PC Buyer's Guide Summer 2007

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PC Buyer’s Guide – Low End

• Price and Performance: First and foremost, what gives the most bang for your buck, in terms of gaming primarily of course.
• Reliablity: Second on the list but just as important. This includes things such as compatability (ever had [color=#0080 ! important][color=#0080 ! important]RAMthat worked on one motherboard but not in another?), trustworthiness ofa brand overall (do they have a history of making reliable parts?) inaddition to the reliablity of the part in question.
• Overclockability: Overclocking can help squeeze out that extraperformance out of a system and can make a big impact on price versusperformance (why should you buy a $1000 CPU if you can overclock a $200CPU to match it?) so this factor can always swing my decision.
• Heat and Power Issues: Heat is the enemy of a computer and it canaffect the stability (and reliablity) of your machine. Performance perwatt has become a buzz word and as power requirements for computersrise I eye this more and more closely.

ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo 6550 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ AM2
The Core 2 Duo's have graced themarket for a year now and the first refresh has just been released,accompanied with a always welcome price cut, as Intel seeks to regainall that AMD had managed to take away during the Athlon 64 dominance.The new Core 2 Duo's boast a faster 1333 MHz FSB, be sure themotherboard you select supports this (many boards already on the marketwill support it through a BIOS update).
The Athlon64 X2 is almost at the end of its long road with new desktop chips(Phenom) slated for release towards the end of the year. In themeantime, AMD has vastly cut the prices of the X2's to remainprice/performance competitive with the better Core 2 Duos. Make nomistake, at these prices they definitely are an excellent alternative.
    Check out Guru3D related reviews:
    Core 2 Duo 6600, 6700, X6800

	Core 2 Duo E6550 Dual Core Processor Shop at Price Stock            $195.80 yes            $205.57 yes            $181.99 yes            $169.99 yes            $169.00 yes            $169.00 yes Directron            $172.00 yes Eaglebit.com            $178.99 yes TheNerds.net            $184.74 yes Atriniti.com            $186.00 yes Compare Prices for All 27 Sellers ($169.00 - $221.40)

Heatsink and Fan
Neither the AMD64 nor the Core2 Duo have any trouble with heat and the stock HSF for both shouldprove more then enough, especially for those of you on a budget. But asalways don't forget to get some quality thermal paste, it can make asignificant difference in your CPU temperature, Artic Silver 5 ishighly recommended.
Motherboard What to look for when buying a motherboard, regardless of chipset or processor it supports:

• Good chipset cooling. Chipsets thesedays continue to run hotter. Better cooling means improved stability,improved longevity and better overclocking potential. Be mindful whenusing a passively cooled motherboard (even one with the works,including copper heatsinks and heatpipes) to ensure that you canprovide the coolers with adequate airflow.
• Solid state capacitors. Offers improved longevity and heat resistance as well as avoids the dreaded "leaking" capacitor problem.
• Improved voltage regulator. Does the motherboard use a 3 phasevoltage regulator or something higher? How do you determine the phaseyou ask? It is determined by the number of MOSFETs (Metal Oxide [color=#0080 ! important][color=#0080 ! important]SemiconductorField Effect Transistor) used. As a rule the higher the number (andhence the phase) and quality of the MOSFETs, the cleaner (higherquality) the voltage delivered to the CPU, offering improved stabilityand overclockability of the CPU and improved thermals for the MOSFETs.Many motherboards now feature heatsinks to cool the MOSFETs as well,always nice.
• Features. What features do you need? Chispet features vary broadlyas do features individual motherboards may offer. Do you need [color=#0080 ! important][color=#0080 ! important]RAID?If so what type? If you chose to use onboard sound then take a closelook at the audio chipset and its associated features as they differwidely. If you want a SLI setup you will need a an nForce chipset, butnot if you want Crossfire. All things to consider.

