Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/2373



Introduction

Low-end PCs have a reputation for being sub-standard, underpowered, and barely better than off-the-shelf PCs. However, low-end merely refers to the price, and right now companies like AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA are throwing out quality components for prices that traditionally belong with outdated or inadequate hardware. You just have to know what to look for. In this guide we will be taking a look at both the entry-level and budget gaming offerings, with comments and suggestions specifically on stability, quality of components, and - with the budget gaming systems - balancing budget and quality with overclocking and stability.

In the time since our last Budget Guide in April, we have witnessed some major changes to the hardware market that have affected our decisions. Both AMD and Intel refreshed their CPU lineups with die shrinks, simultaneously increasing performance while reducing power consumption. This of course also allowed for further price cuts in the ongoing CPU price war. Both companies are facing imminent product launches, Intel with their Penryn refresh of the Core 2 architecture and AMD with the much-delayed Phenom processor family - including the native quad-core Barcelona/K10.

NVIDIA just recently launched their second generation of DX10 hardware in the 8800 GT 512MB - or should we say, they released a refresh of the first generation that appeared a year ago. The 8800 GT 512MB is a tweaked version of the high-end 8800 GTS/GTX series built on a smaller 65nm manufacturing process. Because of the ability to produce more GPU chips on each wafer, the card comes with a lower price tag and a move to the midrange sector. Especially exciting is that this card is being priced between $200 and $250, cheaper than the 8800 GTS (320MB and 640MB) and GTX (768MB) but with performance almost on par with the $500 8800 GTX. The best part is, at this price, we've managed to create a powerhouse of a budget gaming rig for just a tad over $1000.

With Vista now approaching its first birthday, driver issues are (for the most part) no longer a problem. That means it's finally time to justify the purchase of DX10 hardware if you haven't already, right? Well, yes and no. There are still issues with Vista, ranging from SLI incompatibilities to missing soundcard drivers and the oft-rumored slowdown of performance in Vista vs. XP machines. Indeed, many users chose to revert to Windows XP after encountering stability or performance issues under Vista, while others are arguing that current DX10 titles don't justify the cost of an upgrade. However, is XP still an alternative? Although our inclination is to believe performance is still better in XP - the OS memory footprint is certainly much smaller - we are in no doubt as to the future of Windows, and our choices reflect that.



AMD Entry-level PC

With few releases for the entry-level AMD market since our last Budget Buyer's Guide, we have a very similar level of components - albeit with a doubling of RAM that should boost performance nicely in Vista. This boosted performance comes in at $100 cheaper than six months ago as well. Although that may not sound like much to an enthusiast gamer that can spend five times as much on a graphics card, for the budget computer users $100 is a 10% reduction in price. For businesses looking at upgrading hundreds or even thousands of computers, that sort of savings is even more significant, making now a great time to purchase AMD hardware.

AMD Entry-level PC
Hardware Component Price Rebates
Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
(2.1GHz 65W Brisbane 2 x 512KB L2)
$66 -
Motherboard Foxconn A690GM2MA-8KRS2H
AMD 690G mATX
$49 $20
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400 $90 $40
Hard Drive Samsung Spinpoint P Series SP2504C
250GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s
$63 -
Optical Drive Samsung 20X DVDRW/DL SH-S202G $28 -
Case Athenatech A3602BB.400 mATX w/400W PSU $35 -
Display Hanns-G HW-191DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen DVI
(1440x900)
$170 -
Speakers Logitech R-20 12W 2.1 $19 -
Input Microsoft Optical Desktop 1000 Wireless $26 -
Operating System Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM $112 -
Bottom Line $658 $598

Prices on AMD's dual-core processors are continuing to drop in the face of the continued, aggressive pricing strategy adopted by Intel. With the imminent launch of the desktop Phenom processor line, we should see prices bottom out as AMD tries to clear out their existing inventory of processors. The Athlon X2 4000+ is a great little chip for the price, now at around 1/3 the cost of what many paid for their dual-core Athlon chips 18 months ago. With the Athlon X2 3600+ saving us a total of just $3, there really isn't another low-end dual-core option from AMD worth considering.

