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Games Entertainment

Gamers, Upgrade your Systems 383

Posted by michael from the saving-money-for-beer dept.
jbischof writes "Looking to upgrade your aging PC? Ace's Hardware has a new upgrade guide tailored specifically to gamers. The data shows exactly which upgrades - processor, motherboard, gfx card, or combination of the three - will give the best performance boost on all the latest and most popular games (according to their recent poll)."
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Gamers, Upgrade your Systems More

Gamers, Upgrade your Systems

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  • Go Go CowboyNeal Upgrade! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Cool now I know which order to get the components of my CowboyNeal(tm) doll updated!

  • Games? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Corrupt System ( 636550 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:28PM (#5252549)
    I only upgrade my computer to increase benchmark scores.

  • results are from a poll eh... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:29PM (#5252555)
    well if car performace was ranked by the opinions of their drivers, the honda prelude would beat a ferrari and Neons everywhere would outdo porsche.

    useless

    • Re:results are from a poll eh... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Lawbeefaroni ( 246892 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:43PM (#5252657) Homepage

      Video Card Upgrade:
      We upgrade the Geforce 2 Ti 200 to more trendy video cards, such as the Geforce 4 MX 440, Geforce 4 Ti 4200/4600 and Radeon 9700 Pro (Tyan Tachyon G9700). We also check with a Geforce 3 Ti 200 and Radeon 8500, as both videoards featured an excellent price/performance ratio and have been very popular.

      Aww, come on. You mean to tell me you don't buy parts based on how "trendy" they are?

    • results are from a poll eh...

      No they're not. The recommendations are from benchmarks. The base hardware they picked for their tests is what a poll had a large part of their readership running.

      Anyway, don't knock polls. I was very relieved when a poll at HardOCP showed that I'm far from the oldest reader they have. (I was expecting something more like when Freeze [freezeonline.com] sent me a reader survey card with questions like "How old are you?: a) 8-12 b) 12-15 c) 16-7 d) 18 and up" and "How much money do your parents make?")

  • The funny thing about this, (Score:5, Funny)

    by dlb ( 17444 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:30PM (#5252562)
    ..is that the guys who are willing to drop a metric buttload of coin for upgrading their gaming computer, are probably the same ones who were bitching about the $20 download of x86 Solaris.

  • Bad guide... (Score:5, Informative)

    by YahoKa ( 577942 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:33PM (#5252585)
    I really don't like their guides. I find the best one is the sharky gamers guide to system building (at different budgets.) Check it out @ www.sharkyextreme.com [sharkyextreme.com]

  • Blah (Score:5, Insightful)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:34PM (#5252590) Journal
    I played Unreal 2 for a few hours last night on my wont-work obsolete need-an-upgrade Radeon 7200. Guess what? My obsolete out-of-date SB Live! card - not even 5.1 sound, mind you, a paltry 4 channels - worked just fine too. I've recently upgraded my mobo and CPU and bought a new HD. And I didnt spring for the absolutely necessary 8meg cache version either.

    How did the tech industry manage to convince everyone that they absolutely need the latest and greatest bullshit? The machine they were 'upgrading' from is perfectly adequate to play every game they benchmarked.

    1600x1200 with FSAA and AF is nice, but it doesnt make the games any funner.

    Here's my upgrade guide. I wait until I want to play a particular game, and if I absolutely cant, I upgrade. And I double my current specs.

    Unreal 2 is a bore, BTW, for those looking for a review.

    • Re:Blah (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Random Frequency ( 34459 )
      they didn't. that's why computer makes/intel/amd/etc are struggling right now, people just aren't purchasing equipment. You don't need anything faster than a P3 500 to run XP and read your email.

      Thats why you're seeing all these digital media hub features... that turn PCs into PVRs.

    • Re:Blah (Score:2)

      by eddy ( 18759 )

      [...] new HD. And I didnt spring for the absolutely necessary 8meg cache version either.

      Then you're probably missing out on the three year warrany which goes with that option. Now, as long as that's a choice you've made, then it's no problem, I'm just saying that chosing to pay (the rather small premium IMO) for 8MB cache isn't always done solely for performance reasons.

