“My dream game machine is just that … a dream. If I had
the money to put this together, I’d pay off the car loan instead.
But one must dream, and I will share the dream with you. Don’t
faint when you see the price tag on this computer, and don’t think
you have to have this system to play today’s games. Once I have my
dream laid out for you, I will give you the layout for a system
most computer users can afford.”
“While Intel makes a great processor, the upgrade path for the
Pentium III looks to be short lived. AMD’s latest Athlon is a solid
CPU, and the Socket A design should go to 1.5 GHz before the end of
the year. … The MSI 6330 motherboard is still my pick for Socket
A processors. It uses the VIA KT-133 chipset, providing UDMA/66 and
AGP 4X. Combine this motherboard ($127) with a 1 GHz Athlon ($480)
for the base of my system. Since any CPU over 600 MHz requires a
respectable amount of cooling, I’m not going to skimp on the fan.
The ThermalTake Golden Orb ($16) is not only the coolest looking
fan I’ve ever seen, it keeps the CPU uber-cool.”
“While 128MB is fine for the average system, I’ll go overboard
with 256MB of CAS2 PC-133 SDRAM from Micron ($326). … The king,
the mack-daddy … Brian needs the biggest 3D rendering monster the
can find. That need is answered by the Hercules 3D Prophet II GTS
64MB ($387). … A good video card requires a good display. Compaq
makes the TFT8020 ($3382), an attractive 18.1″ flat-panel LCD that
supports an array of resolutions and mounting options (wall mount,
swivel-bracket or table-top).”