Weekly Buyer's Guide: Entry Level Guide - April 2004
by Evan Lieb on April 17, 2004 3:05 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Monitor
Recommendation: Samsung SyncMaster 17" Flat-Tube (model 763MB)Price: $150 shipped
Samsung's SyncMaster series of monitors are very popular for price-conscious buyers. With a 0.20mm dot pitch, 1280x1024 max resolution, and 3-year manufacturer warranty, you're getting a good bang-for-your-buck monitor. You can pick this monitor up at your local Best Buy if you don't feel like waiting several days for your monitor to arrive in the mail. We suggest calibrating your monitor for maximum clarity if you do a lot of desktop work. Consult your manual or an online guide on how to calibrate a monitor.
Monitor Alternative: NEC Diamondtron 17" CRT (model FE771SB)
Price: $161 shipped
In just 4 weeks, the NEC FE771SB has dropped about $14 in price from $175 to $161. A welcome change if there ever was one for CRTs, a particularly slow moving market these days. Anyway, this NEC model is one of the lower end models of the famous Diamondtron series of monitors. Max resolution is just 1280x1024 and dot pitch is a mediocre 0.25mm. However, the clarity and viewable area (16") of this monitor are better than the Samsung SyncMaster 763MB, and at just about $11 more, it is a nice little upgrade if you're willing to spend the extra dollars.
Computer Case
Recommendation: CaseEdge TS1 Mid TowerPrice: $40 shipped
You can purchase this case online at www.pcclub.com or go to a local PC Club to pick it up. Not only is the black and silver edition of this case very good looking, but the setup is very easy to use and convenient in general. For one, the motherboard mounting screws come installed in their proper holes, a welcome change from having to screw them in by hand. Secondly, the hard drive and optical drive bays contain plastic clips that allow you to install your drives simply and easily without screws. All in all, this case basically comes completely "preinstalled", and even includes a 300W PSU (power supply unit). Any AMD or Intel approved power supply will do for a budget system, considering how little power a system like this draws, but if you're feeling extra cautious for future upgrades, picking up a Sparkle 300W PSU is a fine choice. The price of a Sparkle 300W PSU is about $21 shipped online.
Alternative: Foxconn Super Case 100-G2-P4 Mid Tower
Price: $44 shipped
While this case isn't quite as easy to use or as aesthetically appealing as the CaseEdge TS1, it is still a fine computer case with all the space that you'll need for your budget system. It comes with an AMD approved 300W PSU, but as we said before, you can always opt for a better 300W power supply if you feel like you need an especially good PSU for future upgrades. Still, a free PSU is usually never a bad thing.
In the end, as long as you purchase a case that accepts an ATX motherboard, the choice of computer case is completely up to you, the consumer. There are many aesthetically appealing computer cases out there - don't let our preferences stop you from exploring other computer cases online or at a local retail outlet like PC Club, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc.
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.
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qquizz - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
Try this Intel option for a value system I built for a client:(for those that gotta have Intel and a S/PDIF in out)Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8TRS300M ATI 9100IGP P4 800FSB Skt478 DDR M-ATX Motherbaord (Prescott ready) w/400/533/800FSB, ATA/100, AGP 8X, 4DDR DIMM, 3PCI, USB 2.0, Audio, Video, LAN, S/PDIF (in,out) header.........$83 shipped (Newegg)
CPU: Intel Celeron 2.4 GHz 400MHz FSB, 128K Cache - Retail..........$72 shipped (Newegg)
The rest can be the same I guess but I would get NEC 8X Black DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model ND-2500A for $85 shipped instead of SONY crapola.
Of course no discrete video card needed with this rig but can be upgraded if one feels the urge. Also support for 3.2C or 3.2E w/ current bios.
ZobarStyl - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
Even on a value rig, 512 is a must. As for the graphics card...remember the object of this guide is an entry level system...not a gaming tower.Cygni - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
9000 Pro is a much better choice than a 9200 non-LE for that price point.Pumpkinierre - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
Agreed #1,2,4,6 I'd go for a Duron 1.8 (more cpu speed than the 2000+), 512Meg RAM and low cost 9600. The extra memory is the most costly but would prove beneficial in HDD swapping reduction.TheDigitalDiamond - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
I pretty much have the same to say as #1. Upgrade the video just a tad, use Antecs beautiful little 300Watt PSU included cases. There's a time when you save money, and then there's a time when you stop being a cheap ass..farscape - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
I'd wish you'd consider the Shuttle AN35 ultra - save you a few bucks. Built a number of systems with it - never a prob and OCs like crazy. WDs work fine for me. I try to stay away from the SE cards tho.blckgrffn - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
First off, sorry about the blank post.I agree - 512 of RAM is all that I will put into a machine that I build these days. And, there is no reason not simpy opt for the 2500+, because you will have to spend at least $15 for a decent/quiet cooler (speeze falcon rock comes to mind) for the 2000+. So the price difference if only $13, and you get a lot of bang for you buck by going that route. You could pretty much absorb all of those costs by going with an nForce IGP mobo - the graphics are actually pretty good usually and the the biostar is cheaper than your ASUS. Lastly, beige drives with a black case???? Go with the black Samsung combo drive, that is what I would do. But, then again, I would simply buy an Antec case, either there copper of black ones, so to be assured that I have good power and cooling (12 cm fan!). Lastly, I cannot stand WD drives unless they be Raptors. I would opt for the Samsung drives - fluid dynamic bearings (NO WHINING!) and a 3 year warranty.
That's my opinion!
Nat
blckgrffn - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
newuser12 - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
I'm pretty sure this has already been noted on another buyer's guide, but:I think the alternative for the RAM should be 512 MB, not 256. I have an athlon 1800+, ECS mobo, geforce 4 mx-440 AGP vid card (running at 4x AGP not 8x), a 30 GB 7200 hard drive, and I can still play unreal 2004 on it....probably cause I have 512MB of RAM. its not even high-end RAM, i think its DDR 2100 (or maybe 2700), but it works nicely.
Anyways, my point was, A little extra RAM can go a long way. It even makes a noticeable difference in windows' performance, at least on my computer (that is, when I'm not on my linux harddrive playing unreal tournament ;) ).
DannyOcean - Saturday, April 17, 2004 - link
You could save $25 by going with an AMD Duron 1.6GHz and still have enough processing power to power anything a value-rig would need to run.A 128MB 9600SE goes for only about $10 more then 64MB 9200SE, both use 64-bit memory, and rather or not a value-rig would need such an upgrade is questionable.
A FoxConn/CasEdge case would likely have a PSU that is the equivilent of poor-quality Allied PSU's. A quality PSU is important even in value-rigs, as it helps keep down on the annoyingly noticable problems caused by poor power supply. An Antec SLK1600 (w/ SL 300W), $58-Shipped, or any AOpen QF50 (w/ FSP ATX-300GU) ATX case, around $50-60-Shipped), would be great cases for a value-rig.