Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Sound Card
Recommendation: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (6.1) OEMPrice: $71
Since many of the packages that come with sound cards add a lot to the cost and little to the value, an OEM version of an Audigy 2 sound card provides the best value for a high-end sound card. If you're a big gamer, love watching movies, or are just someone who wants quality sound, the Audigy 2 is one of the best on the market to fit those needs. This version of the Audigy 2 supports 6 channels of sound and will deliver a great listening experience in any game, and especially ones that support the Audigy 2's special features like EAX. Simply pair the Audigy 2 with the right set of speakers and you'll have the necessary tools for an exceptional listening experience. Other special Audigy 2 features include 24/96 analog playback and recording and "add-ons" like FireWire.
Alternative: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (7.1) retail
Price: $83
The Audigy 2 ZS differs from the regular OEM Audigy 2 mainly in its support of 7.1 channels of sound instead of 6.1 The benefit of going to 7.1 isn't really all that huge, as there's a point that you reach where continually adding more channels yields diminishing returns; that is, your surround sound experience doesn't get a whole lot better going from 6.1 to 7.1 channels, or for that matter, 5.1 to 7.1 channels, depending on how sensitive your ears are. The Audigy 2 ZS is also a retail package instead of OEM, meaning you get additional bundled features, such as video games and a FireWire header.
As we've said before, there are inevitably going to be people who don't need this kind of audio processing power. For those users, we simply suggest that you use your motherboard's onboard sound controller. Some people could care less about their system's sound as long as there isn't any interference or crackling. If that description fits you to a tee, then use the onboard sound controller and forget about the Audigy 2.
Speakers
Recommendation: Logitech Z5300 THX Certified 5.1 speakersPrice: $146 shipped
Logitech, yet again, tops our speaker recommendation this week with their popular Z5300 5.1 THX Certified speaker system. Besides obviously supporting 5.1 channels of sound, the Z5300 is able to boast such features as a 100W subwoofer and a greater than 85 dB signal to noise ratio. The surround sound gaming and movie experience is tremendous, especially paired with a good Audigy 2 sound card. These speakers can also get impressively loud, and best of all, we didn't encounter any sort of crackling or distortion as volume was turned up to excruciatingly loud levels. For the price, these speakers are unbeatable.
Alternative: Creative Labs Megaworks THX Certified 6.1 speakers
Price: $248 shipped
This speaker system justifies its value versus the Logitech Z5300 speakers with:
- 6.1 surround sound instead of 5.1 surround;
- 99 dB signal to noise ratio instead of "somewhere" over 85 dB;
- 150W subwoofer instead of 100W subwoofer;
- 70W per satellite and 75W for the center instead of 35W and 39W center; and,
- Positional audio support.
If, for whatever reason, you're not interested in high end sound and will be gaming or watching movies mostly with your headphones on, obviously an expensive surround sound system will be pretty useless. If that's the case, you may just want to opt for 2.0 or 2.1 speakers, such as the ones recommended in our last Entry Level Buyer's Guide.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
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Modal - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
RE #25:I just built a system with two 74GB raptors in RAID 0, and I can tell you that they are, surprisingly, not that loud. I'm using a Thermaltake 480W PSU with a fan speed controller; when I have it cranked, I can't hear my hard drives at all. When I have the PSU fan turned down, I can hear them a little, little bit, but its nothing like a 'jet engine.'
KenRico - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
#23 and #24 make good points on structure and the $5k target.If the Display Speaker and KB&Mouse are removed it gives alot more latitude in the System Components with the $5k ceiling.
The FX53 is going up +$66 dollars 06/01 a little bird told me. Hopefully the Opteron 150 will remain the same as it is showing at $600ish
Ma10n3 - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
Oh, I forgot to clarify something...The reason I said AMD was the obvious choice is that the only motherboards available now with support for AGP 8X, PCI-X, and legacy 32-bit PCI currently only support AMD64. Why? Intel doesn't seem to want us to have it all just yet. AMD's chipsets gives us the technology, now.
Disclaimer: I used to be a die-hard Intel fan, then after doing a little research I found out that AMD is by far the technology leader for the x86, and not just because of the AMD64 chips.
I guess I couldn't stay off my kick for long...
Ma10n3 - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
I have to agree with #23. There are a lot of possibilities with a $5,000 limit, and a lot of biases toward certain brands among the readers (Intel or AMD).So, since AMD is the obvious choice for the "Uber" system, what about throwing in an Adaptec 2810SA Hardware RAID controller and setup 8 74/36GB Raptors as one RAID 5 array using hot-swappable bays. Of course, you're going to need a serious case for this as well.
