Budget Buyer's Guide - October 2006
by Jarred Walton on October 25, 2006 8:10 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Baseline Intel Budget Platform
Putting together a true budget Intel-based system is difficult right now. Sure, it's possible, but as much as we like Core 2 Duo it simply can't fit into a budget price range. As there are no cheaper single-core Core 2 processors available yet, we wind up back in a familiar place: NetBurst. There are three options available for NetBurst configurations, none of which are particularly attractive. At the bottom of the price range, we have the Celeron D processors. These can compete with AMD in terms of price, but when it comes to performance the Celeron chips are absolutely outclassed by the single core Athlon 64 and Sempron offerings. Pentium 4 isn't much better, as the performance improves but the price quickly reaches Core 2 levels. The Pentium 4 531 (3.0GHz 1MB cache) and 541 (3.2GHz 1MB cache) can now be had for just under $100, and they are the most reasonable options in the Pentium 4 line. If you want to cut prices as much as possible, Celeron D 346 (3.06GHz 256K cache) costs $63 or you could drop to the Celeron D 331 (2.66GHz 256K cache) for just under $50. The final option and our choice is the Pentium D line.
Pentium D offers all of the benefits of dual core processing: better multitasking, improved performance in multithreaded applications, and overall snappier responsiveness from your system. The big problem with Pentium D is something that has existed since its inception: the Achilles' heel of NetBurst, heat output and power consumption. Given that it's now coming on winter in the northern hemisphere, some people might not mind the extra heat, but even the lowest end Pentium D will use 30W to 100W (idle versus load) more power than an equivalently configured Athlon 64 system. Depending on how frequently your computer is running, the extra power requirements could amount to $25-$90 per year. (Those figures are for 24/7 operation and a cost of $0.10 per kWHr.) You are much better off just saving up for a few more weeks (or months if that's how long it takes to save $100) and purchasing a Core 2 Duo E6300 if you can. Nevertheless, as the cheapest dual core processor currently available, the Pentium D 805 (2.66GHz 533FSB 2x1MB cache) still offers a reasonable amount of performance. If you plan on using it as a space heater, you can even overclock it 35% or more.
Other than our concerns with the processor selection, all of the components in our baseline Intel budget system are reasonable choices. We have once again gone with integrated graphics, but in order to keep costs down we have selected a motherboard that uses the 945G chipset instead of the newer G965. G965 is definitely superior in overall performance and features, but unfortunately it adds quite a bit to the cost. In fact, it would be cheaper to get a motherboard without integrated graphics and then add a discrete GPU like the GeForce 6200TC or Radeon X1300HM. Neither of those are graphics powerhouses, but both are faster than any integrated graphics solution currently available. If you don't need a lot of graphics performance, however, the GMA950 chipset in the 945G is still sufficient, and if it ever becomes too slow you can always add a discrete graphics card. The motherboard still supports Core 2 Duo, and you should even be able to do a moderate amount of overclocking (more with Pentium D and less with Core 2 Duo).
Unlike the AM2 solution, we could not find any integrated graphics solutions for socket 775 Core 2 with a DVI port. The ASUS P5L-MX also only has two memory slots, so you should seriously consider purchasing a single 1GB DIMM as that will enable you to upgrade to 2GB in the future. The price of DDR2 memory is just as painful with Intel systems as it is with AMD configurations, although with Core 2 you could even consider going for DDR2-800 memory. We're not going to go that far for the base configuration, but it is at least something to keep in mind. The A-DATA memory will still work very well with this system but if you can find something with similar specs for less money, don't hesitate to switch. Most DDR2-667 memory performs about the same, and especially for people who aren't interested in overclocking memory in a budget system should focus on price first and bandwidth and timings second. If you want improved performance on a budget system, there are far better ways to spend money than on faster memory.
