AnandTech: Buyer's Guide: High-End Systems

Summary

	Dream System
CPU	Dual Intel Pentium III 933 - $700 x 2
Motherboard	Intel OR840 - $350
Memory	512MB RDRAM - $1500
Video Card	Hercules 3D Prophet II GTS 64MB - $400
Monitor	Sony F500R 21" - $1800
Case	Addtronics W8500-400A - $400
Sound Card	Sound Blaster Live! Platinum - $200
Speakers	VideoLogic Sirocco CrossFire - $400
Ethernet	Integrated i82559 - $0
Hard Drive	3 x Seagate Cheetah 73 - $1200 x 3
Hard Drive Controller	DPT SmartRAID IV Century PM2865U3 - $900
CD-ROM	Pioneer DVD-303S / Plextor UltraPlex Wide - $140
CD-RW	Plextor Plexwriter 12/4/32 - $350
Bottom line	$11,440

	High-End SOHO
CPU	AMD Athlon "Thunderbird" 800 - $275
Motherboard	FIC AZ-11 - $140
Memory	2 x 128MB Corsair/Mushkin PC133 SDRAM - $180 x 2
Video Card	Matrox G400 32MB Dual Head - $125
Monitor	iiYama VisionMaster PRO 450 - $600
Case	Supermicro SC750-A Full Tower ATX - $150 Fong Kai FK-320ATX Mid Tower ATX - $120
Sound Card	Sound Blaster Live! Value OEM - $50
Speakers	Cambridge SoundWorks Digital - $100
Ethernet	Linksys EtherFast 10/100 - $20
Hard Drive	2 x IBM Desktstar 75GXP 15GB - $130 x 2
Hard Drive Controller	Promise FastTrak100 - $120
CD-ROM	Pioneer DVD-105S 16X DVD - $160
CD-RW	Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32 - $280
Bottom line	$2640

	High-End Gaming
CPU	Intel Pentium III 866 - $525
Motherboard	ASUS CUSL2 - $170
Memory	2 x 128 MB Corsair/Mushkin PC133 SDRAM - $180 x 2
Video Card	Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator 2 - $250
Monitor	iiYama VisionMaster PRO 450 - $600
Case	Supermicro SC750-A Full Tower ATX - $150 Fong Kai FK-320ATX Mid Tower ATX - $120
Sound Card	Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer - $100
Speakers	Cambridge SoundWorks Desktop Theater DTT2500 - $200
Ethernet	Linksys EtherFast 10/100 - $20
Hard Drive	IBM Deskstar 75GXP 45GB - $275
Hard Drive Controller	On motherboard
CD-ROM	Pioneer DVD-105S 16X DVD - $160
CD-RW	Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32 - $280
Bottom line	$3090

	High-End Professional
CPU	AMD Athlon 900 - $475
Motherboard	FIC AZ-11 - $140
Memory	2 x 256MB Corsair/Mushkin PC133 SDRAM - $350 x 2
Video Card	ELSA GLoria II (NVIDIA Quadro) - $600
Monitor	iiYama VisionMaster PRO 510 - $1000
Case	Supermicro SC750-A Full Tower ATX - $150 Fong Kai FK-320ATX Mid Tower ATX - $120
Sound Card	Sound Blaster Live! Value OEM - $50
Speakers	Cambridge SoundWorks Digital - $100
Ethernet	Linksys EtherFast 10/100 - $20
Hard Drive	2 x IBM Deskstar 75GXP 15GB - $130 x 2
Hard Drive Controller	Promise FastTrak100 - $120
CD-ROM	Pioneer DVD-105S 16X DVD - $160
CD-RW	Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32 - $280
Bottom line	$4055

Final Words

And that concludes our recommendations for high-end systems in the fourth edition of the AnandTech Buyer's Guide.

As always, we’re open to any suggestions you may have. Remember that these are merely recommendations for a few system configurations. We know a lot of you won’t agree with the exact components chosen here, and we expect that, so plan on tweaking things a bit to get the perfect system for your needs. When sending in suggestions, remember that all the components must be readily available in the market today in order to be considered for the Buyer’s Guide.