Buyer's Guide - Entry Level to Mid-Range, March 2005
by Jarred Walton on March 15, 2005 1:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Speakers
If you're putting together a budget computer primarily for office and Internet use, getting a decent set of speakers is not going to be a top priority. You probably have some cheap speakers sitting around already that can be used, or headphones will also suffice. The only reason to actually get speakers is if you plan on playing games, watching movies, or listening to music from the computer. We'll give a suggestion for each use. As far as sound cards go, the integrated audio in any of these motherboards is going to be more than sufficient for all but the most demanding users - and if you're a demanding user, plan on spending more than the low-end budget that we're using in this Guide.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $17 shipped
The "little brother" of the Creative SBS270 that we've recommended in the past, these are about as cheap as you can get for speakers while still getting acceptable output quality. You can find a lot of cheap speakers at local electronics stores, and the only thing that we would recommend at the low end is to make sure that you purchase powered speakers, and preferably the kind that don't require batteries. Getting speakers that are magnetically shielded is also important, as they'll be near you monitor in most setups. Just remember, these speakers are only meant to give you the basic beeps and boops, so if you want quality, plan on spending more money.
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| Click images to enlarge. | |
Speaker Alternative: Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers or Z-3i 2.1 Speakers
Price: $57 shipped
For 5.1 speakers that have amazing quality, given the price, the Logitech X-530 speakers are still the way to go. They work well for games, movies, and even music. Those who are more serious about musical quality - or who lack desk space - will be better served by a set of 2.1 speakers - 5.1 isn't going to help stereo recordings sound better, after all. If you want 2.1 speakers, the Logitech Z-3 line costs about as much as the X-530 and includes better satellites and a larger subwoofer for about the same price. One of the useful features on Logitech's speakers is that they all feature a headphone socket, which will mute the speakers when used. While it's not required by any means, it can come in handy late at night.
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rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
The Leadtek GeForce 6600 is $109 at NewEgg. It's only $7 more than your 6200 PCI-E selection.rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
"what happen to 6600 non-GT?"Man, that's an excellent question. I was wondering the same thing.
rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
I think you're socket 939 mobo recommendation is incorrect.The Chaintech board that's $91 shipped (actually $89 shipped from NewEgg) is the nForce 4 board, but it's not ULTRA, meaning you don't get the firewall, the SATA2, or NVIDIA nTune software.
I THINK this is the board you're wanting to recommend.
If it really is the Chaintech ULTRA board, please let me know exactly where I can get it for $89 shipped.
BTW, if you do a pricegrabber search on the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra board, the non Ultra board will erroneously be displayed in the results for new egg.
The Chaintech VNF 4 ULTRA board is $101 at ChiefValue....that's the cheapest I can find it.
rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
bigpow - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
what happen to 6600 non-GT?Jep4444 - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
you beat me to it ChineseDemocracyGNR, the 9600SEs 64bit bus cripples the 9600 far more than the 75mhz core clock reduction on the 9550also the 64MB 6200TCs are even slower than the 32MB ones due to use of slower memory, the X300 would beat either of them anyways
you guys really didn't look enough on the budget GPU recomendations
Booster - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Displays - 'costED a year ago' - is that correct?ChineseDemocracyGNR - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
"AGP Graphics Recommendation: Sapphire Radeon 9600 SE 128MB DDR 64-bit, 325/400 GPU/RAM clock (bulk/OEM)"This is a very, very bad recommendation. The Radeon 9550 128MB ***128-bit*** will give much better performance for the same money.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
"PCIe Graphics Recommendation: Leadtek GeForce 6200TC 64-bit, 64MB (256 shared) PCIe with 350 MHz core"
I also don't agree with the PCI-E recommendation. I don't think $71 is a good price for a 64MB 64-bit 6200 when the X300 (not SE) is only $76.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
I actually don't mind this though, but the 9600SE is so bad I hope you change the guide before more people read it.
filterxg - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Another great read. Thanks for the guide!