Final Words
Most users that email questions about building a computer system are planning to build a midrange computer system. With a broad price range of $1000 to $2000, this covers a huge number of potential choices. With the launch of Phenom II just a few days ago, all of our thinking about systems in this price range was rearranged. Hopefully you are the beneficiary of the refresh in our system thinking.
Prior to Phenom II we had prepared a Value Midrange AMD system using our favorite AMD 9950 Black Edition. We did not really have an AMD system to present at the $2000 Performance Midrange price point because AMD had no offerings that competed well in that arena. However, we now have a complete Phenom II 940 system at the $2000 price point that will give the competing Intel Core i7 920 a real run for the money - even when overclocked. At the $1500 price point the AMD Phenom II system based on the Phenom II 920 will likely be the performance winner, since Intel has no real Core i7 offering that is cheap enough for a complete balanced system at $1500. At least that is true this week.
As those involved in this industry quickly learn, things can change very fast in the computer business. AMD is competitive again and we are happy to see Phenom II competing so well. Of course, Intel's 45nm Penryn quad-core chips also compete quite well with Phenom II, so the final choice can really go any of three directions.
The current world economic woes are having their impact on the computer industry as well as many other industries. As often happens in economic times such as these, some players will cease to exist. As also happens, price competition often becomes fierce and the large and strong are more able to play within these guidelines. It would be a mistake to read these economic comments as doom and gloom because there is a huge silver lining to this story. Today you can get more for your money than ever in a computer system. The contrarians among you will buy now for the value and be rewarded with terrific performance for their investment.
As you saw in the tables, our AMD and Intel Value Midrange systems came in closer to $1400 than to $1500. Both are complete systems and include a fast Core 2 Duo 3.16GHz CPU based on 45nm technology or a fast AMD Phenom II 2.8GHz quad-core based on 45nm technology. Both systems feature AMD 4870 1GB graphics, 4GB DDR2-1066 memory, a 1TB hard drive, audio card, powered speakers, a custom case, and quality 80 Plus certified 650W power supply, a Blu-ray/HD player/DVD burner, Vista OS, keyboard/mouse, and a 1080p LCD monitor. That is a lot of value and performance for the price. For those that already have the OS, speakers, keyboard/mouse, and monitor you are talking base component costs of less than $1100 for these very competitive systems.
There is no doubt that our $2000 complete systems easily occupy what would have been considered high-end just a short time ago. The Intel Performance Midrange is powered by a Core i7 920 that overclocks extremely well if that is your choice. 4.0GHz is a very doable and stable overclock. The AMD Performance Midrange is similarly powered by the top Phenom II 940, a 3.0GHz quad-core that reached 3.9GHz in limited OC testing for the AnandTech launch article. Both performance systems feature upgrades to almost all of the capable components in the Value Midrange offerings. This includes a 24" monitor, an upgraded case/700W power supply, and 4870X2 graphics or NVIDIA SuperClocked 280GTX graphics,
The point of all these component selections should be very clear. Now is a great time to build a Value Midrange or Performance Midrange system, with either an Intel or AMD core. The bang for the buck is as good as we have ever seen in computer space. You can build the latest Intel Core i7 or AMD Phenom II computer system for less than $2000 - with some systems costing less than $1500. If you already have a monitor and keyboard/mouse/speakers you can build a balanced base i7 system for less than $1600, or a Phenom II for less than $1100. And those are some pretty good silver linings.
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Jorgisven - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
I think one of the big qualms about calling this "mid-range" is that in general, the mid-range has been defined by the absence of the exponential cost/power ratio taking place. Right now, there is a substantial cost for only a fractional performance increase in these systems over something that costs half as much. Even with as much as the claimed "30 percent" performance increase, you're spending twice as much or more. You can build an amazing system, referencing the entry-level article, and the E7300 comes within 72% of the 965! Not the 920... however, the price of that system is 42% of even the 920. Granted, it's not just the processor that's different...With just an extra $50-100 on that entry-level upgrading to the E8600, you get within "88%"! So, in the end, we'll call it a 10% performance increase for a 200% price increase. (because that article references the 965, not this lower 920. I guessed on the 2% difference between the two).And a GTX280? Since when is that mid-range performance? It's pretty overkill for the 1920x1080 res of the monitor in my opinion (but it's just that). I'm of the opinion that you should not spend more on your graphics card than your display for a few reasons:
Displays are harder to upgrade, due to higher cost of shipping when trying to sell. Also, they technically aren't supposed to be thrown away (heavy metals) so they are more expensive to take care of if/when they break out of warranty. I would typically spend more on the monitor, and if needed, upgrade the card later, rather than the other way around.
