The ultimate gaming desktop for Windows Vista is not, despite the reference, addressed exclusively to gamers. It is in fact a configuration designed for high-end users, and for those that can truly
appreciate the top experience that is synonymous with high-end technology. I focused on building a custom configuration that will enable users to walk into a store and be confident that whatever software they buy will work seamlessly on their machine.
The first standard of high-end is Windows Vista Ultimate. And for gamers, Windows Vista should be the obvious choice as it supports DirectX 10. Something that no gamer should live without. The second standard is, and it breaks my heart to say this, Intel. I have been an AMD fan all my life, but there is no match for Dual Core and Quad Core.
So after Windows Vista Ultimate you will need either an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor or an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor. "Leaders of the pack seeking monster performance, look no further", reads a message posted on the Intel website, and they do have a point.
And we come to RAM, yes I know that you are dying to get to the graphics and video aspect, but just bear with me for a second. We'll get rid of RAM and storage. Since there are so many good options as far as memory and HDD developers are concerned, I will not provide you the choice of the manufacturer. My only advice is to get at least 4 GB of Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz, and on the storage space you can go all out. Hard disk utopia is for me four RAID 1 TB hard drives, with no less than 10,000 RPM, and a Serial ATA 3Gb/s interface. But that's just me.
Right, at this point, I want to mention that all other components from networking hardware to audio and to the computer case are optional. I am sure that you will be able to deal with those yourselves as it is not as much a question of performance as of personal preferences and taste.
But there are two things that I overlooked, the motherboard and the graphics card. The perfect motherboard for such a system comes from Nvidia. And since I have told you this you can also imagine where I will be going with the video card as well. Introducing NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI. This is an obvious choice since I have gone with the Intel processors.
And now, the piece of resistance... Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. Now don't tell me that you didn't see this coming a mile away. Up to 2 x 768MB GDDR3 video memory, Quad DVI and S-Video outputs with quad-display support, full DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.0 graphics compatibility and NVIDIA SLI-Enabled. It doesn't get any better than this. Now I have to go and start saving money, because this will run over $5,000.
Find us on Google+
