April 2007 Buyers' Guides: Budget and Midrange Configurations
by Jarred Walton on April 20, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Closing Thoughts
As usual, it after configuring four different systems and mentioning a variety of alternative parts, we've hardly scratched the surface of the possibilities out there. There are plenty of additional components that we neglected to cover - TV tuners for example - but the majority of such devices can easily be added to a system after the fact. As far as specific component choices go, particularly in regards to processors, we consider the models we listed in the budget and midrange configurations as being the upper and lower ends of what we would recommend. If you want to spend a bit less or a bit more money and choose a different CPU, by all means feel free to do so.
The one area that we have neglected in this Buyers' Guide is coverage of the high-end segment. We thought about including a high-end configuration, considering it has been quite a while since we last looked at that area, but the truth is if you didn't feel the need to upgrade to an Intel quad core processor when they first became available, we certainly wouldn't do so right now. Intel is readying Penryn and we should also see some dramatic price cuts on quad core processors within the next couple of months. Imagine getting a Q6600 for the current price of an E6600 and you'll have an idea of what's in store. AMD on the other hand really doesn't deserve much consideration in the high-end market right now. The fastest AMD chips are easily outperformed by the top Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad offerings. We aren't at all interested in 4x4 at present, so we're basically waiting with baited breath for the launch of Barcelona. We also mentioned the pending launch of AMD's R600 graphics chips, so basically on the truly high-end configurations we think you should wait at least a couple months before deciding how to spend thousands of dollars on a new computer.
Compared to a year ago, things have basically flip-flopped. At that time, AMD's Athlon X2 chips were the undisputed speed champions, but they were more expensive than the various Intel offerings. If you were looking at getting a budget dual core setup last year, Pentium D was quite attractive, but most enthusiasts really wanted to get Athlon X2. Not only was it faster, but it ran cooler as well. Now, Core 2 Duo is faster and runs cooler but Athlon X2 has gotten a lot less pricey. As an inexpensive but full-featured platform, socket AM2 currently holds the advantage over the various socket 775 offerings. Meanwhile, with AMD purchasing ATI, we don't expect to see much in the way of ATI IGP solutions for Core 2, but there's definitely room for someone like NVIDIA to release a serious competitor to G965.
Looking at the last year in retrospect, the one sentiment that trumps all others has to be this: competition is a wonderful thing! Were it not for AMD's successful K8 processor, the best Intel CPUs might still be using NetBurst (and pulling double duty as space heaters). Now we need to see how AMD responds. Competition in the graphics card segment has also been fierce, though unfortunately high-performance midrange solutions aren't as readily available as in the processor market. We hope to see that change soon, and maybe if we're lucky we will actually get some DX10 games to play with.
As usual, it after configuring four different systems and mentioning a variety of alternative parts, we've hardly scratched the surface of the possibilities out there. There are plenty of additional components that we neglected to cover - TV tuners for example - but the majority of such devices can easily be added to a system after the fact. As far as specific component choices go, particularly in regards to processors, we consider the models we listed in the budget and midrange configurations as being the upper and lower ends of what we would recommend. If you want to spend a bit less or a bit more money and choose a different CPU, by all means feel free to do so.
The one area that we have neglected in this Buyers' Guide is coverage of the high-end segment. We thought about including a high-end configuration, considering it has been quite a while since we last looked at that area, but the truth is if you didn't feel the need to upgrade to an Intel quad core processor when they first became available, we certainly wouldn't do so right now. Intel is readying Penryn and we should also see some dramatic price cuts on quad core processors within the next couple of months. Imagine getting a Q6600 for the current price of an E6600 and you'll have an idea of what's in store. AMD on the other hand really doesn't deserve much consideration in the high-end market right now. The fastest AMD chips are easily outperformed by the top Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad offerings. We aren't at all interested in 4x4 at present, so we're basically waiting with baited breath for the launch of Barcelona. We also mentioned the pending launch of AMD's R600 graphics chips, so basically on the truly high-end configurations we think you should wait at least a couple months before deciding how to spend thousands of dollars on a new computer.
Compared to a year ago, things have basically flip-flopped. At that time, AMD's Athlon X2 chips were the undisputed speed champions, but they were more expensive than the various Intel offerings. If you were looking at getting a budget dual core setup last year, Pentium D was quite attractive, but most enthusiasts really wanted to get Athlon X2. Not only was it faster, but it ran cooler as well. Now, Core 2 Duo is faster and runs cooler but Athlon X2 has gotten a lot less pricey. As an inexpensive but full-featured platform, socket AM2 currently holds the advantage over the various socket 775 offerings. Meanwhile, with AMD purchasing ATI, we don't expect to see much in the way of ATI IGP solutions for Core 2, but there's definitely room for someone like NVIDIA to release a serious competitor to G965.
