Buyer's Guide - Entry Level, October 2004
by Jarred Walton on October 6, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Memory
Choosing an ideal configuration for RAM in a budget computer can be a frustrating task. The fact of the matter is that 256 MB DIMMs are on their way out, and with XP SP2 now enabling additional features that use up more of your RAM, a system with only 256 MB of RAM is really meeting the bare minimum requirement.Choosing RAM is further complicated by the sheer variety of offerings in any one category. In an ideal world, all memory rated at the same speed and timings would perform equally well, but reliability can become a concern with some of the generic brands. We would prefer to spend a few extra dollars to get RAM from a well known company.
When building a budget system, it does not make sense to purchase more expensive RAM with better memory timings at the cost of RAM capacity. The typical increase when going from the "worst" 3-4-4 timings to the "best" 2-2-2 timings will be less than 10% (and often, less than 5%), and adding more RAM will often have further impact up to 512 MB. This is especially true for gaming.
In the end, we felt that it was best to give four suggestions in the RAM department, with a brief explanation of the pros and cons of each option. We have chosen Corsair RAM for all options, based on their reliability, price and performance. Mushkin, OCZ, Crucial, Kingston, GEIL and several others offer similar reliability and performance, so if you can find those for less money where you live, they are also acceptable.
RAM Office Recommendation: 1x256 MB Corsair Value Select CL2.5
Price: $43 shipped
At the lowest end of the spectrum, if your computing demands are very light, you can simply get one 256 MB DIMM. This will be enough for running typical office applications and web surfing, and it comes with the lowest price. Having multiple applications open at the same time may be somewhat sluggish, but that will largely depend on how you use the system. You can always add a second 256 MB DIMM after building the system, if should you find performance to be insufficient. Finally, if you look around, you can often find sales on 256 MB DIMMs that end up costing little to nothing after the Mail-In Rebate.
RAM Office Alternative 1: 2x256 MB Corsair Value Select CL2.5
Price: $86 shipped
For the socket A system, memory can be run in dual-channel mode, which can improve performance slightly. The drawback is that you have now used up two of your DIMM sockets, which limits your options for future RAM upgrades. Buying two 256 MB DIMMs is also more expensive than buying a single larger 512 MB DIMM, but if you do not plan on upgrading your system and are willing to spend the extra $10, it might be worthwhile.
RAM Gaming Recommendation/Alternative Office 2: 1x512 MB Corsair Value Select CL2.5
Price: $70 shipped
For the socket 754 system, there is no performance benefit from having more than one DIMM, so there is no reason not to buy a single 512 MB DIMM. If you are looking to save on costs, but want a full 512 MB of RAM, it can also be used with the socket A system. If you are planning on doing much photo or video editing, starting with 512 MB with the intent to upgrade also makes sense.
RAM Gaming Alternative: 2x512 MB Corsair Value Select CL2.5
Price: $140 shipped
Finally, if gaming is a real concern, upgrading to a full gigabyte of RAM can be beneficial. It is not required (yet), and it might be wise simply to try out your system with 512 MB of RAM and only upgrade if you are unsatisfied. Still, several recent games feel smoother with 1 GB of RAM compared to 512 MB, since adding RAM can help avoid swapping data to your hard drive. If the games that you play are constantly stuttering and you see your hard drive activity light flickering, adding more RAM should help out.
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Neurorelay - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
When you commented on budget gaming cards, you mentiond the 6800GT in the 200 range coming out soon. I think you meant to say 6800 LE.mino - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
#38 I STRONGLY disagree, the quality of the case and PSU will in time prove to be probably one of the most important factors(especially PSU) impeding the lifespan of PC. Also I will certainly suggest buyng some cheapo nice w/o PSU case and quite high quality Fortron 300W PSUhttp://www.home2000.net/client/fspgroupusacom/prod...
Jarred: Please ,in next guide case/PSU section, mention the very important fact: in any case DO NOT BUY cases w/PSU's under $50 !!!
SAVING $20 ON PSU IS THE MOST STUPID THING ONE CAN DO !!!
ksherman - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
#40-- I agree. I have two 120GB drives and my second drive is about 90% full, and my first drive if about 70% full... I would never be able to survive on an 80 or 100GB drive.draazeejs - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
What I do not understand, why it is never recommended to get the 200GB Seagate drive instead? It seems that the recommendations stop at 160, but if you want to store movies, some games, and still want to have a comfortable free space, why not the 200 one? Is there something wrong with the Seagates 200G drive?Egglick - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
#21: I think you have a "Budget Office" machine confused with a Business Server. I don't know *anybody* that runs a RAID array in their home office machine, nor do any of the machines at my workplace. The huge mainframe server does, but that's something altogether different.RAID is more expensive, much more difficult to set up and use, and in this situation, doesn't provide any real benefit over simply backing up your data to CD, etc (which they should be doing anyway even if they DO have RAID).
Egglick - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
Excellent article Jarred. You did a great job of explaining everything in depth and covering all the bases for those that are less knowledgable, or want to know exactly what their extra money is going towards. In addition to that, I agreed with almost everything you recommended.About the only thing that I might've questioned was the Case for the Budget Office computer. 75 bucks is a bit much to be spending there. It's actually the most expensive item in the list, after the Monitor. A good portion of that price might be due to shipping charges though, so if someone were to find something like that Aspire case you mentioned for around $35-40 at a local store, I'd recommend that instead. That would put the price under the $500 mark.
