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Help with definition of an 'Ultimate Gaming System" :-)

M

Mynzaboxer

Member
I'm not what you could call a hardcore gamer, but in considering what I want to include in my new system, I'd like to think it's speed and video capabilites will let me play the latest games for a year or two.

In reading an article in the latest issue of PC Gamer they laid out what could be considered an 'Entry Level', 'Mid Range' and "Dream System". I could understand the use of the various video cards and processors shown, but I was a little confused about the use of 256 SDRAM for Memory in the first two system and the use of two sticks of 128 PC800 RDRAM for the Dream System. From what I've read so far.....until that point.....DDR has been the way to go.

I'm thinking of building I guess what would be identified as a midrange system, using possibly the ASUS A7V board with the AMD Thunderbird 1.333GHZ processor but am stumped on the use of DDR. Any thoughts on whether DDR is definitely the way to go?

Last question. All systems were shown with a 300 watt power supply. With the faster processors & video cards would this be sufficient? I've seen articles where it wouldn't. Feeling lost 🙂.
 


<< Help with definition of an 'Ultimate Gaming System&quot; 🙂 >>



PS: Enermax 550watt
CPU: P4 1.7 retail w/dragon orb &amp; arctic silver 2
MOBO: Asus P4T i850 Retail
MEMORY: 512mb of PC-800 Samsung rambus
Video: Hercules Geforce 3
Sound: Hercules Game Theatre
Monitor: Sony GDM-F500R 21&quot; .22 pitch AP
OS: WinME

MS FF Wheel USB
MS FF2 Joystick USB



This is the ultimate game rig @ least to date (IMHO) ... 🙂
 
The term &quot;ultimate gaming system&quot; is a very broad term. We being pc gamers have to face reality though. You see some of these online articles and publications posting their idea specs of various &quot;ultimate systems&quot; but who in their right mind could actually afford some of the off the all configurations that are brought into this broad range of the term, &quot;Ultimate Gaming System&quot;. I feel an ultimate system, is chosen with good quality parts, and to suit the users needs. Whether that be a PIII 750, or the latest and greatest AMD 1.4Ghz / PIV 1.7Ghz CPUS. The ultimate gaming system is what YOU, put together. It may not be ultimate to some, but for you, it should suit your needs, and not drain the wallet, or cause a divorce. 😀
Thats just my few cents, and honest opinion on this matter. Good luck in your such!

 
They went to the RDRAM because they were running a P4 in that ultimate system. If you are planning an AMD solution then your choice is between SDR and DDR SDRAM. The DDR stuff is newer and more likely going to be the standard into the future (possibly along with RDRAM for P4), but as PIII begins to disappear and the Athlon 4 comes out for the desktop, SDRAM will slip further and further into the darkness... That won't be for a while anyway, but DDR is definitely a good solution for an AMD setup and if you do decide to go that route get a mobo with the AMD 761 northbridge.
 
this is what i can think of:

P4 1,5GHz@1724 (115*12)
AsusP4t mobo
384mb rambus memory
Asus v7700 64MB (until NVIDIA release a better driver for GF3)
Maxtor 7200rpm 20GB*2 =40GB ( i think it,s enough )
SuperTrak100 Raid Controller
SoundBlaster Live Platinum
3COM Ethernet XL PCI (for LAN gaming and maybe cable internet)
CD-RW plextor Plexwriter 16/10/40
ElanVital Case t15
Enermax 450w

and a lot of cooling fans
 
I can see the P4 vs Athlon debate warming up 🙂

Even for a gaming system, i would still run Win2k personally
 


<< this is what i can think of: >>



Think of what?



<< P4 1,5GHz@1724 (115*12) >>



??? 115*12? Whats that? 12x115=1380
 
Regarding the power supply... Quality is much more important than quantity. What I mean by that is... A 300w PS is very sufficient for the majority of users, if it's a quality one. I'd much rather have a quality 300w over a inferior 400w any day.

As for your RAM question, Nelson nailed the answer.


&quot;until NVIDIA release a better driver for GF3&quot;

What's wrong with the current drivers? And how is a 1.5ghz more &quot;Ultimate&quot; than a 1.7ghz? (Heh, I'm guessing that he simply listed his rig. 😉 )
 
AMD 1.4Ghz T-Bird (1.33ghz if the price difference is too big)
Epox 8K7A
256MB Crucial DDR (maybe 512MB if you can)
Geforce 3
Hercules Game Theater XP
Klipsch 4.1 speakers
Samsung 1200NF
Antec SX1040 (comes with 400W PS)
 
it seems to me that the term &quot;ultimate&quot; would imply best, however, in context i think the &quot;ultimate gaming system&quot; means the best reasonably available. they leave the outrageous budget and not widely used parts for the &quot;dream system&quot;. the ultimate gaming system would basically include:
fastest processor (either 1.7 p4 or 1.4 t-bird)
256-512megs of fastest ram available (either ddr or rdram)
fastest video card (currently geforce3)
awesome monitor (21-21 inch whatever is great)
awesome speakers/sound card (4.1/5.1 setup, probably klipsh)
all around big/fast hard drive (probably 40gig 60gxp)
yadda, yadda, yadda...

get the point, stuff that anyone with a moderate to large budget would get, and for the most part it is the best of the best.

the dream system would be similar but they would probably have an outrageous scsi raid setup, dual processors, etc... basically, what you would &quot;dream&quot; about having but wouldn't reasonably buy it.
 
sorry it's 115*15=1725
(bus*multiplier)

and it was what i thought of a ultimate game machine

forgive me for beeing such a fool
 
Those &quot;Ultimate Gaming System&quot; articles are usually nothing more than pipe dreams for 99% of the people out there. Sure, they will have some components that actually get used but a few people, but a lot of the stuff is obscene...I mean, who is going to spend $8000 for a gaming rig, or $6000, or even $4000? It's just not necessary now. You can put together an extremely fast gaming system for much less than that. Not too many people in this day and age.

I always wonder why they don't spec one of those new 60' plasmas that are just coming out for the display...then you would really get the price up. It'd be 20K for the display alone. Of course, if you sat a foot away from it, the pixels would be golf ball size, but we're all glasses wearing blind techies anyways, no?

One more thing...I'd take a GameTheater XP over a SB Live Platinum anyday 🙂
 
Why is a Dual Athlon rig not even mentioned in this thread? C'mon! I'll take a dual 1.4GHz Athlon over any single system listed in here any day.
 


<< C'mon! I'll take a dual 1.4GHz Athlon over any single system listed in here any day. >>



Do 1.4 Athlon 4 MP's even exist yet? I thought only the 1.2's did. And yes, Dual 1.2's would make a great gaming rig. 🙂
 
ide go with dual 1.2 ghz's athlon mp's, however, intel fans think differently.



AMD all the way!
*here come the flames.......*
 
< Do 1.4 Athlon 4 MP's even exist yet? I thought only the 1.2's did. And yes, Dual 1.2's would make a great gaming rig. >

They appear to if my search on pricewatch was correct...It didn't mention ETA. I remember about a week ago I saw some with eta around the end of the month 6/25 or 6/28...could be wrong though.

Now if only we can see the dual mobo come down a bit more in price or the arrival of some of the other manufacturers offerings.
 
VB = Very Biased?

In the Ultimate 'gaming' rig, i would rather have one very fast processor, than two that were slower. How many games would take advantage of the second?
 
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