April 2004 High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 5

Video Accelerator: Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800XT 256MB OEM

Current Cost: $408
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

ATI hasn't budged from our high end guide since the release of the impressive Radeon 9700 Pro, and the Radeon 9800XT continues that tradition as the top high-end video card on the market, especially when anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering come into play. While the Radeon 9800XT is certainly not a huge upgrade compared to the Radeon 9800 Pro, it does give ATI that extra edge they needed to contend with NVIDIA and the similarly-equipped GeForce FX 5950 Ultra. This month, to save a few dollars, we are switching to the Sapphire version of the ATI Radeon 9800XT 256MB OEM. Sapphire actually makes the majority of ATI's Radeon cards so performance and quality is a non-issue.

For the Radeon 9800XT, ATI decided not to fool with a good thing and bumped the core and memory speeds up to 412 MHz and 730 MHz respectively. In addition, ATI also include a new Overdrive feature, which is their way of dynamically overclocking the card's core speed in accordance to temperature and usage. Deep down, the Radeon 9800XT has a lot in common with the Radeon 9800 Pro such as SmartShader, SmoothVision, and HyperZ III+. Sapphire also continues to use nice, non-invasive cooling techniques to ensure stable operation without sacrificing a PCI slot.

Monitor: NEC/Mitsubishi DP930SB-BK 19"

Cost: $302
Months on list: 3
Price Change: +$3

As companies move toward larger 21+" CRT and high-end LCD units, our choices for a 19" monitor becomes increasingly narrow. Nevertheless, there still are a number of quality 19" monitors on the market, and the NEC/Mitsubishi DP930SB-BK 19" monitor is currently one of the best in its price range. It features a 0.24mm grille pitch, totally flat aperture grille CRT, 1920 x 1440 at 73 Hz maximum resolution, and three year warranty. As prices of LCD monitors have been decreasing, and size increasing, it is only a matter of picking the right time to include on in this guide, but for now this CRT monitor is our top pick.

For those of you who can't live with aperture grill monitors we recommend the NEC/Mitsubishi FE990-BK ClearFlat Shadow Mask CRT. The FE990-BK features a maximum resolution of 1792 X 1344 at 68 Hz, and a 0.20-0.24mm horizontal pitch, all without those two annoying stabilization wires found in Aperture grill monitors. This monitor can be found for a few dollars cheaper than the DP930SB-BK at various retailers and comes with a 3 year warranty.

Please keep in mind that when buying any type or brand of monitor, there is always the chance of receiving a defective unit, so be certain to purchase only from a vendor that offers liberal return and replacement options.

Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Retail

Cost: $164
Months on list: 5
Price Change: -$2

The Creative Audigy 2 ZS is only a mild evolutionary step up from the original Audigy 2. The card features a slightly-better 108 signal-to-noise ratio, updated EAX 4.0 support, 7.1 channel surround sound, and DTS ES decoding, among the basic improvements. The Audigy 2 ZS also supports 24-bit, 192kHz DVD-Audio for analog output, just like the Audigy 2 before it. We like to use the Platinum version in this guide because it comes with a bay drive that has additional connections for input and output, not to mention a remote control.

The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum has one of the best software bundles ever included with a soundcard. On the gaming side, you receive full retail copies of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, and Rainbow Six: Raven Shield. For the audio aficionado, Steinberg Cubasis VST 4.0 Creative Edition and Wavelab Lite 2.0, and Image Line FL Studio 4 Creative Edition, can certainly handle the audio creation and editing duties.

Speakers:

With a high end soundcard, a good set of surround sound speakers is a great way to immerse yourself in games, movies and music. Choosing the right speakers is an important investment, as they will likely stay with you as long as your case or monitor.

System Speakers: Creative Inspire T7700 7.1 Speakers

Cost: $106
Months on list: 4
Price Change: -$4

The quality of Creative brand speakers has vastly improved as of late, and looks to be a direct result of taking customer feedback into account. Their basic speaker line still can't compete with high-end models from Klipsch or Logitech, but the price and overall value more than make up for this. The Creative Inspire T7700 is a set of 7.1 speakers that deliver a total of 92 watts RMS power and 125 watts of total system power, making it a bit more powerful than the 6.1 set. We have been recommending this set for the past few months because it is a name brand set that can be had for only $106, making it a real bargain.