System Buyers' Guide: PCs for Under $1000
by Sean Hollister on February 12, 2010 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Intel Mainstream PC
If you have a bit more to spend, the next step up the pricing ladder brings a lot to the table: the Intel Core i3-530, a best-in-class H55 motherboard, a 1080p LCD monitor and a bang-for-the-buck GPU to power it. Now we're talking.
| Intel Mainstream System | ||
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-530 (2.93GHz x2, 32nm, 4MB L3 Cache) |
$120 |
| Cooling | CPU Retail HSF | $0 |
| Video | PowerColor Radeon HD 4850 512MB | $100 |
| Motherboard | ASRock H55M Pro LGA1156 Micro ATX | $95 |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL | $105 |
| Hard Drive | WD Caviar Blue 500GB WD5000AAKS | $54 |
| Optical Drive | Sony Optiarc Model AD-7240S-OB 24X DVDRW SATA | $28 |
| Audio | Onboard | $0 |
| Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Mid Tower ATX | $55 |
| Power Supply | OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W ATX12V SLI Certified, CrossFire Ready, 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC (before $25 Rebate) | $65 |
| Base System Total | $622 | |
| Display | ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen 16:9 LCD (1920x1080) (before $20 Rebate) | $170 |
| Speakers | Cyber Acoustics CA-3090 26W 2.1 Speakers | $21 |
| Input | Microsoft B2L-00045 Comfort Curve Black USB Keyboard and Optical USB Mouse - OEM | $22 |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 1-Pack (for System Builders) | $105 |
| Complete System Bottom Line | $940 | |
| Plus Estimated Shipping (within Continental U.S.) | $990 | |
| Rebates | -$45 | |
| Bottom Line (less tax, if applicable) | $945 | |
Though its price and associated requirements (LGA1156, DDR3) make it prohibitively expensive for entry-level rigs, we fully expect the Core i3-530 to be the starting point for bang-for-the-buck PC building guides around the globe anyhow. That's because at only $125, the Core i3-530 is not only the fastest dual-core processor available today, but also—with two logical threads per core—performs on par with the best budget quad-cores in most benchmarks. If that weren't enough, it features an on-die integrated graphics solution that rivals the best IGPs AMD has to offer (which isn't saying much, sadly) and it does it all while consuming less power than practically any other mainstream CPU out there. And thanks to its 32nm process and a 22x multiplier, it also overclocks to 4GHz using the stock cooler (YMMV).
 |
Paired with this Clarksdale wunderkind is the ASRock H55M Pro, the best, least-finicky H55 motherboard we've yet tested. Featuring the onboard VGA, DVI and HDMI video-out connectors and Flexible Display Interface needed to make use of the Core i3's Intel HD IGP, the board also features a superb layout. It has a pair of PCIe x16 slots (one at x16, one at x4), a PCIe x1 and a PCI slot arranged in a configuration where none of its ports are liable to be covered by expansion cards. Speaking of ports, the board comes with five neatly arranged SATA 3GB/s ports on the board and three USB 2.0 headers, with an eSATA, six USB2.0 ports, a combo PS/2, a single 1394a and optical S/PDIF out on the rear panel. 7.1 channel HD audio duties fall to the VIA VT1718S, while a Realtek 8111DL handles Gigabit Ethernet. There's even a TPM header.
While the board supports all current LGA 1156 Core i7, i5 and i3 processors, up to 16GB of DDR3-2600 memory and even Quad CrossFireX, it's not really a board you'd slot premium DIMMs or multiple GPUs into. We found it to have only moderate overclocking potential, and the PCIe x4 puts the kibosh on even regular CrossFire giving you your money's worth. But for $95, it's a wonderful board on which to build a mainstream PC.
