Gaming Systems April 2003

<B>Midrange</B>:

For the midrange system, we've got basically a $1200 or lower budget, so let's pick and choose parts from the budget system to upgrade. The things that come to mind are Processor and Video Card, and the input devices. We'll see what we can do with another $400.

<B>Case</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>Lets upgrade the case to a nice <a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=11-129-126">Antec Lanboy case</a>. Antec makes quality products and it comes with a 350W powersupply and a window for a price of $89.99.</td></tr></table>

<B>Motherboard</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>I choose the <a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=13-121-177">Intel D845PESVL </a>, The board provides LAN and sound, all for a nice price of $102. This board is good for our midrange system and isn't too expensive.</td></tr></table>

<B>CPU</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>Since we want a bit more speed, a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=19-116-147">P4 2.8Ghz 533Mhz FSB</a> is a great choice. It comes with a heatsink and fan for $319. </td></tr></table>

<B>Memory</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>I'm gonna take advantage of that great deal from Crucial that we used for the budget system.<a href="http://www.hotdlz.com/deal/6f156eaca301a8a9c96756fd6ea1352e/">512MB PC2100 DDR memory</a>. The cost is only $52 straight from crucial.</td></tr></table>

<B>Video Card</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>So I was gonna try and go with the Radeon 9700 Pro, but I just couldn't work it in at this price level, but we'll change our Radeon 9500 to a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1126&description=&page=2">9500 Pro 128MB version.</a> This costs $205 from Newegg.</td></tr></table>

<B>Optical & MagneticStorage</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>I'm gonna take advantage of the same deal I used for the budget system from <a href="http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=174229">Office Max</a>. When your on a budget you just can't pass up 120GB HD, and 48x CDRW for $40. That's plenty of storage for your games, and the cd burner wil let you make copies of your games.(Legal copies of course).</td></tr></table>

<B>Monitor</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td>Since we have a bigger budget, we'll upgrade the screen to a <a href="http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=298235&pfp=BROWSE">Envision 19" EN-985e CRT
</a> You can get it from CompUSA for $219.99.</td></tr></table>

<B>Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers</B>:

<table><tr><td></td><td></td><td> </td><td>We'll keep the same Logitech Wireless Elite Duo for $50 and go up to a 5.1 speaker system with the<a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=36-121-104&DEPA=1">Logitech Z640</a> for $67.<td></tr></table>

<B>OS</B>:

Windows XP is the popular OS out right now and it gets the job done.Pick up<a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=37-102-014&DEPA=6">Windows XP Home</a> for another $93 at Newegg.

That brings the total for our Mid-Range system to $1235.99. We upgraded the processor, graphics card, got some more monitor real estate, and got better sound for your games, now on to the High-End System.