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Sharky Extreme : Monthly Value Gaming System Buyer's Guide |
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Monthly Value Gaming System Buyer's Guide |
April Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 2By Vince Freeman April 29, 2005
Current Cost: $219 The AMD processor has been a popular component to upgrade, as we rapidly moved from the Athlon 64 3000+ to the Athlon 64 3200+, and then in early 2005, we shifted to the powerful Athlon 64 3400+. This CPU has some serious high-end performance, and we don't foresee an upgrade in the immediate future, at least until we move to the Socket 939 platform. Of course, due to the higher platform costs of Socket 939, we're sticking with the 754-pin line. This is especially beneficial with the value-priced Athlon 64 3400+, which is a 512K Newcastle processor and runs at a blazing 2.4 GHz clock speed. The Athlon 64 3400+ is clocked on par with the 2.4 GHz Athlon 3700+ (1-MB) and 3800+ (939-pin) CPUs, and it is fair to assume that the performance of the Athlon 64 3400+ far exceeds its model number. This processor is an exceptional deal right now, and is actually priced equivalent to the 2.2 GHz Athlon 64 3200+. To help fit this into our budget, we've gone with the Retail model and its nearly-free heatsink-fan, but if you have a killer 3rd-party HSF unit in mind, then buying an OEM CPU is certainly an option. This is actually something we may investigate next month, as the gap between OEM and Retail prices continues to grow.
The Athlon 64 3400+ positions us very high on the AMD processor scale, and this CPU has a very low price relative to its overall performance. In terms of pure gaming speed, this model is more in line with the Athlon 64 3700+, and can easily spank the Athlon 64 3500+. The only issue with this move is that is severely undercuts our future upgrade opportunities, as the Athlon 64 3700+ is just a tad faster, and for a viable upgrade, we would have to move to Socket 939, and go with at least an Athlon 64 4000+ to get any real performance boost. Then again, with high-end Athlon 64 939-pin prices the way they are, that upgrade will likely be some time off.
Current Cost: $214 Over the last couple of guides, we have solidified our Intel system configuration around the new LGA 775/Socket T CPU package. The 3.2 GHz Pentium 4 540 represents a total shift away from Socket 478, and also provides us with a more current platform base as well. There are a few reasons for going with a 775-pin CPU, with the most obvious being CPU prices. The LGA 775 Pentium 4 models have noticeably lower retail prices than a same-speed Socket 478 model, and this allows us to save a few dollars and basically move up an entire 200 MHz clock speed increment. The native PCI Express support is also nice, as it provides a better upgrade path and there are some great deals on mainstream PCIe video cards. This gives us more hardware for the dollar than the Socket 478/AGP platform, and allows Intel to catch up to AMD in terms of price-performance.
The Pentium 4 540 features the basic Prescott core architecture, with a 1-MB L2 cache, an 800 MHz front-side bus, Hyper-Threading, and support for dual-channel DDR400 (or DDR2-533) memory speeds. The higher-speed Prescott models can run hot, but the LGA 775 design allows more real estate for CPU coolers and a better cooling design overall. At 3.2 GHz and using dual-channel DDR400, the Pentium 4 offers serious performance for our value gaming system, while allowing at least some overclocking and tweaking headroom for the hardcore enthusiasts. The Retail vs. OEM argument also comes down to price, just as it did with the AMD processor. The Intel Retail package makes the most sense, as not only do you get a nearly-free heatsink-fan and full 3-year Intel warranty, but also a sealed, totally untested CPU. Most Pentium 4 models are still priced higher than corresponding AMD CPUs, so any method of cost savings is a good thing.
Current Cost: $0 The Retail Athlon 64 3400+ includes a bundled heatsink-fan, and for both budgetary and ease-of-use considerations, we chose to go in this direction. The retail model is slightly more expensive than the OEM processor, but you receive a nearly-free HSF and an extended product warranty to boot. Of course, this is simply a recommendation, and those with a particular 3rd-party HSF unit in mind should certainly go the OEM route, even though it may go a bit over our $1K budget.
Current Cost: $0 The street price of the Pentium 4 processors means that choosing a Retail model is the best way to maximize our system budget. In fact when it comes to Pentium 4 LGA 775 models, the price difference between the OEM and Retail CPU models is nonexistent, and with the bundled Intel heatsink-fan, this amounts to a savings compared to an OEM CPU + 3rd-party heatsink-fan combo. The retail HSF provides more than adequate cooling for our Pentium 4 540, and the retail package allows us to stay within budget. These Intel heatsink-fan units are also very easy to install and do not require any motherboard modifications or CPU socket adjustments.
The retail Pentium 4 coolers have passed our tests even using a 3.6 GHz model, and we have no problem at all recommending these for our value gaming system. These Intel retail coolers may not qualify as hardcore, but still provide rock solid stability at base clock speeds, and have a bit extra left over for moderate overclocking.
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