 |
|
Building the Ultimate Gaming System IIby Kirk, 2005-03-17 |
||||
|
Power Supply
This is pretty simple. I'm always one to say it simple- you need at least 500 watts. Why? Because you don't want to be doing stupidass math to figure out how much wattage you need just to find out you're under powering your new components, making them promptly suck ass. Get at least 500 watts. My choice:  Ultra X-Connect 500w Power Supply The disadvantage of old power supplies is that the cords you use you usually end up splitting, and the ones you don't you end up trying to hide in the case. This case fixes that- you plug in the cords you need into the power supply, and you leave the other ones out. Nice, eh? Great for us neat freaks. Plus, its 500-watt, enough to power a small village. Case Oh lordy lordy lord. This is like telling someone that their girlfriend looks like ass. Telling someone their case sucks is like hurting a personal friend. Of course, I like to use this quote from a forum topic I read on cases. "There's case quality with a Q and then there's Kwality, like blinking lights". Translation: YOU SHOULD NOT BE COMPUTING WITH A RICER. Unless you intend to go out and parade your case around, I seriously doubt anyone's going to be really considering how nicely the front bezel lights up, or if there's a window on the side. THE STUFF YOU REALLY NEED: - A lock on the side and front panels - At least 3 fans, preferably 120mm- 80mms are louder and push less air - Speaking of fans, you'll probably want a fan filter on at least the front fans, if there are any. Back fans are usually exempt (They're exhaust, usually), but intake fans NEED a filter. - A detachable Motherboard tray - Preferably steel and aluminum construction, however its hard to find outside of custom built computer companies like Alienware. I'd suffice for an aluminum or steel, but never thin steel or cheap aluminum Prepare to pay at least $100 for a case, or otherwise you're going to be building your computer in an over inflated kid's toy. You need a decent case. Okay, let me list off some good ideas. First off, if you're looking for the ultimate cooling and overall best built case, look no farther than Lian-Li. Except for bitching about the price, I have NEVER seen a negative review about a Lian-Li PC. Of course, you might be paying a $300 premium for such bragging rights. However, if you have that kind of cash, go for it. My Choice:  MGE XG Sidewinder Its got a decent array of fans and possible cooling solutions, all 120mm. No fan filters nor removable trays, but it makes up for it in cooling. Monitor I have become a recent convert of the LCD revolution. I have limited desk spacee, so this is only natural. However, I think its fair to give brother CRT a fight, and promote the advantages and disadvantages of each: LCD Advantages- Small, light, flat (Meaning all the pixels are perfectly aligned) Disadvantages- Pixel burnout, Colors sometimes badly displayed, bad response time CRT Advantages- Fast response time, no pixels to burn out, just like a TV Disadvantages- Big, bulky, hard to use, curved (Means that sometimes a square might not display properly) Overall, though, I think that certain LCDs can't be beat. After all, LCDs pick up the ladies. Its a fact. My choice:  Hyundai ImageQuest L90D+ 19" LCD Monitor 19", by the way, is 20" in CRT scale. Also, the thing has a stunning 8ms response time, meaning it could EASILY handle the fastest games out there. Its just about as fast as a standard LCD. Plus, it looks cool. Looking cool picks up ladies. Miscellaneous Don't forget, kids, to pick up Speakers, a Mouse and Keyboard, and a rounded SATA cord, a rounded IDE cord, and a few games to fill that system. Oh yeah, don't forget an Operating System, which basically has to be Windows XP, so there's not much debate there. (Don't give me bullshit about Linux or FreeBSD or other crappy OSes. We're talking gaming, and most, if not all games require Windows.
|
|
|||