If money is still a concern, we could drop the processor down to a single-core Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0GHz Orleans core) at $42.99 - a savings of $23. Another option is the Sempron LE-1100 based around AMD's Sparta core, which runs at 1.9GHz, has a power draw of just 45W, and a price of just $39.99 - great for the most basic of office PCs or for those looking to save on power consumption. However, our recommendation would be to spend a bit more on the CPU and go for a dual-core; there's no doubt that these will be a pre-requisite in the next few years as application demands increase.

Choosing a motherboard can be one of the hardest decisions to make when building a new system, and is a particular concern when building within the budget/entry-level range. The theory that budget decreases result in compromised quality simply isn't true anymore - or at least it doesn't need to be the case; there are still some cheap, very poor quality motherboards out there. When building for a budget system, features, reliability, and stability should remain high on the list and the situation is continually improving - die shrinks of CPUs, IGPs, and chipsets all help to keep costs low as performance increases.

For the current situation, the AMD 690G with ATI's Radeon X1250 GPU chipset is still our frontrunner when choosing an entry-level AMD motherboard. The good news is that motherboards based on this chipset - and from reputable manufacturers - are available for under $50. Foxconn is one of the largest OEM suppliers in the world, producing everything from EVGA video cards to Apple MacBook/Pro motherboards and Sony PlayStation 3 mainboards. Their quality control has risen over the last few years and the somewhat long-winded A690GM2MA-8KRS2H has all the features you can find in competing motherboards, all at a significantly lower price.

With DDR2 prices at their lowest point, we went for DDR2-800 this time - and managed to score 2GB of Crucial's high-performance Ballistix RAM for the same price as RAM from budget manufacturers. This particular line of RAM costs more than four times as much just six months ago, and presents an attractive alternative while providing a future-proof selection should you wish to ditch the onboard graphics, purchase a video card, and start gaming seriously. Granted, the $50 price involves a mail-in rebate, but for high-quality RAM it might be worth the hassle. If you prefer to avoid MIRs, nearly every major manufacturer has 2GB kits of DDR2-800 going for ~$50 give or take, so there are plenty of options available.

For the remaining items, we went with Samsung's SpinPoint hard drive series this time as availability has increased since our last roundup. The SpinPoint range is renowned for their reliability and silence, without sacrificing performance. Truth be told, while there are differences between hard drives, outside of running benchmarks most people aren't likely to notice the difference in performance. Western Digital, Seagate, and Hitachi are the other major brands, and all are worthy of consideration if the price is right.

The last major component to discuss is the display, and here we have to choose between standard aspect ratio (4:3) and widescreen (16:9). As far as we're concerned, the sooner 4:3 displays die out, the better. (Ed: Maybe then EA will finally get with the program and include proper WS support!) Although standard aspect ratio displays have a slightly larger surface area, the quality of budget widescreen displays has risen this past year. With 19" displays regularly selling for under $200 - and usually for no more than a couple of dollars more than 17" displays - this display from Hanns-G represents fantastic value for money.



Intel Entry-level PC

Quite a bit has changed for Intel over the last 18 months; they were struggling against AMD's Athlon and early X2 range for much of 2005/2006, before annihilating much of the lead AMD had built up with the release of the Core architecture. After the Core 2 Duo release in July of last year, many were wondering when Intel would start to address the budget segment. The Allendale core has come down in price, but now we have the Pentium Dual-Core CPUs that use the Conroe-L design, giving Intel Core 2 chips from top to bottom. This is the first time Intel has begun to attack the entry-level area in both performance and value for money, an area where AMD has traditionally dominated. For roughly $650, you can pick up a very decent dual-core Intel system that fully washes away the performance nightmare that was the NetBurst Celeron range. At nearly $200 less than our last entry-level Intel system, this configuration will still give you the same performance, but lightens the load on the wallet tremendously.

