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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 |
May 2005 High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 2By Ryan "Speedy" Wissman May 5, 2005
Current Cost: $611 Over the past few months, Intel has been busy releasing a number of new processors featuring 64-bit support. Last month we refrained from including one of the new Pentium 4 6xx series CPUs as the processor's inflated prices would have put us considerably over budget. This month we were able to shuffle a few components around, and thanks to a few price cuts, include the Pentium 4 660 (3.6GHz). The Pentium 4 660 is more feature rich than the Pentium 4 560 we included last month, and full-fledged 64-bit support in addition to the whopping 2-MB L2 cache make the extra cost worthwhile in terms of both performance and longevity. The added benefit of the i925XE chipset allows us for a much wider upgrade path, not to mention access to high end technologies such as PCI-Express and DDR2.
The Pentium 4 660 is clocked at 3.6GHz, and is only a few steps away from Intel's ultra high-end Pentium 4 EE CPUs. The 6xx series of CPUs is built on the same 90nm process the 5xx series of CPUs enjoy, but packs a few extra features that Intel feels justifies the higher model number. The Pentium 4 660 features a massive 2MB L2 cache, EM64T (Intel's 64-bit support), SSE3, and has Execute Disable Bit support. At 3.6GHz, the Pentium 4 660 is more than qualified to compete with the Athlon 64 competitor on the AMD side this month, especially in terms of media encoding and decoding performance. Priced at $611, this is one of the most expensive CPUs we have ever used in this guide, but with the extra budget this month we simply couldn't turn it down.
We prefer to use retail processors when possible as they come with a free heatsink and fan as well as a much beefier warranty. Such is the case with the retail Pentium 4 660 3.6 GHz. The retail version of this processor ships with a relatively good HSF (although we sometimes prefer to use our own, budget permitting), and a much better 3-year warranty, making it worth the few extra dollars in our book.
Current Cost: $499 AMD continues to enjoy great success with their Athlon 64 line, pitting Socket 939 processors in a head-to-head battle with Intel's LGA775 line. AMD's Socket 939 was designed to support a wide range of processors, from entry-level Athlon 64 chips all the way up to their ultra high-end Athlon 64 FX processors, and all using the same core-logic chipset. Since we upgraded the Intel processor this month we felt that it was only fair to give our AMD system an extra nudge by moving to the Athlon 64 4000+ (2.4 GHz). Sporting many of the same design features as last month's Athlon 64 3800+ selection, the Athlon 64 4000+ sets itself apart not through a higher clockspeed, but with an increased L2 cache. The Athlon 64 4000+ is the only Socket 939 CPU to feature 1MB L2 cache outside of the Athlon 64 FX line, making this CPU a natural transition processor between the Athlon 64 FX and Athlon 64 series. Since we are using our own heatsink and fan for the AMD processor this month we decided to save a few bucks and go with a lower priced OEM model. At $499 this processor certainly isn't cheap, but with some extra leeway in the budget this month, and the need to match our upgraded Intel system, made this CPU the perfect choice.
The next order of business for our AMD system will most likely be to upgrade to a dual core processor. It doesn't make much sense to move to the Athlon 64 FX series for this guide as we're already using the Athlon 64 equivalent of the FX-53. A nice mid-priced dual core processor should do the trick, and with the release of dual core processor for AMD's Opteron line we should start seeing dual core capable Athlon 64 processors anytime now.
Current Cost: $0 This month we are sticking with the retail heatsink-fan combo that is packaged with the retail Pentium 4 660. Due to the increased cost on the Intel side of the fence, we are unable to afford a more expensive third-party cooler, but this is tempered by allowing 3.6 GHz of 64-bit Pentium 4 power. The retail heatsink that Intel bundles are sufficient so long as you are not into hardcore overclocking, not to mention they're literally a snap to install.
For Intel fans feeling a bit jealous of the AMD heatsink-fan selection, Thermalright offers a $5 LGA775 RM bracket that allows the Thermalright XP-120 and XP-90 heatsinks to be installed on LGA 775 platforms. It installs similar to current Socket 939 HSF brackets, and could be the answer to some Intel enthusiast cooling requirements.
Current Cost: $62 Since we went with an OEM processor on the AMD side this month, it's natural to buy a high performance heatsink and fan to go with it. For the past few editions of our guide we have been using the Thermalright XP-120 and there is no reason to deviate from that recommendation this month. Expanding on the design of the SLK-984U, the XP-120 dramatically increases surface area through the use of an incredible number of aluminum fins, situated on top of a solid copper base.
The end result is an ultra high quality, easy to install behemoth of a CPU cooler. However, don't let the XP-120's huge size fool you, as the all-aluminum fin design makes the heatsink significantly lighter than its all copper counterparts without sacrificing one bit of cooling capability. Priced at approximately $62, which includes a 120mm Vantec Stealth fan, this hardware is expensive, but it's still a relative bargain considering its awesome cooling potential.
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