Turning your PC into a killer gaming rig isn't easy, not to mention expensive, but that's never stopped a hardcore gamer.
To get the best out of the latest games, there can't be a weak link in your system, so a fantastic processor, graphics card and RAM are essential.
However, without a great case and some decent cooling you might as well resign yourself to a lifetime of playing Animal Crossing on the Wii, rather than challenging the best gamers on the planet.
To help you create the best gaming PC possible, we've handpicked 9 of the best PC upgrades from our database of reviews to help turn you from Fail1ty into Fatal1ty.
Dust off the credit card, as this could get expensive...
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dmalic
September 5th 2009
4. http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=20
Note that the Velociraptor takes 30 seconds to load 3 applications at the same time - SSDs take 7 seconds. Now that's speed you can believe in!
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3448&p=19
Core i7 is faster overall, but it's slower sometimes and the speed increase doesn't really matter for games. Get one, but only because it's better at everything else.
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qsilver
September 5th 2009
3. I noticed the CoolerMaster case posted here and registered so that I could convey this account. CoolerMaster customer service is the WORST I have ever encountered! Be very cautions of them!
On the 24th of June I wrote this mail to CoolerMaster using their technical support system:
“Sirs, I am writing to express my disappointment with the level of quality control on this premium case. I have many CoolerMaster Cases and when it came time to rebuild my wife’s computer I decided to try the Cosmos. All went well until, last week... I tried to use the front panel. When I tried to insert a USB cable the front panel interface descended into the frame of the case. Upon disassembly I discovered that four of the posts that were holding the interface were broken. It looks like they were over tightened during manufacture and missed during quality control. See enclosed photo. Needless to say I do not think that I should have to be disassembling a new case or having to write this kind of mail message to you on such a high end case. Please tell me what I need to do to have this problem resolved.”
4 days after.. No response, so I mailed them again.
7 days after... They asked for my address so that they could send a replacement.
30 days after... I sent a mail to CoolerMaster asking what was up?
36 days after... I sent a letter to CoolerMaster HQ, complaining about the poor customer service.
37 days after... I received a response from Euro CoolerMaster. That part magically appeared and was promised on the 3rd of August.
43 days after... the replacement arrived.
48 days later... Unfortunately I blew it when submitting the service request and specified Cosmos S rather than Cosmos V2 (which was not on the support list at the time)... My fault, sort of, so I sent a note to Euro Coolermaster, thanking them for the replacement, apologising for my mistake and asking them to let me BUY the correct part.
73 days after... Still no word from them....
Acceptable customer service? You decide.
As for me... That was the last CoolerMaster case that I will EVER buy.
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okpc
September 5th 2009
2. I'm waiting a bit - why upgrade all your parts when you can just buy a new one and seriously some of the mass factory produced ones are cheaper than buying the parts yourself and building. You just have to be patient and wait it out for the big deals in October and December and also lots of new tech comes out in late oct early nov so greater chance of having the newest stuff at a fraction of the cost (relatively).
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megnumpy
September 5th 2009
1. why in the world would anyone buy a GTX295 when GT300 and R800 are just around the corner? talk about throwing money away. terrible advice.
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