June 2004 High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

Introduction

In each edition of our monthly High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide, we are given $2500 in cash to spend, and go to the limit in search of the ultimate high-end gaming machines. These systems certainly pump out the gaming FPS, but we do not spend this money frivolously, and our tech savvy and eye for a deal play a large role in the choices we make. All of the hardware picks in this guide are done after carefully weighing the price to performance ratio of each component, then seeing how they fit into our $2500 budget. This guide also represents the median between our Value Buyer's Guide with only a $1000 limit, and our Extreme Buyer's Guide with its massive $4000 budget.

The purpose behind this guide is to give you a general idea of what kind of high-end gaming PC is possible with a budget of $2500. While the individual components are top notch, we take a look at the larger picture, and decide which pieces meld together the best to form the highest-performing, feature-rich gaming PC possible. We recommend configurations for both the Intel and AMD sides of the spectrum, and are not here to promote one platform over the other.

This month we have seen the introduction of AMDs long awaited 939-pin Athlon 64 processors which sport 512K of L2 cache and support for dual-channel memory. In addition, Intel has also announced their new line of processors and performance numbering scheme as well as new motherboards that support LGA (Land Grid Array) socket design. Despite being introduced a while ago, we have not seen anything on the NVIDIA side to compete with the ATI X800 Pro video cards in the high-end market, and the X800 Pro cards that have been surfacing are selling like hotcakes.

Case: Lian Li PC-65 w/Antec TruePower 480W PSU

Current Cost: $185
Months on list: 6
Price Change: $0

We list the case and power supply selection as the first order of business, because both items are among the first things that need to be purchased when building a new computer. A good case can stay with you for years to come, through multiple PC upgrades, so it is important to choose one that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also easy to work with and functional enough for your needs. The ATX 2.1 form factor is the de facto standard in tower PC cases so component compatibility most likely wont be an issue.

While there are literally hundreds of computer case manufacturers, only a select few are on our short list for quality, including Lian Li, Cooler Master, and Antec to name just a few. As each of these manufacturers produces excellent designs, a case from any one of them would be a wise choice. For the purposes of this guide we can only pick one, and as our top choice for the past few months has been Lian Li, it should come as no surprise that we are going that route yet again this month. The Lian Li PC-65 USB not only combines great looks and an attractive price, but is one of the most functionally sound cases we have used thus far.

The Lian Li PC-65 USB is a great looking aluminum case, that definitely has the high-end features and expandability we're looking for. It features 4 x 5.25", 3 x 3.5" (External), and 5 x 3.5" (Internal) expansion slots, four ball-bearing cooling fans, a fan speed controller, two front-mounted USB ports, a removable motherboard tray, and even a side-panel window. Best of all, the Lian Li PC-65 USB can be found at various online retailers for about $105.

As a way of limiting extraneous costs, most high end cases ship without a power supply. Due to the power and signal requirements of our PC this month, we chose to go with a high-end 480W power supply from Antec. The Antec TruePower 480W PSU fits perfectly into our case, and has more than enough juice to power whatever we may throw at it. It is also very important to choose a power supply from a reputable brand (Antec, ThermalTake, Enermax, Vantec), as bargain units often have ridiculously high output claims that the hardware simply can't match. The Antec TruePower 480W can be found for about $80 at various online retailers.