March High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 8

Price Roundup

Intel Pentium 4 System

Case: Lian Li PC-65 PC Case w/ 430W or higher name brand PSU - $260
Processor: Pentium 4-2.8 GHz (533 MHz) - $343
Cooling: Alpha PAL8942 - $35
Motherboard: ABIT BH7 - $92
Memory: 512-MB Corsair XMS PC3200 - $184
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200 GB SE - $245
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro- $290
Monitor: Samsung 900NF or LG 915FT Plus - $315
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Retail - $112
Speakers: Klipsch Promedia 4.1 - $215
CD/DVD-ROM: Pioneer 16X 106S/2 16X Slot Load DVD-ROM - $47
CDRW: Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW - $60
Communications: Intel Pro/1000 T or US Robotics External v.92 - $45
Mouse: Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Optical 3.0 - $35
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard - $46
Operating System: Windows XP Pro - $132
Floppy: Generic - $8

Total: $2,464

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Lian Li PC-65 PC Case w/ 430W or higher name brand PSU - $260
Processor: Athlon XP 2700+ (333 MHz) - $245
Cooling: Thermalright SLK-800, Panaflo fan - $48
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X - $115
Memory: Two 256-MB Corsair XMS PC3200 - $184
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200 GB SE - $245
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro- $290
Monitor: Samsung 900NF or LG 915FT Plus - $315
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 - $112
Speakers: Klipsch Promedia 4.1 - $215
CD/DVD-ROM: Pioneer 16X 106S/2 16X Slot Load DVD-ROM - $47
CDRW: Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW - $60
Communications: Intel Pro/1000 T or US Robotics External v.92 - $45
Mouse: Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Optical 3.0 - $35
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard - $46
Operating System: Windows XP Pro - $132
Floppy: Generic - $8

Total: $2,402

Closing Remarks

The Intel platform received a considerable boost through the Pentium 4-2.8 GHz, while the nForce2-powered AMD system remained strong, though with no real performance upgrades. Prices on some important components dropped this month, allowing us a considerable amount of money to overhaul the speaker section of this guide and change a few things here and there. Just like last month, we fell slightly under budget on both systems, which is not necessarily a bad thing. $2500 is still able to buy an extremely powerful system that should please both AMD and Intel fans alike.

Now that the Radeon 9800 Pro cards are starting to hit the market, we'll be looking to possibly include one in next month's guide. The GeForce FX on the other hand is still extremely difficult to find, and unless they undergo a considerable price drop and sudden speed improvement, we most likely won't be considering one for next month's guide. We are also looking forward to additional price cuts on both Intel and AMD platforms, as holding the same processor in one system for more than two months just doesn't feel right.

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. Also, throughout the compilation of this guide, we have made every attempt to ensure availability and realistic street pricing of the included components.