May Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 8

Price Roundup

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Antec SX630II Case (PP303XP PSU) - $65
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+ - $93
Cooling: ThermalTake Volcano 9 - $19
Motherboard: MSI K7N2-L - $87
Memory: 2 x 256-MB PC2700 DDR - $67
Hard Drive: 60GB Seagate Barracuda V - $79
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9500 Atlantis Pro - $160
Monitor: Samsung 955DF - $190
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM - $25
Speakers: Logitech Z560 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM - $31
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $10
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $85
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $994

Intel Pentium 4 System

Case: Antec SX630II Case (PP303XP PSU) - $65
CPU: Pentium 4-2.4 GHz Retail - $158
Cooling: included Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: ABIT BH7 - $85
Memory: 512-MB PC2700 DDR - $52
Hard Drive: 60GB Seagate Barracuda V - $79
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9500 Atlantis Pro - $160
Monitor: Samsung 955DF - $190
Sound Card: 6-Channel Integrated - $0
Speakers: Logitech Z560 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM - $31
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $10
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $85
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $998

Conclusion

Every month we up the performance ante, but this time we're taking it out a whole new door. The processor upgrades are the most significant, and having our value gaming systems powered by Athlon XP 2400+ and Pentium 4-2.4 GHz processors amounts to a serious gain in overall gaming speed. These higher-end CPUs also make far better use of our performance base, and give the needed juice to get the most out of the Radeon 9500 Pro video card.

These are both serious gaming systems, and with 512-MB of DDR333, high-end nForce2 and i845PE motherboards, and a nice selection of surrounding components, it's tough not to mistake them for high-end PCs. In the next 30 days, we're anticipating the release of some new CPUs, Intel's unveiling of the Springdale chipset, and an influx of NVIDIA NV35-based video cards. While these may not immediately find their way into our value systems, the lower prices will certainly help us in other areas.

Both the AMD and Intel systems are about on-par in overall 3D gaming performance, and although we had to make a concession on the Intel side, it's tough to choose between the two. The nForce2 also powers our High-End and Extreme Buyer's Guide AMD systems, making it a killer option for a value PC. The Intel 845PE is also a very powerful chipset, though the Springdale should bring dual-channel DDR goodness to the Intel mainstream. The overclocking side is quite close as well, and both platforms should offer noticeable FSB headroom for those interested, while providing super framerates at stock speeds.

* 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.