November 2007 Budget Buyers' Guide
by Jonathan Maloney and Jarred Walton on November 8, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Closing Thoughts
Generally thought of as no more than the duty of the IT department - and completely devoid of any of the "bling" associated with the midrange to high-end PC market, boutique builders and extreme gaming selections from big PC makers like Dell and HP - the low-end and budget PC sectors are often neglected. However, they play a vital role in sustaining and ensuring a regular product turnover in the market. Without the income that comes from entry-level office systems and budget gaming rigs, we would be bereft of the product innovation and performance that is currently on the market right now.
Looking at the "budget" gaming systems we've configured, you might think at first glance that you are looking at a high-end machine. As we've proven though, high-end performance doesn't necessarily have to come with high-end prices. The market is at an interesting time for CPUs, chipsets, motherboards, and video cards. Intel's Penryn - Wolfdale and Yorkfield - processors are set for release, NVIDIA and AMD are readying their NF7/790 chipsets, NVIDIA has the G92 refresh of the 8800 series underway, and AMD is set to launch the successor to the somewhat disappointing R600, the RV670. While many of these product launches are interesting, most target the midrange and higher markets, and some last-generation parts are now being sold at tremendous values in order to pave the way. That's part of what makes the entry-level market so interesting right now.
Although performance is likely to be higher with the Intel system, particularly with overclocking and at lower resolutions where the processor plays more of a role, the AMD system does come with an SLI-capable motherboard. At resolutions higher than 1680x1050, a dual-GPU solution is often necessary if you plan to play games at their highest settings. Even though the Intel system comes in at a cheaper price and allows for higher overclocking headroom, for gaming we would give the nod to the AMD system - barely. As usual, for gamers the GPU continues to be the bigger concern. The option to add a second GPU down the line, when stock clearances and eBay come into play, makes the AMD platform a slightly better choice. There's also a reasonable chance (no official word yet) that Phenom parts will work in this motherboard, further opening doors for upgrades.
In order to squeeze more performance out of our CPU/RAM combinations, investing in a decent aftermarket CPU air-cooling solution is a good idea. For the budget end of the spectrum, Arctic Cooling's Freezer 7 Pro is still a decent option, while further up the scale we see offerings from Thermalright, Scythe, and Tuniq still holding the top spots in terms of performance.
Never before has it been possible to purchase not just one, but several of this year's hardware highlights in what qualifies for many as a budget gaming system. With DDR2 prices at rock bottom, it makes little sense to select parts from the traditional low-end when a kit from one of the top brands is available for $10 more. As the consumer sales for Micron memory, Crucial has been a market leader in the RAM industry for years now. Being able to include a 2GB (2x1GB) kit of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 is not only a welcome surprise but also an indication that we are seeing the closing scenes of the DDR2 era.
Both configurations include proven overclocking motherboards, RAM, as well as CPUs. For the price, we also get simply jaw-dropping graphics performance. PS3 too expensive? If you already need a PC - and most families do - all you need to do now is add a $250 GPU and you've got something that clearly offers more graphics horsepower! With AMD's HD 3800 series still a couple of weeks away from launch on November 19, we feel this represents the best bang-for-the-buck out there. The PC industry is on the cusp of many new product launches, but right now is still a great time to buy.
Generally thought of as no more than the duty of the IT department - and completely devoid of any of the "bling" associated with the midrange to high-end PC market, boutique builders and extreme gaming selections from big PC makers like Dell and HP - the low-end and budget PC sectors are often neglected. However, they play a vital role in sustaining and ensuring a regular product turnover in the market. Without the income that comes from entry-level office systems and budget gaming rigs, we would be bereft of the product innovation and performance that is currently on the market right now.
Looking at the "budget" gaming systems we've configured, you might think at first glance that you are looking at a high-end machine. As we've proven though, high-end performance doesn't necessarily have to come with high-end prices. The market is at an interesting time for CPUs, chipsets, motherboards, and video cards. Intel's Penryn - Wolfdale and Yorkfield - processors are set for release, NVIDIA and AMD are readying their NF7/790 chipsets, NVIDIA has the G92 refresh of the 8800 series underway, and AMD is set to launch the successor to the somewhat disappointing R600, the RV670. While many of these product launches are interesting, most target the midrange and higher markets, and some last-generation parts are now being sold at tremendous values in order to pave the way. That's part of what makes the entry-level market so interesting right now.
