Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1331
Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004
by Wesley Fink on May 26, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Index
Due to its popularity, we are expanding AnandTech Buyer's Guides. Evan Lieb will continue to make recommendations for the Entry and Mid-Range Systems. Evan will also be launching two new guides in the near future and will be telling you more about those in the next few weeks. Guides for High End System and Overclocking System will now come from Wesley Fink, AnandTech's Motherboard, Memory and Chipset Editor. Once the new schedule gets in full swing, you will see a Guide from Evan every week and one from Wes every 2 to 3 weeks. The final changes to the schedule are still in the works, but the new Buyer's Guide schedule will appear in an upcoming Guide.It is unlikely that two Enthusiasts would agree on every component in a system, and Editors are no different. Different editors have different ideas of what constitutes a High End and Overclocking System. High End, in my estimation, is not without price limits, but price is much less a consideration than performance. If High-End means anything for the enthusiast who reads AnandTech, then you can spend a bit more for performance that is really better. With this in mind, you will see the scales tip toward performance in my choices. Mid-range is where you sweat nickels and measure every component for bang for the buck. For High End, you pick the best.
As in past Guides, we offer a recommendation for every component that goes into a computer. Our recommendation is our First Choice and we will try to explain why we chose that component. For some components, we will also offer an alternative on that type of hardware. We've added alternative hardware picks to our guides because it allows AnandTech to recommend a wider variety of hardware. This is especially true for those willing to spend a little more or to recommend a cheaper component that is of outstanding value. Alternative picks provide you other choices, which in some cases will be better suited for your needs, and in other cases, will not be.
Most of the prices listed for the hardware that we recommend can be found in our very own RealTime Pricing Engine. Any prices not found in our engine can be found on pricewatch. Relevant parts of our RealTime pricing engine are listed at the bottom of every page of our Buyer's Guides so that you can choose the lowest prices from a large variety of vendors.
We are always taking suggestions on how to improve our Buyer's Guides, and the changes you are seeing here are the result of suggestions from our readers and Editors. Since we are adding 2 new guides to AnandTech, email your suggestions for new guides to Evan or Wes. Considerations include a Buyer's Guide for SFF (Small Form Factor systems), Gaming System, and Laptop/DTP (Desk-Top Replacement). If you have other suggestions, let us know; the Guides are to help you with your buying decisions.
High End
A High End System is put together with different concerns than an entry level or mid-range system.- Entry level systems should be constructed mainly with price and reliability in mind, with performance a fairly distant third consideration.
- Mid-range systems place reliability as a number one priority, but price and performance are in a not-so-distant tie for second place.
A High End system should represent the best performance that you can buy for a given need. In this case, the given need is defined as a Desktop Computer System built from the best performing computer components that you can actually buy. This differs from other Buyer's Guides, which concentrate on value first. With the extensive testing done at AnandTech by many different Editors, we have personally tested many of these components, and you will see our Editor's Choice components appear frequently in the Buyers Guides.
With performance as the most important consideration in a high-end system, reliability becomes the second most important consideration. Truthfully, reliability is in most cases just as important as performance, since it does no good to put together an expensive high-end system that you can not enjoy due to reliability issues. By definition, price is a distant third consideration, but price is not the same as value. Value is always a consideration in our buying guides because we refuse to recommend high-priced components that provide little or no performance advantage over lower priced components. A component that costs 250% more for a 5% increase in performance is not a good value and does not even belong in a high end system..
Anyone who is considering building a top-of-the-line system needs to realize that the best performing parts aren't usually going to be the cheapest parts. On the other hand, the value and performance you get for your dollars in today's computer market are the best that we have ever seen in many years in the computer industry. There was a time when the best desktop systems were much more than $10,000; while today, you are hard pressed to spend more than $5,000 on a top-performing system. In most cases, the best performance can be had even less. With this in mind, our only restriction is that our high-end system will cost under $5,000.