 |
Given the fidelity of the onboard Intel HD Graphics, and assuming you don't care to play modern games in excess of 1024x768 resolution at minimum settings, a dedicated graphics card is honestly quite optional in a Core i3 and H55-equipped mainstream PC. Even without it, you can bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA over the HDMI connection, handle hardware accelerated decoding of H.264/VC-1/MPEG2 streams, and drive large desktop screens. But because last year's mainstream rig included our editor-favorite Radeon HD 4770, it was hard to pass up the even more powerful, game-crunching $100 Radeon HD 4850. If you'd rather, you can get the slower Radeon HD 5670 for the same price and have access to DX11, Eyefinity and possibly 3D Blu-ray support later this year, or add $40 and get the best of both worlds with the faster Radeon HD 5750 1GB. Alternatively, you can save the $100, or put it towards one of the other goodies in our upgrade list on page 6. But know that when we were looking for a video card with enough value to automatically deserve a place in our mainstream rig, we immediately gravitated towards the 4850.
 |
While all other base components are the same known quantities we used for our entry-level rigs, we upgraded two peripherals for our mainstream PCs that deserve mention here. First, because in-monitor speakers are notorious for their low quality, we bring back last year's Cyber Acoustics CA-3090 2.1 speaker system, a fantastic value even at $20 (compared with $16, nine months ago). Second, we upgraded the LCD monitor to the ASUS VH226H. At $150 after rebate, the VH226H offers far more than $30 worth of extra value over the $120 VW193TR it replaces: it's a 21.5", 1920x1080 TN panel with a 2ms grey-to-grey response time, 1000:1 typical contrast ratio, and the all-important HDMI 1.3 input jack alongside standard DVI and VGA.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
86 Comments
View All Comments
Ananke - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
It is not cheap, since you have to pay at least $100 for the operational system, if you go Windows.However, OEM computers are designed to NOT be able to upgrade. The simplest example is trying to put powerful video a year later - the PSU will not be sufficient. Then, you will need to replace the PSU, but the case is proprietary and you will need new case too. If you pay attention to how many open slots for HDDs you have in Dell/HP, you will also realize serious restriction there. not to mention that Dell's internal design consists of strange and large plastic hoods for the fans, which are often obstructing new video cards. Also, you may just realize that the memory banks are only two on most OEMs, and hence you are going to double expenses if larger memory is needed.
My suggestion: first buy nice and spacious case with 90 degree HDD cage and at least four HDD slots! Example - Cooler Master Elite 310 for $49 (cheap, but the cages are 90 degree on this one).Then get really good PSU - Corsair, PCP&P, Seasonic 750W and above - you need it for all the available connectors and capacity for indefinite future expansion. Then decide on the platform. I had Intel, just recently switched to AMD and I am very happy actually with what I got for the twice less money - Fry's deal on Athlon II X4 630 with free Asus 785G micro-ATX, total $130. Yesterday I replayed Crysis warhead, it runs smooth on Enthusiast 1920*1200, with Radeon 5850.
Buy 2*2 GB DDR3 - there are modules on sale. I prefer Kingston Hyper X for stability. The idea is you want to start with at least two banks by 2GB so you have enough and still room for further expansion. The mobo should have 4 memory banks, not only two.
I got micro ATX, next upgrade I can use the micro ATX for a home server box or HTPC. If you get full ATX now, you cannot use it for HTPC small factor later, because it's big. Of course, if building ultimate machine, the choice of components is different. mine is best bang for the buck for gaming and video editing. Spec:
Asus A785M microATX, Athlon II X4 630, 8GB Kingston Hyper 1600 DDR3, 4*1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 /not the 11th series- it's junk/, XFX Radeon 5850 regular, PCP&P 750W, Windows 7 64-bit Pro This comp gets 7.7 Win performance index. All components have frequent sale. Cut the memory to 4 GB, use HDD by your taste, use cheaper video and voila - you have power under $500. Intel configuration would cost me more. Instead I opt for the Radeon 5850. I transcode with Cyberlink Esspresso 5.5 or Avivo because are GPU accelerated. The last time it transcoded 4.31GB x.264 to PSP for 17 minutes :):). The Radeons are crazy stuff and under load temp is 42 Celsius. My previous G285 was going 81 Celsius under load and the entire motherboard was getting cooked.
brybir - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
I agree about comparing to pre-built. The best bang for the buck in lower end builds is probably not building yourself anymore.For example, Gateway has a new Gateway DX4831-05 Desktop with:
i5-650 @3.2GHz,
8GB DDR3,
1TB HDD,
DVDRW,
HDMI,
eSATA,
FireWire,
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
G310 graphics card
and this all comes in at $799 shipped free and no tax to most states. If you can find one refurbed you can cut another $100 off of that.
