DB
i just lost my desktop and i figured y not make my own personal gaming desktop. im just wondering what are the main factors i should be looking for and what parts should i purchase and how should i put them together. if some1 could tell me how to or recommend a website that tells me how, that would be great.
Answer
This is great! Well, the first thing you need to figure is the types of games you want to run on the system. Strategy games like Star Wars Empire at War, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, shooters like Crysys, and simulators like The Sims 3 will require some medium-to-high-end graphics (512MB-1GB memory video card from ATI or nVidia). 4GB to 16GB of DDR3 or higher RAM (memory) is good. A 2.4 GHz or higher AMD Phenom Quad-Core, or 2.4 GHz Intel Core2Quad/i7/or Xeon processor is ideal for the CPU. At least a 160GB hard drive running at least 7200rpm on a SATA connection is decent. More drive space and a faster rpm (rotations per minute) on the hard drive will increase performance. Additionally, a SoundBlaster card will assist in taking away sound and audio processing duties from the processor chip and will allocate this function to a discrete audio card, freeing up some memory and processor cycles. Some other things to consider is the chassis (metal/plastic framework of the system) and the peripherals. The peripherals are the monitor, mouse and keyboard. It is also a good idea for a dedicated gaming computer to look at any additional game controller devices as well. My favorite is actually the wired XBox360 controller, but there are others as well. These make playing the shooter games and flight simulators considerably easier.
A good comparison to make is that while you are building your own system, check the components you think you want in the system from manufactured systems from Dell's XPS and Precision brands, Velocity Micro, Alienware (Dell), Hewlett Packard's Blackbird and Voodoo brands, and even Apple's MacPro towers. These systems are considered to be gaming and graphics systems from the major manufacturers. Apple's MacPro would need to use Boot-Camp and a user-install of a full version of WindowsXP or Vista for Windows gaming, but is still considered along with these others as a gaming and graphics rig. Take a note of what HP, Dell, Apple and Velocity Micro put into these systems and in the way of audio, video, memory, hard drive, and processor and use this to create your own checklist of items for purchase. One last thing to consider is the chassis of the system, and what size of motherboard will fit in that chassis. Make sure that the chassis you get comes with at least a 500-watt power supply for a single video card system, or a 700-watt power supply for a dual/triple (Cross-Fire or SLI) video card system. This is because these power supplies will have extra 6-pin power connectors for high-end gaming video cards.
My particular home-built computer setup is using an Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz processor with 16GB of DDR3 memory, a 1GB RAM nVidia GeForce 9800 video card, a SoundBlaster XFi Audigy sound card, and a 10k rpm Quantum hard drive, and a Pioneer Blu-Ray ROM with DVD & CD burning drive. Since the chassis is in a small box/large shuttle micro-ATX form, and I am only using a single video card, and I am not overclocking either the processor or video card or memory, I am using a 550-watt power supply. But if you intend to add more than one video card or to add even more components in a larger chassis than this, you should opt for a 700-watt power supply.
One last thing to consider is using Windows Vista Ultimate. This may sound silly considering all of the complaints about Vista at this time, but Vista Ultimate in either it's 32 or 64 bit versions will offer good backwards compatibility on a high-end gaming system. It also has DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3.0 included in the installation. XP right now only supports DirectX 9, but may have OpenGL 3 support. Additionally, using Vista Ultimate, and I mean ULTIMATE, not the Home Basic or Home Premium versions of Vista also has better security support and better multi-processor and single multicore processor support as well over the lower versions of Vista and XP.
