October Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

Introduction

After a few delays, we are happy to present another edition of our Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide. This is bit different than some of the other buying guides on Sharky Extreme, as our budget is limited to $1,000 in cold, hard cash while the goal is the same: to assemble a kick-ass gaming system that will play today's hottest games. To do this, we pay special attention to the price-performance of each component, making sure to match them according to their value from an overall system performance standpoint. While not as fast or flashy as the Extreme or High-End Gaming Systems, our Value configuration may actually be the best deal of them all. If you're the type of gamer who counts your pennies before buying any new system, then get ready for an article tailored exactly to you.

Finding the best system components for a value gaming system is more difficult than just picking the hottest hardware money can buy, and it entails a great deal of concessions on the part of the buyer. That $1,000 gets eaten up pretty quick, and slapping down the cash for a 21" flat screen monitor or 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 will make short work of it. When compiling our Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide, we try and find that happy medium between spending a fortune on a new PC, and being too frugal and getting stuck with yesterday's hardware. Our value gaming PCs will still allow high-end gameplay, include the CPU and 3D video power necessary to really push the framerates, while keeping an eye on quality and features to boot. Rest assured we don't scour the bargain bins for available hardware, and instead keep to name brand components that offer the best price-performance ratio.

In the period between editions, there have been some changes in the hardware marketplace, but these applied mostly to the upper-end buyer. The Radeon 9700 Pro, Pentium 4-2.8 GHz and Athlon XP 2600+ all look great, but their prices simply don't match up to our allotted budget. We do expect some action in the coming months, especially concerning 3D video cards (Radeon 9500), but at least for now, the main benefit seems to be in lower prices for mid-range hardware. This filter-down effect is standard operating procedure for anyone buying at the value end, and we intend to make use of the lower CPU and 3D video card prices to squeeze out even more bang for the buck.

As with all of our buyer's guides, we have made every attempt to confirm that the selected hardware is available at one or more of the largest and most popular (with Sharky readers) online retailers. Although the price stated in the guide may not be exactly the same as in a specific online dealer, you can bet on finding a significant percentage of our component list in their catalogues. This factor did not limit our choices, but we do sleep easier with the knowledge that interested buyers can find this same hardware at many of the large online vendors.

Value Gaming PC Budget: $1000

Case: Antec SX630II

For the case portion of our value system, we've moved up the scale a bit to the Antec SX630II. We still want the best buy, but feel that the $20 extra for a more robust case design will pay dividends both for current and future use. It's also becoming quite clear that the market has transitioned from the lower-end Antec cases, to this more low-to-mid-range offering. This case also has the benefit of an Antec SmartPower 300W power supply that is certified for both AMD Athlon XP and Intel Pentium 4 operation.

The case internals are also an upgrade from our previous SX630 choice, and features 8 drive bays (3 x 3.25" and 5 x 3.5") and space for 3 cooling fans (1 built-in, 2 optional), including one that blows over the removable hard drive bays. Add in a very smart design, along with current case and housing aesthetics, and you've got the makings of a great buy.