Noise? You can't be concerned with noise when it comes to the "Uber" system. Maybe some sound-dampening measures could be taken, but other than that... Besides, could you imagine the sound of 8 10K RPM raptors all churning together? POWER. SPEED. PERFORMANCE. That's the only mantra for the "Uber" system.
Alright, I'll get off my kick for now...
Frallan - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
I love reading your guides I don't always agree on choises but that is not the point is it? Just getting a thought through well argumented article to read in an area where I myself have alot ideas and thoughts is very valueble. So therefore Thx for these guids. (Btw #21 pls read up b4 starting to shout your head off).Now to the issues:
1. Re: the overclocking guide (where I really have an interest) Pls. incl. a top performer kit - means not only the best OC in terms of how OC-able but also a maximum performance OCed kit.
2. Re: The choise of the 10.000 rpm HD:s I have not have the guts to get these drives yet since I have to be in the same room as the box. Just how loud are they in this system? (2*10.000 rpm makes my Jet-enging warning alarm to go off.)
Thx and keep up the good work - you have picked up the slack where other hardware sites have deterioated the last year :).
Mackintire - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
Great job on the guide, I really disagreed on Evan's previous choices. You definately are at least in the ballpark. What confuses me is the $5000 limit. If its a $5000 limit you could do alot more, that would be the only gray area I saw. .............................................otherwise Great Job!TrogdorJW - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
Welcome to the System Guide section, Wesley. Now you, too, can get lambasted every time you put together an article by people like #21. No complaints from me, though: I understand that there are always choices to be made. However, that said, I really doubt many people will really consider buying a $3000 PC. The $2000 high-end systems of the past were at least potentially affordable. Please try not to go much higher (despite the $5000 "limit").Overall, I really like the recommendations with some explanation of other alternatives. It almost seems like we should have four "high-end" system recommendations, though. One for those where money is no concern, a second for those where money is somewhat a concern, and then double that with AMD systems and Intel systems. (There are people out there that will *never* buy AMD and others that will *never* buy Intel.) So we could get an Athlon FX-53/Dual Opteron 250 system, an Athlon 64 3400+ system, an Intel P4EE/Dual Xeon system, and an Intel P4C/P4E system (depending on how things develop in the future).
Not sure how feasible this is, but it seems like you really only need to list CPU, motherboard, and RAM for the four separate configurations. The remaining components could remain as they are, with two recommendations on each item (the "uber" component, and the "good" component).
And finally, I complained about this on other guides, and the high-end guide certainly deserves this complaint as well: why is there no alternate case/PSU recommendation? Surely the Coolermaster with Antec Truepower 430W isn't the only possibility. I would like to see something more silent as a perhaps more expensive option. A case supporing 120mm fans and/or a fanless PSU might be a nice addition.
Overall, though, great job. It's nice to see things mixed up a little after Evan Lieb's choices. Just don't get too set on the choices each month - maybe you two should alternate on the system guides each month? :)
VagrantZero - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - link
The X800Pro has been shipping for a few weaks now [not in mass quantity but if you want it you can buy it]. It's the XT and 6800U that still hasn't debuted.KenRico - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
Anandtech Rocks...but these guides still don't.Another gentleman already posted but I agree that the OPTERON 148 is a better price/perfomer for the high end. About $20 more than AMD 64 3400+ with Dual Channel action ready to go.
So kind of the guide author to post a video card that is not shipping yet either.
I waded through all the RAM links of "Best Pricing" and the Corsairs specified in the quide are linked below.
I learn nothing from the guides. They specify High End but still look for "value" in onboard NIC ect...then don't post price performance for CPU.
Do we really need a guide to show us an Expensive Processor and Video Adapter?
Where are the benchmarks on this dream system? With no OS quoted this is a collection of parts.
IsThatTheTime - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link
I agree with the 200Gb Seagate option, contrary to what was said earlier, they are blisteringly fast compared to their 160Gb and below versions. See Toms Hardware. I just bought four of them for two PCs.Couldn't agree more about the Coolermaster Praetorian, I've two and the solid build quality is breathtaking.....just change all the fans for SilenX one's for a quiet life.
I think a good high end system should have a totally quiet profile too and would suggest the new "Etasis" 0DB! Fanless! PSU (300W) using heatpipe cooling. Totally awesome! and totally quiet. Luxury low environmental noise should come with a luxury £2000 PC.