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How is it different from choosing a regular PC ?Jan 01 '00 (Updated Mar 15 '03) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Focus on the gaming experience, which is visually and sonically intensive. This means 20+ inch high quality monitors, the best 3d cards and THX Dolby digital 5.1 speakers.
Aren't regular PCs used to play games ? Yes they are, but they tend to be the likes of Freecell, Hearts and Minesweeper. On occasion, games like Championship Manager, Simcity and Theme Hospital are played, all of which are undemanding, and does not stretch the video and sound capabilities of the regular PC. But gamers tend to be a different lot. They spend much more time using the computer for games. And the type of games they play tend to be the latest, which typically benefit from good sound and video. As a result, it makes sense to focus far more than usual on sound and video quality, than when choosing a regular PC. Video There are 2 principle determinants : the card and the monitor. The best card today seems to be ATI's Radeon. There are a few versions, but only the best will do, for a gaming machine. The only alternative is Nvidia's Ge Force. But i strongly favour ATI over Nvidia. For now. A 20+ inch monitor can easily be the single most expensive component. As such i would stick to recognisable Japanese brands like Sony and NEC. Sound Like video, there are 2 parts to the equation. Here it is speakers and card. Again, like video, there is a clear leader. As far as speakers are concerned, this would be the THX Dolby Digital 5.1 Klipsch. And the de facto standard sound card is the Sound Blaster. I need to mention that sound is very personal and that smaller manufacturers like Gravis and Aureal have loyal followings. They may even have set up support sites for those products, long after the manufacturer has gone out of business. There may be good deals on these products on Ebay, but i won't recommend them. As i favour new supported cards over second hand, unsupported cards. However, don't let my personal prejudices stand in the way. If you have set your mind on say, an Aureal card, go for it ! The rest of the machine, other than the sound and video aspects just need to meet some minimum standards. it's very likely that a regular sub $500 machine will meet these base minimum. RAM - A gamer's machine needs 256 mb of ram. However a growing number of games can use more. Since a regular PC tends to have 512 mb to allow multitasking without paging, there should not be any problems here. Processor - Almost all processors are Pentium 4s or Pentium 4 compatibles. Because the latest games can be demanding, only the Pentium 4 above 2 GHz will do. They also have twice the L2 of most other processors, like the Athlon and Celeron, and several times that of the Duron. Happy Buying !!!  |
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