August 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 - $191
Processor: Pentium 4-3.0 GHz (800 MHz) - $391
Cooling: Retail Heatsink/Fan - $0
Motherboard: ASUS P4P800 Deluxe - $135
Memory: 2 X 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS DDR400/PC3200LL - $310
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200 GB SE - $172
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 - $360
Monitor: Sony CPD-E440 - $325
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum Retail - $141
Speakers: Creative Inspire 6.1 - $75
DVD/CD ROM: Pioneer 16X DVD-120S/2 - $38
CD-RW: Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW LTR-52246 - $40
Communications: None or (optional Intel Pro/1000 T or USR External v.92) - $0
Mouse: Logitech MX700 Cordless Mouse - $55
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard - $38
Operating System: Windows XP Pro - $134
Floppy: Generic - $8

Total: $2,413

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Lian Li PC-65 PC Case w/ 430W or higher name brand PSU - $191
Processor: Athlon XP 3200+ (400 MHz) - $445
Cooling: Thermalright SLK-900A, Panaflo fan - $48
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe - $119
Memory: 2 X 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS DDR400/PC3200LL - $310
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200 GB SE - $172
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro- $360
Monitor: Sony CPD-E440 - $325
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum 2 Retail - $141
Speakers: Creative Inspire 6.1 - $75
DVD/CD ROM: Pioneer 16X DVD-120S/2 - $38
CD-RW: Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW LTR-52246 - $40
Communications: None or (optional Intel Pro/1000 T or USR External v.92) - $0
Mouse: Logitech MX700 Cordless Mouse - $55
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard - $38
Operating System: Windows XP Pro - $134
Floppy: Generic - $8

Total: $2,499

Closing Remarks

A lull in both new performance hardware and price levels this month has lead to the first time we have not added any new hardware into our High End Gaming PC. The marketplace has been quite stagnant over the past month, with only slight shifts in prices in both our AMD and Intel systems. However, we still are very pleased with the configuration of both systems as they offer a heck of a lot of performance for the price.

If all goes as planed next month should have the new releases we have been waiting for. Intel, AMD, ATI and possibly Creative are among the few who will be introducing or announcing products, in addition to a slew of highly anticipated game releases. The Athlon 64, after being delayed by almost a year, will finally see the light of day, and possibly use a new NVIDIA chipset. ATI is set to introduce a new card shortly before the release of the monumental Half-Life 2 (September 30) that should be a speed bump in their current R3xx architecture. Intel will most likely also be showing the Prescott sometime in the next 30 days, and most likely right before the Athlon 64 is released. All-in-all by the time we show up with our next High-End Gaming Guide, it should be a gamer and hardware enthusiast's delight.

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.