CPU and Motherboard Recommendations
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX53 1MB L2 cache (2.4GHz)Motherboard: Asus SK8V (VIA K8T800)
Price: CPU - $731 shipped (retail heatsink and fan). Motherboard - $171 shipped
This was a difficult choice when the high-end selections were Athlon 64 3400+ (2.2Ghz), Athlon 64 FX51 (2.2GHz), Pentium 4 3.4C, and Pentium 4 3.4EE. However, the introduction of the FX53 brings us the only current Athlon 64 at 2.4GHz, which makes the FX53 the fastest CPU you can buy. Selecting the FX53 was only a concern because the introduction of Socket 939 is just around the corner. Yes, Socket 939 will be here next month, but the FX53 will still be the fastest Athlon 64 that you can buy; there will just be an additional FX53 for Socket 939. As you had read in our AMD roadmaps, there will also be a 3800+ for Socket 939 with 512KB cache instead of the 1MB available on the FX53 chips, so you know that the FX53 is blazing fast and faster than a 3800+ will be. In addition to the fast 32-bit performance that we found in our review of the FX53, the FX53 also supports 64-bit computing for the future. Prices have also dropped a bit so that the FX53 is about $300 more than a slower 2.2GHz 3400+. While that's a big price difference for a CPU, it is really fairly small in building a high-end system. The FX53 is also now 30% cheaper than Intel's top 3.4EE, which costs over $1000. Furthermore, all current Pentium 4 processors can only run 32-bit code, so AMD's Athlon 64 is unique because it can run 32-bit code as well or better than the top competition in addition to 64-bit code for the future. All-in-all, the FX53 represents a good choice if you are building a high end system today. If not, wait a few weeks and consider this same FX53 in Socket 939 clothes.
For the Socket 940 FX53, there is no better choice than the Asus SK8V. In our roundup of Socket 940 motherboards, the SK8V out-paced the competition in almost every benchmark and earned our Gold Editor's Choice as the best Socket 940 motherboard.
The Asus SK8V earned Editor's Choice because it is simply the fastest AMD motherboard that we have ever tested. Wherever the SK8V is benchmarked, it has earned an Editor's Choice for the kind of legendary performance that makes it the ideal heart for a High End system. Don't confuse the Asus SK8V with the SK8N, which is built on the nVidia nForce3-150 chipset. The VIA K8T800 performs much better than the nF3-150 on the more demanding Socket 940 Dual-Channel platform.
The Asus SK8V is fully decked-out as you would expect from the Asus flagship board for Athlon 64. Features include dual RAID capabilities with both VIA SATA RAID supported by the VIA 8237 and Promise 20378 IDE/SATA RAID. You will also find on-board 6-channel SoundMax audio from ADI AD1985 that includes SPDIF connections, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 2 Firewire 1394a ports, and an Asus WiFi slot for wireless capabilities. An added bonus is that the Athlon 64 FX processors are completely unlocked and the SK8V supports this well with CPU ratios from 800 to 4000 in 100MHz increments. Whatever your FX-53 can do on overclocking is supported on the SK8V. Asus has lavished every top-end feature in their huge arsenal on the SK8V and it definitely wears the features very well. As a personal testimony, the SK8V is a favorite motherboard with Anand and Derek in our Raleigh, NC labs and with me in our New York labs. The best recommendation we could possibly make is that the Asus SK8V is the heart of two of these personal systems.
