Doom 3 Buyer's Guide

VALUE Doom 3: System Summary

Hardware	Component	Price
CPU & Cooling	AMD Sempron 3100+ Socket 754 OR AMD Athlon 64 2800+ Socket 754 Retail	$120 ($147)
Motherboard	Chaintech VNF3-250(nForce3 250) Socket 754	$83
Memory	Kingmax SuperRam 512MB DDR433 (CAS 2.5) Model MPWC22D-38 (1x512MB)	$84
Video Card	128MB NVidia 6800	$278
Monitor	Samsung 955DF (19") DynaFlat CRT	$206
Computer Case	ENERMAX Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case with 400W PSU, Model CS-EN5171LBFS-S ($56 Plus $16 Shipping)	$72
Sound Card	On-Board	$0
Speakers	Logitech Z640 5.1	$55
Networking	Onboard 10/100 Ethernet	$0
Hard Drive	Western Digital SE 80GB IDE 7200RPM (8MB Cache) OR WD 120GB IDE 7200RPM 8MB	$60 ($83)
DVD/CD-RW	Aopen Chameleon (COM5232) 52X32X52X16 Combo OR NuTech DDW-081 8X DVD+/-R/RW	$40 ($65)
Bottom Line	$998 ($1073)

Yes, you can put together a complete new system for playing Doom 3 for $1000. Please keep in mind that you will need to add a keyboard, mouse, Operating System, and a copy of Doom 3. Everything else you need is here, though, including a decent set of entry level Logitech 5.1 surround sound powered speakers.

While the system tab is just $998, there is nothing cheap about our Value Doom 3 system. It is based on the Doom 3 top-performing Athlon 64 chipset and includes the top Doom 3 6800 video card. Admittedly, we are using entry-level A64 processors, and the lowest member of the 6 series video cards, but neither of these choices will have to apologize. As it stands here, our entry Doom 3 system, with the $27 upgrade to the 2800+, will perform at about the level of a Pentium 4 3.4E or a 3.2EE when playing Doom 3. The 6800 will significantly outperform the 9800 PRO or 5900, and will perform at near the level of an ATI X800 XT Platinum during Doom 3 play. The 6800 also outperforms the more expensive 9800 XT and the nVidia 5950 by more than 75% in Doom 3.

All in all, that's pretty heady performance for a $1000 value system playing the hottest new game to appear in a very long time. We even included a new value RAM find in Kingmax DDR433 CAS 2.5 SuperRAM. This single 512MB module should allow you to do some experimenting with overclocking. At $84 for a 512MB DIMM, it is certainly a great value that also performs very well. The new Enermax case features an Aluminum front panel to provide a bit of style in a Value box and a 400-watt power supply to provide a little extra leeway for pushing the system or overclocking the 6800 video card.

We've had a lot of fun putting together Doom 3 week for you. We hope that you enjoyed what we found, and also had fun learning about what it takes to make Doom 3 roar. We also hope that you find something in the three Doom 3 systems that we've assembled to make your decisions about what to buy for Doom 3 a little easier.