Quantcast
PCWorld.com is upgrading some back-end systems. Some site features, such as user registration, may be temporarily unavailable.
Subscribe to magazine

Your Ideal PC

Whether you're upgrading your machine or building one from scratch, we show you how to choose the right parts and put them all together.

Eric Dahl

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

Our Hand-Built Systems: Cost and Performance

Photograph: Marc Simon

Value PC Shopping List
  • AOpen AK89 Max motherboard: $115
  • AMD Athlon 64 3000+ CPU (retail version): $230
  • Kingston ValueRAM 512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM DIMM: $86
  • Seagate Barracuda ST3200822A hard drive: $130
  • Lite-On SOHW-812S DVD±RW drive: $90
  • Abit Radeon 9600XT graphics board: $195
  • Antec SLK3700-BQE case: $90
  • Windows XP Home (OEM edition): $87
Total: $1023
Media PC Shopping List
  • Shuttle XPC SN41G2 barebones system: $270
  • 1.83-GHz AMD Athlon XP CPU: $90
  • Kingston 256MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (two): $144
  • Seagate Barracuda ST3160023A 160GB hard drive: $140
  • TDK IndiDVD 440N 4X DVD+-RW drive: $145
  • ATI All-In-Wonder 9200 graphics board: $149
  • Windows XP Home (OEM edition): $87
Total: $1023
Power PC Shopping List
  • Asus SK8N motherboard: $180
  • AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 CPU (retail version): $800
  • Corsair 512MB PC3200 Registered DDR SDRAM DIMMs (two): $310
  • Western Digital WD Raptor WD740GD 74GB hard drive (two): $420
  • Lite-On SOHW-812S DVD+/-RW drive: $90
  • ATI Radeon X800 XT graphics board: $480
  • Aspire X-Alien ATXA7AW case: $91
  • Creative Audigy 2ZS sound card: $80
  • Windows XP Pro (OEM edition): $139
Total: $2590
Quiet PC Shopping List
  • Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000-G motherboard: $95
  • Intel Pentium 4 2.6C CPU (OEM version): $150
  • Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu heatsink: $35
  • Kingston ValueRAM 512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (two): $220
  • SpinPoint P SP1614N 160GB hard drive: $105
  • Lite-On SOHW-812S DVD+/-RW drive: $90
  • Asus CRW-5232AS CD-RW drive: $35
  • Gainward Silent FX Powerpack Ultra/980XP graphics board: $180
  • Coolmax CF-400 silent power supply: $120
  • Antec P-160 case: $110
  • Windows XP Home (OEM edition): $87
Total: $1227

Eric Dahl and Richard Baguley are senior associate editors for PC World.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Featured APC Accessories

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

Deal Breakers

Special Offers for PC World Users

Focus on Personal Productivitysponsored by Microsoft

  • Personal Finance 2.0 These free and fee-based Web services not only aggregate data from your online bank accounts, they give you tools for managing your money.
  • High-Tech Travel Tips Plenty of stories provide advice for elite mobile professionals. But what about you, the unproductive traveler?

People who read this also read:

Sponsored Links