Viewing Thread:
"Best Ever Specs!!"

What a crap title. My worst ever. Anyway, I'm getting a new PC very soon indeed, and will order one tomorrow unless my internet connection doesn't work again. And my question to all of you is: what's the best equipment at the moment for a PC? And no, I don't want bias towards SR or anything, mentioning only those that are in the Mag - I would like you to inform of the most recent specs. I'm getting a P4 PC, if that helps. If you have any info, or any URLs which can be helpful, please post here. I want the best motherboard, sound card, HD, everything!

It's getting to the point (well, it's past it) where the speed of a game isn't restricted by the processor, it's down to the graphics card to do the work.

Hmm, you're all biased towards Athlon. Anyway, as long as you're certain that most of today's games (including processive intensive ones, e.g. Deus Ex, Half- Life, Voyager, RTS games run without a skip (other than to load music), then I'll take the Athlon.

I'm sure they will take advantage of it, fact is, only the most intensive graphics apps need that kind of power at the moment, and it can cost twice as much as an Athlon..

Win2k is actually very good for games, nVidia have decent driver support (keeping up with the home o/s releases), directX is kept up to date, and most modern games will run on it fine - the only one I've ever had a problem with is Commandos, but I found a patch to get that running on 2000 anyway.

Reaper[oV] wrote:
> Yup. The box I use for games etc is

Athlon 1.1ghz
768mb
> RAM
19" monitor
GeForce2 (soon to be GF3)
40gb hard drive +
> 30gb 2nd hdd
Windows 2000
SB Awe64

Windows 2000 is the best
> thing about it from my point of view, much better stability than
> 9x.

I thought W2000 was geared towards networks and businesses, and not towards running games.

I would like a GeForce 3 - which is the best on the market at the mo?

I'm sure developers will soon take advantage of the P4's features.

Yup. The box I use for games etc is

Athlon 1.1ghz
768mb RAM
19" monitor
GeForce2 (soon to be GF3)
40gb hard drive + 30gb 2nd hdd
Windows 2000
SB Awe64

Windows 2000 is the best thing about it from my point of view, much better stability than 9x.

Essential parts? Motherboard, Graphics Card, Monitor, RAM, CPU.

Not really much good without the others...but yeah, that list should do you. Work out which parts you want to focus on most - I need this machine for games mainly, I have another for multimedia stuff, so I cut down on DVD drive, sound card etc..

Not a tech person, but I'm running:

1gig Athalon
256mb
TNT Pro 63 Video Card
Soundblaster Creative
40gig hard drive

And I have zero problems with it.
It's The Daddy

OK then, you've convinced me to build my own. Final question: what essential parts do you need to get it up and running? Just to check so I don't leave anything out.

Processor
Motherboard
Graphics card
Sound Card
RAM
HD
CD and DVD
floppy
Speakers
monitor
tower case

There are a number of disadvantages with TFT panels - the main ones for me have always been restrictive resolutions, and very precise viewing angles. All modern ones tilt to correct this, but the fact still stands that you can't view them from all angles, you have to be looking at it perfectly to avoid having parts of the screen turning blue/black.

Why this happens, I can't explain...anyone?