So the prebuilt machine comes in at $150 less but is arguably a better machine with a better processor, more ram, bigger hard drive, and a warranty with room to upgrade to a better video card. Even if you tack on $100 for a better vid card, you still save $50 and get much better system specs overall.
I know its not fun to just buy a PC anymore, but if you are not building a overclock hobby machine, it really pays to look around Dell, Gateway, HP etc for prices! (And hell, even gateway sells a $1299 i860 machine with a 5850, so even at the upper end, their are still good deals to be had)
mckirkus - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
It would be nice to see a table with a price to PCMark (or other benchmark) ratio.More categories would be nice to. Instead of grouping by price range, group by category. So for instance:
Grandma PC
Cheap / Fancy
Niether of which would have discreet graphics but maybe a small SSD on the high end.
And also cover, workstation, gaming, HTCP, etc. It feels like in an attempt to give an overview of the whole market you're forgetting about actual uses. Watch this TED video on why there are 50 types of spaghetti sauce to see what I mean... http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spagh...">http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spagh...
rundll - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
This first "entry level" rigg put together here isn't actually entry level. It's way too powerful and expensive for that.At entry level you'd choose Athlon x2 240 which is a very powerful and capable prosessor for those things you are supposed to do at entry level.
2 GB memory is also more than sufficient. I'm not sure how much faster an entry level rigg gets in every day internet and office use if you put there extra 2 GBs? 0%? 2%?
The power source is also both over kill and too expensive.
What comes to MB, The 785G is ok pick up here but once again, the 780G offers almost identical performance. I know that 785G has other advances, so this choice is understandable.
And understandable are all of these choices made here. I could easily do exactly the same line up for me and I would reason my choices exactly the same way. But as a result I'd end up having something else than an entry level PC.
All in all, all I'm saying here is that this now called "Entry level" starting point should actually be called "best-bang-for-the-buck level".
You put to this "entry level" rigg an ATI 5830 graphic card and you end up with a quite capable power house.
JarredWalton - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
The consensus at AnandTech is that we wouldn't touch 2GB machines these days; Windows 7 64-bit can run on 2GB, but we felt it was far more useful to bump it up to 4GB. How much faster it ends up being really depends on how you use your PC, but I know I frequently get a lot of HDD thrashing from swapfile access if I don't have 4GB.As for the power supply, you have essentially two choices: get a cheaper lower efficiency PSU for less money, or get something that's better but costs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">at least $40. This is another item that has been debated in the past, and the result is that we're all a lot more comfortable spending more money on a higher quality PSU. That will also give you plenty of options for growing the PC down the road, along with overclocking.
As someone else commented, if you're just looking for a standard system and you don't intend to upgrade, take a serious look at Dell/HP/etc. pre-built systems. They won't be faster than these builds, but at $500 for a complete setup you're not going to get equivalent components with a DIY. What you will get are more features and higher quality (with the ability to upgrade any and all components should the need arise). The OEM cases are still vendor lock in, unfortunately.
To whit, I've got a friend's Dell XPS 400 at my house right now with an old Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz) and it's having problems. There's little point in trying to spend money fixing it when we can build a newer, faster system for less than $500. If I could swap out the mobo and CPU, we could have a "new" system in there for less than $200, but because of the proprietary chassis that's not an option.
FlyTexas - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
Regarding the Dell XPS 400 system.You are correct that it has a BTX motherboard, and thus can't really be upgraded in that case.
However, even if you could, what are you saving? The motherboard + CPU + memory is what costs all the money in a computer anyway.