For those not comfortable with the ECC Registered memory requirements of the Socket 940 for Athlon 64 FX and Opteron, the recommendation is the MSI K8N Neo Platinum or one of several other excellent boards based on the new nVidia nForce3-250 chipset. While VIA may own the performance crown for Socket 940, nF3-250 owns the crown for enthusiast features on the Single-Channel Socket 754. All of the nF3-250 boards that we have tested have working PCI/AGP locks to get the most from any CPU and memory that you choose to use. More information on the MSI can be found in the K8N Neo review. For the Socket 754 Alternate, the Athlon 64 3400+ gets our nod.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on the AMD CPUs and motherboards from many different reputable vendors:
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
CPU and Motherboard Alternatives
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (512K L2 cache) NorthwoodMotherboard: DFI (875P chipset)
Price: CPU - $416 shipped (retail heatsink and fan). Motherboard - $174 shipped
Despite the fact that cost is a secondary concern in recommendations for a High End system, it is still difficult to recommend the $1100 3.4GHz Pentium4 EE when the 3.4GHz P4C (Northwood) is 60% less with the same core and 512KB cache instead of 2.5MB. 250% seems a hefty premium for the extra cache when the impact on performance is fairly small. If you want the bragging rights that come with the top Intel CPU, then get the P4EE, but the 3.4C is our recommendation at about the same price as the AMD Athlon 64 3400+. Both offer similar performance in today's applications depending on exactly which applications you use. For Desktop Applications, the 3.4C and 3400+ are virtually equal. If you do a lot of encoding, then the pendulum tilts toward the 3.4C over the 3400+ for now. If you're a gamer, the Athlon 64 3400+ is a better performer in most games. If 64-bit capabilities matter to you, then the AMD Athlon 64 is your only option. We suggest that you research which processor fits you best. A good place to start is at AnandTech's latest CPU article.
One advantage of a Pentium 4 is Hyper Threading, which makes a single processor behave like two multiple processors in some ways. Hyper Threading can increase performance substantially in multi-tasking situations, but the impact is less noticeable as clock speed increases. In today's applications, HT does not offer much benefit, though this may change in some future applications.
Intel seemed to design their labeling system to utterly confuse the buyer, so it is worth some efforts to clear the misunderstandings. An Intel Pentium 4 labeled with a "C" after its core clock speed (3.4C, in this case) is based on the Northwood core, has 512K of L2 cache, and is built on (mostly) 0.13-micron technology. A Pentium 4 labeled with an "E" after its core clock speed (3.4E for example) is based on the Prescott core, has 1MB of L2 cache, and is built on (mostly) 0.09-micron technology. Finally, a Pentium 4 labeled with an "EE" after its core clock speed (3.4EE, for example) is based on the Northwood core, has 512K of L2 cache plus 2MB of L3 cache, and is built on (mostly) 0.13-micron technology. The C, E, and EE Pentium 4 processors all run at 800MHz FSB and are dual channel DDR capable. While the future for Intel is slated to be the Prescott CPU, the slower speed and heat make the Prescott a difficult choice over the Northwood at current speeds. Performance becomes less an issue as speed increases and the heat issue is also improving. Next month's Socket 775 CPU from Intel will be Prescott-based and we have already seen that Prescott optimizations in the chipset can provide a big boost on Prescott Performance. The point here is this: Intel is constantly refining the Prescott, as they did with the original Pentium 4, so Prescott must be considered a work-in-progress that is getting better every day.
One of the most amazing turnarounds in the computer industry has been DFI. The large OEM partner decided to go after the enthusiast market with their own brand and transformed themselves from "Diamond Flower International" into "Designed For Innovation". It takes real performance to achieve this kind of transition and DFI has delivered this in spades in their LAN Party motherboard series.
The LAN Party 875B is an excellent and flexible home for a 3.4C, particularly in the latest Rev. B version. The Asus P4C800-E and DFI 875B LAN Party seems to make every recommended list as the top two motherboards for Intel enthusiasts because they are both solid performers at stock speeds and they both are capable of incredible performance with the fastest memory and Intel processors on the market. Our nod for top end system goes to the DFI because high end systems should stand out in some way, such as incredible performance or incredible looks. The DFI has both and you certainly will notice this motherboard as it is also unique to look at, particularly under black light. The 875B LAN Party also does the eye-candy trick without giving up anything in performance or flexibility.
