Advanced Gamer:

This Gaming Computer ROCKS

Our Advanced Gaming computer is meant to be a quality machine that
will give top-notch performance in the current generation and
continue to give top performance in next generation’s games.

In today’s hardware world, that means buying a fast processor, but more
importantly, a top-of-the-line video card of the current generation.
Video cards will become obsolete faster than processors, and your
purchases should reflect that. 


Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.20GHz / 1MB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket
AM2 / Dual-Core (Windsor) / Processor with Fan - $194.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-processor-1
ABIT KN9 SLI NVIDIA Socket AM2 (940) ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI
Express / SLI Ready / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial
ATA / RAID - $139.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-motherboard
For our CPU, we will go with the Athlon 64 X2 4200+. This is
actually the same CPU as the beginning gamer machine, but with a
better motherboard and graphics card. As we've noted before, the CPU
isn't as important as a good video card when building a system for
longevity, and this CPU will be competitive for several years yet.
We chose to go with the Abit KN9 SLI Socket AM2 card, as it has a
generally good specification, and includes SLI facilities, should
you want them in the future. Abit is also a very well-respected
motherboard manufacturer.

Memory
Corsair TWINX Dual Channel 1024MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory
(2x512MB) - $151.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-memory
Being a dedicated gaming machine, we really need at least 1GB of
memory. There was a time when this was considered an obscene amount
of memory, but it is really becoming commonplace on today’s gaming
machines to have 1GB or more. Newer games such as Half Life 2, Doom
3, and Far Cry will use over 512MB of memory for textures, and a
definite performance increase can be seen by upgrading to 1GB. In
addition, instead of going with a single 1GB stick of RAM, we will
go with 2 512MB sticks and run them in dual channel mode. This will
gain us a slight performance increase as well.



Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda ES 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive -
$144.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-hard-drive
[Note: We upgraded the hard drive because the model we originally used
was discontinued. The new model offers 200GB more than the original.]

[Original descriptions continue]:
Our motherboard supports SATA drives so we'll take advantage of that
with this Seagate 300GB SATA-300 16MB hard drive. This will gain us
a performance increase over standard IDE, as well as offering more
compact drive cables. When selecting a SATA solution, it is
important to also select a power supply that is SATA ready. We will
address that later.

Optical Drive
AOpen DUW1616L PRO / 16x8x16x DVD+RW / 16x6x16x DVD-RW / 8x DVD ħR
DL / 48x24x48x CD-R/RW / DVD Burner and Software Included - $37.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-optical-drive
For this system, we'll go with a 16X DVD burner. This AOpen DUW1616L
Pro is a great bargain, and supports dual layer DVD-Rs. It also
includes the excellent Nero software for CD/DVD burning. Any serious
multimedia machine built today should include a DVD burner.

Video Card
XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual GPU 520M Xtreme / 1GB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI
Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card - $589.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-video-card
This video card is the most expensive single component in our
machine, and with good reason. The XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 features the
cream of Nvidia's current crop of graphics cards. It's dual GPUs
mean that it will eat up anything you through at it, and with 1GB of
DDR3 memory on-board, it will cope with huge resolutions. You can be
confident it will run the Quake 3, Doom 3 and Fry Cry engines very
well indeed. This is definitely a card with some headroom for future
generation games, and is an excellent choice in any gaming system
provided you can afford the high price.

Floppy Drive
1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - $17.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-floppy-drive

A decent quality floppy drive is an important part of any system.
There was a time when a system WITHOUT a floppy drive was
unthinkable. Although most of today’s applications come on CD, when
Windows won't boot up, a floppy drive and a boot disk can save you
LOTS of hassle. 







 

Sound Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI Sound Card -
$104.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-sound-card
This card will open your eyes (ahem, ears) to how gaming audio can
immerse you in the game’s environment. The first time I heard the
sounds coming from this card, I was amazed at the clarity compared
to the on-board/cheaper sound cards I had grown accustomed to. When
paired with a 5.1 speaker setup, this soundcard will take your games
to the next level. Speaking of nice 5.1 speakers...