For the storage subsystem, we have a standard SATA hard drive and a DVD+/-RW drive. Starting with the latter, similar to the choice of memory, picking out an optical drive these days is usually more a matter of finding the cheapest deal available rather than worrying about minor differences in performance or media compatibility. We have selected a LiteOn burner with DVD-RAM support this time, and it should work well for just about everyone. If you have a favorite DVD brand or can find a similar model from another manufacturer for a lower price, go for it. Choosing a hard drive isn't much different, only this time the primary factor is price as well as price/GB. You also have to take into account whether or not the particular model is using last year's technology, which could mean lower platter densities and slightly lower performance. Without spending too much money, the Hitachi 160GB hard drive strikes a good balance between performance, features, and capacity. It is based off the newest 160GB platters and supports SATA 3.0Gbps and Native Command Queuing.
You can get a better price/GB by moving up to a slightly larger hard drive, but 160GB of storage is already more than many people will ever use during the life of the computer. If you are more interested in saving money, you could drop down to an 80GB Western Digital hard drive. You will get a hard drive with last year's technology, but that's still good enough for a budget system. Unfortunately, you only save $12, so whether or not that it's worthwhile is up to you. Most of the manufacturers - Hitachi, Maxtor, Seagate, Samsung, and Western Digital - offer similar performance and features, and if you are concerned with performance you would be better off spending more money elsewhere rather than worrying about a fractionally faster hard drive.
| Budget Intel Pentium D System | ||
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| Processor | Intel Pentium D 805 - 2.66GHz 533FSB 2x1MB | $95 |
| Motherboard | ASUS P5L-MX - Intel 945G 775 | $82 |
| Memory | A-DATA Vitesta 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 |
$120 |
| Hard Drive | Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 160GB SATA3.0Gbs 160GB 8MB 7200RPM |
$61 |
| Optical Drive | LiteOn SHW160P6S05 16X DVD+/-RW | $29 |
| System Total | $387 | |
| Complete Package | $673 - $945 | |
Putting together a true budget Intel-based system is difficult right now. Sure, it's possible, but as much as we like Core 2 Duo it simply can't fit into a budget price range. As there are no cheaper single-core Core 2 processors available yet, we wind up back in a familiar place: NetBurst. There are three options available for NetBurst configurations, none of which are particularly attractive. At the bottom of the price range, we have the Celeron D processors. These can compete with AMD in terms of price, but when it comes to performance the Celeron chips are absolutely outclassed by the single core Athlon 64 and Sempron offerings. Pentium 4 isn't much better, as the performance improves but the price quickly reaches Core 2 levels. The Pentium 4 531 (3.0GHz 1MB cache) and 541 (3.2GHz 1MB cache) can now be had for just under $100, and they are the most reasonable options in the Pentium 4 line. If you want to cut prices as much as possible, Celeron D 346 (3.06GHz 256K cache) costs $63 or you could drop to the Celeron D 331 (2.66GHz 256K cache) for just under $50. The final option and our choice is the Pentium D line.
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Unlike the AM2 solution, we could not find any integrated graphics solutions for socket 775 Core 2 with a DVI port. The ASUS P5L-MX also only has two memory slots, so you should seriously consider purchasing a single 1GB DIMM as that will enable you to upgrade to 2GB in the future. The price of DDR2 memory is just as painful with Intel systems as it is with AMD configurations, although with Core 2 you could even consider going for DDR2-800 memory. We're not going to go that far for the base configuration, but it is at least something to keep in mind. The A-DATA memory will still work very well with this system but if you can find something with similar specs for less money, don't hesitate to switch. Most DDR2-667 memory performs about the same, and especially for people who aren't interested in overclocking memory in a budget system should focus on price first and bandwidth and timings second. If you want improved performance on a budget system, there are far better ways to spend money than on faster memory.
