Weekly Buyer's Guide: Entry Level System - July 2004
by Evan Lieb on July 7, 2004 12:05 AM 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 up this monitor 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: $166 shipped
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 $16 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 set-up 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 "pre-installed", 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 (thinking about future upgrades), picking up a Sparkle 300W PSU is a fine choice. The price of a Sparkle 300W PSU is about $23 shipped online.
Alternative: Foxconn Super Case 100-G2-P4 Mid Tower
Price: $45 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, so 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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Evan Lieb - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
As far as the system you're recommending Tostada....if you really want to go with a bottom of the barrel manufacturer like Biostar, the absolute worst 2D and 3D video performance you can find on the market in the nForce2 IGP, and a 2MB cache 80GB HDD instead of an 8MB cache HDD, then be my guest. ;)Oh, and the Apex case comes with a no name 300W PSU. Another huge no no.
Evan Lieb - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
Degrador, it has been fixed. :)Tostada, no, even at 1024x768 the text quality difference between an nForce2 IGP board and an ATI 9200 board is quite noticeable. It's even fairly noticeable at 800x600. Not sure what IGP boards you have used, but I've used basically all of them. They're OK if you want cheap video with occasional gaming, but 9200 cards are better if you want even better gaming and noticeably better 2D text quality.
As far as the keyboard/mouse, we explained our reasoning quite clearly. A keyboard/mouse is a much more individualized purchase than, per your example, a set of speakers. You're constantly feeling and touching a keyboard/mouse, so our recommendation would be based purely on opinion, on personal preference. That's really not what we want.
WD 8MB cache drives are widely considered a bit faster than comparable Seagate/Samsung/Hitachi 8MB cache drives, are on the whole a bit cheaper, and are generally considered very reliable. They really don't run much hotter than comparable drives, and they are only noticeably louder than Seagate drives. The difference is minute, at best, either way you look at it.
I'm not sure what your definition of crippling is, but 256MB of RAM is hardly crippling for an entry level Windows XP machine. How many times is an entry level user going to notice a boost in performance with more than 256MB of memory? Hardly many times at all, and certainly not enough times that they would actually be compelled to spend $50 or more. And since you mentioned it, exactly where are these "many other places" that you could cut costs in this system?
Tostada - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
If I was going to spend $546 on an entry level system (with monitors and speakers), I think this would be a MUCH better system:$180 NEC 17" SuperBright Diamondtron
$57 Athlon XP 2000+ T-bred Retail
$61 Biostar M7NCG 400 nForce 2 dual-channel IGP
$64 Samsung 80G
$90 2 x 256MB Corsair PC3200 CL2.5 Value Select
$40 Sony 52x32x52x16 combo DVD / CD-RW drive
$32 Apex 300W case
$20 Creative SBS250 speakers
$544 delivered from newegg.
A better monitor, twice the RAM, a dual-channel board, and the ability to play DVD's for $4 less.
I would generally spend the extra $23 to get an Athlon XP 2500+ Barton, though.
Tostada - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
I really must (as always) beg to differ on this system. It makes me wonder if the author of the guide has built many entry level systems for average people.In this price range, buying a video card is a complete waste of money unless you need the DVI output (which the $40 Radeon listed doesn't have). The nForce2 IGP does very well, and text quality is perfect for the average user (who isn't going over 1024x768 anyway).
A computer pretty much needs a keyboard. I find it quite odd that the price of speakers is included, but a keyboard/mouse is not. You can use a computer without speakers.
I also find it odd that the guides are sticking to Western Digital drives, especially the WD800JB. WD's specs for their 80G drives are quite bad -- they reserve the right to give you 40G platters. WD drives (with exception of the Raptor) are generally louder, hotter and slower than most of the competition from Samsung/Hitachi/Seagate.
And honestly, 256MB is pushing the limits of what is acceptable. There are many other places to cut costs before you cripple a machine with 256MB RAM.
Frallan - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
I like this system I find it to be really good value for money since you acctually found good products that are also decent performers.But I would really like to se the Overclockers guide as well :0)
Degrador - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
I think I pointed this out last time too with the cpu alternative: "All this adds up to noticeably better performance that, depending on what applications are run, you may or may not notice". Please, please, please can you fix this? It really bugs me :)Apologiliac - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
*fondApologiliac - Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - link
I'm particularly found of this weeks budget system.