The 2008 Guide to Gaming PC Specs
The Operating System Vista is one year old, but Windows XP is still the better choice for a gaming PC in 2008. The 2GB/4GB question mentioned earlier is also closely tied to the operating system used - the obvious question might seem "Windows XP or Windows Vista?", but the actual question is "32-bit XP or 64-bit Vista?". Yes, there is a 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional, but it has always been a niche OS without proper support from a lot of manufacturers. It all boils down to requirements set by Microsoft. With Windows XP, Microsoft is happy enough if a hardware manufacturer provides a 32-bit driver. With Vista, hardware manufacturers have to submit both 64-bit and 32-bit drivers for approval - or end up with a nasty "no Vista certification logo for you!" note from the MS testers. Even disregarding the 32/64-bit issue, right now, my personal opinion is that Vista is currently not worth it for gaming. Even if you have a new DX10 card in your system, all that Vista and DX10 gives you is equal (at best) or worse (more often) performance with couple of unnecessary shiny effects thrown in, and you're paying for that option - a more expensive operating system and (slightly) slower DX9 performance due to the additional operating system overhead introduced by Vista. Yep, that's right, I'm advocating you to forget all the marketing by Microsoft, and still going with the good old 32-bit Windows XP (blasphemy! - techno Ed). This also means that there is little reason to buy a system with more than 2GB RAM, as a 32-bit OS and 32-bit games cannot utilize more than that without running into all kinds of little problems. If you insist, you can toss in 4GB, but XP won't be able to access all of it and in any case a single application is limited to 2GB on the 32-bit XP. Windows Vista - and more specifically, 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium - may become relevant over the lifespan of a system purchased today, so if you want to cover your bases, you may want to get that as a second OS, but I wouldn't jump in and use it as the only OS on a gaming system - there are just far too many compatibility and performance issues. The biggest of which is that 64-bit operating systems cannot run 16-bit Windows applications. This wouldn't really be relevant today, except that many games - even games published fairly recently - happen to use old 16-bit code in their installers. In some cases the only way to get an older game to run on 64-bit Vista is to install it using a 32-bit operating system, and then manually moving registry keys. And even with 64-bit Vista, as long as games are 32-bit, they cannot use more than 2GB, so any extra memory beyond that is there only for the operating system and any background programs. Maybe Vista will get better when the first Service Pack is released later this spring, but personally I remain pessimistic. Unfortunately if you purchase your PC from a big name manufacturer, you may not have a choice on the matter - they are happily pushing Vista, and more often than not the Vista you get is the 32-bit edition. You get less compatibility issues than with the 64-bit one, but again, you are effectively limited to 2GB of RAM. Buying a new gaming PCWhen buying on a small budget, it doesn't really matter that much if you buy a "brand name" system or one built from parts (or just the parts and build yourself) - each approach has its own ups and downs. Big name systems (Dell, HP, Lenovo etc) are backed by their technical support, and you get a whole system ready to be plugged in. On the downside the expansion capabilities can be very limited - the case may be too small, the power supply may be too weak to power a substantially better video card and there may be special components used that limit what you can do to upgrade the system later on. PCs built from components tend to be easier to expand and upgrade, and if you build it yourself, it's possible to save money - at the expense of having to spend time building the system. You do need some skill, though, or a pro that you can ask for help in case something goes wrong; while building a PC is fairly simple, there are numerous small things that can go wrong if you haven't done it before, and in case there is a compatibility issue or a fault with the components you purchased, you are pretty much on your own trying to determine the cause.  Alienware is one of the smaller manufacturers offering high end built-to-order systems - a good choice, if your budget allows it. Another solid option is to buy a built-to-order system from a smaller manufacturer. These systems use the same parts you could buy as separate components, but they are built by a professional, and you save time as you get a system ready to go. Built-to-order systems are also tested and usually come with warranty that covers parts and troubleshooting in case something fails. On the downside you will pay extra when compared to buying components separately or when buying a big name system. I've personally both built my own and ordered built-to-order systems, and wouldn't choose a brand name system, but when you are working with a limited budget, all three options are valid choices - just make sure you research what you are buying, so you don't run into any surprises when you get your system. In computer specs, one letter can mean a lot - as an example, there is a big difference between "8600 GS" and "8600 GTS" when looking at the video card included in the system. If budget is less of a concern, and you want the best bang for your buck, then building from components - either by yourself, or by ordering a built-to-order system is pretty much the only way, as big brand name systems tend to lag behind with the latest technology, or they place big premiums on systems that use the very latest components. Narrowing the fieldSo, what kind of hardware do you need for gaming today? The market is oversaturated with different desktop and laptop hardware, offering wildly varying performance. However, if you plan to play games on the PC, the field of suitable systems narrows down considerably. Any system with integrated onboard video is immediately out, and the same goes for systems with budget cards that share system RAM - "TurboCache" or "HyperMemory" might sound cool on the feature list, but when translated to plain English, they both mean "crap for gaming". The only practical task for these budget cards, over an integrated chip, is when you want to use multiple monitors, or plan to connect your PC to your TV. The laptop field also narrows to just a few models - only the top end systems with mobile versions of latest video cards (GeForce 8600M and Mobility Radeon HD 3600 or later models) are able to offer good gaming performance, and the price of these systems puts them out of the race. If you absolutely have to have a gaming system that you can carry around, by all means, there are laptops that can do it - they just tend to be bulky, heavy and very expensive.
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