For the gamer however, that case (which includes a quality powersupply) would be a great choice.
Gioron - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
Ok, that turned out longer than I expected....Gioron - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
Excellent guide. You fixed most of my issues with the last budget guide and I'm now having a difficult time finding nits to pick.IIRC, what I had a problem with last time was as follows:
Previously ignored integrated graphics: Now mentioned twice in the article. Although I'd still like to see it recommended as the default office option (with a note to make sure whatever board you get has an AGP slot if you change your mind), thats mainly just a matter of opinion instead of a fault in the review.
Previously recommended low timing RAM: Now fixed, and I like the explanation and options for the RAM this time around. I'm not sure pushing dual-DDR is really a good idea for the value segment, but you aren't pushing it hard and it can make a couple percent difference, so I can't really fault you for it.
The one thing I think I'd like to see is more recommendations on niche items. With a basic system like this, its fairly easy to add one or two components and make it suitable for various specialized tasks. The one that leaps to mind immediately is making a TIVO-like system just by swapping out the video card for an AIW card. It looks like it would be fairly easy to add a section that says, basicly: "for a mythtv system(add link to earlier article), we recommend the basic office computer, but replace the video card with XXXX and make sure you have at least XXXX RAM, XXXX processor, and don't bother buying a monitor". It might be a signifigant chunk more work, but I think it would be useful, and there are several purpose-built boxes you can make with only minor mods to the basic budget build. Somewhat like the difference between the office and gaming systems, but hopefully without needing to recommend items for every single part.
#21, I don't think there's much point to using RAID on a value system. It basicly doubles the cost of the hard drives and thats hard to justify for the return. RAID 0 won't speed things up that much for gaming if you're only going to be using software raid, so you'd probably be better off using the cash to buy a raptor instead. And even then, assuming you have enough RAM to handle it, it'll only really speed up load times, not frame rates. RAID 1 for the office might be debateable, but for the cost of it its still not worth it. Most people aren't working on things that are all that irreplaceable, and if you are you really should be making backups or have a copy on a remote system. For most people, you'd be better off doing weekly backups to your CD drive and storing them in some other room. Besides, RAID 1 can give a false sense of security. On the last computer I had die on me, the power supply blew and took everything else in the case with it, including both drives. The data loss in that case wasn't more than an annoyance, but relying on RAID 1 to protect vital data is not a good idea.
As to #24s post, I think there are enough similarities between the two systems that it makes sense to put them together. A gamer on a tight budget might pick up an office item or two, and an office customer with more money might pick up a gaming item. All the items are picked with almost the same criteria, just a slightly different audience in mind. I'd actually like to see more recommendations of different parts for niche markets, as I mentioned before, with one of these systems as a baseline.
Now, for my opinions:
CPU/motherboard: good choices. I might pick different ones, but only if the price points change. I'd probably go a bit lower on the gaming CPU, but thats just me.
Memory: Nice explanation. I completely agree.
Graphics: I'd probably go with the 9600 pro instead, but your arguments do have merit (and at least you mention the 9600 in passing). Although you won't be able to turn the details up on all your games, they're still playable and the price difference is large enough to sway me. Oh, and you might want to mention the 9600 All-In-Wonder in passing as well. Most people don't need the TV compatibility, but even some value customers might find it very useful.
Hard Drives: I'm still partial to WD, but admittedly there isn't a whole lot of difference. I agree with your size, speed and buffer recommendations, although I'd be tempted to recommend the office drive for both systems and only recommend the gaming drive as an upgrade for those who like to store lots of media on their computer. By far the most space on my hard drives is taken up by video files, and even then I'm finding it hard to fill up a 120gig drive. For games, 80 gigs is probably plenty for now.
CD drives: I agree with your recommendations, but I'd at least mention a specific DVD+-RW drive for those that want to upgrade.
Case/power: I think the 430W power supply is a bit much for a value system, but as only an alternative I can't say too much against it.
Displays: Been too long since I've been in the market for these, so I guess your recommendations are good enough. I would like to see a cheap LCD recommendation as an alternative, but I'm not sure what I'd pick myself.
Misc. components: This is the area I'd like to see more mention of other niche items you can add to the system, but thats more of a feature request instead of a bug, your keyboard and mouse recommendations (or lack thereof...) are decent. I personally like Logitech wireless mice, but I know they aren't the only valid option.
Poser - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
I know that Windows XP is pretty much the only choice for a mainstream system, but I think it's probably worth it to mention in every guide that you should get an OEM copy when you're buying parts. I knew somebody who paid a full $200 for a retail copy when they were building a system -- they knew enough to put it together, but not enough to avoid getting shafted. =/daclayman - Thursday, October 7, 2004 - link
#23 is right on with the Asus Terminators. Check ebay for teh refurbs; they are dirty cheap. If you're leary about that power supply (I think it's proprietary or microATX), then I like the Athenatech A301BS.Q300. The PowerQ power supply is actually a Fortron: (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?desc...