May 2002 Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 4

System Memory: 256-MB PC2700 DDR

Current Cost: $60
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

With both KT333 and SiS 645DX chipsets powering our motherboards, spending a few dollars more for PC2700 DDR is the best call. This is not only a decision based on performance, but also one designed for future upgrades. PC2700 will soon be the standard memory format and with PC2100 and PC2700 prices being so close and the technology being backwards compatible, there is no reason to buy the slower PC2100 DDR. We are also moving up to 256-MB as a basic configuration, as Windows XP is a bit more memory hungry than previous Microsoft operating systems.

Hard Drive: 40GB Maxtor D740X ATA-133 7200 RPM

Current Cost: $78
Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$6

The Maxtor D740X ATA133 hard drive line is easily the most popular one for gamers, due to their excellent performance and incredible value. Availability is also high, making it almost a certainty that your vendor will carry the Maxtor brand in the 40-80 GB range. The addition of ATA133 support is not ground-breaking, but with both of our motherboards supporting the technology, there is really no downside to having it. Maxtor is also king of hard drive support, and uses a non-quibble replacement system that gets very high marks from buyers. The 40 GB model fits our needs and budget quite well, and makes a great match for a value gaming system.