The Best Gaming PC Money Can Buy 417
SlappingOysters writes "Gameplayer has gone live with their best PC hardware configurations for Q3 2008. They've broken it into three tiers depending on the investor's budget. And while the prices are regional, it is comparative across the globe. 'In order to play these slices of gaming goodness, you're going to need a decent rig, and we sent our PC hardware guru in search of maximum frames in maximum detail, but at a minimum cost. We have three tiers for the three levels of PC gamers out there and all the detail you could possibly want on where, why and what to buy. So choose your poison and get amongst it.'"
Yes, but... (Score:5, Funny)
What kind of telnet programs do they come with for mudding?
Re:Yes, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yes, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
You say that like it's a bad thing. If I need telnet I'll just get PuTTY anyways. The only thing telnet is good for anymore is checking to make sure SMTP traffic works and configuring devices that won't talk with anything else. Otherwise you *don't* use it any more that you use rsh or rcp.
Frankly, I'm more irritated that Windows doesn't ship with a built-in ssh and sshd. And no, remote desktop does not count.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:oh christ (Score:5, Funny)
What do you mean, "this month"? Priorities, man, food or bleedin' edge hardware, pick one!
Re:oh christ (Score:5, Funny)
You don't need to starve, brother. There's a lot of fiber in newspaper and if you flush it down with some coke, you even have the essential dose of caffeine for the day. You can grind and dissolve stale bread in (lots of) water and drink the slurry (again, coke makes things interesting here, too!) to fill your stomach...
Can you tell I just spent 2k on a new monitor system? :)
Re:oh christ (Score:5, Funny)
As a transplanted Floridian, I heartily recommend the palmetto bugs. You can put them on a stick and roast them over an open flame or just fry 'em up in a pan.
Mmmmm....Crunchy.
Up North, I hear you can do much the same with various small rodents.
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IIRC, I think Opportunist here is a musician of sorts. I'm guessing a 'monitor system' may consist audio monitors, not video monitors.
The investor's budget? (Score:4, Insightful)
Buying a pc is an investment now?
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Insightful)
investment
n 1: the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an
enterprise with the expectation of profit
No. No it is not. And every computer and used car salesman that refers to the purchase of something guaranteed to decrease in value over time should be sued for false advertising.
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you telling me that as a computer geek, when you lay out money to purchase a computer you do not expect profit to arise from it?
I think that's a very dangerous statement. Everyone who uses their computer for work 'invests' in it. Everyone who uses their second-hand car to drive to work 'invests' in it.
It is not solely necessary for the capital expense to appreciate for it to be an investment.
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The computer I use at work has a 2.4 GHz P4 and 1.5 Gb of RAM. It's surely not the fastest thing around, but it runs my IDE just fine and my work gets done without a hitch.
How would buying a screaming fast computer for work make my job any more profitable?
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Re:The investor's budget? (Score:4, Informative)
The issues with a new computer cost more than the outlay cost as the migration of data, new software (as needed) as well as configuration cost time and money. However, over the course of a computer's life cycle, older systems often become more problematic and cause unplanned work interruptions, which can especially, over the course of time, cost more than the outlay for new equipment as well as the configuration, if planned appropriately.
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a complicated question. There are basically three answers:
1: It may make your work faster and more efficient.
2: It may require less maintenance than your old computer.
3: It won't, but that's not necessary; it's like asking a workman whether a new hammer would make his job any more profitable. That doesn't mean it's not an investment anyway.
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Apparently someone doesn't run Visual Studio 2005 with a moderately large C++ solution. ;)
Seriously though, your work computer is nearly identical to mine, except I have 2GB of RAM. While I got the RAM upgrade earlier this year (from 1GB), and it helped quite a bit, I'm still amazed at Visual Studio's need to peg my CPU at 100% on a frequ
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Insightful)
How would buying a screaming fast computer for work make my job any more profitable?
Depends on what you do. For a 3D artist, for example, a faster machine means shorter rendering times. This creates less downtime, moves the design-render-refine cycle faster, and also opens more possibilities to allow the client to tweak the final product with you.
