March 2004 Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 7

NIC: Included

Cost: $0
Months on list: 3
Price Change: $0

Both of our motherboards include a built-in Gigabit LAN, so there is little reason to spend extra money on an additional LAN card. Built-in LAN can be just as good as, and even better than, what you would find in an external solution. However, if onboard LAN isn't your thing, just about any card from 3COM or Intel should suffice.

Modem: US Robotics External V.92 USB Faxmodem

Cost: $37
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

In the age of MMORPGs and games such as Unreal Tournament 2004 and Battlefield: 1942/Vietnam, being stuck on dialup is not a fun place to be. It certainly is understandable that some can't afford or do not have access to broadband, or simply want a faxmodem for business tasks. For this, we recommend the USB version of US Robotics External V.92 faxmodem. US Robotics modems are a staple of our guides, as they were the equivalent of a household name for gamers in the pre-broadband era.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional/w SP1 OEM

Cost: $135
Months on list: 8
Price Change: $0

When it comes to gaming, there really is no other viable choice than a Windows platform. Windows XP has become the de facto operating system across all three of our monthly buyer's guides, as its stable 32-bit code base puts it way ahead of Windows 9X/Me. We prefer to use the Professional version as it offers support for multiple CPUs, Hyper-Threading, and also has much more robust networking options. Despite some incompatibilities with older legacy games, Windows XP is by far the best gaming OS to date. If possible we recommend getting the updated Windows XP Professional CD that includes Service Pack 1 as it includes a number of fixes and security enhancements that are very important to a safe and stable operation of Windows.

We include the cost of the OEM version of Windows XP as opposed to the higher-priced retail version. Generally, OEM software must be purchased along side a piece of hardware to get the discount. If you already own a full version of Windows you may want to look into getting an upgrade version of Windows XP Professional to potentially save a little more money.

UPS: APC Back-UPS ES 500VA

Cost: $60
Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$6

Keeping your PC and data safe from sudden and unpredictable power failures is very important, and a simple UPS backup can work wonders for overall safety and stability. While a UPS offers traditional power surge protection, it also has a built in battery that, in the event of a power outage, will switch on to give you enough time to save your data and shutdown your PC safely.

APC (American Power Conversion) is one of the best known names when it comes to backup and surge protection, and this month we are including their APC Back-UPS ES 500VA. This particular model just happens to power our system reference units, so we know it's got enough juice to handle the high-end components. In the past we used higher cost models, but we wanted to focus our spending on other subsystems this time around and found that the high cost UPS was cutting too deeply into our budget.