Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range System - August 2004
by Evan Lieb on August 23, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
CPU and Motherboard Recommendations
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ retail (heatsink and fan included)Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo Platinum (nForce3 250Gb)
Price: CPU - $169 shipped. Motherboard - $126 shipped
Prices on Athlon 64 processors have gone down noticeably since the last time we recommended an Athlon 64 for our mid-range system. In fact, they've gone down enough that we are now recommending AMD's Athlon 64 3000+ instead of the 2800+ that we had recommended last month. The price discrepancy between these two processors is minimal, and the additional performance that you get from the 200MHz bump in core clock is well worth the small price increase.
Anyway, as we've extensively explained before, for mid-range systems, AMD's Athlon 64 line of processors have several advantages over Intel's Pentium 4 line of processors. For one, Athlon 64 processors have the ability to run 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit applications while also being able to run 32-bit applications and operating systems at full speed. Ever since Microsoft officially announced their support for AMD's move to 64-bit desktop computing, Intel has been essentially forced to adopt AMD's 64-bit technology (otherwise known as x86-64), a technology that may or may not be available in Intel's future desktop Prescott processors (it's currently available in their Nocona Xeon line). But for now, Athlon 64 is the only game in town for 64-bit desktop computing while also being the best choice for mid-range systems that run 32-bit operating systems like Windows XP.
Unfortunately, Socket 939 processors are not cheap enough to recommend to mid-range users quite yet, as they hover well above the $300 mark (3500+ version only). But have no fear, AMD's Socket 939 platform will be pushed further and further into the mainstream and will eventually phase out "inferior" Socket 754 platforms.
Epox offers a similarly great motherboard to MSI, and so to us, it was indeed almost a toss up between the two. However, MSI's K8N Neo Platinum was ultimately chosen because it offered a few extra BIOS features and a slightly lower price. Anyway, as you probably are well aware, the nForce3 250Gb chipset itself is easily the biggest feature that the K8N Neo Platinum motherboard carries. This one-chip solution offers native Firewall capability, 4-drive SATA/IDE RAID, and native GbE (Gigabit Ethernet). MSI adds in features like IEEE 1394 FireWire support, 8-channel sound and superb BIOS features and overclocking ability, making this, simply put, an awesome motherboard. MSI uses this same blueprint for their Socket 939 motherboards too, as well as for the nForce3 250Gb Ultra version (which adds official 1GHz HT support). As you saw in our Socket 939 Roundup last month, MSI has indeed produced the best Athlon 64 motherboards in two platform flavors that you can buy. This is a big step forward for MSI, whose image has been tarnished in the enthusiast community in recent quarters. For more information on the MSI K8N Neo Platinum, read here . For more information on Socket 754 motherboards, go to this link.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on the AMD CPUs and motherboards from many different reputable vendors:
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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Zebo - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
Hire jpayton to writer these guides.This system will destroy what you have for much less. Better monitor, Better video card and expensive ram is a waste. Heck you could have a gig of ram and still be less than $1000. Is the GB's firewall, and gigabit ethernet worth $50? Not to me.
CPU & Cooling AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (retail cooler) $169
MOBO- CHAINTECH "VNF3-250" nForce3 250 $75
Memory 512MB PQI PC3200 $69
Video Card 128MB Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro $193
Monitor NEC/MITSUBISHI FE991SB-BK SuperBright Diamondtron CRT 19" $249
Computer Case Antec SLK2650-BQE Mid Tower (includes Antec 350W PSU) $79
Sound Card Onboard sound $0
Speakers Logitech Z640 5.1 $56
Networking Onboard 10/100/1000 Ethernet $0
Hard Drive SAMSUNG 80GB 7200RPM IDE $63
CD-RW Lite-On 52x32x52x16 Combo Drive $43
Bottom Line - $923
Locutus4657 - Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - link
Nice recommendations Evan! I think it's about the first buys guide I've read that came close to offering the same hardware I actually ended up choosing for my own mid-range system (some of my choices are pricier but hey). For comparison, here's what I came up with.A64 3000+ With Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 cooler
Chaintech ZNF250 MB (nForce 250 & 6 in 1 card reader!)
1GB Corsair Value Select
120GB WD PATA + 80GB IBM PATA
ATI Radeon 9600XT
Asus 52x32x52x CD-RW
16x40x DVD-ROM (hand me down from previous system)
ZIP 100 ATPI Internal
Built in broadcom GB Ethernet (I think it's broadcom).