For a coder who's working on a massive code base, we're looking at shorter compile times. Cutting compiles from 4 hours to 1 is a pretty significant gain that will likewise see a rise in productivity. Having a blazing server-class workstation also allows you to test your code in conditions that are more similar to what your code would be running once deployed.
For an artist, a massively fast computer (or really just one with an assload of RAM) allows more multitasking. Having Photoshop, Illustrator, a compositing app, etc etc, open all at once is great for productivity, and it allows you to bounce between apps without huge downtime.
But a few examples of why speed is still important in computing.
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Interesting)
I just point this out as it doesn't even have to come down to your examples, or the idea of laying out cash for something that expires right away.
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It doesn't need to be "screaming fast," but scrap that Pentium and get a modern CPU.
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000867.html [codinghorror.com]
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I wish I were joking
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Depends- if you buy the computer for a business, its a capital investment.
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No. No it is not. And every computer and used car salesman that refers to the purchase of something guaranteed to decrease in value over time should be sued for false advertising.
I'm fairly certain that with fuel prices as high as they are, my humble little 1996 Geo Metro has increased in value over the years instead of decreased.
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently, it's worth twice as much with a full tank as with an empty one.
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Re:The investor's budget? (Score:5, Funny)
guaranteed to decrease in value over time
True and stated: Whenever you buy a computer C at time t0, there's a time t1 > t0 such that val(t0, C) < val(t1, C).
Possible and not stated: there is a time t2 >> t1, such that val(t2, C) > val(t0, C), due to num(t2, C) << num(t0, C).
That is, your old Amiga 500 might become a collectors item some day :)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
As we move further from the time where computers were new, rare, and novel, the chance of your second theorem becoming true for a new system approaches zero. I would argue that the probability for any system currently manufactured is already sufficiently small as to be insignificant.
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How many colons and right parentheses does a $5000 gaming rig get you?
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Is the saving of money worth not having a pc(with internet)? Having a pc is surely an investment just as having internet is. Having more pc's than you need is not an investment though.
Re:The investor's budget? (Score:4, Insightful)
They also think that cars and electronics are "investments" as well, typically nobody knows what the word "investment" means anymore.
I guess it sounds better in marketing than saying...
"Our new PC's are awesome! Get a liability in one today!"
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amen, I recall setting up my over clocked celron on dual voodoo2 cards. Then it was a duel Athelon 64, funny thing is all my game time is spent playing soduko and playing my son's DS. As far as my dual athelon 64 I haven't turned it on in over a year. I got tired of the sound of the fans sucking the oxegen out of the room, the diso type lighting and my room temp going up to 100 degrees with the AC on.
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$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Insightful)
Only a fool would spend that much money on something that will cost 1/3 that in 18 months.
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't forget, you're talking about the same kind of people who will spend months clacking away on a fake guitar with the goal of making a digital crowd cheer when they could be practicing with a REAL guitar, get REAL cheers and likely get laid for REAL too.
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Funny)
Holy shit, I'm buying a guitar right fucking now!
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Sarcasm aside, it works. Trust me. When I was 16 I put my computers aside and bought a bass guitar.
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Funny)
He writes lyrics too (Score:3, Funny)
and all he can play is Come as you are [youtube.com]
Real rock stars are not on Slashdot/
Playing a bass makes a guitar player not.
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Funny that. Before I got a bass I played violin. I played resonably well, and was promoted to leader of an orchestra (intermediate level) and leader of the 2nd violins of the senior symphony orchestra. However, my "work first, play never" parents insisted I get a job putting out potatoes in the local supermarket.
After a while I tried to take up 6-string guitar, but life got in the way. A few years back, I tried again, but last summer at Download I saw old Dave Mustaine for the umpteenth time, and Slayer, a
Re:He writes lyrics too (Score:4, Informative)
The guitar and bass guitar are tuned in 4ths. The exception is the B string on the guitar which is a major 3rd above the G string below it.
The violin, viola and cello are tuned in 5ths. The odd one out is the double bass which is a member of the viol family (a relic from 300 years ago) and is tuned the same as the bass guitar.
