Buyer's Guide - Mid-Range, October 2004
by Jarred Walton on October 21, 2004 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Display Recommendations
Many users may already have a decent display and can simply stick with what they have. For those looking to add a monitor, we recommend at least a 19" CRT for this price range. LCDs are also an alternative, although they do tend to cost quite a bit more. Our recommendation is the same for whatever sort of work you plan on doing with your PC, but the alternative might be a nice upgrade for software developers or for office work. We do not recommend LCDs for content creation, as their colors are not as accurate as CRTs, but they could be used as a secondary display.
CRT Recommendation: NEC/Mitsubishi FE991SB-BK 19"
Price: $274 Shipped (Retail)
With a maximum resolution of 1792x1344@68 Hz and a more useful resolution of 1600x1200@75 Hz, the FE991 is a great monitor for just about any use. The screen is perfectly flat, colors are vivid, and text is crisp and clear. It may be more expensive than other 19" monitors, but we feel that it is worth the cost. The only major drawback is one that can be said of all CRTs: it is large and somewhat heavy, so transporting it to a LAN party would be difficult. If you're in the market for a monitor, checking out units at a local brick and mortar shop is always a good idea. Pictures on the web are a poor substitute for actually trying out a monitor in person.
LCD Alternative: ViewSonic VX715 17" LCD 25ms
Price: $369 Shipped (Retail)
There are quite a few 17" LCDs that cost only slightly more than our recommended 19" CRT, but we prefer to spend a little more for a model that includes a DVI input. The VX715 has a good picture, and while it might not be ideal for gaming, it works extremely well for office or programming use. LCDs are easier on the eyes if you spend all day staring at a monitor, which is also nice.
Due to their increased potential for dead pixels, we again suggest that you check out local stores and test out any LCD before you purchase it if possible. Most online resellers will only replace an LCD if there are a lot of dead pixels - eight or more, usually - and as anyone who has encountered a dead pixel on an LCD will tell you, they can be very annoying. Remember also that LCDs tend to look blurry when run at anything other than their standard resolution, and some people may feel that the default text size is too small. For example, 1280x1024 on a 17" LCD might be difficult for some people to use comfortably.
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Tides - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
when i think mid-range i do find it hard to look below 9800/6600.PrinceGaz - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
This article wasn't focussing on a system where gaming will be a major consideration. The reason for recommending a 9600 Pro (or X300) for discrete graphics is that DX9 hardware will be required for Longhorn when it arrives. A 9800 Pro would be overkill for that.neogodless - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
Okay, the price on the 19" monitor IS definitely a typo though! Also, personally I'd spend a touch $100 more for a 9800 Pro (over the 9600 Pro) if at all possible because I think a ~10% increase in overall cost for a much better gaming experience is worth it...neogodless - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
n/m... I see it's the 939 pin part... going on the assumption that dual channel increases that chips performance enough for a 200+ higher rating...neogodless - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
The Athlon 64 3200+ (90nm) is a 2.0Ghz 512kb cache part? Is that a typo? Should that read Athlon 64 3000+ ?tappertrainman - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
Great Job! I definitely like these style "guides" rather than the CPU motherboard guides by themselves. Also, I think a great idea would be to start an "upgrade" guide similar to these. You could have an entry-level mid-level and high-end upgrade guide each month? Thanks for the hard work.gimper48 - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
Very good. I am impressed. However, are we going to see benchmarks in these anytime soon?southernpac - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
I am very inclined to take your recommendation and use a Raid 1 (mirrow) back up strategy. Do I incur a performance "price" for making the constant back-up? If so, will it be significant enough for a simulations gamer to really notice the difference (I'll be using a higher-end system)?Kong Basse - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
Thank you for another good article.The article was absolutly not too long, only proclaim that I have is: The 9600 id getting a little old by now, but then again, it still isnt too bad for gaming, even though it hardly runs Doom3 and HL2.
PrinceGaz - Thursday, October 21, 2004 - link
I've just finished reading it and amazingly, I can't fault any of your recommendations!I'd say you've covered pretty much everything you set out to starting with solid recommendations for a base system, and providing excellent reasons for why someone might want to choose one of the alternatives suggested.
Probably the best system guide to date. Well done.