Cost Analysis
We put together all components in the following table :
AMD
Intel
Processor
Sempron 3400+ ($70)
Celeron D 352 ($56)
Motherboard
WinFast K8M890M2MA, integrated graphics ($55)
Asus P5LD2-VM ($95), integrated graphics
Memory
2x 512 MB DDR2-667 ($68)
2x 512 MB DDR2-667 ($68)
Hard Drive
Western Digital WD1600JS, 160 GB, SATA/300 ($55)
Western Digital WD1600JS, 160 GB, SATA/300 ($55)
Optical Drive
Samsung SH-S182D ($30)
Samsung SH-S182D ($30)
Case
Any ($30)
Any ($30)
Power Supply
Coolmax ATX Black 400 W ($27)
Coolmax ATX Black 400 W ($27)
Total Cost
$ 335
$ 361
The cost for both systems exceeded our $300 budget, but there is still room to save money ; we didn’t pick the cheapest products, but reasonably priced ones. If you really go for the lowest-end, you can get processors for $40, a motherboard for $40 and a very simple hard drive for $50. This would save you another $70 for the AMD system and as much as $86 for the Intel system.
Minimum Price
$ 265
$ 275
Of course you can go for this lowest-end setup, but you should not expect anything at all from these systems. I clearly recommend making a reasonable minimum investment, which is also why I advise against going for an even cheaper power supply and memory. You can save some more money, but I doubt you’ll be happy with the results if you decide to opt for the lowest of the low-cost components available.
Test Setup
System Hardware
Processor I
AMD Sempron 3400+
(Manila core, 90 nm, 1.8 GHz, 256 kB L2 Cache)
Processor II
Intel Celeron D 352 (FSB533)
(Cedar Mill core, 65 nm, 3.2 GHz, 512 kB L2 Cache)
Motherboard I
Asus P5LD2-VM
Chipset : Intel 945G, BIOS : 1102
Motherboard II
Foxconn Winfast K8M890M2MA-RS2H
Chipset : VIA K8M890, BIOS : 641W1P24Common Hardware
RAM
2x 512 MB DDR2-667Corsair ValueSelect VS1 GBKIT667D2
Graphics Card I
Intel GMA950
Graphics Card II
VIA Chrome9 IGP
Hard Drive I (read)
1x 160 GB 7,200 RPM, 8 MB Cache, SATA/300
Western Digital WD1600AAJS
Hard Drive II (write)
1x 150 GB 10,000 RPM, 8 MB Cache, SATA/300
Western Digital WD1500ADFD
Used for video benchmarks
DVD-ROM
Gigabyte GO-D1600C (16x)Software
Intel Graphics
Version : 14.25.50
Intel Chipset
Software Installation Utility 8.1.1.1010
VIA Graphics
Version : 15.13.15.05
VIA Chipset
Hyperion Pro 5.11A
DirectX
Version : 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
OS
Windows XP Professional, Build 2600 SP2
Benchmarks And Settings
Benchmarks and Settings
Video
TMPEG 3.0 Express
Version : 3.0.4.24 (no audio)
182 MB VOB MPEG2 source (704x576), 16:9
DivX 6.5
Version : 6.5
High Definition Profile
Multipass, 3000 kb/s
Encoding mode : Insane Quality
XviD 1.1.2
Version : 1.1.2
Encoding type : Two-pass / single-pass
Profile @ Level : DXN HT PAL
Target size (kbytes) : 570000
MainConcept H.264 Encoder v2
Version : 2.1
2:19 min MPEG2 source 1920x1080 to H.264
Profile : High
Audio : AAC
Stream : ProgramAudio
Lame MP3
Version 3.97 Beta 2 (11-29-2005)
Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 74 min
wav to mp3
160 kb/s
OGG Vorbis
Version 1.1.2 (Intel P4 MOD)
Version 1.1.2 (Intel AMD MOD)
Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 74 min
wave to ogg Vorbis
Quality : 5Applications
WinRAR
Version 3.7 Beta 3 (multi core optimized)
(303 MB, 47 Files, 2 Folders)
Best compression
Dictionary = 4096 kB
Adobe Photoshop CS 2
Version : 9.0.1
VT-Runtime Script
Rendering 5 Pictures (66 MB, 7 Filters)
Cinebench
Version 9.5
64 Bit
nCPU, 1 CPUSynthetic
PCMark05 Pro
Version : 1.2.0
CPU and Memory Tests
Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
Windows Media Encoder 9.00.00.2980
SiSoftware Sandra 2007
Version 2007.5.11.17
CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia
Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Memory Latency Test = ns