A basic case will run you $50 including power supply (not a uber case, but one that works just fine), and while you can move the hard drive from the XPS 400, it is now out of date compared to a modern hard drive.
That computer is now 4+ years old, the most valuable thing there is the Windows XP licence. :) (which you're not supposed to move to a new system, but Microsoft will do it over the phone anyway if you call to activate it on a new box)
Regarding your friend's computer, since he doesn't need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, etc.
All he really needs is the case, motherboard, CPU, RAM (maybe), and he is good to go. That doesn't cost $500.
Just my random thoughts... :)
JarredWalton - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
Actually, I could keep the RAM (2x2GB DDR2), GPU (9800 GS), PSU, and case... and really, the XPS 400 series case is quite good, and the PSU is far better than the cheap stuff you get bundled with a case.The HDD seems to be having problems, but again I don't know if it's truly dying or just needs a reinstall. (I was able to boot into Linux to copy off the files, but trying to boot XP gives a BSOD no matter what I try.) So, at $50/hr to work on a computer, it's probably not worth saving.
If it were my own PC, I'd put in the time and fix the HDD, but it's not so the question quickly becomes one of fixing old vs. buying new. Their feeling is, "why spend $250 fixing this old thing [i.e. new HDD plus my time] when we can get a brand new PC for a bit more that's going to be superior?"
FlyTexas - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
True enough about the RAM, assuming it isn't part of the problem. As a completely unrelated note, I've found memory to cause more problems in the past few years than anything else. 10 years ago I never had to RMA memory that I can recall, now I'm doing it maybe once a year. And I sold a LOT of computers 10 years ago.I have a XPS 410 myself, however no need to upgrade it because it came with a Core 2 Duo @ 2.4gHz. That machine is now my son's computer, but it used to be my main rig. Want to buy it as a "cheap repair"? ;)
The second area that is unreliable are hard drives, however this seems less so now than 10 years ago. I generally won't use a consumer hard drive more than 4-5 years, they just weren't designed to be used much longer and I've had too many fail on me after that point. If that XPS 400 has the origional drive in it, you actually should get a speed boost by putting in a new one.
Your comments regarding the cost to repair are spot on. I didn't know that you were charging for that work. In that case, REALLY don't bother, part it out and move on. At $50/hr, few 4 year old desktop computers are worth fixing.
FlyTexas - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
I disagree on the 2GB vs. 4GB comment, at least in my experience. Had the prices not jumped in the past year, I'd agree with 4GB, but right now it costs too much.At home, my gaming machine and my server both have 6GB, the rest of the machines have 2GB. They all run Windows 7 64-bit.
My wife uses a Dell Vostro 410 with an Intel Quad-Core @ 2.4GHz. She actually does use Office (Word, Excel, & Publisher), Quickbooks, Adobe Acrobat (full, not reader), Skype, etc. She has a half dozen things running in the system tray (she has a Zune, a web cam, music player, etc.).
2GB of RAM works just fine for all that. I actually have spare DDR2 sitting on the shelf, I've been meaning to put it in, but haven't made the time. Why? It doesn't need it and wouldn't really benefit the system.
Now I know there are cases where you need more. The server had to live with 2GB for awhile when I had a memory stick fail. I noticed that difference. I don't think my main machine needs the 6GB however, 3GB would have been fine.
Vista was terrible using memory efficiently, Windows 7 seems to be much better about it.
All just my opinion of course... :)
rundll - Friday, February 12, 2010 - link
Hi there, JW!I couldn't agree more. I think all you said actually doesn't contradict what I said. I don't question the choices made, I just ponder over the phrase "entry level"
Could I make a guess here for you? You wouldn't disagree with me if I said that this entry level rigg is actually pretty decent runner if you put in there a good graphic card? At least that's how I see things. Subsecuently, I can't help finding me smiling internally when we are talking here about entry level.
I guess the reason for this awkward situation is that these days the components are both powerful and cheap. At least that is if you think back more than couple of years.
As for the article as a whole, I think it was a pretty well shaped entré for SH.