November Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 8

Price Round Up

The Intel System

Case: Kingwin KT-436-WM w/ Antec 430W Truepower PSU- $237
CPU: Intel Pentium 4-2.8 GHz - $385
Cooling: Included - N/A
Motherboard: ASUS P4T533-C - $165
Memory: 1 GB MB PC1066 (256x4) - $400
Hard Drive: Western Digital 120 GB Special Edition X 2- $342
Misc: PROMISE FASTTRAK TX2000 PCI IDE Raid Controller - $89
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro - $319
Monitor: Mitsubishi 2060u, 22 Inch Diamondtron Monitor - $750
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy2 Platinum- $169
Speakers: Logitech Z-680 5.1 450W THX, DTS, Dolby Digital - $380
CD/DVD-ROM: Toshiba SD-M1612 16X DVD-ROM - $40
CDRW: TDK VeloCD 48x24x48 CDRW - $87
NIC: Intel Pro/100 S - $44
Modem: US Robotics External v.92 Faxmodem - $60
Mouse: Logitech MX500 Optical Mouse - $45
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Natural Keyboard - $50
Gamepad: Logitech Wingman Rumblepad - $24
Operating System: Windows XP Pro w/s SP1 - $143
UPS: APC Back-UPS Pro 650VA- $220
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $3,957

The AMD System

Case: Kingwin KT-436-WM w/ Antec 430W Truepower PSU - $237
CPU: Athlon XP 2700+ - $348
Cooling: Swiftech MCX462 / Thermaltake Fan/Shim- $68
Motherboard: Asus A7N8X Deluxe n-Force2 - $155
Memory: 1 GB Corsair PC3200 (512x2) - $390
Hard Drive: Western Digital 120 GB Special Edition X 2- $342
Misc: Soyo Serial IDE to Serial ATA Converter (x2) - $78
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro - $319
Monitor: Mitsubishi 2060u, 22 Inch Diamondtron Monitor- $750
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy2 Platinum- $169
Speakers: Logitech Z-680 5.1 450W THX, DTS, Dolby Digital - $380
CD/DVD-ROM: Toshiba SD-M1612 16X DVD-ROM - $40
CDRW: TDK VeloCD 48x24x48 CDRW - $87
NIC: Intel Pro/100 S - $44
Modem: US Robotics External v.92 Faxmodem - $60
Mouse: Logitech MX500 Optical Mouse - $45
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Natural Keyboard Pro - $50
Gamepad: Logitech Wingman Rumblepad - $24
Operating System: Windows XP Pro /w SP1 - $143
UPS: APC Back-UPS Pro 650VA - $220
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $3,957

Closing Remarks

In what may be a first for our Extreme Guide, both systems equal out right down to the dollar! In terms of power, both the Intel and AMD systems are hotrod PCs, though the Pentium 4-2.8 GHz processor will likely give Intel a slight CPU advantage over the AMD Athlon 2700+ system. However, with the high performance dual channel DDR platform made available through the NVIDIA n-force2 driven Asus A7N8X, the real-world system performance of both systems will be nearly evenly matched. In an ironic twist, our ability to finally get our hands on a high end AMD Athlon has also tarnished their image of being a highly competitive (read: cheaper) CPU maker. AMD's highest end being within $50 of Intel's P4 2.8 GHz CPU in price has kept the prices close, in fact both systems offer virtually the same features, and have ended up with the exact same price. So for this month, you must decide which platform you prefer, AMD or Intel, because price is certainly not a positive or negative factor for either camp.

We're a bit disappointed that with the absence of serial ATA hard drives on the market, and that will probably be the next positive change in upcoming guides, and the availability of dual channel DDR solutions for the Intel Pentium 4 platform should spur some interesting changes in upcoming guides.

* Please note that the prices in our guide do not include shipping costs or taxes. The final system price also reflects a "best case" scenario of finding an online vendor that stocks the majority of internal components, or having access to a number of local computer retailers for system quotes and comparison shopping.