Buyer's Guide: High-End Gaming - August 2002

Case - Antec Performance Plus PLUS1080 - $145

In building a high-end system one does not want to be limited by expansion options. For this reason we chose the Antec PLUS1080 case to provide shelter for our high-end gaming setup. The case is designed is large and spacious, offering 10 drive bays (four 5.25" and six 3.5") as well as a good cooling setup. Also included is a 430W Pentium 4/Athlon XP ready power supply.

With it's two rear and one side panel fans standard, the system wont be quiet but it will be cool As a side note, the system that we are putting inside the PLUS1080 should be fine without the case cooling meaning that the fans can be disabled to reduce noise level.

If you are looking for something smaller, try the Antec PLUS660 on for size. This mini-tower offers many of the features present on the PLUS1080 except in a smaller package at a price that runs about $45 less.

Sound card - Onboard Creative CT5880E - "Free"

Sound becomes a bigger deal in our high-end gaming system than it is in other high-end system configurations. A good gaming system involves not only the visual but also the audible.

Although some will jump to criticize our use of onboard audio on the high-end gaming setup, let us defend ourselves. The Gigabyte board uses the Creative Sound Blaster CT5880 sound chip, the same found on many of Creative's Sound Blaster PCI cards. Since the chip is actually a discreet solution simply placed on the motherboard, CPU utilization while playing sound is just as low as CPU utilization using a separate sound card. In fact, we proved this in our KT333 Roundup where we took a look at integrated sound solutions. In fact, the CT5880 chip we tested in this review scored as one of the best onboard sound solutions we took a look at, scoring a "good" or "very good" rating in all tests but one (where it got "average").

The Gigabyte implementation of the CT5880E is also unique in the fact that the motherboard ships with an S/PDIF output connector located on a rear bracket. This gives the motherboard the ability to provide the speakers with a digital stream of audio which is always a nice feature.

Truthfully, the CT5880E onboard audio solution should provide about the same audio quality as the newer Creative Labs sound cards. If you are looking for the highest quality audio possible and are really an audiophile, we suggest you look into the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum. The card is currently shipping for around $170.

Speakers - Logitech Z-560 - $140

We have heard really good things about the Logitech Z560 speaker system. $140 gets you a 4.1 speaker setup with 400 watts of power, thus giving the speakers its nickname "Klipsch Killers." Although we have not reviewed the Z-560s, others have had nothing but good things to say about the speaker set. It is powerful, crisp, and inexpensive considering the alternatives. All in all, it is a perfect match for our high-end gaming system.

Ethernet - Integrated Intel PRO/100 VE - "Free"

No reason to spend money on a discreet network card when our Gigabyte 8IEXP motherboard includes a controller for free. The Intel LAN chip used on the Gigabyte motherboard works great and will be just as fast and stable as any good LAN card on the market today.

Hard drive - Maxtor DiamondMax D740X 6L080J4 80GB - $110

We are sticking to the same hard drive we used in the value system recommendations for one reason: these drives are fast. This time around we have upgraded the capacity of our hard drive. Previous systems used 40GB versions of the D740X but we felt it necessary to bump up the capacity of the drive some in our high-end gaming system. If gaming is what you will be using this system for then hard drive space will be at a premium. Current generation games can take up to a gigabyte or more of hard drive space per install. Because of this we decided to spring the extra $45 to double the capacity of the 40GB D740X.

CD-RW - Plextor PX-320A/SW 12x20x10x40 DVD/CDRW Combo drive- $170

We decided to outfit our high-end gaming system with a DVD/CDRW combo drive. This type drive was decided upon based on the fact that systems, such as high-end gaming ones, will likely be used in the home where DVD functionality is a plus. In addition, there is the potential for games to begin shipping in DVD format down the road. Obviously being able to install future games is an important part of our high-end gaming system.

We decided upon the Plextor drive for two reasons. First off, it is among the fastest DVD/CDRW combo drives currently available. Secondly, we have had very good experience with Plextor products and suspect that the PX-320A/SW will be no different.

OS - Microsoft Windows XP Professional - $275

Gaming or not, Windows XP Professional remains the OS choice for our high-end systems. Not only is Windows XP a step above older Microsoft operating systems when it comes to gaming performance and compatibility, the Professional version adds some unique features that power users may find extremely useful.

You may be able to find an OEM copy of Windows XP Professional out there for significantly less. If you are building the machine from scratch, by all means go for it.

Bottom Line - $2034 (without software)