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Sharky Extreme : Monthly High-end Gaming System Buyer's Guide |
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Monthly High-end Gaming System Buyer's Guide |
March High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 4By Vince Freeman, Ryan "Speedy" Wissman March 25, 2005
Current Cost: $279 AMD is still waiting to implement DDR2 support on their new motherboards, so DDR continues to be the name of the game with Athlon 64 chipsets. This month we're going to make a shift away from Corsair's XMS "Low Latency" line, and move to what is the most impressive low-latency PC3200 we've seen in a long time. The OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 offers incredible 2-2-2-5 memory timings, provides top-end performance at 400 MHz, and works exceptionally well in our AMD test platforms. As per our FSB requirements this month we are using 400MHz DDR memory (PC3200) which allows us to tap the full potential of our Athlon 64 3800+ processor. Dual-channel has become the name of the game on both the Intel and AMD side of the fence over the past few months, so there is no reason not to take advantage of the added performance it has to offer. It is logical to use two sticks of 512MB memory rather than a single stick for this very reason. The OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 dual channel kit package features two 512MB sticks of ultra-low latency (2-2-2-5 1T) DDR memory.
Current Cost: $284 The move to Intel's high-end 925X chipset also brought along with it a transition to DDR2 memory. While the jury is still out on the real-world benefits of DDR2 over high-end speed DDR, we need to match memory with the performance and features of the i925X. The main benefit of DDR2 comes in its support for higher clock speeds compared to DDR, and as Intel begins to push 1066MHz FSB speeds on future processors this will become more of a factor than it is now. We had a bit of cash left over this month, so we decided to dump the more sedate Kingston ValueRAM DDR2-533 memory, in return for the more appropriate Crucial Ballistix DDR2-533.
We had to pay a bit more money for the Crucial memory, but this is a great investment in terms of performance, quality and overclockability. To start off, the Kingston ValueRAM offered standard 4-4-4-12 memory timings, while the Crucial Ballistix DDR2-533 lowers those considerably to higher-performance 3-3-3-10 levels. Overclocking is also high with Ballistix DDR2, and in our bus speed testing, the platform blinked before the memory did. As the i925X platform supports dual-channel memory it's only fitting that we go with two 512MB sticks of RAM to maximize performance. Crucial Ballistix memory also carries a limited lifetime warranty.
Current Cost: $148 Both of our motherboards have support for NCQ, or Native Command Queuing, which uses smart algorithms to speed up hard drive access times increase overall data throughput. This new technology is present on many new SATA drives, and now that we've got the Intel 925X and nForce4 in action, this is a prime opportunity to make use of increased hard drive performance through NCQ. This also helps offset the impact of moving away from a dual-drive RAID array, as this was becoming quite a drain on the budget. A single high capacity hard drive gives us the best bang for the buck, and the trade-offs are minimal for gaming use, especially where the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB is concerned.
To say that the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB is an extremely fast hard drive would be somewhat of an understatement, as not only does this model sport a 7200 RPM and NCQ support, but a whopping 16-MB data cache as well. Load times are extremely fast with the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 line, and on our NCQ-compatible platforms, it can even rival a 10K WD Raptor drive for pure performance. This Maxtor drive is no slouch in terms of acoustics and quality, and features fluid dynamic bearings, Quiet Drive Technology, and a full 3-year warranty. Naturally, we're going with the SATA model, but Maxtor also produces these behemoths in upgrade-friendly PATA formats as well.
Cost: $65
As we gear up for the upcoming release of blu-ray and HD-DVD DVD recorders, prices on standard DVD+/-R/RW models have fallen to rock bottom prices. This month we're sticking with the same 16X Dual Layer model we used in the last version of this guide, as it continues to be a super value. The NEC 3500A is capable of 16X DVD+/-R, 4X DVD+/-RW, 4X DVD+R9 (dual-layer), 48X CD-R, and 24X CD-RW burning. It can also read DVDs at the standard 16X and CDs at 48X, covering the gamut of CD and DVD-based duties. The unit's $65 price tag is also very attractive, making it impossible to pass up adding in dual-layer DVD recording capability to our rigs.
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