August Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 7

NIC: Included

Cost: $0
Months on list: 9
Price Change: N/A

This month both of our motherboards feature dual onboard Gigabit LAN, so there is no reason for us to spend the extra money for an additional LAN card. Many consider nForce-based onboard LAN to be better than what you would find from an external solution, especially when we're talking about Gigabit LAN capabilities on a PCI Express motherboard. However, for those of you who require an external LAN card we recommend something from 3COM or Intel as your best bet.

Modem: US Robotics External V.92 USB Faxmodem

Cost: $52
Months on list: 7
Price Change: $0

No matter what game type your preference is, chances are it has a multiplayer component or online feature. In any case, being stuck on an antiquated dialup connection could mean the difference between winning and losing, so the choice of modem hardware is important. For those of you who do not have access to broadband, or simply want a trusty faxmodem, we recommend the USB version of the 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, and at $52 it's tough to complain.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional/w SP2 OEM

Cost: $146
Months on list: 14
Price Change: +$17

Windows XP is the de facto operating system today, especially as far as gaming is concerned. While games are slowly coming to Mac and Linux platform, most of today's PC games are designed with Windows XP in mind. We use Windows XP across all three of our monthly guides, as its 32-bit base makes it much more stable than previous versions. We use Windows XP Professional as our operating system of choice for both the Extreme and High End guides as it offers support for multiple CPUs, Hyper-Threading, and is much more feature complete in terms of networking. It is a good idea to buy the most up-to-date version of an operating system, so we recommend getting the OEM version of Windows XP with the latest Service Pack 2 already integrated, as it will save you the time and hassle of downloading older updates and fixes.

We include the cost of an OEM CD version of Windows XP instead of the more expensive retail boxed version. Generally, OEM software must be purchased along side a piece of hardware to get the discount, so just about anything in this guide will do. If you already own a version of Windows you might want to look into purchasing the upgrade version, which can potentially shave a few more dollars off the total system price.

UPS: CyberPower OfficePower 825VA CPS825AVR

Cost: $70
Months on list: 5
Price Change: -$5

One of the items that people most often overlook when building a computer is a good Uninterruptible Power Supply. It's tough to think of worse PC news than spending $4,000 on a new computer only to have it damaged or destroyed by a lightning strike or power surge. 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 event of a power outage. A simple $70 investment is worth it, especially considering the extremely high cost of the components in this guide. To build a computer this expensive, it would be ridiculous to boot without the security of a UPS.

Over the past few months we have taken a special liking to the very efficient and cost effective CyberPower OfficePower 825VA. This UPS offers a VA rating of 825 (410W full load), and a battery run time of about 20-60 minutes depending on the load (with our system it will be very high). In addition to a three-year warranty, CyberPower also offers insurance to connected components of up to $200,000. The OfficePower 825VA can be found online for about $70, a small price to pay considering the peace-of-mind and component insurance it provides.