KrazyDawg - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
SharkyExtreme also has a buyer's guide for value, mid range, and extreme if anyone wanted to see a different site's perspective. I'm not stating that AnandTech's guides are inadequate. It's just another review site. Both sites almost list the same hardware so it should help strengthen a user's decision. I don't agree with some of the hardware they added to their recent guides such as the generic ram for Intel but everything else looks good.gherald - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
> I went with the MSI Neo-FSR since I didn't need the extra features on the PlatinumYou're missing the point dude. It's not about features -- although they can be nice -- it's about the all around performance and reliability or shall we say "solidness" of the motherboard.
The K8N is much better than the FSR in this and all other respects. Trust me, I've worked with both.. you made a mistake.
Anyone who doesn't spend the extra $20 for a K8N Platinum is being foolish.
I'd take an A64 3000 paired with a K8N over a A64 3200 paired with the FSR any day!
BopTop - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
This weekend I ordered a system almost exactly like this for my first ever self-build - I went with the MSI Neo-FSR since I didn't need the extra features on the Platinum, got an Athlon 64 3200, gig of Corsair ValueSelect Ram after reading So's memory recommendation on the forums, and a GeForce 6800 GT - granted, it costs more than the midrange system, but for my budget, I was looking for a very capable gaming computer that could run DoomIII well.Swaid - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
Time for me to chime in on my experience with that NuTech drive, its utter garbage! I had problems with it reading stamped CDs (motherboard and video card driver CDs), it would literally lock up the system when seeking! Even the lastest firmware didn't help the situation. The NEC (2500A with DL bios hack) drive I have been loving, though I don't bother with Dual Layer burning since it's too damn expensive still! I have had zero problems with those and I regret ever straying from that drive for my system builds since the NuTech drive was a nightmare from the get go. Lots of false hope in that NuTech drive.NightCrawler - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
Nutech DDW-082 burner is a piece of junk !!!!!Stay away from this burner and this company !!!!!
Pioneer, LiteON or NEC have all been reviewed at cdfreaks.com and cdinfo.com and come out way above in terms of writing quality.
gherald - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
1) Indeed, 2x256mb makes zero sense on a single-channel platform like socket 754. Go with a single stick of 512mb, folks.2) Yes the 74G is noticeably better than the 36G and a better investment (I should know, I own 2 of each)
3) I agree The CRT Recommendation is good.
4) Here is where we differ. Strongly. Now I feel like starting a rant about motherboard manufacturers to knock some sense into your head... you really need to "get with the times." Your statement about MSI may have been true a year ago, but as the article says:
"MSI has indeed produced the best Athlon 64 motherboards in two platform flavors [s754 and s939] that you can buy. This is a big step forward for MSI, whose image has been tarnished in the enthusiast community in recent quarters."
This is 100% correct. I've personally worked with five socket 754 motherboards: One via-based MSI, two MSI K8Ns, and two via-based Epox. Of these, one of the epox has died, the other performed "ok." The via-based MSI has also been "ok" but the two MSI K8Ns are absolutely stellar. And the new non-standard-ATX MSI layout is *VERY* nice.
For now, MSI leads the pack in A64 boards.
ABIT does so for Intel and legacy Socket A.
ASUS seems to have been floundering ever since the pioneering A7N8X was challenged by the NF7, although their post-canterwood Intel boards do look interesting.
Epox used to be an overclocker's dream, but now that the other major players have gotten their act together Epox really has nothing notable to offer except bad support.
Gigabyte still makes pretty good boards, but they're overpriced as usual.
mino - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
1.) since You recommend A64 s754 as primary alternative, it DOES NOT make sense to recommend dual memory config -> BTW 2 modules per channel cause need for 2T timing on A64 which makes bigger penalty than going from CAS2.5 to CAS2!2.) HDD alternative makes NO sense. When You want to recommend Raptor then chose 74G part! Also some 80G/160G Samsung P80 SATA would be much more reasonable for mid-range
3.) I really appreciate that for CRT alternative you chose high-end part since these times it is hard to fing good 19"CRT if man does not know exactly what to look for.
4.) Epox A64 board would IMHO be MUCH safer way to go, since I have not seen serious product from MSI(here called "microshit") in last 2 years.
Except MSI's server boards naturally.
Besides that, nice guide.
ciwell - Monday, August 23, 2004 - link
One thing I noticed is that the Pricing Engine for the Storage drives lists a Seagate 200GB hard drive for $32.00 from Dell.Clicking on the link brings me to the Dell page, but the drive is really $132.00...odd. Not sure what is up with that.
Other than that, great guide.