    • ...you still got your ass fragged
    • you sir get the prize :-)

      I just built a Lan-partymachine it's a athalon 1100, 256 meg of ram with a Radeon 7500 dual head. Why? because that is the ONLY card that is less than 3 inches tall to fit in my super small case. I can easily carry my small but fast 15 inch flat panel monitor , computer, cables, keyboard, mouse, headphones, software copies all in a small catalog case. I walk in and register, setup and get gaming in 5 minutes.. the morons with the 4 processor Athalon 3900+ with 22 terebytes of ram and a 7 drive raid array in the tower with wheels think they have it good, but I'm gaming for at least an hour more than they do, I still get 70-80 Fps in all the games and kick their butts while running at 800X600 and none of that silly eye-candy.

      if a game NEEDS all that eye-candy to sell then gameplay sucks.

      it's about fun, not how difficult your life can be trying to get around.
    • I still play UT 1, which as I hear, and you agree with, was much cooler than Unreal 2.

      Interactive gameplay > flashy graphics.

  • Gamecube? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Amsterdam Vallon ( 639622 )
    For a $119 system that's small and has a great library fo games ($20-30 each), I cant go wrong with the Cube.

    Most PC's cost nearly $2x10^3 for a real gaming strenth system ---- plus the games cost $59 each and that's at a cheap place like circuit city.
    • AMEN,

      I got tired of having to update drivers and install service packs just to play the new games coming out. Installing updated drivers and service packs is like playing russian roulette with your system. I get the Gamecube and I know any game I buy for it will run right out of the box.

      I'm very happy with my Gamecube, sure I can't run the very latest PC games but who cares. It's all about entertainment right? Just like gaming under Linux, just because I can't run Dungeon Siege under Linux, doesn't mean I can't still be entertained by Falcons eye or Frozen Bubble. Just because I can't play (natively at least) Civilization III under Linux doesn't mean I won't enjoy playing FreeCiv.

      It's the same with the Gamecube, just because I can't play Quake3 on the GC doesn't mean that Metroid Prime is any less fun and just because my wife can't play The Sims on the GC doesn't mean she doesn't sit for hours playing Animal Crossing and enjoy every minute of it. Heck, she sent me an email asking what Tom Nook is buying Turnips at today.

      I don't need a 2gHz processor to write PHP or ASP code, and I certainly don't need an ATI Radion 9700 to lay out graphics in Paint Shop Pro.

  • Just buy a console! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Junks Jerzey ( 54586 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:35PM (#5252600)
    I know, I know, I'm a troll. Moderate away. But, geez, does tech really matter any more. You can't buy a system, console or PC, that doesn't draw millions of texture mapped triangles per second, doesn't have awesome sound, and so on. It's all so pointless. If money is not an issue, as it certainly wouldn't be to someone who constantly upgrades video cards and such, $160 will get you a nice Game Cube and Mario Sunshine. Or get an X-Box with Splinter Cell. Or whatever.

    The bottom line is that the PC tech race has lost all purpose, except to stroke the ego of hardware fanboys. And, man, do those guys need the ego stroking.

    • Re:Just buy a console! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:38PM (#5252626) Journal
      This guide is better titled "how to make up for your tiny penis". There's absolutely nothing on their list thats needed to take advantage of todays "cutting edge" games.

      Todays "cutting edge" games are designed to play on 3 or 4 year old hardware - because the publishers want to sell it to more than the 2% who runs out to buy the latest videocard.

      I always think Simpsons when another gamer-tech review comes out. "It's slightly faster... TO THE MAX!"

      • Re:Just buy a console! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Magila ( 138485 )
        Todays "cutting edge" games are designed to play on 3 or 4 year old hardware

        Bwhahaha, I'd love to see you run Comanche 4 or BF1942 at 1600x1200x32 with all the settings on max on 3-4 year old hardware. Even with settings turned down it isn't exactly going to be smooth. People have be using this same bullshit argument for years. Just because you can get a game to run playably on 2 year old hardware suddenly OMFG GAMES ARE DESIGNED TO RUN ON ANCIENT HARDWARE YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY IF YOU'RE RUNNING EVEN REMOTELY NEW HARDWARE. BULLSHIT, just because games have adjustable graphics settings so you can play on older hardware doesn't mean getting new hardware gets you nothing. Try running BF1942 on a GF1 then run it on a 9700, the GF1 will look like absolute ass once you've seen what it looks like on the 9700 with all the settings cranked. People have better hardware than you, get over it and stop spouting bullshit about penis extentions and the like.