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:4, Funny)
I was at a Sam Goody store which happened to have a Guitar Hero game set up. It also had a guitar / amp package they were selling set up. Crappy guitar, worse amp... but whatever.
Some dork was trying to play Guitar Hero and impress 3 girls. Song: Bark at the Moon.
So I pick up the real guitar, and start playing Bark at the Moon on the real guitar.
You've never seen three heads whip around like that. Poor guy. I got all his attention.
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Some dork was trying to play Guitar Hero and impress 3 girls. Song: Bark at the Moon.
So I pick up the real guitar, and start playing Bark at the Moon on the real guitar.
You've never seen three heads whip around like that. Poor guy. I got all his attention.
Did you get laid in a foursome with those three girls that night?
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A salary well in to the six figures and a giant retirement fund will get you even more chicks. I'll take my geeky computers over a "real" guitar any day.
...and usually a higher class of female, too.
I worked with a number of bands {mostly local, a few national} as crew. Would you REALLY want a chick that shags anyone with an instrument?? It's a great way to catch diseases, especially if she gets passed around the band. Trust me, looking for a discrete doctor for your band will take all the fun out of it.
Been there, done that... and thank God for penicillin!
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She isn't attracted to your talent. She's attracted to you for the money/fame you might get..
it is no different.
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Interesting)
Or spinning a plastic wheel and driving 200km/h when you can be REALLY going that fast in a REAL car, right?
I learned to play Guitar Hero fairly well over the course of a week. I've been playing real guitar for about 4 or 5 months now. I can play most Rock Band songs on expert, and I can play most of Neil Young's Heart of Gold on real guitar.
There's a very large difference between a video game and a musical instrument. A video game can be learned quickly and easily, without a huge time commitment. An instrument takes years to learn how to play. Now in my case, I also thought my hands were too small to play guitar, but Guitar Hero convinced me that I might be able to do it. I don't think I'll ever be able to play an F chord, but I can play a lot of songs anyway. I'm good at Guitar Hero/Rock Band. I'll likely never be as good at real guitar.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The learning curve is way steeper with the real instrument, no questions there. When you play some easy level song, where you have to click just a note every now and then to create some chords, it sure is easier than trying to figure out where all those fingers go on that instrument. And then striking the chord just right, too!
But then again, when I look at the time some people spend on those games, where weeks turn into months of them playing for hours, I start to wonder whether in the long run, they could
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Funny)
I can play most of Neil Young's Heart of Gold on real guitar.
That's the kind of risk you take when you decide to learn to play guitar.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Practice your E-shape Grand Barre chords, an Fm7th is pretty much similar enough so you can fudge it in most cases.
While doing so practice just getting clean tones from the F chord. When you get good fingering down you can then work on SLOWLY moving to a different chord. You might as well learn the B chord while you're at it. It takes a lot of practice but eventually you'll get your fingers to remember.
Many of Young's songs rely heavily on the Em, Am, D, and G chords as do many other musicians. Toss in a C
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The sort of advise you just got from KGIII (which is very good advice, BTW) is typical of what you find in the Guitarnoise forums.
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I have been at it for about twenty years now including some time giving lessons. When I was much younger I went to UMA and majored in Drinking and minored in Failing but my real major was Music Theory and I minored in Improvisational Jazz Guitar. Needless to say, I only lasted a few semesters.
I typically recommend people learning tabliture later in their educational process as it is a flawed way to learn. Learning to read tab means you're not learning how to play but, rather, that you're learning what to pl
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Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't forget, you're talking about the same kind of people who will spend months clacking away on a fake guitar with the goal of making a digital crowd cheer when they could be practicing with a REAL guitar, get REAL cheers and likely get laid for REAL too.
Funny you should mention that, they're working on Masturbation Hero. You'll get a load out of the controller for that game.
Re:$10K US for a gaming rig? (Score:4, Insightful)
Admit it, if you had US $10k lying around with nothing better to do, you would be salivating over the FedEx Next Day Tracking Number. I know I would.
