February 2004 High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 4

Memory: 2 X 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS DDR400/PC3200LL

Current Cost: $249
Months on list: 7
Price Change: $0

It's seems like we have been recommending Corsair's XMS memory forever. The simple fact is that the XMS "Low Latency" line of memory is some of the best DDR we have ever used. Stability, overclockability, and overall performance are the name of the game with XMS (eXtreme Memory Speed) memory, and Corsair certainly delivers. For our FSB needs, both the AMD and Intel systems require 400 MHz DDR for optimum performance, so we recommend using PC3200 (or faster) memory.

The Intel i875P-based system is the only one that will see a benefit from using two 512-MB sticks running in dual-channel mode. The Athlon 64 utilizes a single 64-bit memory controller that while powerful in its own right, isn't tailored to make use of dual-channel memory. Even so, we're still going with dual 512MB TwinX sticks for both systems as it's much easier to find, and less expensive, than searching for a single high-performance 1GB stick of memory.

Hard Drive: Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 8MB Cache

Current Cost: $212
Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$6

Serial ATA is slowly but surely gaining a foothold in both the retail and OEM sectors of the performance hard drive market. While Serial ATA may not be light years ahead of Parallel ATA, it does boast a nice performance increase, and sexy thin cables to make it a worthwhile addition to this guide. And best of all, SATA drives are comparable in price to their PATA counterparts. This month we are sticking with the same heavy-duty Western Digital 250GB SATA drive we used last time out.

Sporting a 7200RPM spindle speed, Serial ATA interface, 8MB cache, and 250GBs of storage space the Western Digital 250GB SE is our hard drive of choice. Outside of raw performance, the gobs of data cache, and the huge capacity, the best thing about this drive is its thin and flexible data cables, which can potentially free up space allowing for greater airflow throughout the case. Another nice feature of the new WD SATA drives is the FlexPower feature, which supports both Molex and ATA power connectors, which means no added expense for a SATA adapter.

CD/DVD-ROM: Pioneer 16X DVD-120S/2

Cost: $30
Months on list: 8
Price Change: -$2

The Pioneer 16X DVD-120S/2 slot loading drive is similar to the CD drive you might find in your car, as it is able to retrieve media without a traditional tray mechanism. Pioneer is a name long associated with excellence in optical media readers, and their 16X DVD-ROM unit is no exception. The drive features a 256K buffer, 95ms seek time on DVDs (80ms on CDs), as well as horizontal and vertical mounting capabilities.

Pioneer also makes a tray-loading model (DVD-117) for those of you who deal with other sizes of optical media. It can be found for a few dollars less than the slot-loading model, and is a super unit in its own right.

CDRW: Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW LTR-52327S

Cost: $33
Months on list: 3
Price Change: -$3

Although the price of DVD-/+RW drives have been falling, and write speeds have been increasing, a decent DVD-/+RW drive is still out of reach for our budget. Add to that, the lack of true high-end CDR write speeds, and as you might expect, we are sticking with our tried and true Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW drive. The retail version comes with Nero Express burning software, and can be found at various retailers for approximately $33.