Mid-Range Buyer's Guide, September 2005
by Jarred Walton on September 19, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Graphics Recommendations
All of the motherboards are obviously PCI Express systems, so we only need two graphics options. For the Gaming system, we recommend that you spend as much money as possible on a graphics card. SLI is always there for future upgrades, but we'd start with a single, fast GPU rather than purchasing two moderately fast GPUs and running them in SLI. Here are our two choices for graphics.
Price: $98 shipped (Retail)
While there are cheaper graphics cards for PCI Express, none of them are particularly fast. You can save about $50 by dropping to a GeForce 6200TC or X300SE HyperMemory if you really want. We prefer to get something with a bit more performance, ensuring not only the ability to play games now and then, but also giving better hardware 3D acceleration for Windows Vista when that comes out. The X700 Pro fits those requirements by roughly doubling the performance of the 6200TC and X300SE cards. What that gives us is a PC that's capable of handling any task at least acceptably and some tasks exceptionally.
For a bit more money, there are quite a few upgrade options. X800 128MB, 6600GT, 6800, X800GT/GTO, X800Pro, X800XL... the list goes on. If you don't feel that the X700 Pro will meet your needs, we'd probably upgrade to at least the X800XL/Pro or 6800GT. Those are all roughly twice as fast, and they're about twice as much - more in the case of the 6800GT. Once you near the $300 price range, though, you should probably just jump to our gaming recommendation.
Price: $379 shipped (Retail)
For the Gaming configurations, the idea is quite simple: save on the CPU costs and some other areas in order to get the fastest graphics card possible, within our budget. The key there is staying within budget, which means that we're not actually getting the fastest GPU, as that would be the 7800GTX. You could even drop the GPU to a 6800GT if you want to save some money, but the 7800GT is substantially faster and we feel that it's worth the upgrade. Like the 7800GTX cards, almost all currently available 7800GT cards are based of the NVIDIA reference design, with a few minor tweaks. The XFX card comes factory overclocked and costs less than most other 7800GT cards at present, so it gets our recommendation. However, it is possible that some of the other 7800GT cards are quieter than the XFX, so if you have information to that effect, spending another $10 to $15 would be advisable. On the other hand, louder and cooler might be a better choice for longevity.
As you can see in our 7800GT Preview, the card performs quite well. The XFX OC is even slightly faster, which you can see in our XFX 7800GT OC Review. Since it's faster than the 6800 Ultra in virtually every test, there's no reason to get a 6800 Ultra anymore. Another piece of good news is that when the 7800GT becomes too slow for your needs - as it inevitably will - you can always add a second card and get a substantial performance boost. That's assuming, of course, that the 7800GT remains on the market long enough for you to upgrade; we hope that it will, but two years from now we may find it discontinued for one reason or another.
Price: $449 or $549 shipped (Retail)
The reason why we list this as an alternative is because it's a limited time offer. EVGA has finished their direct sales offer, but you can still get the same deal from Newegg and ZipZoomFly. How long it will be available is anyone's guess. The deal is quite simple: buy an EVGA 7800 GT or GTX card and you get the EVGA motherboard for free. The EVGA board is just a rebranded version of the Jetway 939GT4-SLI that we recently reviewed, and performance and features are very good. Jetway isn't known for producing high performance, enthusiast class motherboards, but this particular board exceeded all our expectations.
Is the EVGA/Jetway board better than the DFI SLI-D? Perhaps not, but it's close enough that the savings offered make it worth its consideration. When compared to the DFI and XFX configuration that we're recommending, you can get the EVGA bundle for about $100 less, or alternatively, you can get the EVGA 7800GTX instead of the XFX 7800GT. Either option is a good deal, relatively speaking, so if you're in the market to upgrade right now, you might want to act quickly. The EVGA promotional page has more details and links to participating resellers if you're interested.
All of the motherboards are obviously PCI Express systems, so we only need two graphics options. For the Gaming system, we recommend that you spend as much money as possible on a graphics card. SLI is always there for future upgrades, but we'd start with a single, fast GPU rather than purchasing two moderately fast GPUs and running them in SLI. Here are our two choices for graphics.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $98 shipped (Retail)
While there are cheaper graphics cards for PCI Express, none of them are particularly fast. You can save about $50 by dropping to a GeForce 6200TC or X300SE HyperMemory if you really want. We prefer to get something with a bit more performance, ensuring not only the ability to play games now and then, but also giving better hardware 3D acceleration for Windows Vista when that comes out. The X700 Pro fits those requirements by roughly doubling the performance of the 6200TC and X300SE cards. What that gives us is a PC that's capable of handling any task at least acceptably and some tasks exceptionally.
For a bit more money, there are quite a few upgrade options. X800 128MB, 6600GT, 6800, X800GT/GTO, X800Pro, X800XL... the list goes on. If you don't feel that the X700 Pro will meet your needs, we'd probably upgrade to at least the X800XL/Pro or 6800GT. Those are all roughly twice as fast, and they're about twice as much - more in the case of the 6800GT. Once you near the $300 price range, though, you should probably just jump to our gaming recommendation.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $379 shipped (Retail)
For the Gaming configurations, the idea is quite simple: save on the CPU costs and some other areas in order to get the fastest graphics card possible, within our budget. The key there is staying within budget, which means that we're not actually getting the fastest GPU, as that would be the 7800GTX. You could even drop the GPU to a 6800GT if you want to save some money, but the 7800GT is substantially faster and we feel that it's worth the upgrade. Like the 7800GTX cards, almost all currently available 7800GT cards are based of the NVIDIA reference design, with a few minor tweaks. The XFX card comes factory overclocked and costs less than most other 7800GT cards at present, so it gets our recommendation. However, it is possible that some of the other 7800GT cards are quieter than the XFX, so if you have information to that effect, spending another $10 to $15 would be advisable. On the other hand, louder and cooler might be a better choice for longevity.
