System Buyer’s Guide: $1700 Performance Midrange
by Mike Jones and Jarred Walton on May 12, 2010 4:52 AM ESTMonitor, Speakers, and Input Devices
If you don’t already own these components, here are some additional peripherals to fill out your shopping cart.
| System Accessories | ||||
| Hardware | Component | Price |
Estimated Shipping |
Rebate |
| Display | ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor (1920x1200) | $310 | $12 | ($30) |
| Speakers | Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speakers | $89 | ||
| Input | Microsoft Comfort Curve Desktop 2000 Black USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse – OEM | $28 | $8 | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 1-Pack (for System Builders) | $100 | ||
For an LCD, you could do a lot worse than the 25.5 inches of 2ms, 1920x1200 real estate offered by the ASUS VW266H. ASUS continues to build quality LCDs and includes HDMI connectivity (if not cables) at surprisingly low price points. Currently priced at $310 ($280 after mail-in rebate), the VW266H offers crisp images, good colors, D-Sub, DVI, HDMI, and component connectors, as well as an SPDIF out. It doesn’t include an HDMI cable, but for a monitor of this size at this price it’s difficult to complain.
Stepping down to 23” 1080p can save $100 or more and allows you to choose between several 23” 1080p displays. The ASUS VH236H is an attractive option, offering performance and connectivity on par with its larger sibling, and is currently available for $200 ($180 after $20 mail in rebate). Acer’s popular and well-regarded 23” P235Hbmid is another compelling option at the $200 price level, and it even includes an HDMI cable. If you’re really looking to shave off a couple of extra pennies, you can purchase the 21.5” 1080p ASUS VH222H for $170 ($160 after $10 mail in rebate), which is similar to the 23” version in every respect except for size.
All of the above offer great blends of value and performance, along with excellent connectivity. While you can certainly find less expensive 23” or 21.5” monitors, most will not include an HDMI connector, and you will want to be sure to research any bargain monitor whose price seems too good to be true. As the adage suggests, more often than not, “you get what you pay for.” Note that all of the displays are also TN panels, which work well enough for most users but certainly won't surpass quality IPS displays. If you want an IPS display, expect to pay around twice as much as the TN panels for a similar size display.
As the “speakers” included with most monitors are jokes no one seems to find particularly funny, it is difficult to recommend using them for anything other than a bargain basement machine. They certainly have no place in the sound system of a performance midrange machine. For a 5.1 system, the 70 Watt Logitech X-540 will definitely get the job done nicely, especially when you consider its $89 price tag. It won’t be mistaken for an audiophile grade rig, but it’s a great fit for gaming surround sound without breaking the bank. Logitech also offers a more robust 505 Watt system, but at $377 the THX-certified Z-5500 is difficult to recommend for a midrange system. As an aside, there is a disappointing lack of quality surround sound systems available in the $100-$350 price range, which makes it difficult to recommend other options.
There are many options in 2.1 systems, however, and it shouldn’t be hard to find something that will sound nice and fit your budget. The 200 Watt, THX Certified Logitech Z-2300 is a popular choice among system builders, and offers a loud (120 watts RMS) subwoofer. At $150, it offers a good mix of performance and price. The Creative Inspire T3130 2.1 speakers are a considerably less expensive option, though at $50 they are of course somewhat less robust (20 Watts total). Just the same, they will be a vast improvement over any speakers that come in the same box as your monitor.
For input devices, the Microsoft Comfort Curve Desktop 2000 fits the bill as the old standby. The keyboard is fine and, if you have no intention of gaming, the mouse will suffice for basic computing tasks. However, someone building this machine—and spending over $300 on a graphics card—probably intends to game with it. If that same someone doesn’t already have a gaming mouse they love, the Logitech MX518 is a popular option and at $43 won’t kill the bankroll. It features eight programmable buttons, custom sensitivity settings, and delivers 1800 dpi resolution. A slightly more upscale option is the Logitech G500, which costs $57, features 10 buttons, a dual-mode scroll wheel, resolution up to 5700 dpi, and the ability to adjust its weight to your preference.
