Professional will run about $135. The Professional version includes a few networking and security extras that we like to have, but most people will be fine with Home. Running on older version of Windows is also possible, but we don't recommend it due to outdated drivers and other usability enhancements that are only available with XP. There's no point in buying new hardware and then using an old OS, especially considering that XP itself is now over three years old.
Conclusion
That takes care of our current recommendations for the Budget to Mid-Range segments. The difference in performance and upgradeability from the base recommendations to the upgraded alternatives is pretty dramatic. We'll be taking a look at the Mid-Range to High-End price segment in our next Guide, which should cover all the options from the budget systems up through fire-breathing SLI monsters. As always, questions or comments are welcome.
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jwf1776 - Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - link
my sources are showing Thermaltake W0013 Xaser Silent Purepower 480W at $60 as the cheapest acceptable atx 2.03 availablejwf1776 - Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - link
47 - the point is that it was "important to make sure that the alternative PSU included a 24-pin power connector" and it did notyou dig?
Jep4444 - Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - link
a 20-pin PSU will work on a 24-pin mobojwf1776 - Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - link
the alternative power supply EG375P-VE-SFMA doesn't have a 24pin rail!!http://www.enermax.com.tw/products_page.php?Tid=1&...
I ordered it at found out the hard way.
please make a correction!
Jep4444 - Thursday, March 17, 2005 - link
http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/x300hm-5.htmlooking at those X300HM, you can clearly see the higher memory HyperMemory cards fair better with AA than the higher clocked low memory ones
scrolling down the page, their isn't a direct 32MB/64MB comparison of the 6200TC but both are benched and you can see the 64MB 6200TC is faster than the 32MB only when AA is on
I guess it doesn't entirely matter though given the 32MB one can't even be found on newegg ATM(or atleast i couldn't find one)
JarredWalton - Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - link
41 - Ah, that could very well be. In that case, I'd be curious to see the difference in performance between the 32MB and 64MB 64-bit TC cards. :|JarredWalton - Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - link
42 - I had no idea Rosewill was related to Newegg. Newegg itself is just the online reseller of another company, ABS Computers or some such. At least, that was my understanding. Rosewill's RMA process seems a little questionable (i.e. restrictive), which doesn't really jive with them being Newegg. Of course, maybe it's just Newegg's way to sell certain products without needing to provide as much customer support?Zepper - Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - link
Just in case the author didn't know, Rosewill isn't an independent company. It is the in-house packaging division of Newegg (like Mad Dog is to CompUSA, etc.). You can often find the same item for less under its actual name than in a Rosewill box..bh.
Jep4444 - Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - link
The one benchmarked in the article under the name 64b is the 32MB/64bit one as mentioned on the first page and the 32b is 16MB/32bitI've seen a couple benches suggesting that the onboard RAM only makes a noticeable difference when AA is turned on at which point the 32MB cards seem to hit rock bottom dropping a significant amount of FPS(the ATI one does it too)
JarredWalton - Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - link
Jep4444 - I'm still not entirely sure on whether the 6200TC-32 is a 32-bit or 64-bit interface. Looking at the performance, it appears to be a 32-bit interface as the TC-64 beats it by a large margin. Then again, the presence of more local memory might cause the performance difference. Anyway, regardless of whether the TC-32 is a 32-bit or 64-bit interface, I would definitely stick with the TC-64 or full 6200 over the TC-16/32.