Although performance is likely to be higher with the Intel system, particularly with overclocking and at lower resolutions where the processor plays more of a role, the AMD system does come with an SLI-capable motherboard. At resolutions higher than 1680x1050, a dual-GPU solution is often necessary if you plan to play games at their highest settings. Even though the Intel system comes in at a cheaper price and allows for higher overclocking headroom, for gaming we would give the nod to the AMD system - barely. As usual, for gamers the GPU continues to be the bigger concern. The option to add a second GPU down the line, when stock clearances and eBay come into play, makes the AMD platform a slightly better choice. There's also a reasonable chance (no official word yet) that Phenom parts will work in this motherboard, further opening doors for upgrades.
In order to squeeze more performance out of our CPU/RAM combinations, investing in a decent aftermarket CPU air-cooling solution is a good idea. For the budget end of the spectrum, Arctic Cooling's Freezer 7 Pro is still a decent option, while further up the scale we see offerings from Thermalright, Scythe, and Tuniq still holding the top spots in terms of performance.
Never before has it been possible to purchase not just one, but several of this year's hardware highlights in what qualifies for many as a budget gaming system. With DDR2 prices at rock bottom, it makes little sense to select parts from the traditional low-end when a kit from one of the top brands is available for $10 more. As the consumer sales for Micron memory, Crucial has been a market leader in the RAM industry for years now. Being able to include a 2GB (2x1GB) kit of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 is not only a welcome surprise but also an indication that we are seeing the closing scenes of the DDR2 era.
Both configurations include proven overclocking motherboards, RAM, as well as CPUs. For the price, we also get simply jaw-dropping graphics performance. PS3 too expensive? If you already need a PC - and most families do - all you need to do now is add a $250 GPU and you've got something that clearly offers more graphics horsepower! With AMD's HD 3800 series still a couple of weeks away from launch on November 19, we feel this represents the best bang-for-the-buck out there. The PC industry is on the cusp of many new product launches, but right now is still a great time to buy.
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Lunyone - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
Are they kidding? This Apex case/PSU combo has got to go! I'd put in the NSK Antec Case/PSU combo with a 380w Antec Earthwatts ANY DAY over that piece of c##p! Who recommends that? It's like recommending a Rosewill/Broadway PSU (no offense) over a quality PSU. Did they actually boot these things up or was it just a paper launch? Hehehehe!Frumious1 - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
Let's play a game: come up with the best system you can and keep the price under $600. Make sure you're including everything, like LCD, keyb, mouse, speakers. Guess what? It's damn near impossible to do if you're going to spend $50 on a PSU! I don't dispute that the cheap PSUs may fail, especially with overclocking, but I've seen a lot of lousy PSUs that are still ticking after four or five years. I've also seen plenty Antec PSUs fail within the first six months.If anyone knows a good way to get a quality PSU into a budget system, though, I'd love to hear it. I don't want to cut RAM, CPU, GPU, mobo, etc. any more than already done. So I'm left with spending $50 more just because cheap PSUs are going to apparently explode! Pardon me for being a sceptic. Sure, a capacitor may blow under heavy load, but the only way you're getting that sort of load is if you do some overclocking.
I'd say that the gaming systems in this article are probably going to put out about 150W max without overclocking, and they can almost certainly do that for a long time. Sort of like my old overclocked Pentium D 920 (3.6GHz) is still chugging along with a $50 case+PSU I bought about two years ago. And I know for a fact that system is putting out more than 150W, yet it keeps running without apparent difficulties.
wjl - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
Right. The issue of power consumption isn't covered here at all.Following other tests as well, the Seasonic power supplies appear to be both cheap and efficient, tho they are at about 75% only. If you spend some 10$ more on a Silverstone PSU, you'll have about 85% efficiency, which pays back in the long run - plus helps saving the planet a bit.
Zoomer - Thursday, November 15, 2007 - link
Antec earthwatts 380w going for $30 AR at newegg. :)JonathanMaloney - Thursday, November 8, 2007 - link
First of all I just want to thank those who have taken the time to comment on my first article for Anandtech. I know there were a couple of issues that had to initially be ironed out along with some existing disputes over some of the hardware selection. Hopefully I'll be able to provide answers for these choices - please forgive me if I've left any out - I will get to them eventually!Standard or Widescreen?
This was bound to cause some conflicts - undoubtedly at 20" and up, the choice is pretty obvious for most - widescreen makes the most sense, but at 19"? My original selection was for the same monitor but in 4:3 - but after some discussion we felt it was best to go with the widescreen option. Having the option to display in both landscape and portrait modes was a valuable addition, and we felt this was a valid alternative.
X2 5000+ Black Etd
My bad on this one - originally I went for an X2 5200+ but was recommended the Black Etd with the unlocked multiplier - in my excitement(!) I overlooked the fact checking process - I did check out the AMD site along with two other reviews for it but didn't find any mention of a heatsink being required. Being thorough is the key here and I let you guys down, so I'm sorry for that.