While the price of the DFI is toward the high end, it includes matching glowing cables, a Front-X box for front ports, and a PC Transport to carry your PC. All these features would cost quite a bit extra if you had to buy them on the side, so there is definitely value in the DFI 875B. If the extras don't matter much to you, the same basic board is available as the DFI 875P Infinity for about $40 less. Revision B of the DFI has a greater range of adjustments than the original LAN Party and it also sports CMOS reloaded, a unique feature allowing several custom BIOS setups to be saved and selected in CMOS. All the top-end features are here with the notable exception of Firewire, so if you require Firewire, choose another board or add a Firewire PCI card. In addition to all the high-end goodies in the LAN Party box, there is an impressive feature list that includes Intel SATA RAID, Intel Gigabit CSA LAN, High Point 4-device IDE RAID supporting RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and 1.5 (a method to stripe and mirror using just 2 drives), 6-channel audio featuring the CMedia CMI9739A chip and a SPDIF IO bracket, and 8 USB 2.0 ports. End users who own the 875 LAN Party tell us that it is bullet-proof and one of the most stable motherboards they have ever owned - always a great recommendation for a high end motherboard.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on the Intel CPUs and motherboards from many different reputable vendors:
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Memory
Recommendation: 1GB Kit (2 X 512MB) OCZ PC3500 EL ECC Registered (or OCZ 3200EL ECC)Price: $339 shipped ($295 shipped)
Socket 940 for A64FX and Opteron requires ECC Registered memory, and the best that we have used is OCZ PC3500 EL ECC Registered. A lot of Registered memory has slow timings, but the OCZ manages 2-2-3 timings at DDR433 while still providing the best compatibility with Socket 940 motherboards. The OCZ 3200 EL ECC Registered uses the same chips and is easier to find, so it is also a good choice. The OCZ 3500 Registered and 3200 Registered are very fast, but they have also worked in situations where other Registered memory from better-known manufacturers were a problem. Keep in mind that ECC Registered memory can only be used on boards that support buffered memory like the Opteron and other server boards. The coming Socket 939 and Intel's Socket 875 do support ECC memory, but they require the unbuffered variety and do not support the Registered or buffered variety. The ECC 3500EL will also handle most any overclocking that can be achieved with the adjustable ratios and no PCI/AGP lock of the Asus SK8V. The 3500EL Registered has reached DDR466 in benchmark testing.
Alternative: 1GB Kit (2 X 512MB) Corsair XMS4000PRO
Price: $305 shipped
Corsair XMS4000PRO, rated at DDR500, is the only memory we have tested that puts on a light show that will match the DFI 875B LAN Party. That alone, however, would not be enough to recommend XMS4000PRO. Corsair is probably the best known manufacturer of enthusiast memory and the LEDs on the PRO series actually provide information about how the memory is performing. You can read more about Corsair PRO series in our review.
The motherboards selected as alternates are very capable of DDR500 performance, and Corsair will certainly provide that, reaching DDR540 in our tests. Perhaps more important, Corsair XMS PRO is one of the high speed memories based on 2nd generation Hynix chips, which is capable of very good 2-3-3 performance at DDR400. This gives the best of both worlds - high speed capabilities for overclocking and decent stock performance at DDR400. If the light show is a turn-off, there are several other second-generation high-speed choices from Mushkin, OCZ and Corsair and you can check those out in any recent memory review at AnandTech.
Another excellent alternative in unbuffered memory is OCZ 3700EB, which takes a different approach to memory timings as you can see in our review. OCZ 3700EB was also a very good match to the single-channel Socket 754 boards for Athlon 64 in particular, and you should definitely consider OCZ 3700EB for a Socket 754 Athlon 64 system purchase.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Video
Recommendation: 256MB Radeon X800 ProPrice: $425 shipped
While the dust hasn't settled in this round of the video wars, we do know that the new generation of video cards from nVidia and ATI are twice as fast as the previous generation in many benchmarks. Knowing that, you simply can't ignore the new cards when building a high-end system. The only one of the new cards that we could actually find for sale right now is the ATI Radeon X800 Pro. The X800 Pro will eventually settle into the price range around $400, which is a good deal, cheaper than the $500 that you will pay for the X800 XT or nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra when they are finally available in the marketplace. Consider this round a victory for ATI for availability, but the war (or the best choice) is far from settled.