This is great! Well, the first thing you need to figure is the types of games you want to run on the system. Strategy games like Star Wars Empire at War, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, shooters like Crysys, and simulators like The Sims 3 will require some medium-to-high-end graphics (512MB-1GB memory video card from ATI or nVidia). 4GB to 16GB of DDR3 or higher RAM (memory) is good. A 2.4 GHz or higher AMD Phenom Quad-Core, or 2.4 GHz Intel Core2Quad/i7/or Xeon processor is ideal for the CPU. At least a 160GB hard drive running at least 7200rpm on a SATA connection is decent. More drive space and a faster rpm (rotations per minute) on the hard drive will increase performance. Additionally, a SoundBlaster card will assist in taking away sound and audio processing duties from the processor chip and will allocate this function to a discrete audio card, freeing up some memory and processor cycles. Some other things to consider is the chassis (metal/plastic framework of the system) and the peripherals. The peripherals are the monitor, mouse and keyboard. It is also a good idea for a dedicated gaming computer to look at any additional game controller devices as well. My favorite is actually the wired XBox360 controller, but there are others as well. These make playing the shooter games and flight simulators considerably easier.
A good comparison to make is that while you are building your own system, check the components you think you want in the system from manufactured systems from Dell's XPS and Precision brands, Velocity Micro, Alienware (Dell), Hewlett Packard's Blackbird and Voodoo brands, and even Apple's MacPro towers. These systems are considered to be gaming and graphics systems from the major manufacturers. Apple's MacPro would need to use Boot-Camp and a user-install of a full version of WindowsXP or Vista for Windows gaming, but is still considered along with these others as a gaming and graphics rig. Take a note of what HP, Dell, Apple and Velocity Micro put into these systems and in the way of audio, video, memory, hard drive, and processor and use this to create your own checklist of items for purchase. One last thing to consider is the chassis of the system, and what size of motherboard will fit in that chassis. Make sure that the chassis you get comes with at least a 500-watt power supply for a single video card system, or a 700-watt power supply for a dual/triple (Cross-Fire or SLI) video card system. This is because these power supplies will have extra 6-pin power connectors for high-end gaming video cards.
My particular home-built computer setup is using an Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz processor with 16GB of DDR3 memory, a 1GB RAM nVidia GeForce 9800 video card, a SoundBlaster XFi Audigy sound card, and a 10k rpm Quantum hard drive, and a Pioneer Blu-Ray ROM with DVD & CD burning drive. Since the chassis is in a small box/large shuttle micro-ATX form, and I am only using a single video card, and I am not overclocking either the processor or video card or memory, I am using a 550-watt power supply. But if you intend to add more than one video card or to add even more components in a larger chassis than this, you should opt for a 700-watt power supply.
One last thing to consider is using Windows Vista Ultimate. This may sound silly considering all of the complaints about Vista at this time, but Vista Ultimate in either it's 32 or 64 bit versions will offer good backwards compatibility on a high-end gaming system. It also has DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3.0 included in the installation. XP right now only supports DirectX 9, but may have OpenGL 3 support. Additionally, using Vista Ultimate, and I mean ULTIMATE, not the Home Basic or Home Premium versions of Vista also has better security support and better multi-processor and single multicore processor support as well over the lower versions of Vista and XP.
What do any of you recommend for a 20" lcd monitor?
Ahimsa
I've been looking at Planar and ViewSonic. Each of them has a model I like, but I don't want to overlook something else really good. There are so many choices out there and I've done enough searching and reading reviews to know I'd like some opinions about my specific needs.
I need height adjustable. I think I should be able to get 8ms response, 800:1 contrast and 600+ (?) brightness in the monitor I buy without too much trouble.
My eyes tire easily and I need a larger screen to help with that. I do mostly office-type work. I expect to be doing a little more photo or video in the near future - not professional. I'm not a gamer, but I need really good graphics to help my eyes. I want LCD, also, to reduce my radiation exposure.
I'm also interested in any opinions about buy at a store, or buy online.
Thanks for the help.
Answer
i dont really have a suggestion but i know a site that gives reviews, ratings and online store pricing comparisons just click the link below
http://flat-panels-lcd.monitors.computers.merchanthound.com/
i dont really have a suggestion but i know a site that gives reviews, ratings and online store pricing comparisons just click the link below
http://flat-panels-lcd.monitors.computers.merchanthound.com/
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