Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range to High-End, May 2005
by Jarred Walton on May 23, 2005 5:30 PM EST- Posted in
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Besides everything else, there are still a few items that you should probably get. Networking isn't something that you need to worry about with any of these systems, as they all feature Gigabit Ethernet ports. Of course, if you're less interested in bandwidth and prefer to go wireless, you'll need to get an appropriate adapter. While we're on the topic of networking, we'd also recommend that anyone with a broadband connection go out and purchase a cheap NAT/Router/Firewall (usually, you get all three in one device). You won't suddenly become immune to all virus attacks and security vulnerabilities, but the vast majority of network attacks won't get around even a cheap firewall. If you open that virus attachment that you received in an email message, you're on your own, however.You should also grab a surge protector at the very least – again, assuming that you don't have anything of reasonable quality – and we'd even go so far as to recommend getting an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), also sometimes referred to as a battery backup. A good quality UPS can also clean up the power supplied to your system, so voltage fluctuations are removed. That's in addition to preventing data loss or hardware failure caused by brown outs and power spikes – remember, summer time is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere, so if you live in an area (CA) where everyone runs their AC all the time, brown outs and outages are an all too common problem. $50 to protect a few thousand dollars of equipment is a sensible precaution. We won't actually include the price of a UPS or surge protector in our final total, but we hope that you'll heed our advice and pick up these items if you don't already have them available.
Depending on how you plan to use your new system, you may also need some additional cables. Power cables are included, but you might need a network cable. A more important consideration is cables for hooking up your system to a TV. If you have an HDTV, a DVI to DVI cable will often do the trick. If you have an ATI card, you might want component cables instead. Firewire cables, S/PDIF cables, and longer S-VIDEO cables may also be something that you'll want. Whatever the cable, trust us: buy such cables online! We've seen some cables for $100 at Radio Shack and Best Buy, where you can find them for $20 and less online.
Click to enlarge.
Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech Internet Pro Desktop
Price: $26 Shipped
A keyboard and mouse are definitely required, unless you have something that you're happy with. We're going to go with a bundle from Logitech, although you could grab something from Microsoft or another manufacturer if you want. The bundles often save you quite a bit of money. You could also go with a wireless model if you prefer that, and many of us insist on ergonomic keyboards. [You can have my MS Natural when you pry it from my dead, carpal-tunneled hands! Er, sorry…] You can even go really upscale and grab the MX-1000 laser mouse from Logitech, or perhaps a Bluetooth setup. Whatever you like, go for it. This is simply our baseline recommendation.
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PotterVilla - Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - link
Hello,I've not been able to find a XFX, MSI, or eVGA 6800GT graphics card at new egg (I'm not really looking to buy, just being wishful) and I also saw that the 6800XT is only $170. The 7800GT is more in your ballpark of $345 a card. Would ether of these cards be an upgrade, and has their price gone down that much ($175) in only about seven months?
Thank you.
jonp - Friday, August 26, 2005 - link
i wonder about the hp 1905fp recommend for the mid-range non-gaming display. there are considerable comments here and elsewhere about the poor analog (d-sub 15 pin) performance ie image quality. the Genesis gm-5321 controller chip is no longer shown on their web site and the datasheets are no longer available as well. (one wonders how much longer the 1905fp will even be available?) the dvi interface might be great, but there are some of us who connect their display through a kvm that only handles analog signals--so dvi performance is of little interest. i think we need a new monitor review and new pick for the non-gaming monitor recommendation. we depend on Anandtech for solid testing and non-subjective analysis to guide us in our quest for the best value. it is clear that we need new help in this area.JarredWalton - Thursday, June 16, 2005 - link
56 - not usually on NVIDIA nF3/4 or Intel chipsets. That's only an issue with secondary SATA controllers (VIA, SiS, Silicon Image, etc.) But still, never hurts to have that $8 part around just in case!mhallang - Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - link
Another reason to get a floppy drive is to install Win XP on a SATA drive. Maybe SP2 is different, and I would bet there's another way around it; but my experience was that I needed a floppy with the SATA drivers during the install process for XP.JarredWalton - Monday, June 13, 2005 - link
54 - Oh, I'd stay far away from XP64 for SLI. Raw doesn't begin to describe it, IMO. Longhorn is when I'll actually consider switching to a 64-bit OS.GreedyBumps - Thursday, June 9, 2005 - link
I built this system with all major components that are in this guide and cannot get SLI to work. Both cards work great individually but when I try to but them both in in SLI mode screen goes black after the black windows loading screen. I have tried all the driver / bios updates for everything I could find and still no dice.One issue could be that I installed Windows x64 professional - maybe some drivers are still too raw.
Also - the SLI jumpers on this DFI Lanparty board are a complete pain. They are tough to pull out and there are 6 of them. When you are trying to get SLI to work it is absolute nightmare to keep switching between SLI and Normal jumper cable settings.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - link
52 - I got the information from Wesley. Basically, there is a higher number of RMA for motherboards and RAM when voltages above 3.3V are used. (Not too surprising, really, as higher V = higher heat.) 3.3V and below are fine, but there is a jumper to allow up to 4.0V. If you use that jumper, it causes problems. That's my understanding. In other words, don't plan on running OCZ VX at 3.7V with no active cooling. :)hgkfahgsa - Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - link
Jarred, could you elaborate on the problems with high voltages with the DFI cards? Is there any chance of the problems being resolved, does 3.3 volts work? etc... Thanks.JarredWalton - Friday, May 27, 2005 - link
50 - I know there are some Turtle Beach cards with S/PDIF in and out connections. M-Audio also has some, i.e. the Delta and Audiophile. Which one you want depends on the use. Most only have optical *OR* coaxial (RCA). I think many of the models with external boxes have both. If you were interested in an expensive, "everything" solution, there's the Audigy 4 Pro, but that's $280 or so, and I can't vouch for the actual quality as a whole.Honestly, I'm not a demanding audio person. If you want more advice on audio, I'm sure there are people in our forums that can provide better advice for "pro level" cards. You may as well ask me for advice on cars while you're at it! (Get something cheap and reliable!) ;-)
devslash - Friday, May 27, 2005 - link
how important is capability of S/PDIF input. i dont see many motherboards that have this on-board.isn't it important/good to have it, so DVD's audio
can be directly fed into the on-board sound system?
can you recommend a good board w/ S/PDIF input?