You will never have to apologize to anyone for choosing the X800 Pro for your new high end system, since it is an excellent performer that can hold its own - especially considering it is one slot, one molex connector, and can be used with most any quality power supply. For more information on the relative performance of the new generation of video cards, check out the AnandTech review of the X800.
Alternative: 128MB Saphire Radeon 9800 PRO 256-bit, DVI, TV-out
Price: $192 shipped
There really isn't very much difference in the performance of the 128MB 9800 PRO and 256MB 9800 XT, so we certainly would not recommend spending the $370 it would cost for a 9800 XT, when you can buy a Radeon 9800 PRO 256-bit (not the more limited 128-bit LE) for $192. What a bargain, if price matters somewhat on your high-end system. On the other hand, the X800 Pro is so much better than the 9800 XT that we would recommend spending the extra $50 if you had thought of the 9800 XT, and get a X800 Pro instead.
With the introduction of the new generation of video cards, there are clearly some real bargains available at what was the old high-end. You can also find an nVidia GeForce 5900XT for about the same price as the 9800 PRO, but the 9800 PRO is generally regarded as the better performer in a comparison of these two cards. Like the 9800 XT, the comparable 5950 Ultra is selling in the $370 range, another case where the difference in performance hardly justifies double the price.
We recommend that you stay away from the 9800SE video cards. With the 9800 PRO so reasonable these days, there is absolutely no reason to settle for a 9800SE that, at best, performs on par with or often even slower than a 9600 Pro in 3D games. Don't be fooled - - a 9800SE performs nothing like a full-blown 8-pipe, 256 bit memory interface 9800 Pro.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on ATI video cards from many different reputable vendors:
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Monitor
Recommendation: Samsung 1100DF 21" (20" viewable) DynaFlat CRTPrice: $447shipped
With even further price reductions, the Samsung 1100DF delivers superb value in a 21" monitor. 21" is a great size for gaming at high resolutions with the new video cards and the Samsung 21 does not disappoint. The 1100DF is capable of refresh rates of 75Hz at 2048x1536 and 85Hz at 1280x1024 and has a dot pitch of 0.20mm. Text clarity is very impressive, glare is non-existent, and gaming performance is top-of-the-line. There are more expensive CRT monitors, but the performance and reliability of this Samsung 21" continues to impress us. The only drawback, as with any large CRT, is the space required to house the monitor. If space is a premium, then take a closer look at our flat panel alternative.
Alternative: Samsung 193P Flat Panel Silver
Price: $778 shipped
While there is no doubt that CRT monitors still represent the best value and best performance for gaming, things continue to improve rapidly in flat panel technology. No High End Buyer's Guide would be complete without a recommendation for a flat panel. Samsung has a sterling reputation for the performance of their flat panel displays, and Samsung's 3rd generation 19" Flat panel has finally started arriving at on-line retailers. The price will likely fall a bit further as stock becomes more readily available and competition increases. Basically, the 193P improves on the very well-regarded 192T with even faster 20ns response times and a greater 800:1 contrast ratio. There are even faster response times available in the market, but for overall balance in a flat panel, Samsung always seems to provide a very good mix of features and performance. The 193P also provides both DVI and standard analog inputs for flexibility and performance. You can find more details on the 193P in the AnandTech exclusive review that was posted last month.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Computer Case
Recommendation: Coolermaster Praetorian (PAC-T01-E1) SilverPrice: $126 shipped
While there are cheaper Coolermaster cases with Aluminum fronts and steel bodies, the Coolermaster All-Aluminum cases are still some of the best for build-quality that you will find anywhere. The Praetorian is a classic Coolermaster Aluminum mid-tower case with 10 drive bays - 4 hidden and 6 front accessible. Aluminum cases dissipate heat more efficiently, but Coolermaster still includes four additional fans for cooling - 2 front fans, a top fan, and a rear exhaust fan.