    • Parent has a point. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RatBastard ( 949 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:59PM (#5252775) Homepage
      The paren post has a valid point. Like a lot of people I know, I am getting sick of the hell that is the constant Upgrade Cycle. I'm tired of upgrading my system to play the latest and greatest only to find that my favorite games no longer work. Upgraded your video card? Oops. All those old 3DFX-specific games no longer work. New processor? Too bad it's too fast and a whole batch of games (thanks a pantload, Origin) run too damned fast. Opps! Looks like that new soundcard killed off a few games. New version of Windows? Guess what? Yep. More games died.

      Three years worth of upgrades (and often less) seems to kill most of the games I have. (Save Quake and it's kin.)

      Compare that to the consoles. All of my old Playstation games still work (save the one I ran over with my chair, but that's my fault). Some of those games were made in 1996/1997. Most games for the PC from those days no longer work.

      Is that a "So what? Thems is old games!" I hear? Bite me. I spent money on those games and it annoys the hell out of me that this sad state of affairs has come to pass.

      • I haven't upgraded my computer in almost 3 years, and I've yet to see a game that hasn't worked on it.

        The only game I miss that I can't play now is the orignal TIE fighter. I have a game from '94 that still works fine though.
      • RatBastard, I couldn't have said it better myself.

        I chimed in on another gaming-related theme a little while back to ask Why... and how... these guys justify spending so much money on what I consider to be only marginally superior systems.

        I'm all for the purist who wants absolute quality, however. The audiophile who dumps $3000 on their system does not puzzle me, because for those people, the listening provides such great enjoyment that they feel the expense is worth it. That's cool. You could say the same thing about gaming computers, I suppose, but the crucial difference: these fanboys don't know what quality is, they just know specs, by and large. Hell, most of these clowns keep quoting stuff like 'games that run at 60 frames per second' without knowing that their fucking TV only shows them 30.

        I mean, 90% of the people in 1st-world nations cannot discern the difference between Windows and Mac. They cannot see it. Physically cannot see it. Does anyone seriously think that these people look at the side-by-side displays of the GC, PS2 and XBOX in Toys'r'us and proclaim the XBOX as the hands-down winner? No damn way. *i* can barely tell the difference, and I am a graphic designer. Sure, I know to look for antialiased edges, poly counts, etc. but the average gamer dude just wants to know if the latest NFL roster is included.

        I also echo your other comment on older games. I still plunk in WipeOut XL on my PS2 and it's a blast.

        I admire the PC Gaming Afficionado's tenacity, but I'd rather spend the extra $500-1000 on, oh, say, another 10-20 quality games.

    • You are right, you ARE a troll, and an uninformed one. Not everyone wants a console. There are lots of reasons for this but the bottom line is some people would rather play games on their PC. They also want to get good performance when they do. A guide like this is for them. If you like console gaming, great, enjoy it. However don't whine because not everyone has the same likes and dislikes as you.
    • yes and you want to take all that great tech and display it on a 640*480 (aprox) display?? That's basically what you are doing by playing console games. And no the PC tech race has not lost all purpose, I still don't see games like NWN with graphics like The Lord of the Rings (the movie) at full frame rate with supper intelligent AI, once I do and can play it in a world with 10's of thousands of other people then maybe I will say hardware has advanced far enough.

  • Wrong kind of burner (Score:5, Funny)

    by Autonymous Toaster ( 646656 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:35PM (#5252602) Homepage

    Ah, I thought that read Ace hardware. That's where I get all my upgrades.

  • MX for gaming? please... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by zhevek ( 147623 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:37PM (#5252615) Homepage
    How is this really news? There are many many sites that have system guides updated once a month... is this site that much better of a system guide?

    The first priority for a gamer, especially a FPS gamer, should be a good video card. However, their first suggestion listed is a Geforce 4 MX 440 over a TI 200, then they don't even provide benchmarks for the Geforce 4 MX? And for that matter, why would any self respecting FPS gamer buy a MX card of any type from Nvidia when the TIs are so much better?

    • Re:MX for gaming? please... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Fig, formerly A.C. ( 543042 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:51PM (#5252713)
      The Ti4200 is better bang for the buck then the Ti200 is, and the 440MX (at $41) is the best bang for the buck around. So, in the budget category, the 440MX wins.

      You can get a 2100XP, ECS K7S5A mobo with sound and LAN that can handle ddr/sdr, and a 440MX card for under $200. Sacrificing CPU or GFX card to improve the other will cost you too much performance, and having done this exact setup for some "cash flow impaired" friends I can tell you firsthand that it's plenty fast to game on, especially when you are upgrading from a P2 400 and a TNT 2 32mb card.

