The Best Gaming PC Money Can Buy

SlappingOysters writes "Gameplayer has gone live with their best PC hardware configurations for Q3 2008. They've broken it into three tiers depending on the investor's budget. And while the prices are regional, it is comparative across the globe. 'In order to play these slices of gaming goodness, you're going to need a decent rig, and we sent our PC hardware guru in search of maximum frames in maximum detail, but at a minimum cost. We have three tiers for the three levels of PC gamers out there and all the detail you could possibly want on where, why and what to buy. So choose your poison and get amongst it.'"

Comments

Yes, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of telnet programs do they come with for mudding?

Re:Yes, but...

[Tragedy4u]

If you're running Vista, none (at least by default). Seriously it's not in the default install, you have to add it later.

Re:Yes, but...

[Bacon Bits]

You say that like it's a bad thing. If I need telnet I'll just get PuTTY anyways. The only thing telnet is good for anymore is checking to make sure SMTP traffic works and configuring devices that won't talk with anything else. Otherwise you *don't* use it any more that you use rsh or rcp.

Frankly, I'm more irritated that Windows doesn't ship with a built-in ssh and sshd. And no, remote desktop does not count.

oh christ

[nimbius]

and i just closed the newegg tab...

looks like ramen again this month

Re:oh christ

[Opportunist]

You don't need to starve, brother. There's a lot of fiber in newspaper and if you flush it down with some coke, you even have the essential dose of caffeine for the day. You can grind and dissolve stale bread in (lots of) water and drink the slurry (again, coke makes things interesting here, too!) to fill your stomach...

Can you tell I just spent 2k on a new monitor system? :)

Re:oh christ

[morgan_greywolf]

As a transplanted Floridian, I heartily recommend the palmetto bugs. You can put them on a stick and roast them over an open flame or just fry 'em up in a pan.

Mmmmm....Crunchy.

Up North, I hear you can do much the same with various small rodents.

$10K US for a gaming rig?

[Anonymous Coward]

Only a fool would spend that much money on something that will cost 1/3 that in 18 months.

Re:$10K US for a gaming rig?

[jgarra23]

Don't forget, you're talking about the same kind of people who will spend months clacking away on a fake guitar with the goal of making a digital crowd cheer when they could be practicing with a REAL guitar, get REAL cheers and likely get laid for REAL too.

Re:$10K US for a gaming rig?

[Anonymous Coward]

and likely get laid for REAL too

Holy shit, I'm buying a guitar right fucking now!

Re:$10K US for a gaming rig?

[Anonymous Coward]

And yet...here you are posting about it on Slashdot.

Re:$10K US for a gaming rig?

[jollyreaper]

Don't forget, you're talking about the same kind of people who will spend months clacking away on a fake guitar with the goal of making a digital crowd cheer when they could be practicing with a REAL guitar, get REAL cheers and likely get laid for REAL too.

Funny you should mention that, they're working on Masturbation Hero. You'll get a load out of the controller for that game.

Re:$10K US for a gaming rig?

[afabbro]

I can play most of Neil Young's Heart of Gold on real guitar.

That's the kind of risk you take when you decide to learn to play guitar.

Re:$10K US for a gaming rig?

[schklerg]

In my experience (bass player), girls go in this order - singer, lead guitar, drums, backup guitar, keyboards, triangle, roadie, drunk passed out fan, then bassist. Of course, hideous disfigurations can alter this order.

Just another hardware guide

[Anonymous Coward]

So hardware guides are post worthy now?

Then let me submit the Ars System Guide ... every time they update it!

Re:The investor's budget?

[Ethanol-fueled]

Yes, an investment in planned obsolescence.

Re:The investor's budget?

[ivan256]

  investment
              n 1: the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an
                        enterprise with the expectation of profit

No. No it is not. And every computer and used car salesman that refers to the purchase of something guaranteed to decrease in value over time should be sued for false advertising.

Re:luv 2 brag

[truthsearch]

I feel really old right now because I don't understand a single thing you wrote.

Buying guide...

[geogob]

They should come up with a set of configurations for the best /.-proof PC servers for 2008 as well.

Lame

[steeleye_brad]

That site is a slow as shit...here's a summary:
Under $1000AU
CPU: Intel E8500 - $200
RAM: DDR2 4GB 800MHz RAM - $100v
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 - $130
GPU: ATI 4870 - $300
PSU: Silverstone Strider ST50F 500W - $80
Case: Antec NSK4000 - $65
Optical: Pioneer 215BK SATA - $30
HDD: Western Digital 640GB - $93
Total Price: $998

Midrange
CPU: Intel E8600 - $300
RAM: DDR2 4GB 1066MHz - $150
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 - $240
GPU: ATI 4870x2 - $655
PSU: Corsair HX620 - $160
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos S RC-1100 - $285
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-215D SATA 20x - $30
Storage: Western Digital 640GB - $93
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme & Scythe Slipstream - $85
Total: $1,998

High end (aka completely retarded)
CPU: Intel QX9770 - $1,600 (eXXXXXXtreeeeeeeeme!!!!)
RAM: 2 x 2GB Mushkin DDR3 XP3-14400 - $550 (A +$10,000 system with only 4GB of RAM, hah)
Motherboard: Foxconn Blackops X48 - $450 (what)
GPU: 2 x 4870x2 - $1320
PSU: Corsair HX1000 - $320
Case: Lian-Li PC-X2000 - $580
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-202BK - $390
Storage: 2 x 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor - $700 (no, just no)
Cooling: Frozen SS Vapour Phase Change - $1,100 (hahahaha)
OS: Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM - $130
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP 30" - $2,000
Mouse: Razer Lachesis - $63
Keyboard: Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard or Optimus Maximus - $95 or $1,900 (also hahahahaha)
Sound Card : Auzentech X-Fi Prelude - $230
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 - $320
Total: $9,848 or $11,653 (with Optimus Maximus)

Only the high-end configuration includes the operating system! Kind of a stupid article, their budget system should be capable of just about any game you throw at it, unless you want to play shit at native resolution on a 30" LCD. When it comes to picking out hardware for a custom build, I've always preferred The Tech Report's system guide. Very detailed, and they have alternate setups for various budgets. http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/15009

1 GB / $ HD?

[FireIron]

Are hard drives down to 1GB per dollar yet? I remember when they hit 1MB per dollar, and it was a big deal at the time. I had an onion tied to my belt...

Re:The investor's budget?

[Tanktalus]

Apparently, it's worth twice as much with a full tank as with an empty one.

What levels are these?

[Sockatume]

We have three tiers for the three levels of PC gamers out there

From the prices I assume those levels are "lives in own property", "lives with parents", and "purely hypothetical".

Re:The investor's budget?

[p0tat03]

How would buying a screaming fast computer for work make my job any more profitable?

Depends on what you do. For a 3D artist, for example, a faster machine means shorter rendering times. This creates less downtime, moves the design-render-refine cycle faster, and also opens more possibilities to allow the client to tweak the final product with you.

For a coder who's working on a massive code base, we're looking at shorter compile times. Cutting compiles from 4 hours to 1 is a pretty significant gain that will likewise see a rise in productivity. Having a blazing server-class workstation also allows you to test your code in conditions that are more similar to what your code would be running once deployed.

For an artist, a massively fast computer (or really just one with an assload of RAM) allows more multitasking. Having Photoshop, Illustrator, a compositing app, etc etc, open all at once is great for productivity, and it allows you to bounce between apps without huge downtime.

But a few examples of why speed is still important in computing.