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Sharky Extreme : Monthly High-end Gaming System Buyer's Guide |
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Monthly High-end Gaming System Buyer's Guide |
May High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 2By Vince Freeman May 31, 2002Intel CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.26 GHz (533 MHz)
Current Cost: $250
The choice of a Pentium 4 processor was a tough one, as we'd love to hit the 2.4 or 2.53 GHz level, but the price is still a bit too high for our budget. The Pentium 4 2.26 GHz is a great secondary choice, as it already runs on the 533 MHz front-side bus and provides faster performance than the similarly-priced Pentium 4-2.2 GHz using the 400 MHz FSB. Before all you overclockers start up, remember that with a 533-MHz compatible motherboard, overclocking above the standard FSB doesn't incur any additional strain on the AGP or PCI bus and in fact, provides incredible system bandwidth increases at the higher-than 533 MHz speeds. We're pretty sure the chances at a 2.9 GHz overclock (400 to 533 MHz FSB) for the Pentium 4-2.2 GHz are not in our favor, so we're starting off at the higher bus speed for the performance, and then you can take any potential overclock from there.
Current Cost: $183
Until the Thoroughbred is released, there is really only one choice for a high-end AMD processor component. The Athlon XP 2100+ is still a very high-performance processor that can still give the Pentium 4-2.4 GHz a good run for its money. The only area that it falls back in is potential overclocking, as the current Athlon XP core can't match the 0.13-micron Pentium 4 Northwood in that regard. We're choosing the OEM version this time, as not only is it less expensive, but it allows the use of a more powerful 3rd-party heatsink-fan. The Athlon XP may run cooler than the original Athlon, but it's certainly not in Northwood country.
Current Cost: $35
As the Pentium 4 core speeds rise and the overclocking options increase, the best move is to ensure you have adequate CPU cooling. The retail HSF unit is still a great option for most, but as we continue to find additional core speed headroom with the newer Northwoods, many are turning towards more robust cooling. Some of the Swiftech units are quite nice, and expensive, but we think we've found a happy medium with the Alpha PAL8942. This heatsink has a copper base for additional cooling power, as well as allowing a custom choice for the fan component. Our price includes the heatsink and a name brand cooling fan, but hardcore users can certainly spend a few bucks more and upgrade to a higher-level fan. Either way, the Alpha is a powerful Pentium 4 cooling option and a good insurance policy if you intend to overclock to the outer limits of your processor.
Current Cost: $36 + $8 = $44
The choice of HSF unit for the Athlon XP 2100+ is a very important one, especially given that the summer season is rapidly approaching. Cooler Master might be a strange name to see included in a high-end guide, but their recent foray into branded retail products has yielded some very surprising results. The Coolermaster HHC-001 is one such example, and its innovative heat-pipe design and full copper heatsink create one of the better cooling values available. There is really very little to challenge it at this price level, and even the installation and removal is made easy through the use of thumb-clips. Those worried about cracking an Athlon XP core should definitely apply here, as well as buying a high-quality CPU shim.
The only potential issue is that the Coolermaster HHC-001 uses only one of the socket clips, and for the paranoid, the Vantec CCK-6040H Copper X cooler provides the safety of three-clip support on both sides (as well as using a similar thumb-clip), along with comparable cooling performance.
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