      The 440MX has it's place, depending on what you are looking to do.

    • Yes, that got my attention too.

      "We upgrade the Geforce 2 Ti 200 to more trendy video cards, such as the Geforce 4 MX 440"

      "Trendy"...? wtf?

      Yes, it's newer but that's about it. Isn't the GF2 Ti 200 faster? I thought the GF4 MX 400 was just slightly faster than a GF2 MX 400?

      I guess the GF4 has hardware support for some more fancy features, but not all games use the latest cutting edge features (I think it's actually pretty rare), and pure speed is usually more rewarding.
    • Because they're cheap and work great maybe?

      I thought my GeForce 2 MX couldn't handle UT2 at better than 640x480. Then I upgraded my CPU from 700Mhz to 1.2Ghz. That was $75 vs a couple hundred for a TI which wouldn't have benefited me any more than the processor upgrade.

      Price vs Performance with the current batch of games makes a TI very much overkill still. I'll buy a nice TI when the price drops and I have the extra money.

      And, as others have mentioned, consoles now beat the pants off of a PC in the graphics area for the price.

      GeForce 2 MX or N64? Graphics card wins. GeForce TI vs GameCube, PS2, or X-Box? Console wins.

      Ben
      • a GF3 Ti200 64MB wouldn't cost you much more than that 1.2Ghz cpu, so depending on the game you might have recieved a lot more bang for the buck out of the Ti200, or for a little more a 64MB Ti4200. Of course with a 700MHz cpu many games would be cpu limited so I guess the CPU could be a good upgrade too =) of course I would have done both.

  • You know you're an F1 fan when... (Score:5, Funny)

    by DG ( 989 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:38PM (#5252625) Homepage Journal
    ...you see this screenshot:

    http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=50000363 ...and know not only what track you're on, but that the car is in a position (in the braking area leading up to the chicane, on the wrong side of the track, with a couple of degrees of steering lock in the wrong direction) to crash in the next heartbeat.

    DG

  • Speaking of upgrades... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Glytch ( 4881 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:42PM (#5252648)
    New motherboard: CAN$119.

    Athlon 2100+: CAN$206.

    512MB RAM: CAN$115.

    Realizing you have no cash left to replace your 16MB NVidia TNT2: Priceless.

  • Ask Slashdot: Stereo Gaming? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by VoidEngineer ( 633446 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:42PM (#5252652)
    OK, so I'm only vaguely impressed with Ace's gaming system... Seems to me like they're splitting hairs over upgrades of off-the-shelf equipment. Here's my question for all of you slashdotters:

    Given the above article, and the premise that slashdotters have a wider range of experience than Ace, what would be the ideal configuration for a stereo-video enabled gaming system? Say I want something that can run Stereo-Quake or Stereo-Descent... Also assume that cost isn't really a factor (wish that were true, but I'm just pipe dreaming here...).

    Besides the CPU and motherboard, there's also things like monitors (stereo projection monitors?), controllers (throttles, immersion gloves, goggles), stereo audio systems (THX?), and even room design. What would slashdotters put together with a beefy $50K to $100K budget, eh? Assume that the project is to put together the ultimate stereo-Quake VR simulator, and that you have access to the code of the game...

    • Uhhhhh (Score:4, Informative)

      by Sycraft-fu ( 314770 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:06PM (#5252829)
      I think you are misusing the term stereo a bit here. If you want a simple solution for 3d with stereo glassess, get a deceantly fast nVidia card, like a GF 3 200 or better and get the stereo glassess for it. You also need a monitor that can pull a deceant refresh rate. The card will the work with the shutters on the glassess to do 3d. Works well for the price.

      As for sound I haven't seen a non-stereo Pc in years. In sound terminology stereo means 2-channel, left and right. You are thinking surround sound. Also, THX isn't a surround sound spec, Doubly Pro Logic, Doubly Digital, Digital Theatre System, and Sound Dynamic Digital Sound are. THX is a spec that involves listener experneice and deals with noise and distortion levels, volume calibration, crossovers and a whole bunch of other things. the idea is if you buy a THX system and calibrate it right, you'll get a movie theatre sound experience form DVD.

