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Sharky Extreme : Monthly Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide |
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Monthly Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide |
October 2002 Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 5By Bao Ly October 3, 2002Video Card: ATi Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB Retail
Cost: $342 The Radeon 9700 Pro is ATi's latest entry into the highly competitive 3D graphics market, and has left its competition quavering in its wake. Well that might be going a bit too far, but ATi has released a great video card product, and with a renewed effort towards driver development to optimize performance and stability. The Radeon 9700 Pro is loaded with 256-bit, 128MB of 310 MHz DDR RAM (effectively 620 MHz), coupled with a VPU (Visual Processing Unit) clocked at 325 MHz. The rendering capability of this video card is untouchable by any other product available on the consumer product, and will in fact let you run today's games at the absolute highest level of performance. Playing at super high resolutions (1600X1200) in current games upcoming games is another plus. The Radeon 9700 Pro also allows you to play games a smooth frame rate at 1024*768 with anisotropic filtering and 4XAA enabled. ATi's patented Smartshader 2.0, Smoothvision 2.0, and Videoshader technologies are integrated into the Radeon 9700, to help bring out higher quality images.
In terms of extra features, the Radeon 9700 Pro has a standard VGA connector, S-VHS out, and a DVI-out connection. Along with its currently unchallenged 3D prowess, the Radeon 9700 Pro still retains ATi's signature trait, superb 2D quality and DVD performance.
Cost: $695
Sony is a longtime favorite monitor maker here are SE and we've always been impressed with the clarity of graphics, sharpness of text, build quality, and flat display surface of the Sony monitors. The Sony G520P hasn't changed much in price in the last half year or so, but only because Sony hasn't released an improved version of this middle high end model. The G520P is a 21-inch monitor with a viewable screen area of 19.8 inches. It features Sony's renowned FD Trinitron Aperture Grille Display, with a fairly fine .24 AG pitch, with a recommended resolution of 1880x1440@85Hz, and dual HD-15 VGA inputs. Some people balk at the proposition of spending such a large amount of money on a single component, but this is probably the one piece of the Extreme Gaming Machine that will outlast the other components, and potentially live on for a few more generations of Extreme Gaming Machines.
Cost: $155
The SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum is the obvious choice for our Extreme guide, and it has all of the connections, and features that any gamer could ask for. It features two IEEE1394 ports (one on the Audigy Drive in the 5 = inch drive bay, and one on the soundcard itself.) and the Audigy Drive has convenient front access for 1 stereo RCA input, midi in and out, headphone and microphone jacks, RCA spdif in and out, and toslink (optical) in and out. The card itself has basic inputs and outputs, as well as an 1/8 inch jack for either digital out (for select models from Creative Lab's speaker family,) or it can be used as Center/Subwoofer jack for analog 5.1 Speaker sets, the other 4 connectors, are mic in, line in, and front channel output, and rear channel output. The soundcard even includes a remote control which allows you to access most of the functions of the soundcard and software. To top it all off, the soundcard has support for older EAX games, and newer EAX Advanced HD software/games. The package is also bundled with a plethora of audiophile software, as well as a full version of Deus Ex. We are aware of the upcoming Audigy 2 series of soundcards from Creative, with Dolby Digital EX 6.1 support and EAX through 6.1, combined with Lucas Film's THX certification on the box. But this product hasn't been released yet, so it'll have to wait at least until a forthcoming installment of the Extreme Guide.
Cost: $365
Speakers were once the neglected component of a computer system. "Who cares, it plays sounds! That's all that matters!" Those times are long gone, and in this day and age, a system's audio clarity, power, and impact are quite crucial in the overall enjoyment of today's PC games and multimedia content. The Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 is a powerhouse speaker system, with 5 satellite speakers for the front, rear, and center channels, and naturally, Klipsch includes a very hefty subwoofer unit to add maximum punch for low bass tones. There is also a central control unit that allows the user to adjust output levels for the front, rear, center, subwoofer, and main volumes, along with an on/off switch. There are very few PC speakers that can surpass (or even match) the impact and level of quality that the Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 THX can provide. This incredible set of speakers pumps out 500W RMS of THX certified power that can rattle your windows, and upset your neighbors. It is an analogue 5.1 set, so connectivity to the Audigy platinum will be quite easy to achieve. The Klipsch seems to be untouchable, and rightfully so, because there is a lack of similarly priced 5.1 sets available for the PC. Logitech's upcoming, Z-680 set and Cambridge's Megaworks 510D model (with the inevitable 6.1 refresh for the Audigy 2) should give them a run for their money, but for now, ProMedia 5.1 THX is our current top pick for the Extreme Guide.
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