2Gb RAM enough for Vista?
Hell yeah! I'm only running 2Gb at the moment and am playing COD4, Gears of War, Crysis SP demo all extremely well on my Opteron 165 / 2Gb DDR500 / 8800GT. Of course I would prefer to have 4Gb for 64-bit Vista but for a budget of roughly $1000, 2Gb RAM was the baseline - 4Gb was an expensive luxury. Sure, if you have the cash, go the 4Gb route with 64-bit Vista.
Linux for entry-level system
A good point here - and it should have been mentioned in the article for those looking to save another $100 - and at a price of around $500 those entry-level PCs would have looked fantastic value. Only thing here was that we were accommodating for the wider audience, and one that undoubtedly be Windows based. Don't forget most entry-level systems are configured for the everyday office or home - a domain where Linux has yet to penetrate on a large scale. (Again, Linux vs Windows can be argued till the cows come home)
Samsung hard drives
A valid concern here, as Samsung are generally not a big player in the HDD market - not yet at least. If they continue moving as they are in the cell phone / RAM / SSD markets, they might just contend with the likes of WD, Seagate and Hitachi. Samsung produce some very reliable hard drives, and provide some of the lowest measured acoustics of any HDD, while also having a very low power draw. It was for these reasons I went for the Spinpoint series over the more traditional offerings from WD or Seagate.
I'm sure I'm missing something here but I'll get to it once I read over the comments again. Thanks!
strikeback03 - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - link
Do the widescreens here rotate to portrait orientation? I love being able to rotate my 24" vertical to work on portrait oriented images, but I have noticed that a lot of the bedget 24" displays that have come out since I bought mine (February) do not rotate.Also, the guide mentioned Intel and AMD stock coolers using heatpipes. I have an E6600 and 2 Q6600 stock coolers sitting in their boxes here, as far as I can tell they are a copper core pressed into an extruded aluminum fin section with a fan clipped on top. Do higher-end processors come with better heatsinks?
Finally, as far as Linux goes, my experience getting Ubuntu running on a few systems has been mixed. My desktop here at work (Q6600, MSI P35 Platinum, SATA optical and HDD, nVidia 7300GT, 2GB Corsair RAM) runs Ubuntu flawlessly, this system could be the poster child for everything working out of the box. My home system (E6600, Foxconn P965, SATA optical and 2 HDD, nVidia 7600GT, 2GB Corsair RAM) has been a major PITA. 6.10 ran well mostly, though there were occasional USB and sound issues and it did not like my Bluetooth keyboard. 7.04 would not run without some kernel options set, and would still freeze occasionally. 7.10 was completely unstable until I got rid of powernowd and added a few other kernel options. Then there are random issues like my MX1000 may or may not get all the buttons working each time I boot. So I would say the OS is certainly usable for common tasks (though gaming can be an issue), but the user should know they might need to tweak some things and should probably have another computer with internet access available when installing if nothing else in order to check forums and such for help in getting everything running.
stmok - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
I don't think it would hurt to mention Linux as an alternative if the person chooses to save $112.Hmmm, accommodate a wider audience?
What does that entail? All they do is surf the web, email, maybe download a movie, music, and play an occasional Flash game or use some other Flash-based content. (Youtube works fine in Linux).
All that is easily achieved with Linux.
The issue arises when that much needed app needs Windows. Like Office 2007. (You can run Office 2003 with Wine).
customcoms - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
Glad to see even an anandtech editor is still gaming on a trusty Opteron 165. These processors are GREAT, especially since I only paid $150 for mine and its been at 2.7ghz ons tock air, UNDERVOLTED to 1.3v, since day one! Now its just time to ship my 8800GTS 320mb back to eVGA and get an 8800GT.One thing mentioned, but not in depth, is the overclocking ability of the cpu's. You mentioned it, but failed to point out that at 3.2ghz (which is reasonable for both AMD and Intel cpu's on air), the Intel cpu will beat amd's by up to 20% (which most everyone reading these comments knows). Also, the Intel cpu is more likely to reach that clock speed, and there isn't a plethora of knowledge on AMD AM2 overclocking since pretty much every hardcore overclocker is riding the Core 2 train right now. Which means for someone new to overclocking, the Intel platform is probably going to have better support at this point (as far as tweaking the motherboards etc.). Either system is still plenty fast, and it won't matter much unless you are benchmarking, but the Intel system gets the nod right now.
piasabird - Thursday, November 8, 2007 - link
I dont see many people using a Samsung Hard Drive in their builds on the website forums.Are they any good at all?
Missing Ghost - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
Yes they are good. At same capacity/RPM, pretty much any manufacturer gives you something relatively similar.