July 2002 Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 9

Price Roundup

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Antec SX630 Case (PP303XP PSU) - $60
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1800+ - $98
Cooling: ThermalTake Volcano 7 & Athlon XP Shim - $28
Motherboard: MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU - $103
Memory: 256 MB PC2700 DDR - $50
Hard Drive: 40GB Maxtor D740X (Quiet Drive) - $74
Video Card: MSI GeForce4 Ti 4200 - $145
Monitor: Samsung 700NF - $205
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM - $25
Speakers: Logitech Z540 5-Piece Speaker System - $55
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM - $35
Communications: Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56K PCI or D-Link 550TX - $20
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $15
Keyboard: MS Internet Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $78
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $1,014

Intel Pentium 4 System

Case: Antec SX630 Case (PP303XP PSU) - $60
CPU: Pentium 4-1.6A GHz Retail - $138
Cooling: included Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: ASUS P4S533 - $103
Memory: 256 MB PC2700 DDR - $50
Hard Drive: 40GB Maxtor D740X (Quiet Drive) - $74
Video Card: MSI GeForce4 Ti 4200 - $145
Monitor: Samsung 700NF - $205
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM - $25
Speakers: Logitech Z540 5-Piece Speaker System - $55
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM - $35
Communications: Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56K PCI or D-Link 550TX - $20
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $15
Keyboard: MS Internet Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $78
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $1,026

Conclusion

Right off the bat, you'll notice that we exceeded our $1,000 budget by $$14 for the AMD system and $26 for the Intel. We gave the reasons for this sudden departure in the video card section, and we feel that not spending the extra $14-$26 on a GeForce4 Ti 4200 would be a far greater crime than missing any arbitrary budgetary limit.

In terms of comparisons between the AMD and Intel systems, the Athlon XP has the performance lead at the stock speeds, though if the Pentium 4-1.6A is taken to 2.1 GHz or higher, then Intel suddenly shoots back into the lead. There are other factors such as the 533 MHz FSB of the ASUS motherboard, not to mention the Pentium 4 Northwood is a cooler running processor. AMD does offer a better performance deal at standard clock speeds, and for the majority of users who do not overclock, the Athlon XP 1800+ is an exceptional deal. There is really no outright winner or loser this time out, only choices and different options to explore.

We're still looking at two very impressive gaming systems, with each sporting 256MB of PC2700, high-end KT333 and SiS645DX motherboards, GeForce4 Ti 4200 video, along with a nice mix of hardware peripherals and integrated components. Each edition of the Value Gaming PC Buyers Guide never ceases to amaze us at what kind of blazing system you can assemble for approximately $1,000. With the GeForce4 Ti 4200 added into the mix, these two PCs will definitely handle the upcoming crop of 3D games and provide a great performance base for the future.

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.