July Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 8

Price Roundup

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Antec SX630II Case (PP303XP PSU) - $63
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton - $90
Cooling: ThermalTake Volcano 9 - $19
Motherboard: MSI K7N2 Delta-L - $95
Memory: 2 x 256-MB PC2700 DDR - $65
Hard Drive: 80GB Seagate Barracuda V - $78
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis Pro - $149
Monitor: Samsung 955DF - $190
Sound Card: 6-Channel Integrated - $0
Speakers: Logitech Z640 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive - $65
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $10
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $82
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $989

Intel Pentium 4 System

Case: Antec SX630II Case (PP303XP PSU) - $63
CPU: Pentium 4-2.4 GHz Retail - $156
Cooling: included Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: ABIT IS7-E - $95
Memory: 2 x 256-MB PC2700 DDR - $65
Hard Drive: 80GB Seagate Barracuda V - $78
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis Pro - $149
Monitor: Samsung 955DF - $190
Sound Card: 6-Channel Integrated - $0
Speakers: Logitech Z640 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD-ROM - $30
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $10
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $82
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8

Total: $1,001

Conclusion

The previous value guide had tons of performance upgrades, and really shrunk the gap between it and the higher-end configurations. This month hasn't been the almost total overhaul of our last edition, but we have upgraded a few areas. The AMD side receives the Athlon XP 2500+ Barton, an nForce2 400 Ultra motherboard and a nifty CDR/RW/DVD combo drive, while the improvements for the Intel system center on the i865PE motherboard and dual-channel DDR333. The big change in the overall configuration is the move to the Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro, which replaces the pricy and in-short-supply Radeon 9500 Pro.

These are two very powerful gaming systems, and the individual specifications are more in line with the higher-end spectrum. 512-MB of DDR333, dual-channel DDR motherboards, and a 128-MB Radeon 9600 Pro certainly contribute to a very powerful gaming system for the $1K budget, and the Athlon XP 2500+ and Pentium 4-2.4 GHz keep the processors up to speed. Over the next month we're not looking for any major product releases to affect the guide, but are hoping for lower prices and some added leeway in allocating out budget upward. If Intel sees fit to lower prices on their entry-level 800 MHz processors, we may have some real fun next month.

In terms of performance and feature comparisons, the AMD and Intel value gaming PCs are quite close. The motherboard equation leans a bit toward the i865PE and its higher system and memory bandwidth. Due to this, Intel may have a slight edge in overall performance, but the Athlon XP 2500+ Barton is an overclocker's dream and may give the AMD side the advantage. Both are highly upgradeable, and we've made sure to nab motherboards with the most current CPU and memory support. Which system is best depends on individual usage and exactly how you intend to extract the most performance. Either way, it's tough to see much downside for either one, especially with the $1K price tag.

* 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.