Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range to High-End, May 2005
by Jarred Walton on May 23, 2005 5:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Sound and Speakers
We've covered almost everything with the exception of sound. 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. If you do want a sound card, you can always pick up a Creative Audigy 2 ZS for about $75 or the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 for about $90. Both are good cards, with the Creative having more of a gaming slant. However, those cards are rather expensive for the offered features, and you might want a sound card if your motherboard doesn't offer an S/PDIF connection for output, though you need speakers with an S/PDIF input to make use of such a feature. Since that's what we'll use for our High-End speaker selection, we're going to include a sound card specifically for that segment.
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Sound Card: Chaintech AV-710 7.1
Price: $27 Shipped
We're not going to blow a ton of money on the sound card, especially when all we're really interested in is the digital audio output. The good news is that the Chaintech card is still a good quality card and provides audio comparable to that of the Revolution 7.1 at a much lower cost. Powered by the VIA Envy 24PT chip, the card provides clean, crisp audio that many will feel is more than worth the price. Two stereo input ports are also present, which allows for line-in as well as a microphone. About the only thing missing is an S/PDIF IN port. If you want that, you'll need a more capable sound card like the Turtle Beach Catalina. It has 24-bit 7.1 audio along with optical in and out ports for around $50 if you're interested.
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Speakers: Logitech Z-5300e 5.1
Price: $135 Shipped
We're going with more capable speakers for our mid-range setup than what we've recommended in the past. If you don't need really nice audio from your PC, you can go with the cheaper X-530 speakers from Logitech or some good quality 2.1 speakers. You could even get by with no speakers, though we feel most people will want at least decent audio out of a $1000+ computer. The Z-5300e is the big brother to the X-530, with higher quality and better sounding satellites. They're also capable of much higher volume levels, so you can make sure that the whole neighborhood knows which movie you're watching - or not. Other than getting even louder speakers, the only real omission on the Z-5300e is support for digital connections. It's certainly not required, but many home theaters use digital audio connections, and with good reason. That brings us to the High-End recommendation.
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Speakers: Logitech Z-5500d 5.1
Price: $245 Shipped
If the Z-5300 is the big brother of the X-530, then the Z-5500d is the X-530's daddy. While there are other differences between the 5300 and 5500, the major addition is support for DTS and Dolby Digital decoding on the speakers. Sure, you can have the PC or sound card do that for you, but then you have to deal with potential noise and interference from the circuitry within the computer. If you go with a digital connection, you're basically guaranteed to get no interference up to the speakers. If you don't already have a decent home theater setup, the Z-5500d speakers are capable of giving much more expensive speakers a run for the money. They're not likely to beat out speakers costing thousands of dollars, but for the price, they're extremely impressive.
We've been saying "Logitech" a lot while talking about speakers, but they certainly aren't the only option out there. Altec Lansing, Boston Acoustics, Creative, and Klipsch are all reasonable alternatives, and the way sound is perceived varies from person to person - what we like may not be what you like. That said, Logitech has been extremely aggressive with their pricing. Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 speakers are another favorite of the high-end, and many would say that the warranty and support provided by Klipsch is more than worth the increased price. You would lose the digital aspect of the Z-5500d's if you go that route, however, and which speaker actually sounds better is something that audiophiles could debate for hours on end. We think that they both sound good, but digital inputs and $100 in savings is hard to argue with, which is why we've gone with the Logitech speakers. If you have further questions on the matter of speakers, the peripherals area of our forums is a good place to start.
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CP5670 - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
You can still get Mitsubishi 2070s (I got a new one for $600 about three weeks ago), although they are out of production and are somewhat hard to find.JarredWalton - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
44 - Venice and Winchester seem to be the same chip, only with SSE3 enabled on Venice. I don't think it matters much for games right now, but with the difference only being $4 now, go for it. (At the time I wrote this Guide, Winchester retail chips were $20 less than Venice retail chips, which is harder to justify.)47 - I've emailed a few people about this, but basically there just aren't any improvements to CRTs coming out these days. You can still find some Dell, HP, etc. monitors that use the same tube as the NEC FE2111SB, and it's a good tube overall. The Mitsubishi 2070 still boasts the best specs I'm aware of (140 kHz horizontal scan rate and 2048x1536 resolution).
If you want a CRT, by all means get one. The Samsung 997DF is still a decent 19" model for around $210, though it's not perfectly flat. NEC FE991SB are also good, though they cost more than the Samsung. If you can find a discount on a Dell, HP, etc. CRT and it sports an aperture grille, it's probably going to be similar enough to the NEC/Mitsubishi models that you wouldn't notice other than the exterior.
Personally, I'm just tired of large CRTs, and I've recommended them in so many Guides (without any change) that it's time to move on. I'll continue to mention them, but I don't recommend them anymore for a lot of people.
CrimsonChaos - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
Great guide!I was recently considering buying a system inbetween a mid-range and high-end computer. This would have been a tremendous help to me as I started the researching process.
Just a quick question -- why no PC Power & Cooling power supply for a high-end system? That too expensive even for the biggest enthusiast (aka money-waster)??
Also, going to add any normal CRT recommendations to the "Display" part?
Olaf van der Spek - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
Re: 16> and I feel about the same for audio.
That's not a very strong argument.
But because audio is always integrated while video isn't, it's indeed simpler to add one later.
ceefka - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
#43 Reapsy00,About every new CPU, mobo/chipset, graphicscard, RAM, LCD/CRT mentioned here has been benched, just not in this same article.
Also, recommendations here were winners in past benchmarkings before this article.
You'll even find links to benchmarks in the buyers guide. In my opinion AT has got it nailed pretty good.
dmaduram - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
Kudos to Jarred for such an excellent guide -- it's quite informative!Just two quick questions -- first of all, with regard to gaming, is there an advantage in selecting a AMD-Venice core instead of a AMD-Wichester core? I was unsure on what specific applications recieved a boost from Venice's "SSE3" support.
Secondly, d'you know if there are any disadvantages in purchasing a Venice core instead of the recommended Wichester core? There's only a 4-dollar difference in price on NewEgg, so I was wondering which one I should buy for my gaming box :)
Reapsy00 - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
You see lots of these buyer's guides on different sites, AT should take it further and build the system's and benchmark 'em.Calin - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - link
No problem, TujanI wouldn't choose a VIA miniITX platform - the 1GHz processors are quite faster than the older 700-800MHz ones. However, their very size forces them to be niche systems.
If I would like a computer in my car, a MiniITX would be the best choice. But for a stand alone, I very much prefer upgradable PC technology
R3MF - Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - link
ah well, my new shuttle SN25P with a 3200 Venice, 6600GT (£98.00), and 250GB 7200.8 doesn't look too shabby.it even has onboard via-envy sound, and will be even better with a 7800GT and dual-core X2 early next year.
i am happy.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - link
35 - Thanks. I wasn't aware of that. (I hate it when manufacturers do that!) Anyway, I added a comment about this in the article. Basically, I'm saying that RAM with TCCD blanks is still a great choice for overclockers looking for maximum clock speeds.