Intel Entry-level PC
Hardware Component Price Rebates
Processor Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2140
(1.6GHz 65W 1MB L2)
$75 -
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-73UM-S2H
NVIDIA GeForce 7150 HDMI mATX
$99 -
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400 $90 $40
Hard Drive Samsung Spinpoint P Series SP2504C
250GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s
$63 -
Optical Drive Samsung 20X DVDRW/DL SH-S202G $28 -
Case Athenatech A3602BB.400 mATX w/400W PSU $35 -
Display Hanns-G HW-191DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen DVI
(1440x900)
$170 -
Speakers Logitech R-20 12W 2.1 $19 -
Input Microsoft Optical Desktop 1000 Wireless $26 -
Operating System Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM $112 -
Bottom Line $717 $677

As is usually the case with Intel systems, the processor and motherboard are the main differences in price from the AMD system, but this time, we see Intel narrowing the gap to less than $10. For $74.99, we get a lot of processor for our money - the Pentium E2140 is basically a cutback E6300 at 1.6GHz (half the shared L2 cache). For many budget users, the E2140 will provide more than enough processing power to satisfy their needs. Performance is roughly the same as the AMD 4000+ at stock speeds, but the edge in overclockability goes to the E2140. It's not unreasonable to double the CPU clock speed with an appropriate motherboard and a bit of aftermarket cooling.

Unlike the CPU, the motherboards for Intel systems have yet to drop to price parity. IGP offerings for Intel come from Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, SiS, or VIA. Balancing performance, reliability, stability, and pricing, we're going with the class leading Gigabyte GA-73UM-S2H based around the GeForce 7150 IGP chipset that costs $50 more than the Foxconn board we used in the AMD system. In our eyes - even at the entry-level position - the motherboard is one area of a system where you simply cannot skimp on quality.

We chose the somewhat pricier GeForce 7150 over Intel's GMA X3100 (G33) and AMD's X1250 as not only is the performance of NVIDIA's latest IGP outstanding - leaving the GMA X3100 completely in its dust - but the price is also competitive with both the Intel and AMD offerings. The cheapest G33 motherboard is just $10 less than the GA-73UM-S2H, while the only Radeon X1250 IGP we could find is abit's Fatal1ty-branded F-190HD - for $106.99. As is the case, don't expect to be able to fire up Crysis while your boss isn't looking - even at 800x600, performance will bring a completely new understatement to the term "slide show". However, for general office use, HTPC, or some light gaming (think games from 2005 and earlier), this choice should still last a few years. Feature-wise, the GA-73UM-S2H also sports an HDMI output should you wish to connect the system to an HD projector or TV. The motherboard also has support for Intel processors featuring a 1333MHz Front Side Bus, and comes with a FireWire 1394a port and eSATA 3Gb/s for external SATA hard drives.

The rest of the components are identical to the AMD entry-level system, with the Intel configuration costing about $50 more than the AMD setup. We could shave that $50 off, but you'd be sacrificing quality for price, and that's not something we can recommend at this point. Biostar also has a GeForce 7150-based motherboard that sports their well-regarded TForce enthusiast sub-brand, and it's a reasonable alternative at the sub-$100 price point.

If we compare the two entry-level systems, it's tough to pick a winner. If you don't need much in the way of performance, you can safely save the $50 and get the AMD setup. The Intel system currently has a better motherboard (and IGP), so for those that need a bit more it's worth the additional money. For the typical entry-level PC right now, you can go either route and be happy.



AMD Budget Gaming

Leaving the entry-level sector behind, and with a budget of roughly $1000, our options increase significantly. Our aim here is to provide a configuration that allows for a nice balance of performance at stock speeds, while also giving capability and headroom for overclocking. This doesn't mean you have to spend over $1000 though, as we can trim some of our more extravagant options to keep the price to around $950 - a slightly slower CPU, a smaller hard drive, or even a smaller LCD will all help keep our budget to under $1000. For now however, this remains our pick for a budget gaming system that will carry you through the next round of DX10 titles coming our way - and all with nary a red face in sight.

