Buyer's Guide: High-End Systems - June 2000
by Mike Andrawes on June 13, 2000 3:34 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Case
Supermicro SC750-A Full Tower ATX - $150
Fong Kai FK-320ATX
Mid Tower ATX - $120
We need a case
that can handle anything we can throw at it, but at a reasonable price level.
That case is the Supermicro SC750-A full tower and is available for about $150
with an Athlon approved 300W Sparkle power supply. A total of ten drive bays
and the ability to accept an extended ATX motherboard insures that this system
will always have room for upgrades.
If you want something a little smaller than the monstrous SC750-A for your home, consider the Fong Kai FK-320ATX. It offers plenty of room to work inside, is well built, provides excellent cooling, and even includes an Athlon 1 GHz approved Enhance 730-ATX power supply.
For more information, read our Supermicro SC750-A and Fong Kai FK-320ATX Reviews.
Sound
card – Sound Blaster Live! Value OEM - $50
The choice here
is simple – SBLive!, since Creative is the only manufacturer offering complete
driver support under Windows 2000. If you want to save a bit more money, go
with any name brand card supported under Windows 2000.
Speakers – Cambridge
SoundWorks Digital - $100
The SoundWorks
Digital is a 2.1 system that features the same drivers and sub as the highly
acclaimed Desktop Theater DTT2500. Need we say more?
For more information, read our Cambridge SoundWorks Desktop Theater DTT2500 Review.
Ethernet – Linksys EtherFast
10/100 - $20
We use Linksys
products here in the AnandTech lab all the time and have never been disappointed.
Besides, at just $20 for a card with full support directly from the manufacturer
under the major OS’s, including Linux and Windows 2000, the EtherFast 10/100
is a deal that’s impossible to pass up.
Hard
drive – 2 x Quantum Fireball Plus LM 20GB - $150 x 2
We initially recommended
the Maxtor Diamond Max 40 Plus on our high-end systems as it seems to be the
fastest drive on the market right now that is also widely available. Unfortunately,
it appears that this particular series does not get along with the Promise FastTrak66
RAID controller. While the configuration does work, you just don't get the boost
in performance you'd expect from a RAID configuration.
With that in mind, we've decided to go with the Quantum Fireball Plus LM, which is nearly as fast, and actually faster under certain conditions. We'll need two of these drives in order to reap the speed benefits of RAID striping. If you’re work is disk intensive, considering going with a 10,000 RPM drive and an Ultra 160 controller. The Atlas 10K II is widely available and is well known to be one of the fastest drives available.
For more information, read our Quantum Fireball Plus LM Review.
RAID Controller - Promise
FastTrak66 - $100
Promise has long been in the add-on IDE controller market so they are the
most logical choice for an IDE RAID controller. If you want to save almost 75%
off the cost of the FastTrak66, there's information floating out there on the
web that shows you how to convert the much less expensive Promise Ultra66 into
the FastTrak66 model. The conversion requires soldering skills, will void the
card's warranty, and could possibly destroy the card - not a conversion for
the faint of heart. An Ultra ATA 100 version should be on the way soon as well.
CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Pioneer DVD-115 16X DVD - $160
Plextor Plexwriter 8/4/32 - $260
What high-end
system is complete today without a DVD-ROM? Pioneer continues to lead the pack
with their DVD-115, a 16X DVD-ROM drive. Of course, it also reads CDs as well
at a swift 40X max clip. Unfortunately, Pioneer has yet to come up with a tray
loading version of the DVD-115, so we'll have to go back to the traditional
tray for now.
If you don’t need DVD support, the Kenwood TrueX 72X will provide you with the fastest CD-ROM speed at a slightly lower cost of $120.
Plextor is back again, this time with the fastest IDE CD-R on the market right now. The PlexWriter 8/4/32 is their first entry into the IDE market, and it has been selling like hot cakes since its release.
OS
– Windows 2000 Professional - $250
The choice here
is clear – Windows 2000 Professional is the latest and greatest OS from Microsoft
that provides all the functionality of NT 4.0, but enhanced hardware support.
If you want to stick with a more tried and true solution, go with NT 4.0 Workstation.
Bottom line: $3590 (without software)
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