Intel: Your choice will be between an nForce 650i SLI or Intel P35 chipset.
The nForce 650i SLI chipset is one ofNVIDIA's newer low cost SLI offerings for their nForce 600 series forthe Intel platform, which continues to remain very popular forenthusiasts due to its performance, feature set and overclockability. Anote: since these boards have been on the market for a while, they willlikely require a BIOS update to support the new 1333 MHz FSB CPUs fromIntel. Check with the manufacturer to insure that an update existsbefore purchasing the board.
An alternative and also excellentchoice for those of you who are not concerned with SLI (and especiallyfor those who want Crossfire support), would be a motherboard based onthe brand new P35 chipset. The successor to to the mainstream P965chipset of last year, this chipset boasts some improved performance andfeatures, support for DDR3 (although the time to switch to DDR3 isrealistically not until next year and many boards only support DDR2) and support for the 1333 MHz FSB processors from Intel.
AMD: nForce570 SLI. The nForce 500 series continues to remain the popular choicefor the AMD platform. For a look at all of the features and performanceof this chipset, I suggest you have a look at our own review of thechipset here. A number of excellent motherboards based on this chipset can be found, finding one that suits you should not be difficult.

	P5N-SLI Motherboard Shop at Price Stock            $103.62 yes UpgradeNation.com            $107.19 yes Compare Prices for All 2 Sellers ($103.62 - $107.19)

Hard Drive320 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS
320 GB is more then ample for a low end gaming machine. This drive features the perpendicular recording [color=#0080 ! important][color=#0080 ! important]technology, whichallows for greater disk density and improved performance as well. Italso comes with 16 MB cache, SATA-II interface and support for NativeCommand Queuing (NCQ, a disk seek optimization technique). To polishit all off this drive comes with an outstanding 5 year warranty and isrelatively inexpensive.

	Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB Hard Drive Shop at Price Stock            $87.99 yes            $94.95 yes            $104.88 yes Spartan Technologies            $82.00 yes            $83.99 yes PC Progress            $84.00 yes ACNT.COM            $84.99 yes Directron            $84.99 yes UTIMALL.com            $84.99 yes            $85.00 yes Compare Prices for All 30 Sellers ($82.00 - $137.00)

Memory2 GB DDR2 800 MHz RAM
Yesfrom low end to top end I am recommending 2 GB of RAM, the extra memoryis very important especially if you make the move to Vista. DDR2 priceshave taken quite a dip and 2 GB of RAM is very affordable, even for abudget computer.
Remember that DDR2 latencies are muchhigher than DDR. So always take advantage of lower latencymemory. Lower latency modules will have timings in the rangeof CAS 4-4-4-12. Keep an eye on the default voltage for the module, thedefault for DDR2 is 1.8v, if the default is higher (and on 800 MHz DDR2RAM it likely is) then make sure your motherboard can support it. Don'tforget to buy that RAM in matched pairs so you can take advantage ofdual channel for a slight boost to performance, most memory makers nowsell match pairs for your convenience.
DDR3 is now available, but at thistime I would not recommend it as it is priced 2 to 3 times more thenDDR2 (and the performance benefits are minor). Better to wait until theprice and latency on DDR3 to come down before making the switch.
Editor's Choice: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048A-6400 DDR2. Stylish heatspreaders, reliable brand and good price. EPP and SLI certified.

	XMS2 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit Shop at Price Stock            $165.36 yes            $115.87 yes            $107.99 yes            $121.29 yes            $113.99 yes            $98.00 yes            $96.90 yes            $98.00 yes            $99.50 yes AlwaysLowest.com            $101.22 yes Compare Prices for All 25 Sellers ($96.90 - $165.36)