      However, it really won't do much good as Quake doesn't support 3d positional sound. It just does normal stereo sound.
    • Well any nvidia based card supports stereoscopic graphics. So just grab a Gforce4 and you're good to go. However for the "best" stereo effect you're going to want to find a sheet of polarizing liquid crystal to go over your monitor. It would be simple to adapt the stereo connector built into many of the high end nvidia cards or to pull the sync from the green pin from the VGA out and use it to toggle the LCD (however in the case of using the vide sync you would need to add a switch to reverse the single in case it syncs on the wrong eye). Then you just need a pair of bi-polarized glasses so that each eye can only see what one polarized state of the LCD allows. The main advantage of this is that there is no flicker from the ambient lite as you don't have active LCDs in front of your eyes. The last setup like this I built cost around 500$, but that was years ago.

  • Show me the money (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ianscot ( 591483 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:47PM (#5252683)
    Somebody point me to a cost comparison of how the two approaches work:

    - upgrading PC every one or two years to keep up with the latest card-crushing games.

    - buying the latest and greatest console every two years.

    Seems like the console's a no brainer. When you need a new box for other reasons, you'll get one that's up-to-date for the latest titles... but why go through this cost and hassle when you can get a pop-it-in-it-plays system for $200 and no labor?

    • Re:Show me the money (Score:3, Interesting)

      by RatBastard ( 949 )
      Actually, the life-span of consoles is about five years. And even when no one makes new games for those older consoles, the games all still work (baring damage to the console or the media).

      • Unless you are Sony and make your new systems backward compatible. Then, even if your old console goes south you can still play the games. :)

        In the other console systems defense
        - There is no previous version of the Xbox to be backward compatible with, we'll see what they do with the next version.
        - ditto with the Dreamcast, except there won't BE a next version.
        - Nintendo was moving in a different direction with their delivery media. Going from a cart to a disc.

    • Re:Show me the money (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Zathrus ( 232140 )
      but why go through this cost and hassle when you can get a pop-it-in-it-plays system for $200 and no labor?

      Ok, so show me the console game that can compete with UT2k3 at 1280x1024 with anti-aliasing and all effects turned on.

      Funny that... the console doesn't have the horsepower. I'm sure you'll fair better with Doom3.

      Ok, so which console has Moo3 coming out for it? Oh. None. What about Warcraft 3? Huh... funny that. How's about Neverwinter Nights? Er...

      Ok, well you do have online access on consoles now... a decade late, but hey, who's counting? So now I can play all those custom mods and maps with my fri... what? You can't do custom content? What the hell?

      Well at least I'll be able to play all the games I want on my console, and not worry about incompat... what the hell do you mean there are three different systems out? And they're each $200? Do you have any idea what kind of PC I can build for $600 nowadays?

      Screw this console crap. I'll stick with the PC. After all, my last system lasted nearly 3 years before I had to upgrade. Plus I can surf the web, do my taxes, and everything else.
      • And you've got four or more controllers plugged in to that PC? It's in your living room where you can all sit in comfort. It's plugged in to a screen bigger that 19". You have a bunch of friends who come over to play. The machine doesn't make more noise than the F1 car sounds coming from the stereo as you play. You don't keyboard or mouse to do anything.

        Yeah, right.
        • And you've figured out the key point - the gaming style for consoles is not the same as for the PC. They are distinct and different and one does not preclude the other, nor does one replace the other.

          Oh, and for the record, I have a 21" monitor. So on at least one point you're wrong :)

          And hooking up a PC to a HDTV isn't all that difficult either.

        • it's all possible (Score:3, Interesting)

          by _|()|\| ( 159991 )
          four or more controllers ... in your living room ... screen bigger than 19" ... doesn't make more noise ... don't keyboard or mouse to do anything

          With the possible exception of the last point, yes, all of this is possible with a PC.

          controllers There are some great dual-shock clones available, such as the Thrustmaster FireStorm Dual Power, the Logitech RumblePad, and the Gravis Eliminator AfterShock. Plug in as many as you like, depending on game support.

          living room A modest gaming system can fit in an attractive micro ATX case. Flex ATX is pushing it, unless you can find a motherboard with a decent 3D chip.

          screen Get a video card with TV out. At 640x480, you'll be able to crank up the detail, anti aliasing, and anisotropic filtering. Of course, you always have the option of higher resolution with HDTV, monitor, LCD projector, etc.

          noise You can build a quiet PC, so long as you don't use fire-breathing parts like a GeForce FX. If you don't want to build, it can be difficult to tell how loud a store-bought system will be.

          no keyboard Well, I see the lack of keyboard as the biggest weakness of consoles. I suppose you could map some macros with the game-pad drivers to launch your favorite games.