AMD Budget Gaming PC
Hardware Component Price Rebates
Processor AMD Athlon X2 5000+
(2.6GHz 89W Windsor 2 x 512KB L2)
$110 -
Motherboard Biostar TForce TF570SLI
AM2 nForce 570SLI ATX
$88 -
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400 $90 $40
Video Card PNY GeForce 8800GT 512MB PCI-e 2.0 HDCP $260 -
Hard Drive Samsung SpinPoint T Series HD321KJ
320GB 16MB 7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s
$75 -
Optical Drive Samsung 20X DVDRW/DL SH-S202G $28 -
Case APEX TU150 Black Steel ATX with 400W $59 -
Display Acer 20" AL2016WBbd 5ms Widescreen DVI
(1680 x 1050)
$200 -
Speakers Logitech X-530 70W RMS 5.1 $55 -
Input Logitech LX-710 Laser Black USB $55 -
Operating System Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM $112 -
Bottom Line $1132 $1092

Although current wisdom tells us GPU performance is more of a factor than CPU numbers, at resolutions of 1280x1024 and below - or with RTS and simulation games - the CPU can still play a role in framerates. Frequently it can be the line between a game being playable and a desire for a bigger and better video card. At resolutions of 1680x1050 and higher, games generally become less CPU-bound than before, and the focus is definitely on the GPU. For our budget gaming system, we've picked the Athlon X2 5000+. Running at 2.6GHz, this offers more than enough performance for current games and at an excellent price.

For overclockers, the Black Edition with its unlocked multiplier is certainly an interesting alternative. At $20 more than the standard X2 5000+ Windsor core, the addition of an unlocked multiplier and a 65W Brisbane core is very attractive - at least from an enthusiast perspective. Users across our forums are hitting speeds in excess of 3.3GHz (we hit 3.6GHz with water cooling), and at speeds above AMD's highest X2 offering - the X2 6400+ - this is a budget overclocker's dream. However, you need some sort of cooling for the CPU, as the Black Edition doesn't include a heatsink. You might have a spare, but if you don't and you prefer not to break the bank, we'd recommend the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B. That's a pretty hefty price increase purely for overclocking, so we're listing that as an alternative that would add a total of $55 to the system price.

We've paired the X2 5000+ Black Edition with the Biostar TForce TF570SLI, a perfect match for those looking to squeeze as much performance out of their money as possible. The inclusion of dual PCI Express x16 allows users to add a second video card later, budget permitting. The NF570 SLI chipset may have been on the market for some time now, but it's certainly not in the same category as the budget IGPs from AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA. Aside from name changes and added feature sets, the performance of the NF570SLI is still top-notch. Given that NVIDIA skipped the NF6 chipset for AMD systems, and that the AMD 690G and GeForce 7000 series is IGP (and therefore less overclocking-friendly to some degree), we feel this is the best low-budget option for performance and build quality. The SLI support really isn't necessary, although the 8800GT is warming us to SLI quickly in part to Cyris. It's still difficult to find any reasonable alternatives that would save money and still be worth considering so this board is a logical choice.

We're sticking with the Ballistix sticks for now (at the time of writing the $40 rebate offer was still valid for another ten days); however, options are plentiful for a budget of $50 should Crucial decide against renewing their rebate deal. Quality DDR2-800 RAM from Corsair, OCZ, G.Skill, Mushkin, and GeIL are available on any of the major online retailers. Just be sure to look for RAM with timings of 4-4-4-12 - or luck permitting, with Micron D9GMH ICs.

As the heart of any gaming system, what can we choose for the video card? Just two weeks ago, the 8600 GTS would have been a likely candidate - or perhaps the 8800 GTS 320MB for those willing to spend more money - and performance would have varied from being mildly underwhelming to being pretty good. Right now, however, and at a delightful $250 price point, NVIDIA has the brand new 8800 GT 512MB based around the G92 core - essentially a die shrink from 90nm to 65nm, with some other tweaking involved. Performance is phenomenal for this price; benchmarks show results that nip at the coat tails of the 8800 GT's bigger brothers - the $500 8800 GTX, and at resolutions lower than 1920x1200, even the $700 8800 Ultra.

