February Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

Introduction

Are you the kind of gamer that scoffs at the Value Gaming Guide's $1000 budget and still have a bit more scratch to spend than our $2500 High End Gaming Guide requires? Well, have we got a gaming system for you! The Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide hearkens back to the grand old days of Sharky Extreme Buying Guides, where money was seemingly no object and the sky was the limit in terms of available hardware. To prove this, we've got a cool $4000 to spend on a killer gaming PC, and we aim to make every last penny count.

In this particular buyer's guide, we try and live up to the name Extreme and take things a quantum leap past even our High-End recommendations. Although the world is seemingly our oyster with $4000 in hand, there are still a few limitations to what we can buy (sorry, no 35" plasma screens) and we still need to make the available budget work for us. Some choices may be dubbed extraneous or downright wasteful by some, but where's the fun if you can't live a little? So strap yourselves in, check your bank account at the door, and get ready to see what we deem to be "the best of the best".

Extreme Gaming PC Budget: $4000

AMD Case: Lian Li PC-68USB w/ 400W Antec Power Supply

Current Cost of Case: $179
Current Cost of PSU: $70 Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$7

Although there are many prime Lian Li PC cases, we're sticking with the PC-68USB. This system case sports an unbeatable combination of looks, performance and expandability. Its sleek aluminum housing is sure to catch your eye, and internal cooling is also top-notch. Even though its size is rather standard, the internal expansion options should be more than ample for most tastes. With four external 5.25," three external 3.5", and three internal 3.5" bays, you'll have to work hard to fill up this bad boy with peripherals. The motherboard tray slides out to allow easy access and installation, something that is a virtual requirement for a serious computer.

In terms of extra amenities, the Lian Li PC-68USB features quad-USB ports right on the front of the case, which makes it quite a bit easier to hook up multiple game controllers and lowers the clutter behind your PC. The aluminum housing makes the PC-68USB light enough to carry to your local LAN party, looks great and also aids in heat dissipation.

Lian Li cases regularly ship without a standard PSU, so don't forget to buy a quality PSU while you're at it. A 400W unit should be the base minimum, and as for brand, we've had great luck with Antec models. The Antec 400W unit is fully Pentium 4 ATX 2.03 certified, as well as being backward compatible with the Athlon XP. With a 400W PSU in tow, you can safely load your new system for bear and not have to worry about booting up your system.