Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range to High-End, May 2005
by Jarred Walton on May 23, 2005 5:30 PM EST- Posted in
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Miscellaneous Extras
Besides everything else, there are still a few items that you should probably get. Networking isn't something that you need to worry about with any of these systems, as they all feature Gigabit Ethernet ports. Of course, if you're less interested in bandwidth and prefer to go wireless, you'll need to get an appropriate adapter. While we're on the topic of networking, we'd also recommend that anyone with a broadband connection go out and purchase a cheap NAT/Router/Firewall (usually, you get all three in one device). You won't suddenly become immune to all virus attacks and security vulnerabilities, but the vast majority of network attacks won't get around even a cheap firewall. If you open that virus attachment that you received in an email message, you're on your own, however.You should also grab a surge protector at the very least – again, assuming that you don't have anything of reasonable quality – and we'd even go so far as to recommend getting an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), also sometimes referred to as a battery backup. A good quality UPS can also clean up the power supplied to your system, so voltage fluctuations are removed. That's in addition to preventing data loss or hardware failure caused by brown outs and power spikes – remember, summer time is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere, so if you live in an area (CA) where everyone runs their AC all the time, brown outs and outages are an all too common problem. $50 to protect a few thousand dollars of equipment is a sensible precaution. We won't actually include the price of a UPS or surge protector in our final total, but we hope that you'll heed our advice and pick up these items if you don't already have them available.
Depending on how you plan to use your new system, you may also need some additional cables. Power cables are included, but you might need a network cable. A more important consideration is cables for hooking up your system to a TV. If you have an HDTV, a DVI to DVI cable will often do the trick. If you have an ATI card, you might want component cables instead. Firewire cables, S/PDIF cables, and longer S-VIDEO cables may also be something that you'll want. Whatever the cable, trust us: buy such cables online! We've seen some cables for $100 at Radio Shack and Best Buy, where you can find them for $20 and less online.
Click to enlarge.
Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech Internet Pro Desktop
Price: $26 Shipped
A keyboard and mouse are definitely required, unless you have something that you're happy with. We're going to go with a bundle from Logitech, although you could grab something from Microsoft or another manufacturer if you want. The bundles often save you quite a bit of money. You could also go with a wireless model if you prefer that, and many of us insist on ergonomic keyboards. [You can have my MS Natural when you pry it from my dead, carpal-tunneled hands! Er, sorry…] You can even go really upscale and grab the MX-1000 laser mouse from Logitech, or perhaps a Bluetooth setup. Whatever you like, go for it. This is simply our baseline recommendation.
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arswihart - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
jarred,I know you put a lot of work into these articles, and I take back saying this article is bs. You obviously don't need someone like me telling you you have made good recommendations, but regardless, most of your recommendations are very good.
arswihart - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
btw, theres the Epox 9npa-sli for $158 shipped, not mentioned even while its been out for monthsif anandtech doesn't review it, it doesn't exist I guess
arswihart - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
jarred,hey man, re-reading my posts and your reply, I feel I was being an ass with some of my language and tone. But you really are ignoring Epox products and always focusing on Asus and MSI for unknown reasons, and I even wonder sometimes if your site is getting some compensation for these recommendations. Don't get me wrong, they make good products, but really I don't get how you are constantly ignoring, not even mentioning, and Epox products, why?
JarredWalton - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
arswihart - That article by Kris was the first I heard of the issues, and needless to say the Buyer's Guide was written early last week. I am in the process of editing the MSI Neo4 recommendation.raskren - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
What's the deal with these gingerbread house cases? All the other computer peripherals look fairly sleek but I would be embarassed to have either one of those cases on or UNDER my desk.arswihart - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
direct quote from today's CPU article:"On another side note, we have heard several reports about 90nm Athlon 64 processors performing poorly in MSI’s K8N Neo4 product line. We will have more details for you in the near future, but if you are in between motherboards and you are also planning a 90nm purchase, you may want to stay away from the K8N until we can either verify or dispute those K8N reports."
arswihart - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
oh, I neglected to notice they are focusing exclusively on nf4 boards now, as if nf3 has no merits at all at this point (and sli is "a must for high-end, yeah right).Well, there's the 9npaj for $94.50 shipped @ newegg, 5 bucks more than for a chaintech, you make the call
arswihart - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
amazingthey continue to recommend msi neo4, even while their last article admits the boards have issues with 90nm AMD64's, truely amazing. And the Epox 9nda3j continues to be ignored, at $90 shipped from newegg, I'd much rather have it than either of the boards they recommend. Truly rediculous recommendations, this is a bs article no doubt about it.
Olaf van der Spek - Monday, May 23, 2005 - link
> We feel that the integrated audio is sufficient for anyone who doesn't intend to do any recording of audio, so we don't feel that an actual sound card is really necessary.What's gonna do all the audio effects in games then? I doubt every effect can be simulated by software.
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