For the storage subsystem, we have a standard SATA hard drive and a DVD+/-RW drive. Starting with the latter, similar to the choice of memory, picking out an optical drive these days is usually more a matter of finding the cheapest deal available rather than worrying about minor differences in performance or media compatibility. We have selected a LiteOn burner with DVD-RAM support this time, and it should work well for just about everyone. If you have a favorite DVD brand or can find a similar model from another manufacturer for a lower price, go for it. Choosing a hard drive isn't much different, only this time the primary factor is price as well as price/GB. You also have to take into account whether or not the particular model is using last year's technology, which could mean lower platter densities and slightly lower performance. Without spending too much money, the Hitachi 160GB hard drive strikes a good balance between performance, features, and capacity. It is based off the newest 160GB platters and supports SATA 3.0Gbps and Native Command Queuing.
You can get a better price/GB by moving up to a slightly larger hard drive, but 160GB of storage is already more than many people will ever use during the life of the computer. If you are more interested in saving money, you could drop down to an 80GB Western Digital hard drive. You will get a hard drive with last year's technology, but that's still good enough for a budget system. Unfortunately, you only save $12, so whether or not that it's worthwhile is up to you. Most of the manufacturers - Hitachi, Maxtor, Seagate, Samsung, and Western Digital - offer similar performance and features, and if you are concerned with performance you would be better off spending more money elsewhere rather than worrying about a fractionally faster hard drive.
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mpc7488 - Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - link
As the subject, good article, these system guides are always fun to read and debate.You do touch on the OEM systems up front, but I didn't feel they got quite enough attention. At this price point, for budget systems that is, they are really a powerful option. I rounded up some pricing to compare:
The budget system as quoted in this article is:
Budget AMD: Athlon 64 3000+, 1 GB DDR2-667, 160 GB HDD, GeForce 6150, DVD-R/W, 19” Sceptre, keyboard, mouse, X-230 speakers, Win XP Home
Tally: $749 ($368 + $381)
Now then, let's compare to what Dell has on sale.
Dell AMD E521: Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 1 GB DDR2-533, 160 GB HDD, GeForce 6150, DVD, 19” Dell 1907FP Ultrasharp, keyboard, mouse, Win XP Home, 1 year on-site warranty.
Tally: $625 ($579, free shipping, ~$46 tax (NY))
With a $30 DVD-R/W upgrade these systems are essentially the same, with the Dell having a much faster dual-core processor, a very quiet case, and a warranty, with $100 cash in pocket. If you don’t need a monitor, the price drops to $430.92, after shipping and tax. With Windows! The user in this range often wants decent performance and usability but the PC isn't enough of a priority to spend a lot of cash, or they are poor college students forgoing Ramen noodles to upgrade their video cards, but I digress. Point being, the warranty coverage and tech support are usually the most valuable to budget purchasers, which also factors in subjectively.
I am not a n00b, you say! I want pure performance at Hyundai prices! Ok, let's look stricly at performance with OEMs, i.e., upgrading. A lot of the older Dells didn’t have expansion slots, which sucked, but a lot of the newer chassis do, and this one has one PCIe x16 slot which opens up upgrading as an option. As the article points out, graphics horsepower means more than CPU at the moment. So with a couple of additions to our Dell box:
DVD-R/W: $29
XFX GeForce 7900 GT: $199.99 (after $50 MIR from Newegg)
Toss in $10 for shipping, and that is a really nice gaming rig with a 3800+ X2, 1 GB of RAM, and a 7900GT for <$865 with a legal copy of Windows and a warranty. Yes, you will feel dirty every time you press the power button above the 'Dell' logo, but it'll fade quickly once you're gaming at high res with AA on your 1907FP.
All this said - I build my own systems, always. I like overclocking and mucking about in the BIOS, choosing my own heatsink/fan combo, and so forth too much to ever make an OEM system my primary box. But they can be really nice to suggest to friends, neighbors, acquaintences, and even enthusiasts without enough time or energy to build their own.
