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

NIC: Included

Cost: $0
Months on list: 5
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: $45
Months on list: 3
Price Change: -$8

Just about every new game has some sort of multiplayer function; be it MMORPG, first person shooter, or strategy game, so being stuck on dialup can be a major bummer. It's perfectly understandable that not everybody has access to broadband, or may simply want some type of faxmodem for their home business. For those of you who fall into either category we recommend the USB version of US Robotics External V.92 faxmodem. US Robotics modems have been used in our guides for the past few years as they are some of the best dialup modems on the market.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional/w SP1 OEM

Cost: $140
Months on list: 10
Price Change: +$5

There is no denying that Windows XP is the gamer's operating system. While there certainly are games available for variants of Linux and Mac, Windows XP has a far greater number of quality titles at its disposal. Windows XP makes an appearance across all three of our monthly buyer's guides, and its stable 32-bit code base makes it the preferred operating system over previous generation Windows. For the Extreme and High-end guide we prefer to use Windows XP Professional as it has support for multiple CPUs, Hyper-Threading, and is much more feature complete when it comes to networking. It is always wise to buy the most up-to-date version of an operating system which is why we recommend getting the OEM version of Windows XP with Service Pack 1 already integrated as it will save you from downloading older updates and fixes.

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: CyberPower OfficePower 825VA CPS825AVR

Cost: $78
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

There is nothing worse than spending $4000 on computer equipment only to have it crashed, and potentially destroyed, by a simple power surge. One of the most overlooked components when putting together a high-end PC is the Universal Power Supply, which not only takes care of power losses, but also handles surge protection. Investing in an $80 UPS is a minuscule price to pay, considering the cost of a new PC. A UPS has a built in battery that provides secondary power for a limited amount of time so that you can backup your data and properly shutdown your computer in the vent of a power outage. When building a computer this expensive, it would be ridiculous to start up without a UPS.

Since we're continuing to upgrade the base components, and thereby increasing the overall wattage, we are upgrading to a more powerful UPS from CyberPower. CyberPower is one of the most respectable names in the business when it comes to UPS units and surge protectors, and the OfficePower 825VA offers a VA rating of 825, and a battery run time of about 20-60 minutes depending on the load (with our system it will be very high). This is a significant upgrade to the 500VA rating of our previous unit, and the 800VA rating is much more in line with current system requirements. In addition to a three-year warranty, CyberPower also offers insurance to connected components of up to $200,000.