There is also a sliding panel on the front protecting a great selection of essential front ports - 2 USB, firewire, headphone and mic. You will also find a handy removable motherboard tray for easier mounting and the case is a tool-less design for easy assembly.
The build quality of the Coolermaster is superb, and the reinforced chassis makes the Praetorian stronger than most aluminum cases. Kingwin also makes a decent aluminum computer case, and you will find the Kingwin cases for a little less money. The Kingwin 424 with a window would also be a great match to the DFI 875B LAN party, but there is also an optional windowed side panel for the Coolermaster.
Power Supply
Recommendation: Antec True Power 430WPrice: $68 shipped
For a power supply, we suggest Antec's True Power 430W PSU for $68 shipped. The Antec True Power series provides very consistent power to the rails and has performed very well in AnandTech power supply roundups. It provides extremely stable voltages, a good warranty, quiet operation, low operating temperature, and is a tried and true power supply. The True Power series, in particular, is one of the most trusted power supplies among enthusiasts. While a good quality 350W or 400W power supply might do the job here, you will have the comfort of some reserve for the ever more power hungry processors and video cards. You will also enjoy rock solid stability with the top FX53 Athlon 64.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Sound Card
Recommendation: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (6.1) OEMPrice: $71
Since many of the packages that come with sound cards add a lot to the cost and little to the value, an OEM version of an Audigy 2 sound card provides the best value for a high-end sound card. If you're a big gamer, love watching movies, or are just someone who wants quality sound, the Audigy 2 is one of the best on the market to fit those needs. This version of the Audigy 2 supports 6 channels of sound and will deliver a great listening experience in any game, and especially ones that support the Audigy 2's special features like EAX. Simply pair the Audigy 2 with the right set of speakers and you'll have the necessary tools for an exceptional listening experience. Other special Audigy 2 features include 24/96 analog playback and recording and "add-ons" like FireWire.
Alternative: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (7.1) retail
Price: $83
The Audigy 2 ZS differs from the regular OEM Audigy 2 mainly in its support of 7.1 channels of sound instead of 6.1 The benefit of going to 7.1 isn't really all that huge, as there's a point that you reach where continually adding more channels yields diminishing returns; that is, your surround sound experience doesn't get a whole lot better going from 6.1 to 7.1 channels, or for that matter, 5.1 to 7.1 channels, depending on how sensitive your ears are. The Audigy 2 ZS is also a retail package instead of OEM, meaning you get additional bundled features, such as video games and a FireWire header.
As we've said before, there are inevitably going to be people who don't need this kind of audio processing power. For those users, we simply suggest that you use your motherboard's onboard sound controller. Some people could care less about their system's sound as long as there isn't any interference or crackling. If that description fits you to a tee, then use the onboard sound controller and forget about the Audigy 2.
Speakers
Recommendation: Logitech Z5300 THX Certified 5.1 speakersPrice: $146 shipped
Logitech, yet again, tops our speaker recommendation this week with their popular Z5300 5.1 THX Certified speaker system. Besides obviously supporting 5.1 channels of sound, the Z5300 is able to boast such features as a 100W subwoofer and a greater than 85 dB signal to noise ratio. The surround sound gaming and movie experience is tremendous, especially paired with a good Audigy 2 sound card. These speakers can also get impressively loud, and best of all, we didn't encounter any sort of crackling or distortion as volume was turned up to excruciatingly loud levels. For the price, these speakers are unbeatable.
