June 2003 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 - $210
Processor: Pentium 4-3.0 GHz (800 MHz) - $399
Cooling: Alpha PAL8942, Panaflo fan - $38
Motherboard: ASUS P4P800 Deluxe - $145
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS PC3200 - $285
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200 GB SE - $186
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 - $377
Monitor: Samsung 900NF or LG 915FT Plus - $300
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum Retail - $162
Speakers: Creative Inspire 6.1 - $71
CD/DVD-ROM: Pioneer 16X DVD-120S Slot Load DVD-ROM - $47
CDRW: Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW - $47
Communications: Onboard LAN or (optional Intel Pro/1000 T or USR External v.92) - $0
Mouse: Logitech MX700 Cordless Mouse - $49
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard - $39
Operating System: Windows XP Pro - $129
Floppy: Generic - $8

Total: $2,492

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Lian Li PC-65 PC Case w/ 430W or higher name brand PSU - $210
Processor: Athlon XP 3200+ (400 MHz) - $442
Cooling: Thermalright SLK-800, Panaflo fan - $39
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe - $128
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS PC3200 - $285
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200 GB SE - $186
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro- $377
Monitor: Samsung 957MB or LG 915FT Plus - $279
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum 2 Retail - $162
Speakers: Creative Inspire 6.1 - $71
CD/DVD-ROM: Pioneer 16X DVD-120S Slot Load DVD-ROM - $47
CDRW: Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW - $47
Communications: None or (Intel Pro/1000 T or US Robotics External v.92) - $0
Mouse: Logitech MX700 Cordless Mouse - $49
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard - $39
Operating System: Windows XP Pro - $129
Floppy: Generic - $8

Total: $2,498

Closing Remarks

This month Intel's new 865PE chipset made its way into our guide through the addition of the powerful ASUS P4P800 Deluxe. The 865PE chipset offers a ton of performance for a less cost than the 875P-based models, and ASUS' P4P800 Deluxe is loaded with goodies. We most likely won't be changing the motherboard for our AMD computer until the next-generation CPUs and chipsets make their appearance.

The majority of the High End Guide remained unchanged this month, but we did manage to save a few dollars on the overall price. This is an opportunity for the more budget-minded to save some cash by going with 512-MB of DDR400, but since the money was available, taking advantage of a full 1-GB seemed to be a viable option. Other than that, we'll be keeping a close eye on the available hardware, and seeing exactly what we can fit in for next month.

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.