January High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 8

Price Roundup

AMD Phenom System

Case: ThermalTake Armor VA8000BWS Full Tower - $140
Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power 650W - $120
Processor: Phenom 9600 Black Edition (2.3 GHz) Retail - $240
Cooling: 3rd-party HSF - $50
Motherboard: ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe - $225
Memory: 2x1GB Corsair XMS2-8500 (TWIN2X2048-8500C5) - $115
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB SATA - $187
Video Card: GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB - $455
Monitor: Westinghouse L2410NM 24" LCD - $399
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer - $80
Speakers: Logitech THX Z-5300e 5.1 Speakers - $135
DVD-/+RW: Samsung SH-S203B 20X SATA - $30
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution Laser Cordless Mouse - $75
Keyboard: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard - $85
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium - $111
Floppy: Generic - $5

Total: $2,452

Intel Core 2 Duo System

Case: ThermalTake Armor VA8000BWS Full Tower - $140
Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power 650W - $120
Processor: Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0GHz) Retail - $245
Cooling: Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: ASUS P5E - $220
Memory: 2x1GB Corsair XMS2-8500 (TWIN2X2048-8500C5) - $115
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB SATA - $187
Video Card: GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB - $455
Monitor: Westinghouse L2410NM 24" LCD - $399
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer - $80
Speakers: Logitech THX Z-5300e 5.1 Speakers - $135
DVD-/+RW: Samsung SH-S203B 20X SATA - $30
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution Laser Cordless Mouse - $75
Keyboard: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard - $85
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium - $111
Floppy: Generic - $5

Total: $2,402

Closing Remarks

Our latest high-end PC buyer's guide offers a slightly different take on both the AMD and Intel system configurations. Even with all the release issues, the unlocked Phenom 9600 Black Edition is the right call, but we still wish that higher-clocked Phenom dual and tri-core models were available for comparison. The Intel side is more cut-and-dried, as the January 20 arrival of a 3.0 GHz 45nm Wolfdale (and at under $250) makes waiting a few days the only logical option.

The two high-end platforms also received a few additional upgrades. First off, we have some new motherboards, which then led to the speed infusion of 2GB of DDR2-1066. The shift to a Westinghouse 24" LCD is a no-brainer, as prices have come down considerably at this level, and it is an 8-bit panel with an 8ms response time. Other than that, this high-end guide was mostly business as usual, with some price drops and small changes here and there, but nothing that significant.

The latest system configurations do offer improvements to both the AMD and Intel systems, but the upcoming 45nm Wolfdale release will keep the performance advantage firmly with Intel. These 45nm dual core processors are looking like incredible values, and while the Phenom 9600 BE will get thumped in terms of gaming performance, the comparison against the Athlon 64 X2 would be even worse. Even so, we're looking at two very powerful gaming systems, with hotrod GeForce 8800 GTX-based graphics, powerful dual-core processors, dual-channel DDR2-1066 memory. 24" LCDs, and all the other high-end peripherals needed for a serious gaming platform priced at under $2500.

Please note that the prices in our guide do not include shipping costs or taxes. The final system price also reflects a "best case" scenario of finding an online vendor that stocks the majority of internal components, or having access to a number of local computer retailers for system quotes and comparison shopping. Also, throughout the compilation of this guide, we have made every attempt to ensure availability and realistic street pricing of the included components.