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1) There are very few of them made, they are luxury and collector items
2) People who collect lots of money tend to collect stuff as well, and some of them choose to collect cars.
So if someone else ever totally destroys their car, the other cars become more valuable.
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Not only that, but there are barely any bleeding-edge PC games that are worth playing.
I have a fairly awesome rig that I could use for gaming, but nothing really makes me want to go to the hassle of booting to Windows. Most fun (older) games run fine under Wine and/or VMWare.
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Umm... what games run fine in Wine? I just can't get them to play nicely, so either I'm trying the wrong games or I just don't know what miracle I have to work to make them run.
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I'm actually going to look at this article to see what will be reasonably high performance and more realistically priced when I am next planning on building a machine in Q2 2009.
Last time I was trying for the very top end, I got stuck firmly in a niche which caused me to have a top end board with an AGP slot when everything was just about to go PCI-E. Its amazing what two or three months of waiting will do. In my case, it actually caused me to upgrade my machine less than I would have, because I didn't wa
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Or somebody SO incredibly rich that NOT spending the money is more foolish.
Very useful guides (Score:3, Interesting)
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Re:Very useful guides (Score:5, Informative)
No, these are horrible horrible guides. Even arstechnica has better ones. I mean really- A $9000 computer? How about a high priced one people would actually buy- something in the mid to upper 2000 range.
And their budget gaming box? $1000 with no monitor? That's one hell of an overpriced rig. The idea of budget is maximum bang for buck, not lets get as close to a certain dollar figure as possible. I just put together a true budget gaming rig for about 60% of that. Here, I'll share the details:
CPU: E7200- $125. Intel introduced this model to compete with the AMD triple core offerings. Its a dual core, but with single core performance greater than AMDs triple core offering. Stock at 2.5 GHz, easily overclockable to 3.0 with reports of 3.5. I can confirm no problems at 3.0 with stock cooling and some room to grow.
Mobo: Quite frankly anything in the $100 range is good enough. I went with a gigabyte EP43 for $90
Ram: 3 GB if you want to go with a 32 bit OS. 4 GB otherwise. About $100
GPU: BFG Nvidia 9600GT. SLI is not worth it, its broken on many games and it makes a minor performance increase when it does. Going for a 9800 isn't worth it, the extra price is far more than the extra performance. $130
PSU: Any 450W ps will work. I went slightly upscale to 600W expecting it to last me 2-3 computers, but 450 is good enough. About $50. Their $60 suggestion is fine, if you like the brand the trust is worth $10
Case: 25 bucks will get you a decent case. They overpaid.
Hard drive: Unless you need the space, a 250GB drive goes for 60. Save yourself 30 bucks on space you're unlikely to use. And truthfully if you do need it in a year or two, buy it then when it's cheaper.
optical drive: $30 is about right.
total: $615, almost 40% less than their budget box
This computer, despite being 40% less, will get within 10% of their performance. The real sad thing is the people who buy the $2K box. In 2 years, you'll be feeling slow. So buy this now for $600, and replace with a new $600 (or less, save the case, optical drive, hard drive and PSU if you can) computer every 2 years. He'll be replacing his in 4 years tops (probably 3, lets face it his type want to stay at the top of the spec list). You'll have a slightly less powerful computer than him for a while (probably a more powerful one for the last 2 years of his box) and save an assload of cash to boot.
Its just not worth buying top level power that will be half price in 6 months. Go for best bang/buck, and replace every 2-3 years.
optical: their choice is fine, $30
luv 2 brag (Score:3, Funny)
I bought a new computer, so I love to brag about the deal I got.
e8500, 4gb ddr2 1066, p5q-3, 4870, freezer 7 pro, rosewill case, 250 gb hd = $1050
had vista64 for free
plays crysis at high "near 60 fps" and everything else to the max
no microstuttering
me = happy
Re:luv 2 brag (Score:5, Funny)
I feel really old right now because I don't understand a single thing you wrote.
Re:luv 2 brag (Score:5, Funny)
Allow me to try and explain ...