Looking at the last year in retrospect, the one sentiment that trumps all others has to be this: competition is a wonderful thing! Were it not for AMD's successful K8 processor, the best Intel CPUs might still be using NetBurst (and pulling double duty as space heaters). Now we need to see how AMD responds. Competition in the graphics card segment has also been fierce, though unfortunately high-performance midrange solutions aren't as readily available as in the processor market. We hope to see that change soon, and maybe if we're lucky we will actually get some DX10 games to play with.
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xsilver - Monday, April 23, 2007 - link
A quick mention of the possible headroom on the 2x1gb Jetram would have been nice?eg. does it overclock to cas 4? or does it OC to ddr900? or both? or none?
amking0 - Saturday, April 21, 2007 - link
with all the recent price cuts and rebates floating around, i've finally decided to leave my single core a64 system behind and do an upgrade to something along the following lines:e6600
650i board (probably)
2 gb corsair ddr2-800
old 7800 gt for the time being
just wanted to comment about the x-fi issues you mentioned in the article tho (since i just ordered one on sale + a $50 rebate) ...you have me worried now D:
i'm also pondering the move to vista, but i guess i might be sticking with xp a little longer now.
yyrkoon - Monday, April 23, 2007 - link
Why not just use onboard Audio ? I find it hard to belive that anyone could tell the difference between onboard, and descrete audio. regardless, I have had my last several system, all with onboard audio, and dropped in the random audio card, only difference I could tell, was about 3-5FPS in Oblivion, other than that, no difference.FrankM - Saturday, April 21, 2007 - link
"We tossed around several brands, including SeaSonic and Silverstone, but in the end we selected the Corsair 520W."Actually, that Corsair is a rebranded SeaSonic...
If only reliability and stability is the issue for the PSU for overclocking, there are cheaper quality PSUs available; the real strenght of the Seasonic/Corsair is the high efficiency and very low noise.
JarredWalton - Saturday, April 21, 2007 - link
I actually did know that (that it's a rebranded SeaSonic), but didn't think it was necessary to go into the details. Basically, I was looking at some PSUs in the range of $100 shipped, and figured at that point the extra $15 was money well spent to get a very high quality PSU. The SeaSonic model was $15 more than the Corsair, IIRC, so no reason to pay more for the same PSU.yyrkoon - Monday, April 23, 2007 - link
The Antec EA500W earthwatts PSU can be had for less than $50 usd(after rebate), and had a very favorable review from JonnyGuru. I use one myself, but I am not exactly using it harshly (midly OC'd Opteron 1210, and a 7600GT, 7 HDDs, and an optical). Seems fine so far, but is only about 3-4months old.deathwalker - Saturday, April 21, 2007 - link
Good grief, since when did a $400 video card fit in the catagory of a Mid-range product? Im going to have to research past guides for mid=range systems to see if AT has just completely broken the mold.JarredWalton - Saturday, April 21, 2007 - link
It specifically is targeting the gaming market. As mentioned, the 8800 GTS 320 is a $120 cheaper option that you might consider. For games, though, the GPU is the bottleneck 95% of the time, so you should get as much GPU power as possible.Ronson - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
If a $400 Graphics card is gaming then what are the cheaper cards for? Office use? A $200 Graphics card would have been more reasonable. The $400 card really just belongs in the High End guide.yyrkoon - Saturday, April 21, 2007 - link
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane - $72.00
ABIT NF-M2 nView - $94.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2x1GB DDR2 800 - $122.00
Seagate Barracuda 250GB - $67.99
Total - $356.98
Migrate optical drive, Case, PSU, Keyboard, mouse, and monitor from old system, because if you're reading here, you have a computer already, OR, you are using a friends PC, in which case you need to buy a Dell. All parts are free shipping, from newegg.
I have to say, I must question your choise of motherboard for the 'budget'/ entry level AMD system. It has been my experience, that anything this inexpencive from ASUS, or ASROCK, is nothing but a piece of junk, with very little driver / BIOS support, if any at all. Not to say the ABIT board I have chosen has had much driver / BIOS support, but it is rock solid, and has many features that put other boards a class or two above to shame. Anyhow . . . </fanboyism>