strikeback03 - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
Using the numbers published in Anand's release review of the Phenom II, here is the advantage the i7 920 holds over the E8600 and the E6750. The E7300 was not tested, and the E6750 generally performed better than the tested E7200, which is why I picked it to roughly represent E7300 numbers. All these are such that 100 means twice as fast or half the time to complete.920 over E8600: 50.6, 38.7, 72.4, 136.3, 44.8, 84.3, -6.8, 103.3, 148.6, 111.5, 43.2, 87.6, 64.2, 114.6, 59.3, -5.7, -3.4, 42, -2.7
920 over E6750: 97.1, 82.2, 118, 214.1, 89.7, 135.4, 24, 174.2, 216.7, 184.5, 100.4, 151.6, 122.2, 180.9, 94.2, 11.9, 19, 74.8, 2.9
Other than some current games and single-core Cinebench, the 920 is generally at least double the E6750 and 60% faster than the E8600. Replacing the processor, motherboard, memory, and power supply from the E7300 system guide with those from the 920 system guide gives a system price of $1268, so 52.2% higher for what is often more than 100% more performance in tested benchmarks. Obviously for lots of games or other single-threaded programs and internet, etc, the cheaper system is fine, but the 920 offers lots more performance for not a ton more money and on these programs does better than diminishing returns. Getting the price of an E8600 from Newegg today, switching that for the E7300 costs 983, making the $1268 920 system 30% more expensive for upwards of 60% better performance in CPU-intensive applications.
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
As I stated on the first page it is my belief that a mid-range system, as defined in this article, should be “computing solutions with some staying power in the market”. I certainly don’t expect that of Entry or Bargain systems. That is the reason I stretched to select Mid-Range systems with Phenom II and an entry i7 Socket 1333 system at the top.As I said in the Guide, I had first put together a balanced Phenom 9950 system at the $1400 complete system price point. When Phenom II was introduced with an entry $235 920 part (just $55 more than the price of the 9950 on that day) and a top 790FX motherboard dropped its price to $105 it made more sense to pick Phenom II instead at that same $1400.
The Guide was ready to go last week with very different system selection. We did not have a Phenom II or an i7 in our recommendations then. However we knew Phenom II was coming Thursday, and we also knew it would shake up our System selections. That is why we reworked all the systems over the weekend and delayed posting until today.
Jorgisven - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
Granted, by the time it gets around to upgrading a system using the Wolfdale or Yorkfield architecture, they will be hard pressed to find something better to upgrade to, as it seems that technology is getting dropped. I just feel this article is about 5-6 months early. I think the prices for these parts will be "mid-range" in about that time or so. So I guess this is a good planning article if you're not doing it this month or next...A well thought-out article, but I just disagree with the timing, a bit.
tester3000 - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
That system is clearly not mid-range. Mid-range is around $800. That's a freaking high end and the $2000 is ultra-high end. Not many people can afford over $1000. $800 is the sweet spot for most people. Without monitor of course. Add another $200 for monitor.boboko - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
>"That system is clearly not mid-range. Mid-range is around $800. That's a freaking high end and the $2000 is ultra-high end. Not many people can afford over $1000. $800 is the sweet spot for most people."Maybe. But the type of people who read Anand Tech and build a system from components will almost always keep about half the stuff from their old system. I'm getting ready to build a new PC, and all I'll buy is the CPU, MB, and memory. I'm still debating whether to buy a new video card, or wait a month or two for the prices to go down. But I'll keep my drives, my monitor, my case, my OS, my power supply, and my sound card and speakers, so even using these components that you claim are out of anyone's price range, I'll only be spending around $500, and I might make some of that back selling my old MB and CPU as a barebones that I stick into one of the several cases and PS's I got for free after rebate when Fry's was selling them evey month.
strikeback03 - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
well, "most people" buy prebuilt from Dell or their local Best Buy, etc. For those building their own system, $1500 would generally qualify as midrange.The budget guide had a few builds under $1000 including monitor.
Jorgisven - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
I'd agree. "Most people" will not be reading articles like this. "Most people who are looking at building their own" have a good idea of their budget, and it's generally higher than "most other people", because performance and control is more important generally speaking.elerick - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
I have to agree with the author on this. He talked about the idea of reworking midrange, but ultimately stated his case for not changing.You can't please everyone, I build a new rig every 2 yeaars and I always do exactly what this author has put into an article. He choose the latest arcitectures and then picked the most affordable version / upgradeable. That is why the Core i7 920 ($300) and Phenom II ($235 & $275) were picked. I couldn't agree more with those picks for the month of January. Next month those picks could change, based on Intels counter pricing to Phenom II launch.
7Enigma - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
From article:"Phenom II performance is more in line with Intel's latest Core i7, and for that reason we really wanted to select the Phenom II 920 for the AMD Value Midrange."
OK, the new Pheom II processors are definitely a good step in the right direction but this is a bit misleading to say IMO.