          Clearly, a console is a more efficient way to get couch-potato gaming. If you don't have a decent PC to start with, it's also cheaper. I just love the depth and breadth of PC games. Grand Theft Auto and Madden are great, but I can't give up WarCraft, NASCAR Racing, Falcon, and first-person shooters.

        • Re:Show me the money (Score:3, Interesting)

          by 0x0d0a ( 568518 )
          And you've got four or more controllers plugged in to that PC?

          Sure, USB. Try and plug 127 controllers into your console. :-) More realistically, I have three, though I've only ever used two at once.

          It's in your living room where you can all sit in comfort.

          Err...no, PCs have better online support. No need to make friends walk over to your house to play.

          It's plugged in to a screen bigger that 19".

          Nope. Why would I want it to be? The resolution is much more important than the size. Heck, the other day I was playing a Dreamcast game from a projector to get a 20' tall image. Looked awful.

          You have a bunch of friends who come over to play.

          They don't *need* to, because they can play remotely.

          Which, granted, is about fifteen feet away in a dorm...

          The machine doesn't make more noise than the F1 car sounds coming from the stereo as you play.

          My computer is much more quiet than the PS/2 my roommate has. That has a ridiculously loud drive, and you can hear the thing read. Last time I played on an Xbox, same thing was true. Dunno about the GC.

          You don't keyboard or mouse to do anything.

          Because you *cannot* use the keyboard or mouse. Which, for many types of games is a *huge* drawback. The mouse is *much* better than a controller for strategy games (real time or turn based). It's also much better for FPSes. The keyboard is essential for games that use more than the puny eight buttons or so on the gamepad (a proper Quake setup, a roguelike), anywhere you want to type text...
    • Don't freak out, but I don't happen to own a tv (on purpose!), or a stand alone DVD, or a cabinet stereo system.

      I do happen to own a PC with a 22 inch monitor that plays videos, has a great sound card, and nice stereo speakers and on which I can play a HUGE variety of games...Including nethack.

      If I were to go and buy the television, the stereo, and the console that hopefully plays DVDs, my cost of operation for a $200 console jumps to WAAAAAAAAY over the cost of my all-in-one PC unit.

      Also, my PC can fax, wordprocess, let me play around with code, "surf the net", generate really cool fractal images which I can print on my color printer, and oh yeah, the other thing I can't do on a console system...DOWNLOAD PRoN!

      So if you only want to play games, and only those that are avialable for 1 system, get a little console box to go with your TV.

      For me, since I use my PC for everything else, I think I am coming out ahead with the arrangement I have. Maybe when NetHack is available for a console I will consider buying it.

      The next thing I want is to control the A/C and heater and the coffee pot from my system. Even better, a macro button that will put my frozen pizza in the oven when I am powergaming on EQ for 36 hours straight. It would go well with the catheter I just ordered!

  • My hardest decision is always the motherboard... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Maul ( 83993 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:51PM (#5252712) Journal
    I've found that the hardest decision in building a box is always the motherboard. I basically know what to expect from the graphics card manufacturers and from Intel and AMD.

    I'm actually quite happy with my current ASUS motherboard, which I've had for almost 2 years now. I am sort of worried about all the reports of capacitors exploding and whatnot, but I don't seem to have any of the "warning" signs on mine.

    Either way, my system is starting to show a bit of age, and I'm thinking about building a new one come this spring. I'm expecting a fairly hefty income tax refund, so I figure it might be time to plunk down some cash I've saved up for a new box.

    I know pretty much what I want. I'll probably go with the latest and greatest offerings from nVidia or ATI, and stick with a faster AMD processor.

    But I'm not sure about the motherboard. I enjoy gaming, so I'm thinking about going for something with the nForce chipset.

    This report seems to suggest that the nForce 2 chipset will benefit your FPS. So perhaps I'll look into those. Then there is the matter of trying to avoid motherboards with the exploding capacitors...
    • I'm quite happy with my Soyo Dragon. It is wonderfully configurable for powerusers / overclockers, but for people like me who are happy with stock performance, the available tweak settings are not obtrusive. Rock-solid stability, excellent features (on-board Lan and 6-channel audio with 5 PCI slots + AGP, USB 2.0, and integrated IDE RAID controller). Until I bought it I've been using Gigabyte / Asus / Abit / Tyan motherboards, which I was generally pretty happy with. I'm glad I spent the extra few bucks -- the inclusion of sound, LAN and RAID are worth more than the difference in price.