The remaining components have received slight upgrades over our entry-level configuration. We bumped up to a 320GB hard drive, still from Samsung. If you'd prefer a longer warranty, look at Western Digital or Seagate (but be prepared to spend a few dollars more). We selected a Raidmax Apex case with a 400W PSU, and we managed to include a laser keyboard and mouse set and 5.1 speakers both from Logitech. Again, on the overclocking side of things, seriously consider a better PSU if you can manage it.

We faced the same issue that often appears in our Budget/Midrange Guides when it came to the display selection. We could have selected a cheap 22" from Hanns-G - the HG-216DPO that retails at just $214.99 - but instead we went with a higher quality 20" Acer AL2016W, saving us $35 in the process.

We get all this in a system that retails for a little over $1,000? What more could you want? If you want to upgrade or downgrade any of the areas, there are plenty of options. The 4000+ CPU from the base system would still be sufficient for most gaming, a smaller hard drive only impacts storage capacity, and the slightly larger display isn't strictly necessary either. In terms of upgrades, you can look at our last Midrange Guide for some alternatives.



Intel Budget Gaming

Traditionally, Intel offerings have tended to be on the more expensive side than configurations from AMD. However, as you shall see, this time the shoe is on the other foot, and we have a very competitive offering from Intel. It's no longer necessary to compromise performance in concession to the almighty dollar, and we are looking at two very strong budget gaming rigs from AMD and Intel.

Intel Budget Gaming PC
Hardware Component Price Rebates
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E4500
(2.2GHz 65W Allendale 2MB L2)
$127 -
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Intel P35 ATX
$90 -
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400 $90 $40
Video Card PNY GeForce 8800GT 512MB PCI-e 2.0 HDCP $260 -
Hard Drive Samsung SpinPoint T Series HD321KJ
320GB 16MB 7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s
$75 -
Optical Drive Samsung 20X DVDRW/DL SH-S202G $28 -
Case APEX TU150 Black Steel ATX with 400W $59 -
Display Acer 20" AL2016WBbd 5ms Widescreen DVI
(1680 x 1050)
$200 -
Speakers Logitech X-530 70W RMS 5.1 $55 -
Input Logitech LX-710 Laser Black USB $55 -
Operating System Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM $112 -
Bottom Line $1151 $1111

Yes, we know we could have gone with the E6550, but that inches our budget up to nearly $1200 - close enough to our last midrange setup to make the difference rather meaningless. The E4500 clocks in at 2.2GHz and uses the Allendale core with just 2MB of L2 cache, while officially only supporting the older 800MHz Front Side Bus. The Allendale also lacks support for Intel's Virtualization technology, but some users are reporting the G0 stepping includes this. With our requirements, this is a moot point as it is mainly for use in server environments. The E4500 has proven to be a good overclocker and regularly overclocks in excess of 3.2GHz. Strangely, Newegg is listing the E4500 as $2 cheaper than the 2GHz E4400.

With Intel G31/G33 motherboards providing woeful IGP performance compared to offerings from NVIDIA or AMD, how does Intel's enthusiast non-IGP chipset perform? Thankfully, it performs extremely well. Carrying on from the highly successful P965 series, we have the P35 chipset. Seemingly built with overclocking in mind, abit, ASUS, DFI, and Gigabyte have managed to produce a very nice selection of P35 motherboards for gamers. However, for our budget, we are limited to just a couple of options: the abit IP-35E or the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L. In the end, we chose the latter, because even though it is at the bottom of the P35-DS3 range from Gigabyte, it has proven to have all the vital features and overclocking ability of its more expensive brethren - and at a very attractive price.

