[plug] dual-boot "gamers" machine h/w suggestions please?

[Adam Hewitt]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: plug-bounces at plug.org.au [mailto:plug-bounces at plug.org.au] On
> Behalf Of Arie Hol
> Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 1:42 PM
> To: plug at plug.org.au
> Subject: Re: [plug] dual-boot "gamers" machine h/w suggestions please?
> 
> 
> 
> On 6 Dec 2006 at 17:13, Denis Brown wrote:
> 
> > Dear PLUG list members,
> >
> > A bit out of my depth with this one not being a game player :-(
> >
> > Looking for recommendations for commercially built and supported,
> > preferably brand-name desktop hardware capable of good gaming
> graphics
> > performance.   Will dual-boot Lin / Win.
> >
> 
> I was just having a look at a computer regarding the above, at :
> 
> http://www.computersurplus.com.au/showproduct.php?id=SYSTEM-ELITEGAMER
> 
> Could  some of the clued up gamers on this list give me some feedback
> on the system shown - and where appropriate recommend different specs
> and/or prices that may be more appropriate for a high
> performance/gaming PC.
> 
> Also - would like some guidance as to whether the price/quality is
> reasonable.
> 
<SNIP>

Given that they have listed the graphics card as an 8xAGP PCI-E card, I
would be very dubious of the quality.

Firstly manufactured PC's such as these tend to use the cheapest components
on the market. I would hazard a guess that the graphics card would be
Xpertvision which make the cheapest cards available. Although they have
probably fixed the problem now, there were a *lot* of people finding that
their heatsinks were literally falling off that card.

The bottom line is that all components are not equal and I would be wanting
to know the exact brands of each component in the machine.

The 19" LCD monitor listed is of new use to anyone...what is the "refresh"
rate (for lack of a better term), 16ms? Most likely, and playing on an LCD
at 16ms is going to be horrible.

BTW, anyone wanting a real games machine should look at this:

http://www.nintek.com.au/x/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=8580

</kidding>

Apart from the comments above, a 6600GT (the top model of the 6600 series)
is not capable of running todays games in any serious scenario. You should
be looking at a 512MB card in the 79XX series at a minimum...otherwise you
will be looking to buy another card in a few months anyways. If I was going
to buy a new video card now I would spend the money and get a 8800GTX for
$700-$1200. This is the only card on the market capable of utilizing DirectX
10 and by the time it might be getting a bit long in the tooth you could add
a second one in SLI mode and not have to look at buying another card for a
long time.

One of my friends bought an ATI X800XT-something (can't remember the exact
model but it was the top of the X800 series) about 3 years ago and the last
I looked at the graphics card ratings it was still sitting at ~#12 in the
list, so if you buy good now, it will last a long time.

Adam.