Alternative: Creative Labs Megaworks THX Certified 6.1 speakers
Price: $248 shipped
This speaker system justifies its value versus the Logitech Z5300 speakers with:
- 6.1 surround sound instead of 5.1 surround;
- 99 dB signal to noise ratio instead of "somewhere" over 85 dB;
- 150W subwoofer instead of 100W subwoofer;
- 70W per satellite and 75W for the center instead of 35W and 39W center; and,
- Positional audio support.
If, for whatever reason, you're not interested in high end sound and will be gaming or watching movies mostly with your headphones on, obviously an expensive surround sound system will be pretty useless. If that's the case, you may just want to opt for 2.0 or 2.1 speakers, such as the ones recommended in our last Entry Level Buyer's Guide.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Hard Drives
Recommended: Dual Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA in RAID 0 ConfigurationPrice: $428 shipped
There are genuine performance advantages to a SATA RAID array, and a RAID 0 Array with two of the fastest SATA drives that you can buy makes for a blistering high end system. The storage capacity for two 74GB WD Raptor drives is a generous, but rational, 148GB of fast access storage. Compared to SCSI RAID solutions with similar performance, the Raptor RAID is a virtual bargain. The 74GB Raptors have double the storage of the legendary 36.7GB Raptors, an increase in speed, and the same 8MB buffer.
The 5-year warranty for the Raptor drives makes this investment in high-speed storage a little easier to handle. All drives will fail at some point because they have moving parts, but you have warranty reassurance for 5 years that attest to the quality of these WD Raptor hard drives. Previously, 10,000RPM speeds or a 5-year warranty were features only found on enterprise/SCSI drives, but they have now reached our high end system desktop.
All of the high-end recommended and alternative motherboards have built-in capabilities for SATA RAID, so it is relatively easy to enjoy this level of RAID performance. Those concerned about data security more than ultimate speed can configure the drives as RAID 1, or mirroring. In RAID 1, the drive capacity will only be 74GB, but you will have the assurance of a mirrored drive in the event of drive failure.
Alternative: Seagate ST3200822A (200GB) Baracuda 7200RPM (8MB cache)
Price: $133 shipped
While IDE drives, including our alternate Seagate Barracuda 200GB, are not as fast as the Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM SATA drives, they are still plenty fast for most applications. Seagate offers the same 8MB cache as the Raptor drives and a very large 200GB storage capacity for a small $133 price. While the well-known Seagate drives offer impressive specifications, the most important feature of the Seagate 200GB is not something that you can see. With hard drive manufacturers reducing warranties to one year, the Seagate 200GB still carries a 3-year manufacturer's warranty. With Seagate delivering hard drive capacities at 66 cents per Gigabyte, this drive also delivers excellent value.
200GB seems a massive amount of storage, but it will be just what the doctor ordered for users of Digital Cameras, Digital Video, and digital music storage. Those are the reasons why you want this High End system, right? You certainly don't need this kind of power to write the great American novel or handle emails.
Optical
Recommendation: NuTech DDW-081 8X DVD+/-R/RWPrice: $80 shipped
The winner of the recent AnandTech Dual 8X roundup was the inexpensive NuTech DDW-081 DVD burner. It proved to be one of the fastest, most reliable, and most flexible DVD dual-8X burners on the market. It is also very affordable and an easy choice for our High End Buyer's Guide. The latest optical drives really can do everything optical, with both high-speed DVD and CD burning as well as excellent playback of most any optical media.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on storage from many different reputable vendors:
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
Networking
Recommendation: Onboard networkingPrice: $0
The onboard Gigabit networking that you will find on our recommended motherboards is all you will need for a high end system. In this case, the Intel alternate DFI 875B LAN Party really has a better Gigabit solution, since it uses Intel's CSA bus to move the LAN off the confines of the PCI bus. The practical reality is that you will likely find no real difference in the Gigabit LAN provided by either the Asus SK8V or the DFI 875B LAN Party unless you have specialized networking needs. Broadband won't be any faster than the 10/100 solution found on almost any motherboard these days, but Gigabit can be useful when transferring large amounts of data to and from multiple networked computers in an office or within a home network.
