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Speed and power.Dec 16 '99 Write an essay on this topic.Quick - what's been the driving force behind Moore's Law for the past 15 years or so? Business? Multimedia? Microsoft Word? No... GAMES! That's right - the single biggest impetus to the doubling in CPU power every 18 months has been the increasing demands put on computer systems by the hardcore gamers of the world. The trickle-down effect has led to faster computers for the masses, in a never-ending cycle going back to the days of the original IBM PC (some of us remember how we just had to have that 286-based IBM PC-AT to run Flight Simulator at its fullest). Today's PC games come in a variety of genres, but the vast majority have one thing in common - they put an incredible strain on a PC's resources. So, what do you look for in a gaming PC today? You guessed it - horsepower. Speed and power all the way around. Sounds simple, right? Well, it is and it isn't. Yes, you can go out and buy a computer loaded with the most RAM and the fastest CPU you can find and you'll end up with at least a reasonably competent gaming PC. But guess what? You might have been able to actually spend less money and get better performance. Why? It's all in the priorities. The fact is mainstream computer manufacturers configure the majority of their systems with a mass audience in mind, so you may be paying extra for features you don't need (such as the "multimedia keyboard" that Compaq was packaging with their high end systems for a while), and you may not be getting the best bang for your buck in the components you do need. You've seen those system requirements listed on the packaging for the games you see at your local computer stores, right? Well, throw them out the window - they are the scourge of the gaming public. A good rule of thumb is to double any specifications you see listed on your average game box if you want a game to run anywhere near acceptably, and that applies to both the "minimum" and "recommended" specifications. So, with that in mind, here are some bare minimums to look for in a computer system if you want to please the gamer in your life. Anything less than these specifications and the system you buy will be obsolete within a year for playing the latest games at their best: CPU: 500mhz Pentium III or Athlon (a 500mhz Celeron will do in a pinch) RAM: 128MB of PC100 SDRAM Graphics card: 16MB AGP 3D accelerator based on a 3Dfx, nVidia, or S3 graphics chip Monitor: 17" w/ a .25 dot pitch Sound card: 128 voice, PCI-based 3D positional audio card based on either the Aureal Vortex chip or the Creative Labs EAX chip Speakers: 3 piece subwoofer/satellite system Optical disk system: DVD or CDR (or both) Hard drive: 13GB Modem: 56K V.90 In today's era of cut-rate budget PC's with stripped down parts, this system may sound outlandish to those of you who may not be gamers yourselves - but this is really as low-end as you'd want to go, and such a system can be configured by any of the more well-known gaming-oriented PC manufacturers (Alienware comes to mind) for only around $1,700 including monitor. This is well below what you'd probably pay for a similar system from a more mass-market manufacturer such as Compaq or Hewlett Packard, if you could even buy a pre-configured system with all of those parts. Gateway, Dell, and other mail-order based manufacturers also give you more options for customizing a system than the brick-and-mortar based manufacturers, so if you're leary of ordering from a company like Alienware (and you shouldn't be) at least go through a mainstream mail-order manufacturer that lets you pick and choose parts. There are two things gamers hate more than anything: being saddled with useless features they don't need that slow their system down, and lacking a piece of hardware that they do need to get the most out of a particular game. So when ordering a system for the gamer in your life, think of the computer you're buying as if it were an automotive hot rod. You wouldn't put power windows in a hot rod, would you? Instead, you'd put the most powerful yet lightest engine you could find. You wouldn't have air conditioning in a hot rod, but you would have dual exhaust pipes for unrestricted air flow. It's all about speed and performance without unnecessary weight or bulk. The same is true of gaming PC's. The core components to any game system are those listed above, but there are some options you may want to think about that may make your gamer even a happier little camper: Obviously, every gamer needs a mouse, and with first person shooters such as Quake III and Unreal Tournament all the rage these days, the mouse is more important than ever. Be sure to choose a quality mouse - mail-order manufacturers generally will give you a choice of Microsoft Intellimice, and these are all good choices. The new Intellimouse with Intellieye is particularly nice for first person shooters. Every gamer also needs at least one controller, and usually two or more - a gamepad for games that require digital control, and a joystick for games that work better with analog control. Controllers are a matter of personal taste, so you may want to let the gamer pick these themselves, but the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback joystick and Sidewinder gamepad are always good choices. If your gamer plans to have a high speed cable modem or ADSL connection to the internet for online gaming, you may want to include an ethernet card in the computer system. This is a cheap upgrade - generally around a $20 premium on the system - and it's required for high-speed internet access. And lastly, the GAMES! Every gamer needs some new games to show off their shiny new system, so you may as well throw in at least one or two. Check out the opinions here in the software section or read up on some reviews in the major gaming magazines such as PC Gamer or Computer Gaming World to find out what the hottest games of the moment are - but remember, only you know the tastes of the person you're buying for. It may sound complicated, but don't worry - if you feel overwhelmed, stick to the core system for now. The great thing about computers is that optional components can always be added or exchanged later. You may want to present the core system to your gamer and then go out shopping together for the add-ons - a good strategy, since once that system's set up and running, it may be the last time you see your gamer in the outside world for a good long while.  |
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