Custom Built Gaming PC

There are many great PC magazines for the enthusiast that loves to build his own computer. You can find the magazine aptly titled, "Custom PC" on sale at Amazon at close to 80% off the purchase price. In the latest issue you have access to the best upgrades for your pc: motherboards, ram, graphics cards and more. Also if you have a loved one who is building their own custom pc for Christmas, it's a great time to start thinking about that now so you can get it ordered in time for the Holidays. There's a great review of the GEForce 7800 - an kickass graphics card that will make Call of Duty and Gears of War look absolutely stunning on your new homemade computer.

Choosing a LCD monitor requires different knowledge from choosing a standard CRT monitor. It is just different technology that cannot be compared in one way. Here are some features that you should look out for when choosing an LCD monitor.

Resolution
LCD monitors work differently from its CRT counterpart in that its screen display is based on a fixed matrix of horizontal and vertical pixel. The effect is that LCD monitor works best only at the resolution they are designed for, which is known as the native resolution. If you change the resolution settings, the image and quality will be negatively affected.

If you are looking for an LCD monitor, choose one with a native resolution that suit your needs, but if you change your resolution regularly, it’s best you get a CRT monitor.

Response Time
The response time is the measurement of how fast each pixel can change color. It calculates whether or not LCDs can clearly show full-motion video without ‘smearing’ or ‘ghosting’.

In some faster paced games, ghosting may occur on slower monitors due to the action being faster than the monitor can keep up with. In that case, it is more desirable for gamers to get an LCD monitor with a fast response time to prevent any ghosting effect that might take place.

The price of the LCD monitor usually increases with a faster response time. Currently in the market, the fastest response time for LCD monitor is 2ms and it costs 50-70% more than the standard 8ms LCDs.

Generally, an LCD monitor with 20ms response time or less is sufficient for normal daily use; however for gamers, it is preferable to get an LCD monitor with a response time of less than 8ms.

Contrast Ratio
Contrast ratio measures the differences in brightness levels between the brightest white and the darkest black pixel. A strong contrast ratio of 120:1 easily displays vivid colors, while ratios as high as 300:1 support superior gray-scaling.

A high contrast ratio amounts to the image colors being more distinct and more details on display. Typically, contrast ratios range from 450:1 to 600:1, anything lower is unacceptable.

Viewing Angle
A disadvantage of an LCD monitor is that it has a limited viewing angle. Viewing angle refers to the degree of angle at which you can view the screen and still see defined and accurate images. When you stand off center to view the LCD screen, it is more than likely that you can only see faded images. CRT monitors do not run into this problem.

Choosing an LCD monitor with greater viewing angle will be more desirable in this case. For gamers who are getting an LCD monitor, it is best to get one with 2ms response time, 1280×1024 resolution and contrast ratio (650:1 will be great.) A strongly recommended LCD montior is the Niko 1920W 19 Widescreen LCD . It has a clear and bright display and the image quality is excellent. Not only that, but it’s a good value for money as well.

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Dell E156FP 15 inch LCD Monitor    US $41.00

ViewSonic 19 LCD VP930b professional Monitor Rotating    US $99.00

The implementation of a cache is the perfect solution for increasing the speed of your gaming system. A cache is an incredibly fast type of memory primarily used to store data that is repeatedly used by the CPU. Its basic function is to accelerate the CPU retrieval process which results in a more efficient computer system. Without the cache, the CPU is forced to retrieve instructions directly from RAM. This is a situation that can make playing a graphic-rich video game nearly impossible.

Because it can be very expensive, we advise that you do not implement such a huge cache into your system. A good rule of thumb is the faster your processor, the bigger a cache your system requires. The Intel Dual Core Extreme is a high end CPU that comes included with a 4MB cache. Celeron CPUs are a more economical version of the Intel chip. A typical Celeron CPU only contains a 256KB cache and therefore operates slower than an Intel Pentium 4 CPU, despite the fact that many of them have the same operating speed.