Keyboard and Mouse
While trivial, it's still important that you purchase the right keyboard and mouse. Different people have different preferences for a keyboard's look and feel, and the same goes for a mouse. Therefore, we suggest that you personally try out a keyboard and mouse. Recommending purchasing these items online is misleading, as there are too many users with different preferences for this type of thing. Visit your nearest PC outlet to try out a keyboard and mouse yourself; a PC Club, Best Buy, CompUSA, or Circuit City store will do. We suggest that you start with Microsoft and Logitech keyboards and mice. Make sure you also check out optical mice from Microsoft and Logitech as well. A good solid optical mouse from either manufacturer should run about $20, but in some cases, can run as little as $10 if you can find the right deal.There are also some great wireless optical mice out there, like the MX700 for example, but it really depends on whether you care at all about a wireless mouse and are willing to spend the money to acquire it. Most will be satisfied with a standard optical mouse from Microsoft or Logitech for gaming, as it offers identical (or better) precision and feel than most wireless mice. We are bringing up the idea of wireless mice merely because it is hugely popular with gamers nowadays. Otherwise, stick with what makes you comfortable.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
High End System Summary
Hardware | Component | Price |
CPU & Cooling | AMD Athlon 64 FX53 Retail | $731 |
Motherboard | Asus SK8V (VIA K8T800 - Socket 940) | $171 |
Memory | 1GB (2 X 512MB) OCZ PC3500 EL ECC Registered | $339 |
Video Card | 256MB X800 Pro | $425 |
Monitor | Samsung SyncMaster 21" CRT (1100DF) | $447 |
Computer Case | Coolermaster Praetorian (PAC-T01-E1) Silver plus 430W Antec True Power PSU | $194 |
Sound Card | Creative Labs Audigy 2 6.1 OEM | $71 ($0) |
Speakers | Logitech Z-5300 5.1 speakers | $148 |
Networking | Onboard 10/100/1000 Ethernet | $0 |
Hard Drive | 2x74GB Western Digital 74GB Raptor 10,000 RPM SATA RAID (148GB Total) | $428 ($133) |
CD-RW | NuTech DDW-081 8X DVD+/-R/RW | $80 |
Bottom Line | $3034 ($2668) |
$3034 is the final price of our high end system this week, not including any money that you'll spend on software (Windows XP Professional or Home, Office, Photoshop, etc.) or a keyboard and mouse. $3000 is not pocket change, but what a high-end system you will have for this $3000!! This includes the fastest CPU that you can possibly buy right now, the new generation ATI Radeon X800 PRO video, 1GB of Dual-Channel ECC Registered memory, a 148GB 10,000 RPM SATA RAID array, a 21" .20 dot pitch monitor, and a top performing 8X DVD +/- burner with fast CDRW burn capabilities. You can spend a bit more at every price point, but you won't gain much, if anything, in performance.
Our alternatives also allow you to customize the High-End System to your needs. One painless way to reduce the cost is shown in italics in the price - use the excellent on-board 6-channel sound and substitute a 200GB Seagate Barracuda for the RAID array. For $2668, you will have most of the same performance in the top-performing Athlon 64 FX system.
With the next generation X800 Pro video card, the fastest FX53 on the superb Asus SK8V motherboard, and the fastest 10,000RPM Raid Array, our High End System is the fastest desktop system that you can buy, period. Next month, we will see the introduction of AMD's long-awaited Socket 939 processors, but don't expect performance much different than this top-of-the-line system. Yes, there will be a new and faster 3800+ at 2.4GHz with 512KB cache, but the top AMD Athlon 64 will still be the 2.4GHz FX53 with 1MB of cache. The only real difference will be that the new FX53 will be wearing Socket 939 clothes on a VIA K8T800 PRO instead of a K8T800, or a nForce3-250 Ultra instead of a nForce3-150.
Take a close look at the High-End FX53 system and let us know what you think in the comments section.