Outfitting a Gaming PC, 2007 Edition

Reader Jairaj wrote to ask for an update to last year's guide to building a gaming PC, and sure enough it's time to upgrade those recommendations. Want to purchase or build a killer gaming rig? Let's get started, looking at each component.

• CPU - Intel has been dominating the CPU market for the last year or so, and the Core 2 series remains the best on the market. AMD's Athlon 64 X2 line is plenty capable, but for now it can't keep up with the latest Core 2's, like the Core 2 Extreme. That said, the Athlon is available at a great price, so it's worth considering if you want decent power on a budget. Still, if price is no object, go with the fastest Core 2 you can swing. The jury's out, by the way, on whether the Core 2 Quad is really any better than the Core 2 Duo. Go Extreme if you need top-end performance and Duo for more everyday needs. Either way, make sure your processor is from the latest revision of the series (on Core 2 Duo, look for a 1066MHz or 1333MHz front side bus).
• Motherboard - Compatibility is key, here. Digging into the intricacies of motherboards could take a week's worth of posts, but look for a model that supports your CPU (of course) as well as SLI video cards, in case you decide to run multiple graphics cards simultaneously at some time. Most other features like SATA are now standard, but you might look for e-SATA (external SATA) and extra PCI Express slots, if you're looking to future-proof your machine. The Gigabyte GA series is a good place to start if you're using a Core 2 Duo.
• RAM - I'm not overly convinced that "high-end" RAM will make any noticeable performance difference vs. standard-grade DIMMs. Rather than spend extra money on RAM with LEDs on it, I'd rather put the cash toward boosting the total to 4GB.
• Hard Drive - Speed is more important than capacity here, though fast drives don't have to be tiny. Jump for a 7,200rpm SATA drive to keep seek and load times to a minimum. With Seagate's Barracuda line you can get 320 gigs for 100 bucks. If you need extra storage, get a second, slower drive with a larger capacity to use for non-gaming files, backups, and other data like your music collection.
• Graphics Card - DirectX 10 is upon us, and there's no reason not to get a DX10 graphics card today. The Nividia 8000 series is the best on the market today, but ATI is finally responding with upgrades to its 2000 series. I'm a little gunshy about ATI's recent hardware and would probably recommend an NVidia GeForce 8800 GTS (very expensive) or GTX (crazy expensive) for ultra-high-end performance and the GeForce 8600 GT if you're on a budget. I wouldn't turn down one of ATI's new Radeons, though, especially the 2900 XT.

Those are the key elements. Remember of course that new equipment is always on the horizon, and these recommendations are based only on what's best on the market today.

Don't forget a quality power supply, case, keyboard, mouse, speakers (and sound card if you want more than just stereo sound) and of course a big display (Samsungs and Dells look good right now). Game on!