Video CardATI Radeon X1950 XT

Now before you go "huh ?"; the onceproud flagship for ATI has slipped to the same price point as the 8600GTS, which is a decidely lackluster midrange offering from NVIDIA (andhas a hard time keeping up with the X1950 Pro, much less the XT). Ifyou're looking for some gaming power and DirectX 10 is not anabsolutely needed feature, the XT will give you quite some bang foryour buck. If you need a DirectX 10 card, then I suggest you save someextra dollars and go for the 8800 GTS 320 MB at minimum.
    Check out Guru3D related reviews:
    Radeon X1950 XTX 512 MB
Sound CardCreative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Creative has finally made some low cost X-Fi offerings so now those of you even on a tight budget can enjoy the X-Fi.
Our own audiophile Brann Mitchel:Playing a few games with Creative's latest sound card in your rig willconvince you that there really isn't anything better than the X-Fi. Itdoesn't matter which of the four models you choose either, you'll stillget blistering performance in any game you choose with the powerful newAPU, CMSS 3D Headphone and EAX Advanced HD 5.0. While Creative's X-Fiis no doubt the performance leader in gaming, it will also impress youwith its music capability. We get lots of sound cards that offer one orthe other, good sound or good gaming, but the X-Fi really deliversboth. It has that rare ability to make you play song after song just tohear how they sound through the X-Fi. For these reasons, the X-Fi isour new reference.
    Check out Guru3D related reviews:
    Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Blaster
    Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Sound Blaster

	SB X-Fi XtremeGamer Shop at Price Stock            $98.87 yes            $89.99 yes            $90.39 yes            $98.01 yes            $80.99 yes            $99.99 yes            $84.36 yes Directron            $84.99 yes TheTwisterGroup.com            $87.12 yes NextWarehouse.com            $89.84 yes Compare Prices for All 17 Sellers ($80.99 - $102.51)

DVD-RW DriveSamsung Lightscribe DVD Burner SH-S182M
There really is no excuse to not haveDVD±R/RW drives, they are very cheap and reliable these days. Thisdrive has a few extras that set it apart like the ability to burn 18xDVD+R and DVD-R as well as 12x DVD-RAM. It is also a LightScribecapable drive. This will allow you to burn a label (or image orwhatever you want) onto your disks, no more barely legible permanentmarker labeling!
Case
OkayI’m going leave this one open to your decision. Cases are a love-hatething, what one person likes another will not. So go find a case youthink suites you. I have a few suggestions when looking for a case.Aluminum is a definite plus; it will make your computer significantlylighter. 120mm fans are the way to go as well, ensuring good airflow inyour case while maintaining a minimum of noise. A removable motherboardtray is particularly useful in cramped cases.
Editor's Choice:Lian Li PC-60 Plus II W. Lian Li is a name familiar to many of you,they have made extremely beautiful aluminum cases for many years nowand their cases are a favorite among modders. This brushed aluminumcase comes in your choice of silver and black, a side window and sportsdual 120mm case fans as well as a blowhole on top with an 80mm case fan.
Power SupplyOCZ GameXStream 600/700 Watt
Thepower demands of the PC continue to escalate, thanks in large part toGPU's and the looming arrival of quad core CPU's. Be sure to go out andget the biggest and best power supply you can, do not skimp on thepower supply! This is an often overlooked part and yet it's the sourceof so many computer woes. Be sure to check the amps on the 12V rail(s),you want a power supply that can handle a lot, multiple 12V rails is anadditional plus.
For a frame of reference: NVIDIArecommends 450 Watts with 30A on the 12V rail for the 8800 GTX. Anotherplus to look for is a power supply with dual fans to help with cooling.Just remember: don't try and buy a cheap generic brand to save somecash, just because it says 480 Watts (or whatever the numberis) doesn't mean it can actually handle that, sadly. Quality countsbig, be sure to get a quality power supply or you can face any numberof problems. The GameXStream is the latest in OCZ's offering ofexcellent power supplies offering 4 (yes 4) 12 volt rails, a single120mm blue LED fan, compact size (making it easily installable in anycase) and great performance.

	GameXStream 700W Power Supply Shop at Price Stock            $138.87 yes            $146.99 yes            $129.99 yes Xoxide.com            $109.99 yes            $117.98 yes ATACOM.com            $124.00 yes            $124.50 yes Directron            $124.99 yes            $126.99 yes            $129.39 yes Compare Prices for All 16 Sellers ($109.99 - $185.22)

On to the next page, the mid-end gaming system.