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Jellodyne - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
I actually have that mainboard in my system, and while it's a great board it's NOT a good choice for Crossfire. The secondary PCI-E slot is a 4X slot off of the south bridge (as opposed to the higher performance on-die PCI-E controller of the i750), and it runs with a 2.5 GHz base clock, not 5 GHz which is half the speed of a standard PCI-E 3.0, so in terms of bandwidth you should think of it as a 2X slot. It will work, but it's ugly, and I suspect a 2x slot is going to drop a huge performance penalty, even for a pair of 5850s.There are P55 boards out there which can split the on-die PCI-E controller into two proper 8x lanes in crossfire mode, which is actually plenty of bandwidth to drive even a pair of 5970s without issues.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
You mean like we mentioned in the text?"The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 is a feature-rich option... If you want to enable both USB3 and SATA6, the primary GPU slot will drop down to x8 speed, while the secondary x16 slot always runs at x4 bandwidth. For the price, however, it's a very good board and it has good overclocking abilities if you're interested.... If you prefer higher performance CrossFire/SLI, and you want Firewire, look at the MSI P55-GD65."
I'll clarify the paragraph by pointing out explicitly that the MSI board does x8/x8 for CF/SLI instead of x16/x4.
jleach1 - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link
You're a smart guy Jarred. I like it.Jellodyne - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link
No NOT like it says in the text. The text is wrong. The text says the secondary works at 4x bandwidth. But it doesn't. It IS in fact a 4x slot but it's a HALF SPEED 4x slot, so it's REALLY 2X bandwidth.4X bandwidth would probably be enough for crossfire, 2x bandwidth is really unacceptable. Which is why I'm objecting to this board as a good choice for someone considering crossfire in the future. It's in fact a really bad choice if you're considering crossfire.
But it's still a great board if you have no interest in crossfire.
ekoostik - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link
Great guide. But one clarification. The article states "The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 is a feature-rich option for the builder who might want CrossFireX or SLI down the road" - but this board isn't licensed for SLI. As far as I'm aware, NVidia won't allow it on any of the x16, x4 boards.JarredWalton - Friday, May 14, 2010 - link
Thanks... forgot about that. The MSI supports CF/SLI because it does the necessary x8/x8. Outside of SLI support, though, I wouldn't go with the MSI.Lazlo Panaflex - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
Adding benchmarks for both systems in the final thoughs section was a nice touch.Also, wonder how much of a performance penalty (if any) there would be using DDR2 w/ Thubian as opposed to DDR3?
Ninjahedge - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
Guys, the arguments over semantics are petty.This is at the upper range of mid, with many options listed in the article to reduce price.
If you DON'T OC, and only are using 1 card (no sli) then you can drop the PS, get rid of the cooler and save possibly $50 right off the bat.
Other cards were mentioned as well, dropping it even further, depending on your need for Gaming Speed.
As others have mentioned, a Blu-Ray may not be needed, dropping that $105 down to a $25 LG. We are already getting down to $1000 for a full box here.
Now, taking those parts and using your own KB, HD, DVD, Vid Card and other parts from your current machine (if you feel like it) can easily drop this down to $700 or less. You can then upgrade, piece by piece, until you get what you want at the price you want.
As for SSD? I have been watching those. the performance is great, granted, but that only comes with loading or transcoding, not with many apps for buisness, or in-game situations (Wow, you loaded up the board the quickest! You can now wait 47 seconds for everyone else to join!!!!).
You can always upgrade later. Storage is one of the most fickle price points on the market, excluding Vid Cards. A wait of 6 months may bring you 2X the capacity for the same price.
it is also kind of odd with people screaming about "THIS IS NOT MIDRANGE" and others screaming for an SSD.... I think the fact that there are both means you (the original writer) probably hit a good sweet spot in between!
Maybe instead of classifying them as "midrange", a different nomenclature should be used. Just state the price ranges and what they are built for rather than deciding what people should see them as.
This is in the range of a $1000-$1500 box. It is geared for performance, so maybe "$1000-$1500 performance Machine" and shut all the complainers up.....
Last point, when machines can be built for $500 all included, or $3000 for close to TOTL, screamiming that $1700 is not midrange is just plain silly.
Ditiris - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
I'm just going to chime in and suggest losing the Blu-Ray. You don't really justify the necessity for it, and your other choice of components, in particular the overclocked graphics card and bargain 5.1 speakers, make clear the case for this being a gaming machine. So, I would suggest losing the Blu-Ray for the next go-around, which I'm eager to see. Thanks for the article guys.Fastidious - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
I'd almost call anything with a 5850 high end nowadays for gaming anyways. Personally I am going to wait until I can put all of my programs, OS, games, etc I use on an affordable SSD to me before I get one($300 for 300gb sounds about right). I think having some stuff on an SSD and some not would bug me a lot more than just sticking to HDs like I do now. I also agree Blu-ray to me still seems very niche but it makes sense for the future to get it now even if it's a bit expensive.