I've always believed the most important thing in gaming on computers is the proccessor speed, ram, and, more recently, the video card. Is there any other major componant in PC hardware that significantly boosts gaming performace? Also, I'm looking for a new computer, and just bought/returned one as I wasn't satisfied among other things. I figure a PC, even offbrand, will perform well with most games with a 128-256 MB vid card, a 3.0 and up processor, or dual core, and a gig of ram.


Also, with the new dual core proccessors, is it really 2.6 Ghz if it states 1.8? I figure it may be so because of the dual chip. This forum has been very helpful and friendly beforehand, and I just wanted to thank you all again and see if I could get answers to these questions.


Thanks,
Overcast

That's the gist of things. With the video card, standards are moving towards PCI Express x16 so make sure you get that. The RAM you want to make sure you get DDR2 which is mostly standard now but sometimes they sneak in the old DDR. A fast data seek time on the hard drive can also make a difference for high end gaming or video editing. Physics Accelerator cards are always an option in the future, but for now I don't see them being a required component for a gaming machine. Dell and many other manufacturers are offering them on high end machines, but I'm waiting until the price drops and more games need them. There are certain features I look for when buying my own machines. I prefer motherboards with at least 4 RAM slots, SATA hard drive connections as well as standard IDE, plenty of expansion slots, and I'm sure I'm missing something, but that's a good start.


That's essentially the idea. It's a lot more complicated than that, but I'd have to get into shortened pipelines needing less power and integrated memory controllers, and I only half understand it anyway... So the easy answer is: "basically yes, as far as performance is concerned".

I'd love to see your specs when you get the new machine!

Yeah, you guys basically hit all the key points.

But remember that your gaming skill will not necessarily be determined solely on how diesel your computer is. It's like saying if I buy an expensive guitar, I will instantly be great at it. It does however give you an undeniable advantage.

If you're going to build your own computer (I suggest you do ), you'll need to take the Operating System in to account aswell. I built a new computer little over a month ago, here's what I got:

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13GHz)

Motherboard:
Asus P5B-E

Graphics Card:
GeForce 7900GS

RAM:
Corsair XMS2 DDR2 PC6400 (2x1gb)

Hard Drive:
Seagate 160gb SATA2

With a few peripherals the price came to around £650 (Incl. P&P and VAT); and it runs like a dream.

I agree with the points mentioned above. Alot of people don't think the hard drive plays a role but it does. Try to get the fastest one possible. I would also partition the drive and store music/vids files etc on one and use the other for the operating system.

Well, I ended up getting an HP. I got a CPU that's a AMD 64 X2 3800+ with a 250 GB hard drive, 1 gig of ram and used my older 128 mb vid card. It does well for now, but the next thing I will get will be a new vid card. thanks again for all of your help everyone!

Great!!