I'm always updating my game rig to keep up with new technology and/or the latest demanding games. This is what I have at the moment (April 2007):

• "Zero" ATX Full Tower case (black) by NZXT
  From the website: "Outfitted with the ultimate in quiet cooling, the Zero comes preloaded with 8 fans and a boasts impressive drive space. The front panel of the Zero is overlayed with thick aluminum and a smoked window for use with 5.25" LCD devices. The Zero's aluminum structure allows for light weight while maintaining integrity. With quad 120mm intakes in the side panel, the Zero is the best solution for new SLI and Crossfire setups." Unfortunately, I can only use two of the side panel fans because of my CPU water cooling block, but two are better than none.

• Tagan SLI Ready Power Supply
  Upgraded to a 900W Tagan, TG900-U96 TurboJet Quad Quiet power supply.

• MSI P6N SLI-FI mobo
  Supports Socket 775 for my Intel Core2 Duo CPU, running with 1066MHz FSB. Powered by the NVIDIA® nForce 650i SLI (C55) Chipset, with two PCI-Express x16 slots, one PCI Express X1 slot, and three legacy 32-bit PCI slots, Dual Channel DDR2 800 (PC-6400), on-board REALTEK 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet, 8 x USB 2.0, 4 x SATA, and 2 x IEEE 1394 Firewire, etc etc.

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 CPU @ 2.66GHz
  With 1066FSB, and 2 x 2MB L2 Cache, this CPU is fast! I have a Coolmaster liquid cooling kit installed on this.

• Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS video cards
  Yes, two of them. I'm running these babies in SLI mode! Each card carries 640MB on-board ram (1280MB total), and is DirectX 10 compatible with Windows Vista. Frankly, these scream!

• 2GB (2x1MB) of Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader
  Twin sticks of 1GB DDR2 800 (PC-6400) gaming ram running in Dual Channel mode, CAS latency 4-4-4-12.

• 1TB (2x500GB) HHD (OEM)
  Both drives are identical 500MB SATA-II, 3.0GB/s, 16MB cache, 7200rpm drives. I'm not currently running these in RAID.

• Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card
  For total sound immersion!

• Logitech Z-5300 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
  from Logitech.com:"The dual chamber subwoofer pounds out twice the bass of conventional designs to deliver deep, loud and powerful bass. Polished aluminum phase plug satellite drivers project superb high-end and rich mid-range tones for balanced sound. Its full-featured SoundTouch™ wired remote provides convenient controls for quick adjustments. Rotating pedestals allow easy installation on wall or desktop. The Z-5300 also features removable grilles for a high-end, custom look."

• Liteon 16X Double Layer DVD-Burner
  Dual format +R/-R drive. Writes in 16X on +R; 8X on -R discs, 4X on +RW/-RW discs. A full disc takes about 5 minutes to burn at 16X, and 20 minutes at 4X.

• DELL UltraSharp 2001fp 20.1" LCD monitor
  Getting a little long in the tooth now, my old LCD has a response time of 16ms, 400:1 contrast, and inputs for composite video, S-Video, DVI, regular VGA. I still run it in it's native resolution of 1600x1200. It's got a slow response time compared to today's LCDs, but it gets the job done and I still like it a lot!

• Logitech MX518 Gaming Mouse
  Precision, 1600dpi, confortable contour, floats over my Razer eXactmat. Love it!

• Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
  Not only looks great, but if functional as well. Backlit (blue) keys for those late night gaming sessions, built-in LCD screen that actually sports useful information, and of course, the 18 programable G-keys. With 3 modes, this gives you a total 54 macros at any one time (not just for gaming either, increase productivity in any application). And an all-important button that disables the WINDOWS key! This thing is a bit pricey, but imho, it is the Rolls Royce of gaming keyboards.

• Plantronics DSP500 USB headset
  I really like this headset. It's comfortable for long sessions (it sports padded cloth ear cups) and has good sound, with crisp highs and deep bass. Being USB, its a breeze to set up and use, and the accompanying Persono software makes it a snap to switch between it and my speakers.

• Windows XP Media Edition
  I tried Vista, hated it since that half my hardware and software would not work with it, so I bought XP Media Edition instead. When we start getting some DirectX 10 games, I'll give Vista another try, until then I am sticking with XP.

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