Speakers
Logitech Z-5500 THX Certified 5.1 500-watt Dolby Digital & DTS
Hardware Decoding Speaker System - $279.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-speakers
Simply put, this speaker system is incredible in terms of size,
weight, power and value. The size and weight are due to the
subwoofer which is approximately equivalent to the size of a 19" CRT
Monitor. The power comes from the subwoofer and the satellites.
Finally, the value is attributed to both the overall power of the
whole system, as well as the included control center.  This is a 5.1
system that will bring your games to life.

Case
ThermalTake Tsunami Series Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower Case with Top USB,
Firewire and Audio Ports - Silver - $99.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-case

ThermalTake is known for their high quality cases, and this
all-aluminium case is no exception. All the front ports are there,
and the design looks cool and cools well, with 3 built-in fans. A
great, well-made and stylish case.

Power Supply
Power Up / 550-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / Power Supply -
$59.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-power-supply
This is the first recommendation for an external power supply. A
power supply is an often overlooked component and can cause myriads
of problems throughout your system such as random lockups, sudden
shutdowns, and potential data corruption. A bad power supply can not
only be unstable, but if it malfunctions, it can damage other
components in your system. You don't want a $30 power supply killing
your $250 video card. Always evaluate the quality of your power
supply when putting together any system. SATA hard drives can
require compatible power supplies to operate. So in this case we
chose the SATA-ready Power up 550W. This power supply will provide
rock-solid voltages and has a great reputation for longevity. It
will suit our system well.

Monitor
PHILIPS 202P73/27 Silver-Black 22" CRT Monitor 0.25mm Dot Pitch
D-Sub - Retail - $453.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-monitor
It’s time to ramp up the screen space with a nice 22" Philips flat
screen CRT monitor. This one supports resolutions up to 2048x1536
and you should be able to pull that resolution off on some games
with the video card in this system. For gaming purposes, some people
contend CRT monitors provide a better overall picture than LCD
displays. LCD monitors can have issues with screen
‘smearing/ghosting’ when making quick movements in FPS games. On the
flipside, an LCD display offers a level of detail and color vibrancy
a standard CRT can't touch. If you are interested in an LCD display,
the following model offers a nice picture with a minimal amount of
‘smearing/ghosting’:

ASUS PW201 Black 20.1" 8ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 350 cd/m2
800:1 Built in Speakers - Retail - $539.99 (at the time of this writing)
http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/gaming-computer-monitor-2


Final Tally:
CPU $194.99
Motherboard $139.99
Memory $151.99
Hard Drive   $139.99
Video Card $589.99
Optical Drive $37.99
Floppy Drive $17.99
Sound Card $104.99
Speakers $279.99
Case $99.99
Power Supply $59.99
Monitor $453.99

Total - $2271.88 ($1817.89 without monitor)

The Advanced Gamer system will provide you with gaming bliss well
throughout the next generation of titles. With the power horse XFX
GeForce 7950 leading the way, this system should keep on putting out
solid frame rates well into the future.

Comparable Pre-Built System:

Neither Dell nor Compaq had any system comparable to this one, so I
went to alienware.com and configured a system quite close to the
Advanced Gamer.  In a nutshell, this is what I got:

Athlon 64 X2 4600+
1 GB Dual Channel DDR2 (same as our setup)
250 GB *MB cache SATA Drive (ours has 16MB cache and is larger)
1024MB Nvidia GeForce 7950GX2 (same as our setup)
16 x DVD +/-RW Drive (same as our setup)
Alienware Edition Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite (approx. same as our
setup)
Logitech X-5500 5.1 Speaker System Black (same as our setup)
Alienware Case (good quality, but I'd still take ours)

Total without Monitor - $2629

The Alienware system includes Windows XP, but it is still around
$250 more expensive. Although it does have a slightly faster
processor this does not make up for the extra cost.









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