Buyer's Guide: Value Systems - August 2001

Case - Fong Kai FK-603 - $75
We loved the Fong Kai FK-603 when we first tested it, and it's the perfect case for our value systems. It's only $75, but has plenty of space for everything in our system. What makes it the clear choice is the ease of access to the interior and excellent cooling for a case this size. It also features an AMD approved power supply which is perfect for the Duron in this system.

You could also go with a microATX case to save a bit more money, but the price differential isn't worth being locked into such limited expansion.

For more information, read our Fong Kai FK-603 Review.

Sound card - Integrated AC97 Audio - "free"
The host-based AC97 CODEC will get you by for basic sound needs, but it eats up precious CPU resources when in use and the sound quality is less than ideal. If you really need to keep the cost as low as possible, stick with this, but otherwise get a "real" hardware PCI sound card, even if you just want to play MP3's.

Speakers - Generic - $20
The AC97 CODEC isn't of the highest quality either, so there's no need to go with a hi-fi speaker set here. We just need something to get us by for basic Windows sounds, so just go down to any local store and see what you can find for $20 or less.

Ethernet - Integrated SiS - "free"
The integrated ethernet within the SiS 730S chipset is actually quite good as well. Since the motherboard manufacturers only need to add an external PHY and the actual port to enable this feature, it only adds a few dollars to the cost of the system. By going with the integrated ethernet, we also save one of our precious PCI expansion slots for future upgradability.

Hard drive - IBM Deskstar 60GXP 40GB - $125
We still maintain that hard drive speed is one of the biggest bottlenecks in a system, so we won't skimp in this category. As such, we've simply chosen a smaller version of the drive found in our high-end systems, the 40GB IBM Deskstar 60GXP, which also happens to be the fastest IDE drive available today. There is no performance difference between this drive and the larger versions other than the available disk space.

If you simply need more space, you can either drop down to a 5400rpm drive or pay a bit more for a larger 7200rpm model. Larger 60GXP's can be had for only $20-50 more. Note that the 60GXP has replaced the 75GXP in our guide as it seems to have addressed the reliability issues that some users had with their 75GXP's. Performance is virtually identical fortunately.

For more information read our IBM Deskstar 75GXP Review.

CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM - Name brand 40X - 50X CD-ROM - $40
While many will suggest going with the cheapest CD-ROM you can find, we highly recommend going with a name brand, not just the cheapest generic. Our experience with the no-names is that many of them do not perform as advertised, and even have trouble reading less than perfect discs. Acer, Creative Labs, Toshiba, and Teac all do an excellent job.

OS - Windows 2000 Professional - $250
You want to get work done, right? Well you definitely don't want your system crashing and destroying unsaved work all the time. Windows 2000 is the only way to go for rock solid stability.

Bottom Line: $725 (without software)