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

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

Current Cost: $253
Months on list: 8
Price Change: +$4

Without a doubt, Corsair's XMS memory is some of the best DDR that money can buy. Performance and stability are exactly what we look for when purchasing just about any component in this guide, and Corsair's XMS "low latency" memory delivers it in spades. For our FSB requirements this month, both our AMD and Intel systems need 400MHz DDR memory for high-end operation, so we need to use PC3200 (or faster) memory.

Due to the single-channel DDR architecture of the AMD system, the Intel side of the fence is the only one that will see a benefit from using two 512MB sticks in dual-channel mode. The Athlon 64 has a single 64-bit memory controller that while powerful in its own right, isn't tailored to make use of dual-channel memory. Regardless, we are still going to go with two 512MB TwinX modules for both systems as this is easier and less expensive than searching for a single high-performance 1GB stick of memory.

Hard Drive: 2 X Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 8MB Cache

Current Cost: $232 (2x$116)
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Serial ATA is slowly but surely gaining a foothold in both the retail and OEM sectors of the 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, not to mention its comparable price to Parallel ATA drives. We opted for two Seagate ST3160023AS 7200RPM SATA drives running in a RAID 0 array for maximum performance. Should you rather have enhanced data protection, it's a good idea to set up the drives in a RAID 1 array, where capacity is cut in half, but the second drive acts as a mirror if the first one should fail.

The Seagate ST3160023AS sports a 7200 RPM spindle speed, a Serial ATA interface, 8MB of cache, and 160 GBs of storage space. This provides both the speed and data capacity for any high-end system, but one of our favorite aspects of the new Serial ATA drives is the thin and easy to handle cables. These are much smaller than the older Parallel ATA cables and free up enough space so that air can flow through the case more easily. The Seagate drives also feature 350 Gs non-op shock 3D Defense System, and a one year warranty.

CD/DVD-ROM: Pioneer 16X DVD-120SZ

Cost: $33
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Pioneer has updated their popular slot loading DVD drive yet again with the DVD-120SZ. The slot loading mechanism is very similar to what you might find in your car, as it is able to retrieve media without a traditional tray mechanism. We have always liked Pioneer's optical readers, and their new 16X DVD-ROM drive is no exception. The drive features a 256K buffer, slightly better 90ms DVD seek time, and 85ms CD seek time, in addition to 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: $34
Months on list: 4
Price Change: +$1

Even though the price of DVD-/+RW drives have been falling, and speeds have been increasing, a decent DVD-/+RW drive is still a bit out of reach for this guide. 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 about $34.