VALUE Doom 3: CPU and Motherboard
CPU: AMD Sempron 3100+ (256K cache, Socket 754) $120OR AMD Athlon 64 2800+ (12k Cache, Socket 754) $147
Motherboard: Chaintech VNF3-250 (nForce3-250)
Price: CPU - $120 ($147) shipped. Motherboard - $83 shipped
Value CPU
We finally reach the point in our Doom 3 Buyers Guide where we are sweating nickels. Our Value goal was to put together the best Doom 3 gaming system that we possibly could for as little money as possible. We hoped we could do that for about $1000, but we weren't sure it could be done.
The new Sempron 3100+ certainly helps us out with a Value Doom 3 system. As you saw in our CPU tests with Doom 3, the 3100+ actually outperforms the Pentium 4 3.2 Northwood in Doom 3 performance, at a very reasonable $120. The Sempron 3100+ is also Socket 754, so at least you have some place to go with future processors if you start with the Sempron. Frankly, the Sempron processors are just now entering the market and they're a little hard to find, but AMD tells us that the pipelines will start to fill later his month. This is the reason why we listed an alternate CPU.
The 2800+ is very easy to find; in fact, you can find it in many places with the retail AMD heatsink fan for a little less than $150. The 2800+ also moves you up the food chain with double the on-chip cache to 512k. As you saw in the CPU performance charts in the Doom 3 CPU comparison, the 2800+ moves you up near the performance level of the Prescott 3.4E and the 3.2EE in Doom 3. This gain in performance comes at a cost increase of just $27 over the Sempron 3100.
Either the Sempron 3100+ or the A64 2800+ will make a great heart for a Value Doom 3 system. Either of them far out-distance the Athlon XP processors, and the middle of the current Pentium 4 line. The naming is very confusing, but the 3100+ is actually a little slower than the 2800+. The Sempron was named to compete with Celerons, which have high numbers, but lower performance than other P4 chips at the same speed. Both the Sempron 3100+ and A64 2800+ run at 1.8GHz, but the Sempron has half the cache. The Sempron also does not have 64-bit capabilities, but it is otherwise the same as other A64 processors. Doom 3 is not 64-bit, so the Sempron is a great choice to save about $30 in a Doom 3 value system.
Value Motherboard
The Chaintech VNF3-250 won an Editor's Choice in our Socket 754 roundup for one simple reason - it displays screaming performance at a bargain price. Chaintech designed the VNF3-250 around the latest nForc3-250 chipset for performance, but they chose the basic nF3-250 chipset to save money. This means that the Chaintech does not support nVidia on-chip LAN or Firewall. However, Chaintech made the right use of the basic 250 chipset here because the Chaintech is the only nF3-250 board that we know about that sells for around $80 to $85.
You get all the upgrade nF3-250 performance, and a superb selection of overclocking controls, including a very wide selection of memory, chipset, processor, and AGP voltages. Chaintech also includes Memory Ratios below the rated CPU ratio and a CPU Clock Frequency range from 200 to 400. When all is said and done, the Chaintech VNF3-250 is the perfect motherboard for a value system that performs like the best - with overclocking capabilities that will not leave you wishing for more.
Listed below is part of our RealTime pricing engine, which lists the lowest prices available on the AMD CPUs from many different reputable vendors:
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
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Wesley Fink - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
#21 - A recent storage article said there was no need for RAID on the desktop. It did not say there was no need for Raptors. In fact the title of the first article using the new storage benchmarks was "WD Raptors vs. the World"Avalon - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
On another note, you just had an article a while ago saying that there are no need for Raptor HD's on a desktop system, yet you recommend it for the performance segment. May I ask why we should waste $175 on this drive when you yourselves said we had no need for it? Especially if the main goal of this rig is just to play Doom 3.Avalon - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
I'm most definitely complaining about value, not crap. Mainstream Doom 3, while higher than general, is definitely not that freaking high. Who would buy a Dell for a GAMING system? This guide is for those who BUILD there own, so Dell has absolutely nothing to do with this, nor do their horrendously expensive computers. For a mainstream Doom 3 experience, a 6800GT was quoted as being required. This is a $400 card that allows you to practically play the game at 16x12 with AF and AA. Are mainstream Doom 3 users going to run at this setting? No. Even the value recommendations will run Doom 3 at 12x10, no sweat. Value should be those looking to play the game, but not having to spend much money and not caring about high res and eye candy. This is why I dissagree with the recommendations and pricing. If you think I'm wrong, that's your opinion and I could care less. My own personal rig was about $800 with the monitor included, and it runs the game at 10x7 on high detail. I'd consider that more mainstream than what the value recommendations would get you.Pollock - Sunday, August 8, 2004 - link
May I ask what the point is of having a 12x DVD burner on a mainstream system devoted to playing Doom 3? And by the way, I agree with #1...this is just too much hype. Who would spend $1900 so that they could get "mainstream performance" on another $50 purchase?Myrandex - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
I agree with the CRT recommendations over a LCD. LCDs are coming to amazingly low response time, but I don't think I have ever seen one as good as a CRT. Good recommendations though. Maybe a 5900XT would be an even more value alternative, as I thought if I remmeber correctly it performed alright, overclcoekd a lot on average, and is pretty inexpensive.Randawl - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
It is pretty amazing that you can buy such a powerful system with such a fantastic video card for around $1000. Things have come quite far in such a short time.Zanfib - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
Good enough article, a few typos, but helpful. Still kinda hurts to know that even the value system recommends needs a new (almost next) generation video card, but I can't argue with the value price. $1000 for a pretty good system is quite acceptable.BornStar18 - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
It's a minor correction but you mention that the Chaintech VNF3-250 doesn't have GbE (correctly) in the article but in the table, you mention it has onboard 10/100/1000.Good article, I just wish I had $1000 to be able to play Doom3...
Wesley Fink - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
#10 - We had technical problems with posting today and I did not get to make final changes as usual before the review posted. In fact the Performance system does now have a 2GB memory recommendation since we finally found 1GB dimms that could still give us 1T Command Rates with timings that were still pretty decent. The Guide has been updated with the 2GB recommendation, the revised price, and several other planned edits.kmmatney - Saturday, August 7, 2004 - link
So looks like I'll be playing Doom3 around April 2005...Its been 10 years since Doom 2, so whats another year.