Thanks for stimulating my brain Jarred! A good PC hardware discussion always wakes me up in the morning.
misanthropy - Thursday, October 26, 2006 - link
The power suppy for that dell system can't handle a 7900GT, n00b.mpc7488 - Friday, October 27, 2006 - link
Actually it can, and does. I personally know someone running that config. no problem, Google it and you'll find others. I was wondering if that would come up, good point to raise regardless of malice.yehuda - Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - link
The Dell E521 would be perfect if it had DVI onboard. The integrated GeForce 6150 graphics processor is readily capable of that, only the physical connector is missing.http://www.nvidia.com/page/gpu_mobo_tech_specs.htm...">http://www.nvidia.com/page/gpu_mobo_tech_specs.htm...
JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - link
You are correct that the OEM systems are a pretty good deal. However, please remember to include speakers and a minor upgrade to the mouse. Depending on whether or not you want to argue about taxes and shipping, the net result is that the price ends up very close to what you would pay for the same configuration in DIY clothing. Here's what I got:Base AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Monitor 19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Mouse included in Wireless, Laser or Bluetooth Package
Network Interface Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem No Modem Option
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
CD ROM/DVD ROM 16x DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Security Software No Security Subscription
Warranty and Service 1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service
Internet Access Service 6 Months of EarthLink Internet Access Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable
Dell Digital Entertainment No preinstalled software
TOTAL:$729.00
Tax: $61
Final Bill: $790.
Compare that to the budget config, only add in the CPU upgrade and use the XP accessory package. Also factor in the 7300 LE TC Dell includes. You end up saving about $75 all told, which is where I arrived at my conclusion: "You still get a lower price on the software [Works is also included if you care about that].... We feel that our buyer's guides offer better expandability, performance, and features at roughly the same price, with the only potential drawback being that you have to know how to put together the system yourself."
My point in including the OEM paragraph was to make sure people were aware of the option. I would say the overall component selection in the budget config is slightly better than what Dell gives, but if you just plan on using the computer without any performance tuning then the Dell (and probably HP and others) would come out on top. I will make this more clear, though, as I really do mean people should consider OEM systems at the bottom of the price range.
gman003 - Thursday, October 26, 2006 - link
Jarred,I would have to say that the Dell option is a good option, but in many peoples case, not the best option. I just recommended the Dell OEM system to a friend because I was running short on time. After 3-4 weeks of "build" time, the Dell finally arrived. I believe he placed his order in the month of Septemeber, so it was late September. He just received his computer this week, on the 23rd. I felt bad for the poor guy. He had ordered a 19" LCD from newegg the same day as the Dell system, but the LCD showed up on his doorstep on October 2nd.
The computer arrived and is what you would expect for a AMD X2 3800+ system. I just don't know if it was really worth waiting around for, ya know? So you have that going against the Dell system. Now, let's take into account the problems of dealing with Dell when a warranty or heaven-forbid, a technical problem happens.
I have called Dell about 10 times in the last 2 months for warranty, parts, issues, etc. and every call has been to an Indian person with poor English, which results in poor customer service. My shortest call to one person, took 30 minutes because of how many times you have to repeat yourself to them so that they can understand you. It's just awful. My longest call has been somewhere around 2-3 hours. This is not an exaggeration. I have phone records to prove it. Compare this to buying a DIY rig from a site like newegg or zipzoomfly where the delivery time is 3 days and warranty issues are handled by an actual American person residing here in the good ol' US of A. I just can't say that the Dell is worth the small amount of cost savings for the nightmares that await some people that have to deal with Dell after the sale.
As a PC builder, I would rather help people build their own computer than have them deal with Dell. I would hope the rest of the technical community would do the same.