He said:
e8500 ... hmmm maybe its a new eMachine that he used as a base to build on? ... ah! he picked up "Four "Gnarly-Bro" Dance Dance Revolution 2 pads. "1066" you'll notice is 42 more than 1024, so 1066 is just a "Really Cool" in binary. ... well ... CPUs are hot nowadays so he bought an air conditioner to cool the room down. Quite sensible. ... hmmm must be one of those cases with alien eyes on it or something. I guess he'll pull the guts out of the e8500 and put them in there so it looks cool? ... ah. He also picked up 250 "Gnarly-Bro" HighDensity floppies. Must be to back up his save games and make "backup" copies for friends.
4gb ddr2 1066
freezer 7 pro
rosewill case
250 gb hd
Sounds like a neat gaming rig ...
Then again maybe it was l33t speak? ... or not ;)
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I feel really old right now because I don't understand a single thing you wrote.
Ok, I'll translate.
I bought a new computer, so I love to brag about the deal I got.
"I'm the kind of weenie you always wanted to smack out of sheer jealousy."
e8500, 4gb ddr2 1066, p5q-3, 4870, freezer 7 pro, rosewill case, 250 gb hd = $1050
had vista64 for free
"e8500, that's just random numbers to sound important. 4gb, more random letters and numbers. DDR2 is the second Dance Dance Revolution game, I guess he enjoys playing it. 1066, that's the IRS form he has to fill out to cover the purchase of the thing. 4870, that's an IBM dumb terminal, not sure why that's involved.
Re:luv 2 brag (Score:5, Funny)
Vista 64 was free, huh?
Re:luv 2 brag (Score:4, Insightful)
Vista 64 is only free if your time has no value.
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250 gb hd
What, they still make computers with such a pittance of space?! Or was the 250gb drive just something you found discarded in a dumpster?
Just another hardware guide (Score:5, Insightful)
So hardware guides are post worthy now?
Then let me submit the Ars System Guide [arstechnica.com] ... every [arstechnica.com] time [arstechnica.com] they [arstechnica.com] update [arstechnica.com] it [arstechnica.com]!
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games? (Score:2, Funny)
Gone live? (Score:2)
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The WOW forums are that way
----->
Seriously, what are you talking about? Did they mention somewhere in TFA about WotLK going live?
Load times (Score:2)
These days, my biggest problem isn't low framerates--it's load times. The Witcher, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., tons of games with loads long enough that I have time to read a page (or two, or five) in a book during load screens.
My next rig will definitely have a raid-0 array, and will hopefully be the last non-flash-storage-based PC I make.
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When I were a lad I had a Spectrum 128. Starglider used to take the best part of 15 minutes to load from tape.
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The Witcher was supposed to get patched some time soon to fix the load times, might want to check the web site and see if that patch is out yet. It also adds a whole lot of new models to the game, new voice acting, new music, and greatly improves the dialogs.
-Rick
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Last time I saw tests (2 years ago), RAID of any variety didn't make a difference in load times. The bottleneck was mostly the CPU and to a lesser degree, the amount/speed of RAM, as all the stuff needed to be decompressed, though this may have changed with newer dual/quad core CPUs and faster/more plentiful RAM, though I'm at work, so I can't look up stuff to check my info.
Sharky's buyers' guides (Score:5, Informative)
I'm reminded of Sharky Extreme's Value [sharkyextreme.com] and High-end Gaming Buyers' Guides [sharkyextreme.com]. If you're buying, it would probably be interesting to compare them.
I'm sure I have seen other similar guides, but can't find them now.
Give a hoot! Recycle! (Score:5, Insightful)
More so Reuse!
I usually run a 2 year cycle.
Year 1, I build a new PC. Although, I already have a nice monitor, a nice case, a large hard drive, an optical drive, and all the other fixings. So all a new PC is, is a CPU, motherboard, memory and graphics card. No need to replace everything else.
Year 2 I upgrade my existing PC. Add a bit of memory, get a larger hard drive, get the latest generation of graphic card. All for a budget well under $500.