By this time, you may be wondering why we chose not to include an aftermarket CPU heatsink to go along with our CPU choices. For this budget, a $50 solution from Thermalright or Scythe was simply not an option, but with the stock AMD and Intel heatsinks incorporating heatpipe technology, we figured we'd still be good for a decent if not spectacular overclock.

The rest of the components are the same as those found in the AMD budget gaming system, and with AMD's HD 3800 (RV670) series still a couple of weeks away, the 8800 GT was an easy choice. Considering that overclocking will stress the CPU, motherboard, and RAM, it may be a wise investment to upgrade the power supply to something from Seasonic, Corsair, Enermax, or even Antec. Sound cards at this budget are simply an unnecessary luxury, and although a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi would be an addition to complete our configuration, we're happy with onboard offerings - not to mention those soundcard driver issues we mentioned at the beginning; those were issues with the X-Fi.



Closing Thoughts

Generally thought of as no more than the duty of the IT department - and completely devoid of any of the "bling" associated with the midrange to high-end PC market, boutique builders and extreme gaming selections from big PC makers like Dell and HP - the low-end and budget PC sectors are often neglected. However, they play a vital role in sustaining and ensuring a regular product turnover in the market. Without the income that comes from entry-level office systems and budget gaming rigs, we would be bereft of the product innovation and performance that is currently on the market right now.

Looking at the "budget" gaming systems we've configured, you might think at first glance that you are looking at a high-end machine. As we've proven though, high-end performance doesn't necessarily have to come with high-end prices. The market is at an interesting time for CPUs, chipsets, motherboards, and video cards. Intel's Penryn - Wolfdale and Yorkfield - processors are set for release, NVIDIA and AMD are readying their NF7/790 chipsets, NVIDIA has the G92 refresh of the 8800 series underway, and AMD is set to launch the successor to the somewhat disappointing R600, the RV670. While many of these product launches are interesting, most target the midrange and higher markets, and some last-generation parts are now being sold at tremendous values in order to pave the way. That's part of what makes the entry-level market so interesting right now.

Although performance is likely to be higher with the Intel system, particularly with overclocking and at lower resolutions where the processor plays more of a role, the AMD system does come with an SLI-capable motherboard. At resolutions higher than 1680x1050, a dual-GPU solution is often necessary if you plan to play games at their highest settings. Even though the Intel system comes in at a cheaper price and allows for higher overclocking headroom, for gaming we would give the nod to the AMD system - barely. As usual, for gamers the GPU continues to be the bigger concern. The option to add a second GPU down the line, when stock clearances and eBay come into play, makes the AMD platform a slightly better choice. There's also a reasonable chance (no official word yet) that Phenom parts will work in this motherboard, further opening doors for upgrades.

In order to squeeze more performance out of our CPU/RAM combinations, investing in a decent aftermarket CPU air-cooling solution is a good idea. For the budget end of the spectrum, Arctic Cooling's Freezer 7 Pro is still a decent option, while further up the scale we see offerings from Thermalright, Scythe, and Tuniq still holding the top spots in terms of performance.

Never before has it been possible to purchase not just one, but several of this year's hardware highlights in what qualifies for many as a budget gaming system. With DDR2 prices at rock bottom, it makes little sense to select parts from the traditional low-end when a kit from one of the top brands is available for $10 more. As the consumer sales for Micron memory, Crucial has been a market leader in the RAM industry for years now. Being able to include a 2GB (2x1GB) kit of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 is not only a welcome surprise but also an indication that we are seeing the closing scenes of the DDR2 era.

Both configurations include proven overclocking motherboards, RAM, as well as CPUs. For the price, we also get simply jaw-dropping graphics performance. PS3 too expensive? If you already need a PC - and most families do - all you need to do now is add a $250 GPU and you've got something that clearly offers more graphics horsepower! With AMD's HD 3800 series still a couple of weeks away from launch on November 19, we feel this represents the best bang-for-the-buck out there. The PC industry is on the cusp of many new product launches, but right now is still a great time to buy.

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