AMD Value Platform Analysis Part 1: Choosing the components

Choosing the right components cont..

Memory

As the chosen motherboard is AM3 socket compatible, we would have to choose DDR3 memory. DDR3 has the advantage of running at higher speeds over DDR2 at reduced voltages. As I will be overclocking this PC to see the performance benefit, I wanted to choose a memory kit that wouldn’t hold back the overclock. I also wanted to see how one of the least expensive kits fared. 4 GB is the most commonly used capacity these days. With 4 GB DDR3 kits not that much more expensive than their DDR2 counterparts, I chose a 4GB 1333MHz CL9 1.5V rated kit from Crucial to start with. I also got a high speed kit from Kingston rated at 1800 MHz CL8 1.7-1.9V. This was the cheapest 1800 MHz rated kit available on Newegg at the time. Corsair sent me their XMS3 4GB CL9 1333 MHz rated kit. So now I had three memory kits representing a broad spectrum from low cost to high speed.

Hard Disk

Mechanical storage is available for cheap these days. The cost/gigabyte is at its lowest these days. A decent sized 500 GB hard drive can be had for around $50. This should be enough if you are looking to install your operating system plus some games. If you need more storage space, more hard drives can always be added later on.

Case and Optical Drive

Choosing a case and Optical drive shouldn’t be a hard part. To keep the overall cost down, there are many cases available for less than $50 on Newegg. Blu-Ray drives are still very expensive. A $20 DVD reader/writer should serve you well.

Putting it all together

Our focus in this analysis is on the CPU/GPU/Motherboard/Memory combo which should cost you around $280 from the above estimate. Other stuff can be migrated from your previous PC or if you have some extra stuff lying around.