Next year I give my now 'old' PC to my wife (mounting all the components into her perfectly fine case) and buy myself a new pile.
Sure, I'm not going bleeding edge with my stuff. But I just priced out a new PC for this fall. A Core 2 Duo @ 3ghz, 2Gigs of 1200 memory, new mobo, and an NVidia 8800GT. With tax and shipping it comes in right at $500, and will be more than enough machine to handle the next generation of games. Although I think I'll try to hold out just a hair longer for one last price cut on the Core 2 Duo chip. But the Wife's machine is going to need an upgrade for the next set of titles coming out.
-Rick
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I operate very much like that. I have two kids, also, so at this point we all have our own desktops. You get to the point where you say "I have an old motherboard, cpu, memory, and video card... add a hard drive and a case and it's a fully functional computer... but then it's not like that... I'm more like 18 months to two years.
And I've decided not to buy desktops anymore. So it looks like a new laptop every couple of years from now on.
Re:Give a hoot! Recycle! (Score:4, Funny)
maybe you should mount your wife's box more often?
Her box is way too huge, and you can tell that lots of things have been taken in and lots of things pulled out that it looks a little bruised. Plus, it just looks too old, and it's always making noises. You learn to ignore it. These days MicroATX boxes are the thing; smaller, tighter, and they're portable - so it doesn't matter where you go, you can always bring along the box to play with.
You can make a bloody mess if you try to stick your peripheral in that kind of box when it just doesn't fit.
yes, nawcom knows he is twisted and sick.
Prices in USD (Score:2)
The Bang for the buck [gameplayer.com.au]: Less than 864USD
Extreme Performance on a Budget [gameplayer.com.au]: 864USD to 1,728USD
Perfection in Silicon Form [gameplayer.com.au]: More than 1,728USD
-Grey [silverclipboard.com]
Buying guide... (Score:5, Funny)
They should come up with a set of configurations for the best /.-proof PC servers for 2008 as well.
What about a small, silent, low-power FF XI box? (Score:2)
I'm looking for a minimum score of 5000~6000 with Vanad'iel Benchmark 3 at the "high" setting. The more fanless components, the better. The lower the prices, the better too.
My current Athlon XP 2400+, 512MB and Radeon 9600XT 128MB AGP runs FF XI fine in 640x480 with all details at maximum, however the power supply fan + CPU fan + GPU fan = quite annoying, not to mention the heat and wasted power.
Surely extremely low-end components of 2008 could run FF XI much better for a lot less power and be fanless too?
Lame (Score:5, Informative)
That site is a slow as shit...here's a summary:
Under $1000AU
CPU: Intel E8500 - $200
RAM: DDR2 4GB 800MHz RAM - $100v
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 - $130
GPU: ATI 4870 - $300
PSU: Silverstone Strider ST50F 500W - $80
Case: Antec NSK4000 - $65
Optical: Pioneer 215BK SATA - $30
HDD: Western Digital 640GB - $93
Total Price: $998
Midrange
CPU: Intel E8600 - $300
RAM: DDR2 4GB 1066MHz - $150
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 - $240
GPU: ATI 4870x2 - $655
PSU: Corsair HX620 - $160
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos S RC-1100 - $285
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-215D SATA 20x - $30
Storage: Western Digital 640GB - $93
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme & Scythe Slipstream - $85
Total: $1,998
High end (aka completely retarded)
CPU: Intel QX9770 - $1,600 (eXXXXXXtreeeeeeeeme!!!!)
