February Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 4

System Memory: 512-MB DDR

The differential between AMD and Intel CPU prices created a need to move away from the "one size fits all" memory recommendation, and instead look at the two systems separately and allocate the budget accordingly. The upgrade to the Intel Pentium 4-2.8 GHz may have given us a bit more power, but the pricing issue remains the same; we're still looking at a nice chunk of change left over on the AMD side. We're still adding a bit of juice to the AMD side, but tempering it with the realities of current DDR pricing. We believe that maximizing the $1K budget is what real-world buyers would do, as well as deciding exactly where the extra AMD cushion will pay off.

AMD: 512-MB (2x256-MB) PC3200 Corsair Value Select

Current Cost: $87
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Intel: 512-MB (2x256-MB) Generic PC3200

Current Cost: $72
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

The Intel system has been upgraded to generic PC3200, and the reason had more to do with price than performance. Our 533 MHz Pentium 4-2.8 GHz doesn't really need dual-channel 400 MHz DDR, but the price difference between 2x256-MB of PC2700 and PC3200 has shrunk considerably over the past month. It's much the same scenario we found with the mid-range Pentium 4 crop, so instead of saving a few dollars on PC2700, the better investment is to go with PC3200 instead. We've budgeted our the DDR budget for generic "house brand" PC3200 DDR, but there's enough money to ensure you can receive a mid-range name brand like Samsung, Apacer or Geil.

The lower AMD processor and motherboard costs give us some leeway in other areas, and memory is a great one to take advantage of. We were able to nab higher-quality Corsair Value Select PC3200 at a slight premium over the generic models, and it's money well spent. This is really the limit of our upgrade possibilities, as moving to 512-MB of high-end "low latency" DDR is simply too much for our budget to handle. Our move from Kingston to Corsair is just to ensure full compatibility, as although we've had no problems, the MSI board is no longer listed as certified on the Kingston site.

The AMD and Intel systems are both dual-channel DDR capable, so two sticks of 256-MB matched pair DDR gives us the best price-performance, and covers the bandwidth requirements of each platform. There is a slight premium in going with dual 256-MB memory modules, but the performance and bandwidth benefits far outweigh the slightly higher cost. The 512-MB memory capacity also ensures that our value PCs will be able to handle current 3D games with ease, and have some headroom for upcoming ones as well.

Hard Drives: Western Digital Special Edition

AMD: 120 GB Western Digital SE

Current Cost: $90
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Intel: 80 GB Western Digital SE

Current Cost: $70
Months on list: 4
Price Change: $0

There are a few areas where a bit of extra cash can pay serious dividends. One of them is system memory, but hard drives can also yield a significant return for not much payout. In this case, we were able to slap down an extra $20 and get away with a 120-GB Western Digital Special Edition drive for the AMD side, while maintaining our 80-GB SE model for our Intel system. The Western Digital Special Edition parallel ATA drive is one serious piece of hardware, and is not something you'd expect to find in a value gaming system. The WD Special Edition line is definitely top-end in terms of physical specs, and still leads the parallel ATA performance race.

The Western Digital SE drives are extremely fast, and performance is accentuated by a whopping 8-MB data cache, which places it in the same range as more expensive models. Western Digital SE drives excel when transferring large files, while the 120-GB and 80-GB capacities should be more than enough for a value gaming PC.

CD/DVD-ROM:

AOpen 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive

Current Cost: $47
Months on list: 4
Price Change: $0

This month marks the second in a row where both the AMD and Intel systems received a much-needed CDRW/DVD-ROM upgrade. A CDRW drive is a great feature for any system, but DVD read capabilities are almost required these days. Combo drive units are the hot ticket right now, as these can handle multiple duties, such as CDR/RW writing, CD reading and DVD playback. The AOpen Combo Drive is an incredible deal, and features 48X CDR, 24X CDRW write speeds, and 48X CD and 16X DVD read speeds, along with data underrun technology for smooth and stable data writes. This drive also features a 2-MB data cache and at only a $47 street price, gives us a very cost-effective way of adding CDR/RW and DVD-read options to our value gaming systems.