      The nForce is also a very viable option. Unified driver for all on-board components make setup a breeze (in Windows anyway), but the Soyo just *feels* faster with the same CPU, RAM and video (not all nForce boards come with integrated GeForce video). I built a system for someone and tried out the nForce to see if I wanted to trade motherboards. I didn't, really.

  • tetris all the way baby (Score:3, Funny)

    by frodo from middle ea ( 602941 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:52PM (#5252715) Homepage
    tetris is what i play,
    and with 1.2 GHz AMD Athlon, 512 MBRam and ATI A-I-W Ultra Pro AGP 32 MB RAM , it kicks some butt.
    I play tetris in Vim, in xemacs, so there

  • "We upgrade the Geforce 2 Ti 200 ..." (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Time Doctor ( 79352 ) <zjs@zacharyjackslater.com> on Friday February 07, 2003 @02:52PM (#5252720) Homepage Journal
    Except there never was any such card. To the best of my knowledge, anyway. This would be fine except they mention this imaginary product twice. Perhaps they mean a GTS, GTS Pro, MX, or Geforce 3 Ti 200?

  • [OT]: Cheap DVI Video Card to drive HD Cinema Dsip (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jovlinger ( 55075 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:11PM (#5252864) Homepage
    I've scrimped up engouh money for one of the now cheapish 23" HD Cinema displays (1920x1200 of rock-steady pixel lovin') from Apple. Unfortunately, I'll have to upgrade my ATI AIW Radeon because it puts out a max of 1280x1024 to DVI. I'll need a DVI->ADC converter to drive the monitor, which runs about $100. I now have VERY cach little left for the video card.

    Can anyone suggest a video card with good Linux support, able to put out DVI at the above res, and able to scale DVD video to that size? I don't ever use 3d, so performance is less of an issue. Price and linux support are tho. I notice apple's website suggests that the HD display hates matrox, loves ATI or nvidia. Any idea why?

    Best of all woudl be if you actually have such a setup running, and can confirm it works

  • Variable detail level (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Malc ( 1751 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:18PM (#5252924)
    "Specifically, many games now feature several levels of detail, enabling those with faster video cards to enable extra shadowing, higher levels of geometry, higher resolution textures, and so forth."

    I thought Ace were normally pretty knowledgeable. This has been going on for years. I remember playing F19 Stealth Fighter and MSFT Flight Sim back in the 80's (CGA graphics - yeah!), and they had these options then. I'm sure they weren't the first either.

  • Article has an interesting conclusion (Score:3, Interesting)

    by palmech13 ( 59124 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:21PM (#5252955) Homepage
    Actually, the article has a suprising (at least for me) conclusion: strategy / RPG games may benifit by upgrading your video card (they're really starting to take advantage of that stuff) whereas first person shooters require more CPU (due to increased AI). The FPS games used were Battlefield 1942 and Ghost Recon.

    This is fairly contrary to what I've heard in the past, which was always the opposite.

  • The Rule of the Three (Score:5, Insightful)

    by or_smth ( 473159 ) <tdimson.gmail@com> on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:26PM (#5253014)
    Here's my little rule for upgrading my system.

    Replace every three generations, or when things are three times as fast as your current device.

    Simple, isn't it? For the past 10 (or so) I've worked on that little rule and it's lead me exactly where I want to go.

    My 486 became a Pentium II 266 became a Pentium III 800 became an Athlon 2400+.

    My something rather (I think it was an S3 Virge, but this was in the days when no one cared anyway) became a Voodoo 2 became a Geforce 256 became a Radeon 8500 (Which I bought budget at $100 canadian).

    My Gravis Ultrasound became a Sound blaster Live became a Hercules Game Theater XP became Nforce2 Dolby Digital output.

    It's strange how well this system worked out. Just as my machine became almost unbearable for games (About a 30FPS average for most games) I've upgraded because of this 3x rule. Sure, it means that you won't be at the bleeding edge for very long but the edge is too easy to fall off anyway. Only idiots would skip from a Radeon 8500 to a 9700, just as it would be stupid to ditch a 2400+ Athlon for a 2.8ghz P4. At the same time, people who tell that a 500mhz and a Voodoo 3 is enough for anyone are obviously not playing any modern games. The trick is to get caught in between the two extremes.