RAM: 2 x 2GB Mushkin DDR3 XP3-14400 - $550 (A +$10,000 system with only 4GB of RAM, hah)
Motherboard: Foxconn Blackops X48 - $450 (what)
GPU: 2 x 4870x2 - $1320
PSU: Corsair HX1000 - $320
Case: Lian-Li PC-X2000 - $580
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-202BK - $390
Storage: 2 x 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor - $700 (no, just no)
Cooling: Frozen SS Vapour Phase Change - $1,100 (hahahaha)
OS: Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM - $130
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP 30" - $2,000
Mouse: Razer Lachesis - $63
Keyboard: Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard or Optimus Maximus - $95 or $1,900 (also hahahahaha)
Sound Card : Auzentech X-Fi Prelude - $230
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 - $320
Total: $9,848 or $11,653 (with Optimus Maximus)
Only the high-end configuration includes the operating system! Kind of a stupid article, their budget system should be capable of just about any game you throw at it, unless you want to play shit at native resolution on a 30" LCD. When it comes to picking out hardware for a custom build, I've always preferred The Tech Report's system guide. Very detailed, and they have alternate setups for various budgets. http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/15009 [techreport.com]
furthering the myth of expensive PCs... (Score:4, Informative)
In reality, you could spend $500 on a PC (not including monitor) and get something that will play Crysis on high or very high depending on what resolution you are running.
You can put together what would in reasonable circles be considered high end for under $1000, yet that price is basically relegated to be "bargain basement" in this article.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The Best Gaming "PC Money" Can Buy (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
easy, try a wii or ps3.
And lose the ability to meaningfully play indie games. Wii needs a crack based on the unpatched Twilight Princess disc, and PS3 needs a reboot into a version of Linux without even 2D accelerated graphics.
Website is terrible, relevant info here (Score:3, Informative)
Um. Ok. Raiding some kids Newegg 3 tiered I-wonder-how-much-I'll-get-for-my-bar-mitzpah wishlist doesn't belong here. I highly doubt anybody here needs any advice on what gaming rig to buy. But in case you do, hear is the info in USD.
861.430 USD
* CPU: Intel E8500 - $200
* RAM: DDR2 4GB 800MHz RAM - $100v
* Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 - $130
* GPU: ATI 4870 - $300
* PSU: Silverstone Strider ST50F 500W - $80
* Case: Antec NSK4000 - $65
* Optical: Pioneer 215BK SATA - $30
* HDD: Western Digital 640GB - $93
1,724.59 USD
* CPU: Intel E8600 - $300
* RAM: DDR2 4GB 1066MHz - $150
* Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 - $240
* GPU: ATI 4870x2 - $655
* PSU: Corsair HX620 - $160
* Case: Cooler Master Cosmos S RC-1100 - $285
* Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-215D SATA 20x - $30
* Storage: Western Digital 640GB - $93
* Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme & Scythe Slipstream - $85
8,499.13 USD
* CPU: Intel QX9770 - $1,600
* RAM: 2 x 2GB Mushkin DDR3 XP3-14400 - $550
* Motherboard: Foxconn Blackops X48 - $450
* GPU: 2 x 4870x2 - $1320
* PSU: Corsair HX1000 - $320
* Case: Lian-Li PC-X2000 - $580
* Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-202BK - $390
* Storage: 2 x 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor - $700
* Cooling: Frozen SS Vapour Phase Change - $1,100
* OS: Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM - $130
* Monitor: Dell UltraSharpâ 3008WFP 30" - $2,000
* Mouse: Razer Lachesis - $63
* Keyboard: Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard-$95
* Sound Card : Auzentech X-Fi Prelude - $230
* Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 - $320
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That 8,5k rig smells a lot of "we wanted some shock effect, so we simply dumped the most expensive components together". Some of the things don't even remotely make sense for a gaming rig.
1 GB / $ HD? (Score:5, Funny)
What levels are these? (Score:5, Funny)
From the prices I assume those levels are "lives in own property", "lives with parents", and "purely hypothetical".
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of supply. You can't buy what isn't offered.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"Your hardware won't function without an OS, so what better choice than Microsoftâ(TM)s latest offering. Despite the constant criticism, Vista is a very stable, secure and enjoyable platform to work with." --
Really? Really? Really?
Just throws all the other recommendations into question. And Vista as opposed to ... what why even mention it as a choice? There is no choice. It would be like saying back in 1970's we chose the power and convenience of AT&T's phone service... as opposed to what? A can and string?
It's a gaming PC so of course it runs Vista or XP. Something like "We chose Vista for newer Direct X" pretending otherwise is an insult to the readers.