December 2002 Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 8

Price Roundup

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Antec SX630II Case (PP303XP PSU) - $71
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2100+ - $90
Cooling: ThermalTake Volcano 7 & Athlon XP Shim - $20
Motherboard: MSI KT4 Ultra - $90
Memory: 256 MB PC2700 DDR - $54
Hard Drive: 60GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 - $91
Video Card: MSI GeForce4 Ti 4200 128-MB - $140
Monitor: Samsung 700NF - $180
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM - $25
Speakers: Logitech Z540 5-Piece Speaker System - $53
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM - $32
Communications: Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56K PCI or LinkSys LNE100TX - $20
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $15
Keyboard: MS Internet Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $84
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $990

Intel Pentium 4 System

Case: Antec SX630II Case (PP303XP PSU) - $71
CPU: Pentium 4-1.8A GHz Retail - $125
Cooling: included Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: ABIT SR7-8X - $84
Memory: 256 MB PC2700 DDR - $54
Hard Drive: 60GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 - $91
Video Card: MSI GeForce4 Ti 4200 128-MB - $140
Monitor: Samsung 700NF - $180
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM - $25
Speakers: Logitech Z540 5-Piece Speaker System - $53
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM - $32
Communications: Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56K PCI or LinkSys LNE100TX - $20
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $15
Keyboard: MS Internet Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $84
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $999

Conclusion

This time out we were able to come in at under $1,000 for both systems, while cutting it as close as possible. This month, the upgrades weren't too noticeable, but the lower prices on the MSI KT4 Ultra and ABIT SR7-8X motherboards did allow us to move to the GeForce4 Ti 4200 128-MB, which is well worth the few extra bucks. Other than that, the upgrade to the Athlon XP 2100+ it was pretty much business as usual. This is a natural by-product of a low budget, as it means waiting a bit longer for the higher-end hardware to filter down. We have some high hopes for 2003, and our holiday wish if for the Radeon 9500 Pro to somehow hit the $150 range necessary for us to snap one up.

In terms of overall performance, our Intel and AMD systems still compare quite well, though the higher-end Athlon XP 2100+ will give it a slight edge. Once you start playing with the FSB speeds, the Pentium 4 Northwood will advance rapidly and potentially overtake the Athlon XP. Both systems allow DDR400 speeds, so performance gains can be had there are well, making our value gaming PCs not only excellent performers, but a tweak master's dream. Either way you slice it, both systems are great deals, and have the power necessary to handle even the hottest 3D games.

The hardware configuration also offers a lot of bang for the value buck, and includes fast CPUs, high-performance, overclock friendly motherboards, 256MB of PC2700 DDR memory, 128-MB GeForce4 Ti 4200 3D video, and a very impressive mix of hardware peripherals and components. Of course, we're looking for some new upgrades in the coming months, and can hopefully continue to push the envelope on what you can buy for a cool grand.

* 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.