  • If cost *really* isn't an issue . . . (Score:5, Insightful)

    by phantumstranger ( 310589 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:29PM (#5253054) Homepage
    then I'm heading over to Alienware's [alienware.com] gaming systems [alienware.com] and drooling for a little before I buy. If money is an issue (which it is for me) then I'm going through the time to research Price Watch [pricewatch.com] until my fingers bleed and building a killer box that way.

    Regardless, if I'm not in the mood to build a box I think I'd trust [alienware.com] Alienware for a gaming machine over anyone else out there.

  • Timing: (Score:3, Funny)

    by Unknown Poltroon ( 31628 ) <unknown_poltroon1sp@myahoo.com> on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:37PM (#5253131)
    WHy did this come out the DAY AFTER i blow 150 bucks on a video card? I mean, im happy with it and all, but the comparison would have been nice. ;)

    • Re:Timing: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by The Evil Couch ( 621105 )
      you do realize that there are other sites that you can go to, to get information and that said sites are just a google search away, right? if you're going to drop 150 bucks on something, you really ought to do a little checking around to make sure you're getting the best bang for your buck.

  • I'm waiting for... (Score:4, Informative)

    by siphoncolder ( 533004 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @03:56PM (#5253292) Homepage
    ... Doom 3.

    Currently, I'm running an ancient 1GHz Thunderbird Athlon, with 768MB of PC-133 SDRAM, a GeForce4 TI4200, and 2 HDDs - 27GB Maxtor and 80GB Maxtor, 2MB cache. I've been running this rig for almost 2 years now, and it still runs strong & stable. Only upgrades I did were the 80GB HDD after a 20GB Maxtor that died a horrid, clicking & spinning death during an FDISK (after having it cause countless crashes & ATA failures), and the GeForce4 (which offered me a surprising performance increase in games over the GeForce2 GTS 32MB it replaced).

    This rig still runs all my favorites plus some of the newer games (UT2K3 runs fine at my LCD flat panel's native res (1280x1024) with normal options turned on). The upgrade guide on Ace's (which I haven't read) simply wouldn't offer me any compelling reason to upgrade for today's games.

    Doom 3, OTOH, would probably provide my system a major challenge (according to reports on its functionality, anyway). When Doom 3 comes out, that'll be my new benchmark & prompt me to upgrade. Not sooner.

  • "Gamer's Linux" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LoudMusic ( 199347 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @04:43PM (#5253660)
    Perhaps someone needs to make a Linux for Gamers distribution. Include all the free games, all the demo games, and make it stupid easy. Include a stupid easy email client and Mozilla ... and XMMS. It needs nothing else. Sell the idea to people like Blizzard, Sierra, and EA. It could be like console systems, with upgradable hardware. It could have software that checks for driver updates for their hardware, and has an overclocker app.

    Shit, you could even do the hardware route. I bet AlienWare [alienware.com] would pick it up if it were good enough. They're doing the MS Media Center thing as it is.

  • SDRAM (Score:3, Interesting)

    by WasterDave ( 20047 ) <[davep] [at] [zedkep.com]> on Friday February 07, 2003 @05:27PM (#5253950)
    I'm still disappointed to see a lack of comparisons between SDRAM and DDR. I have an XP1800 on KT133a and really don't want to have to change the motherboard, RAM etc. If I drop a faster video card on it (currently running a o/ced GF3 ti200), will it go to waste? If I drop a faster CPU on it, will it starve for bandwidth?

    Really I guess it boils down to what Doom3 needs to go properly, and whether or not I give a shit about PC gaming once it finally comes out. The price/performance of my PS2 looks pretty good right now.

    Dave

  • What I would like to know is (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cyno ( 85911 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @05:48PM (#5254091) Journal
    What hardware is supported 100% by the manufacturer for Linux. Building a gaming system is cool and all, but when you install Linux on it and find out you can't use TV-out or about half the features of your video card. It makes me feel like I've been ripped off.

    I don't want to buy any more hardware unless I know I won't run into NDA/IP walls that restrict me from getting good drivers. My money is worth more than a useless hunk of silicon.

    How do we build a Linux gaming system with analog video In and Out. Better yet I would like to build a small, possibly portable, video streaming box out of a cheap mini PC using Linux. I can totally customize the interface, but finding good quality supported hardware is a bitch and a half. The last thing I want to do is buy something, install Linux on it and find out the manufacturer is like Trident and doesn't want to release documentation for their ultra secret super technical dirt-cheap video card to the community.

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