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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JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
17 - The older Maxtor are like the older WD: they use standard bearings and are prone to develop a whine (in my experience). If you can verify that the drive has fluid dynamic bearings, you could get Maxtor as well. I haven't had great experiences with the Maxtor drives, although I've heard the latest models are better.JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
15 - Sorry, I meant "9550" but typed "5500". The article lists the correct card, though. :o Most of the FX cards aren't worth consideration.As for the 6200TC, there are actually 3 versions, all of which were tested in the AnandTech article. There is a 16MB 16-bit card (one RAM chip), a 32MB 32-bit card (two RAM chips), and a 64MB 64-bit card (four RAM chips). The 32MB cards are not a 64-bit interface as far as I am aware. Many companies are causing confusion on the TC cards as they'll count the PCIe connection as bandwidth in order to make the features look better. Even if the RAM were 700 MHz instead of 550 MHz, you're looking at 2800 MBps on-card bandwidth for the 32-bit version vs. 4400 MBps on the 64-bit version. In theory, the PCIe connection will add an additional 2000 MBps (roughly - 2000 up and 2000 down) , but some of the RAM bandwidth is going to the CPU.
16 - I'd take the guaranteed 6600 for $7 more over the 6200. The 6200 also lacks support for certain memory compression schemes as I understand it.
Klober - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
I know this is a minor point, but I'm curious as to why Maxtor isn't mentioned in the price guide for hard drives. Is there something I don't know about them concerning speed, noise or reliability?filterxg - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
To most people I'd continue to recommend a 6200 over a 6600 vanilla. Rivatuner unlocks the 4 pipelines (softmod), so it becomes an indentical card.Jep4444 - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
"Oh, as far as the budget PCIe card recommendation going to the 64MB 6200TC, please read the benchmarks in our 6200TC article before saying that the 32MB/32-bit version is better (due to memory speeds)."you seem to be confusing cards, i'm talking about the 32MB/64bit part thats clocked at 700mhz(as opposed to 550mhz of the 64MB one)
you're thinking of the 16MB version thats 32bit
PS who said to use the 5500? he mentioned the 9550 which is faster than the 5500
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
13 - Regarding refurb, that's something for the individual to decide. Warranty and availability are limited, so we don't recommend them in Guides. I still don't know about the Chaintech, as I can't find concrete information on specs for the Ultra vs. standard. According to Chaintech, it's the standard nF4 vs. the Ultra, which means the only thing that gets lost is SATA-2 support and a few network "enhancements". They're the same chipset with different resistors cut.Fricardo - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Same as those above, I'd say go with a 6600 non-gt for the upgraded setup. If you're actually going to upgrade the vid-card -- indicating you care somewhat about gaming -- you might as well do it right and spend the extra $7.Is it worth the $10 savings to go from the Ultra mobo to the vanilla? I don't know but I've heard that chipset wasn't made to OC well. Seems like you'd get a bit more value and $99 is still a great price for a mobo. I'm just wondering.
Another possibility for reducing cost is refurbed parts. I've been looking through NewEgg's refurb video section lately and there's tons of great cards for cheap. PCI-Express too. It seems to me you can really raise value that way.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Oh, as far as the budget PCIe card recommendation going to the 64MB 6200TC, please read the benchmarks in our 6200TC article before saying that the 32MB/32-bit version is better (due to memory speeds). The bump from 32-bit to 64-bit more than makes up for the slower RAM (if it is indeed slower). The 64MB 6200TC also beats the X300 in *every* test, so there's no reason to go with the X300 card unless you insist on ATI.http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2300...
I'm actually not fully convinced the "TurboCache" architecture really works all that well. Looking at the various cards, the performance scales almost directly with local memory bandwidth. But that's a topic for another day.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Oops... some bad picks on the GPUs this time. I keep forgetting the 5500. I have updated the GPU page with new picks, and will shortly update the summaries. I guess after seeing 6600 AGP prices I forgot that the PCIe cards were substantially less. Sorry.I also corrected the VNF4 to omit the Ultra. I can't tell if the Ultra includes Firewire support or not. Newegg, at least, is using the same images for both models. I think that's what threw me off in the first place.
rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Sorry about my post #7. I just re-read it and I wasn't very clear.What I was trying to say is that I think you're wanting to recommend the Chaintech VNF4 mother board (currently $89 shipped from newegg). This board is different than the Chaintech VNF4/Ultra which is about $100 shipped. For the extra $11, you get a motherboard powered by the nvidia nForce 4 Ultra chip which includes onboard firewall, SATA2 support, and nvidia nTune performance software.
For me, I think the extra $11 is worth the features.
I beleive you'll need to either change the price or alter the narrative to be clearer on your board selection.
But if you really can find the Chaintech VNF4/Ultra for $89 please let me know where!