September High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 7

NIC: Onboard

Cost: $0
Months on list: 10
Price Change: N/A

Today's high end motherboards all come with some form of onboard LAN. This month both of our motherboards include a wickedly fast Gigabit controller, so there is no need for a secondary PCI card. The extra little bit we save from going with the onboard LAN controller is better spend on other components in this guide than a secondary PCI adaptor. However, for those of you who must have a non integrated card, the Intel PRO/1000MT Gigabit adaptor is a great alternative, and this is a fully-featured NIC from a very reputable name in networking.

Or...

Modem: US Robotics USB 2.0 USR5633 Faxmodem

Cost: $37 (not included in price of full machine)
Months on list: 5
Price Change: $0

Since most of our readers already have basic external devices such as modems, printers, or scanners, we usually don't factor the cost of such items into this guide's final tally, and the money could be better spent in other places in the guide. However, we still make a basic modem recommendation, but it is now an optional component.

Although the NIC will work great for those lucky souls with DSL or cable Internet access, many gamers are still using dial-up Internet accounts. For this we recommend the US Robotics USB 2.0 USR5633 Faxmodem. This USB 2.0 modem is very similar to the external V.92 modem we have been recommending for a long while, but uses a USB 2.0 connection as opposed to Serial.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional

Cost: $129
Months on list: 20
Price Change: +$4

As far as gaming and overall software support is concerned, Windows XP is the best choice for an operating system. While some newer games include Linux support, for serious enthusiasts there is no other choice than to have Windows XP installed. Windows XP was built on the stable 32-bit code base of Windows 2000, and is without a doubt the best operating system for gaming. Most of today's hardware and drives are developed with Windows XP in mind and the day is fast approaching when older Windows versions will be unsupported. In the future Microsoft will be releasing a 64-bit compatible version of Windows (the beta is currently available), so Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX users will want to upgrade to that version as soon as it is released.

We always use the price of the OEM version of Windows XP Pro, as opposed to the retail box, and assume that you will purchase it alongside hardware, thereby qualifying for the lower OEM price. If you already own a copy of a Windows operating system (limited to Win 98 or newer and Win NT 4 or newer) then you can also purchase the Windows XP Pro upgrade CD and potentially save more money. Don't forget to pick up a version with SP2 integrated as it will save you the headache of downloading the update from the internet.

Name Brand Floppy

Current Cost: $8

We haven't used floppies in years, but some people still feel a need for them. Any old name brand floppy drive will do for those emergency BIOS updates and data recovery, anything more would be just a waste of money.

Power Bar or UPS

While not part of our budget for a standard high-end gaming system, we still recommend you buy adequate surge protection for your new PC, or better yet, splurge and nab a UPS for added security and peace of mind.