JarredWalton - Thursday, October 26, 2006 - link
I merely used Dell as one example, being that they are currently the largest OEM. Feel free to insert HP, Gateway, or some other OEM and you will still usually get similar prices (if not worse).gman003 - Friday, October 27, 2006 - link
Not entirely true. There is an article on a shall we say "competing website", that stated that HP had actually surpassed Dell during this quarter or this year for total desktops/laptops etc. They considered it a tie, but HP had a small lead, so there :-pActually, my main point was that, the Dell OEM system like any other OEM system is good, but is probably not worth the savings when you take into account having to deal with the manufacturer when problems happen. It may not justify saving $50-$100 for an OEM system like that since you have to deal with shall we say "Indians", that have a horrible time trying to understand what you are saying.
Waiting 3-4 weeks for your computer to show up is not worth the cost savings. Having horrible customer support is not worth the cost savings. Just buy a custom built rig everytime and deal with a homegrown US of A company like newegg or zipzoomfly. They will handle your RMA promptly and efficiently in my past experiences compared to Dell.
Let's try to do away with Dell. Just remember, everytime you call Dell, its like Hell.
Frumious1 - Friday, October 27, 2006 - link
That has to be one of the most ignorant posts I've read in a long time. Racism and nationalism combined. What more could we ask for!? "Don't buy Dell because you'll get support from Indians!" Okay, let's think about a few things. Most of the people who call Dell technical support our computer novices, and often they are calling with stupid questions. They certainly aren't capable of building their own system and installing windows XP and all of the other software! What exactly is going to be the response of Newegg or Zipzoomfly if you should call up and informed them that you're having problems with drivers, Windows, etc.?Generally speaking, the support from most online retailers is going to be if you need a hardware replacement. How often do you need to replace hardware in an OEM system because it fails on arrival or soon after? I have supported hundreds of Dell systems at an IT job, and while we definitely had component failures over the years, it was typically less than 10% of the systems that had problems during a three-year period.
If you purchase separate components and you get a failed piece of hardware, unless you spend extra in order to get an additional warranty, you're basically stuck RMAing the device. I have done that several times with new egg, and it is always at least a week delay if not two. Four weeks to get a complete system built and assembled, right around the time that Intel launched Core 2 Duo and everyone finally had a reason to buy Dell systems again? That's not that big of a problem in my book, especially considering all of the problems that were going on with P965.
Now let's shift over to Dell (or HP). On the offhand you get a bad component with your computer and you know how to troubleshoot it enough to tell that your hard drive, motherboard, whatever is the problem, what sort of support you get? Maybe you have to deal with the call center from India, but once you tell them "I turn my computer on and it won't work. It tells me boot device not found" you will usually be directed towards your local support location. Take the computer in, and perhaps in as little as one hour you will have your system fixed and running, certainly no more than a day or two. That sort of support comes standard for one year, and you can upgrade to two years for a moderate fee.
Dell is no angel, but neither are they that bad. They are, like most companies, looking to make money. You still get what you pay for, which means if you go with the cheap systems you get cheaper quality and lower performance. My biggest complaint with Dell is their motherboards, as that's the one area where low quality often leads to instability over time. That opinion once again stems from my support of hundreds of Dell computers.
gman003 - Friday, October 27, 2006 - link
No, Dell really is that bad. Do you know how many times you have to repeat yourself to them. They have horrible customer service. That alone is reason enough to not buy from them. I have way too many tell me how bad their experiences with Dell are all the time.The response of newegg or zipzoomfly for a bad motherboard that you have to RMA is this, "Ok sir, go ahead and purchase a new one. Send us your bad motherboard and we will reimburse you once we have received the board." 3 days later you have a new board. If the same situation happened at Dell, you would be on the phone for over an hour telling them your case number, service tag, location, etc. so they can document it. Then you would wait 2-4 weeks for your part to arrive. Thanks, but no thanks.
Can you really deny the fact that Dell's customer service center is in India and they have the worst accents on the planet?
It took 4 weeks to build an AMD X2 3800 system if you had actually read the post correctly. You really think 4 weeks is an average time it should take to build a system that has been out for a year now? C'mon, gimme a break.