As you can see in our 7800GT Preview, the card performs quite well. The XFX OC is even slightly faster, which you can see in our XFX 7800GT OC Review. Since it's faster than the 6800 Ultra in virtually every test, there's no reason to get a 6800 Ultra anymore. Another piece of good news is that when the 7800GT becomes too slow for your needs - as it inevitably will - you can always add a second card and get a substantial performance boost. That's assuming, of course, that the 7800GT remains on the market long enough for you to upgrade; we hope that it will, but two years from now we may find it discontinued for one reason or another.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $449 or $549 shipped (Retail)
The reason why we list this as an alternative is because it's a limited time offer. EVGA has finished their direct sales offer, but you can still get the same deal from Newegg and ZipZoomFly. How long it will be available is anyone's guess. The deal is quite simple: buy an EVGA 7800 GT or GTX card and you get the EVGA motherboard for free. The EVGA board is just a rebranded version of the Jetway 939GT4-SLI that we recently reviewed, and performance and features are very good. Jetway isn't known for producing high performance, enthusiast class motherboards, but this particular board exceeded all our expectations.
Is the EVGA/Jetway board better than the DFI SLI-D? Perhaps not, but it's close enough that the savings offered make it worth its consideration. When compared to the DFI and XFX configuration that we're recommending, you can get the EVGA bundle for about $100 less, or alternatively, you can get the EVGA 7800GTX instead of the XFX 7800GT. Either option is a good deal, relatively speaking, so if you're in the market to upgrade right now, you might want to act quickly. The EVGA promotional page has more details and links to participating resellers if you're interested.
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JarredWalton - Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - link
This recommendation has nothing to do with marketing. Does anyone *need* this fast of a card? Well, if you want to play certain games at 1600x1200 (or 1920x1200), then yes, this level of hardware will be required. If you're okay with 1024x768, then the 7800GT is overkill. However, you're talking about spending $300 for a new GPU. That would get you a 6800GT, X800XL, or X850Pro. For 25% more money on the GPU, you will get a card that is http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2496...">far more than 25% faster in most 3D games. (Unless you continue to run at 1024x768 without AA enabled.)That's not marketing, that's the simple truth. A 7800GT is 25 to 75% faster than the current $300 cards. If you've already got a good gaming system, there's no need to upgrade right now. If you're running two year old hardware and want to upgrade to something faster, though, why come up a bit short? It's not like I'm suggesting that you spend the extra $100+ to go from a 6800GT to a 6800Ultra or from an X800Pro to an X800XTPE. You *can* cut costs on the hardware, but if anything I'd ditch the SLI board and enthusiast RAM rather than downgrading the GPU - at least in a gaming system.
jonah42 - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
Yes a good guide, some thought provoking choices but you have forgotten the importance of a good sound card. You do not mention the quality of the onboard sound of the DFI board - I think goud sound quality realy brings a game to life - adding to the cinematic feeling greatly. If you want good multichannel placement then the Audigy 4 is a must, for best sound qaulity then a good Envy24 based card is recommended - eg Audotrak Prodigy or equivalent.PrinceGaz - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
Onboard sound quality is more than good enough for most people these days, and if they want improved sound quality it would be better spent on higher-quality speakers than on a discrete sound-card.For gamers an Audigy 4 is unnecessary, a cheap Audigy 2 or Audigy 2 ZS would be perfectly adequate. Or you could always fall for Creative's hype and blow a fortune on an X-Fi of course. I'm perfectly happy with the sound from the Karajan module on my DFI board, but I do occasionally consider getting an Audigy 2 [ZS] for games.
yacoub - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
BlueGears X-Mystique - $99 and I believe it does not resample sources like the Creative cards do. If it does, there are other options out there for around the same price that don't.So anyway, you're looking at an affordable non-Creative soundcard that offers great sound reproduction. It's hard to ask for more than that short of a pro-level card. :)
ceefka - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
I agree with your point of view here, though I wouldn't recommend a board that doesn't feature Firewire. Sure it is possible to buy a PCI card for Firewire (where are the PCI-E 1x/2x Firewire cards by the way?) but you might want to save the ever diminishing number of PCI-slots for something else than a PCI-card?ceefka - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
Forget what I said. I just found one from http://www.siig.com/product.asp?catid=14&pid=9...">SIIGceefka - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
but you might want to save the ever diminishing number of PCI-slots for something else than a PCI-card?bummer, that shoud have read:
but you might want to save the ever diminishing number of PCI-slots for something else than a Firewire PCI-card?
flatblastard - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
.....but I can't seem to get past the fact that the system must be overclocked to actually reach the level of "Mid-range". Buying the exact parts in the guide and build without overclocking will result in an "entry-level" rig. I know we don't have to buy EXACTLY the same parts, but still, I wouldn't call that a mid range rig, not by a long shot.yacoub - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
Or just don't go dual-core if you want more CPU speed -and- the faster GPU. :)Sure if you encode Div-X while you game it wouldn't perform as well but honestly people who does that??
JarredWalton - Monday, September 19, 2005 - link
It doesn't *have* to be overclocked. I've got an article that will show the performance scaling of several options, and while the overclocked 3200+ is definitely faster, I'd take a stock 3000+ with a 7800GT over a 3800+ with an X800Pro. I mean, do you want 30% faster frame rates at 1024x768 (which is what you'd get with a faster CPU), or do you want 50% faster frame rates at 1600x1200? I don't know that those percentages are exact, but I'll look at those in the article.