January 2005 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 framerates, 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 basic 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 system configurations for both the Intel and AMD sides of the spectrum, and are not here to promote one platform over the other.

Over the past couple of months we have witnessed several exciting, highly anticipated technologies finally become a reality. NVIDIA nForce 4 boards with SLI have hit the enthusiast sector in full force, and the availability of a wide range of PCI Express video cards from both ATI and NVIDIA have finally reached mass-market levels. This being a high-end guide, both of these have certainly piqued our interest this month. In more general terms, we were also able to make considerable improvements to other areas this month, such as the monitor and processor ends, as the industry continues moving forward. Both the AMD and Intel configurations are looking great this month, with a wide range of improvements to report, as well as a definite eye towards the future.

Case: Cooler Master WaveMaster TAC-T01-E1C w/Antec 480W NeoPower Power Supply

Current Cost: $236
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

The cornerstone of any good high-end system is a quality case and power supply. The case itself can be just as important as the components it houses inside, especially when you consider the amount of time you will be spending with it. The quintessential case will not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also will be functional enough that you won't be frustrated while working with it.

While there certainly is no shortage of case manufacturers, there are only a few that make our short list each and every month. Lian Li, Cooler Master, and Antec are just a couple of the "top tier" case manufacturers producing today's high-end enclosures. However, each month we must decide on only one case manufacturer, and this time we are moving over to Cooler Master. The Cooler Master WaveMaster TAC-T01-E1C is our current favorite ATX case, and even makes an appearance in our Extreme Buyer's guide.

The WaveMaster TAC-T01-E1C is without a doubt one of the best cases we have ever used. It features a removable motherboard tray, spacious interior, convenient front ports, a solid drive door, and sleek, brushed aluminum housing. The case also has 4 x 5.25", 1 x 3.5" (External), and 4 x 3.5" (Internal) expansion slots, front mounted USB ports, and room for 7 expansion slots. This system chassis also comes in a variety of colors, including Silver, Black, Blue and even Yellow. Priced at about $126 this model doesn't come cheap, but as the old mantra says, "you get what you pay for."

As many high end cases ship without a power supply to save costs and allow end-user flexibility, it seems only fitting that we provide a recommendation for this guide. High end computers, such as the one in this guide, have significant power and signal requirements so leaving the power supply choice to the customer is in everyone's best interest. We have been using the Antec 480W NeoPower PSU across both our High-End and Extreme Guides for the past couple of revisions, and there is certainly no reason to switch now.

The NeoPower offers 480W of reliable power in addition to modular power cables, native support for PCI Express, Serial ATA, and both 20 and 24-pin motherboard power connectors. Weighing in at about $110, the NeoPower is not cheap but the high-end power connectors and rock solid stability make it worth every penny. No matter which model you buy, it is very important to choose a power supply from a reputable brand (Antec, ThermalTake, Enermax, Vantec, etc.), as no-name, bargain units often have ridiculously high output claims that the hardware simply can't match.