computer specs for gaming/internet shop

**chieffy** · December 22nd, 2003 10:44 AM

hingi ako ng tulong sa mga computer gurus dito....tamad kasi magbigay ng advice mga tao sa ibang forum...

bibili(mangungutang actually) ako ng mga bagong pc para sa gaming shop ko...anong specs ang mairerecommend nyo?
yung medyo practical since di naman siya pang personal pero yung di rin naman ako mahuhuli lalo na kapag nagsilabasan ang mga bagong games that need higher specs(nga pala meron na bang Half Life 2?) eto na rin po yung ibang tanong ko:

1)Intel or AMD?
2)size ng memory?
3)video card? size?
4)okay ba yung integrated na sa motherboard yung sound card?
5)software or hardware na router?
6)best dsl connection for you? speed? monthly business rate?
7)para sa may mga computer shops, san kayo kumuha ng insurance? magkano annual premium?

plano kong gamiting OS is Win98SE....maraming salamat po

**ssaloon** · December 22nd, 2003 10:57 AM

athlon xp 1800
inno3d gf4 128ddr
128 ddr ram pc333
ok na integrated soundcard sa motherboard
40gb harddrive 5400rpm

oks na siguro yan

my friend built the same system, lamang lang nya yung harddrive and ram, barracuda and 256 ddr pc333 kinuha nya respectively, 22k ginastos nya. ginamit nya luma nyang monitor.

**ghosthunter** · December 22nd, 2003 10:00 PM

1)Intel or AMD?

-AMD is cheaper for the same "speed". I suggest AMD Athlon XP 1800 to 2100. Downside, they do get kinda warm so make sure you have good case cooling.

2)size ng memory?

-256Megs DDR to 512Megs.

3)video card? size?

-GeForce4 MX440 64meg DDR minimum (more than enough for nearly all games). 128meg better but marginal at best. If you have the budget, GeForce FX series is very good but thats simply investing into the future games.

4)okay ba yung integrated na sa motherboard yung sound card?

-yup ok na yun, Just keep the drivers handy in case you need to reinstall.

5)software or hardware na router?

-Hardware router is better but software is just as fast. Advantage of hardware router is the stability and it frees up the server for other tasks.

Hardware router: Linksys is cheap and has a good track record with my shop and others. Also has built-in switch so you can connect 4 ports into it.

Software: lots to choose from. Download the shareware or trial version and see what fits your needs. BTW, you'll need a "NAT" server, not a proxy server.

6)best dsl connection for you? speed? monthly business rate?

Eastern DSL 256. P5500/month (VAT included)

Others:

-use a SWITCH and not a HUB for better network performance.

-dont use optical mouse. They'll just get stolen. The basic P100 mouse is good enough and cheaper to replace.

-17 inch monitors are good but they also produce a lot more heat than 15 inch monitors. Make sure you have enough cooling/ventilation for your customers.

-LCD monitors aren't good for gaming, only for web surfing/typing,chat,etc

-ALWAYS have an updated antivirus in each computer. Also invest in a full version anti-pop-up software. Shareware will only get you so far... this will save you quitea bit of weekly/daily maintenance of removing these nuisances.

-If and when AMDG visits your shop, I suggest you pay at least a fraction of your computer's games. Example, if you have 20 PCs, register around 7 to 10 of them. Saves you the hadache if they raid your shop.

-Harddisk size should be 40 gigs to 80 gigs. Current games would consume about 25 to 30 gigs if you install all of the current popular and "classic" games.

**pissword** · December 23rd, 2003 01:02 AM

sir ssaloon.. medyo mahal ata ang 22K for that specs

i got an intel P4 1.8Ghz
256 ddr ram pc333
geforce4 mx440 64mb
ecs motherboard
40gig HD 7200rpm
cd writer
modem
free keyboard, mouse, speaker

23,800 po... and intel yan. pero i think its better nga na AMD ang gamitin sir chieffy. kasi masmura tlaga and masmabilis

basta may magandang ram and videocard yun pc mo...ok na

**pajerokid** · December 23rd, 2003 11:07 AM

chieffy, listen to ghost, iba na meron experience ;)

**ferioboy92i** · December 23rd, 2003 08:13 PM

ghost,
panget ba yung mga motherboard na may built in na lancard? anong motherboard ba ang maganda sa athlon xp 1800 yung mura na ok. ano din ba pinagkaiba ng switch sa hub? thanks

**ghosthunter** · December 24th, 2003 12:58 AM

ferioboy92i

integrated lancard on mboard is ok lang. The only headache is installing the proper driver for it since it would usually be driven by some obscure chipset. So keep that driver disc handy and nearby. Better yet, keep it in the casing of the PC.

As for the type of mboard, currently I am using VIA based chipset mboards. Why? Simply because I like their monolithic drivers. It simplifies the effort required to install the drivers for all the onboard devices. At home, I'm using VIA KT266B mboard supporting SDR & DDR with built-in sound card. In my shop, I'm using a similar but earlier model mboard.

HUB vs SWITCH. HUB share the bandwidth for all the ports. SWITCH has "private" bandwidths between ports.

example: SWITCH can have 100mbs from port 1 to 2 and 100mbs between port 3 to 4 at the same time. HUB can only have a max bandwidth of 100mbs total, so port 1 to 2 & port 3 to 4 will only have 50mbs each.

**ghosthunter** · December 24th, 2003 01:03 AM

something to note about certain built-in soundcards.

-cheaper ones use the CPU to process sound, hence slowing down overall performance.

-more expensive versions have their own sound processors which really make them a separate sound card that simply is found on the same mboard. No performance slowdown here.

If unsure, check the sound chipset used.

Either way, the performance difference is very small and would NOT be noticed by most people.

**ghosthunter** · December 24th, 2003 01:25 AM

My current PC

AMD Athlon XP 2100+
256meg DDR 333mhz
GeForce 4 MX440SE
10 Gig HDD + 10 Gig HDD
CD Writer
CDROM, FDD
100/10 Lan card
built-in sound card

Costed me around P20,400.00

not included in the price above
- CoolerMaster Muskateer System Dynamics Detector (those 3 analog guages)
- Themaltake Hardcano II