rec.autos.simulators

My last upgrade was when the Voodoo3's first came out, so I've been out
of the shopping business for a while... Anyone wanna point me in the
right direction?

Warlock!

I would recommend an Athlon based system, with 266Mhz FSB (1.333 GHz and up)

Since you are going with a 266 based system, you'll be getting PC 2100 DDR
memory....I'd get two 256MB chips for 512MB total.

Other stuff:

Video card: GeForce 3 Ti200 64MB is (I got one Tuesday for only $180).
Sound Card: SB Live Value ($40)
Mobo:  any 266Mhz based board w/o onboard sound/video  (I recommend ASUS)
($100)
OS:  Windows XP ($100)
HD:  ATA 100, 7200rpm drive.....80GB are cheap, partitition into 2 or 4
drives. ($200)

You could get this sort of a system built for you, or do it yourself, for
under $1000.

I would also highly recommend getting a 19" monitor.  They are cheap (under
$300).  Get one with a maximum of .25 dot pitch (any higher and it doesn't
look that good) and 1600x1200 minimum resolution capability (some will go
higher, but you probably won't need it).

Just goto:  www.pricewatch.com and look up prices for stuff.  Don't waste
your time at a retail store with a name brand box.  You end up overpaying
and besides that, they are usually crappy and hard to upgrade.

CPU - might as well go for an Athlon XP1800.  Runs about heads up with a P4 2ghz, has more OC headroom than the older Athlons if
you're so inclined, and is still cheap for the performance.  But be sure it has a good fan.
MB - look for a new model based on the KT266A chip, as they offer a significant performance boost versus the older KT266.
VIDEO - A 1st gen GeForce 3 (not Ti) can be had for well under $300 and will outperform the new Ti 200 models.  If you can wait a
bit watch for reviews on the new ATI Radeon 8500.  It promises to outperform them all for about $250 or less IF ATI gets the drivers
sorted.  We shall see.
SOUND - The new SB Audigy X-Gamer offers improved performance and can be had for only a little more than the Live's.
OS - not sure I'd go the XP route for a game box; I'd probably go with ME and turn off all the unneeded functions like system
restore that tend to bog it down.

Hope this is of use; happy shopping!

SB

For $2000, you can get the Aurora DDR
http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages/aurora%20ddr.asp

It's a truly AWESOME system

The new Athlon XP 1800 (blows away the P4 2.0 ghz)
GeForce 3
SB Live
60 GB HD
256 MB DDR ram
Klipsch ProMedia 4.1's (phenomenal speakers, the best on the market)

<drrrooool>

All good advice, where can you get that GF3ti for $180???

But don't get "any" generic mobo, you WILL have problems. Major
players only ie Abit, Asus, MSI, Iwill, etc.

Also, Win XP does suck a lot of resources as an OS. I'd prefer Win98SE
or ME personally, unless you really like all the new features XP comes
with.

Rafe Mc

Yes, I have them :)

-Larry

~$120 - Athlon 1.4Ghz T-Bird Processor.
~$040 - Nice Fan/Heatsink.
~$080 - 512MB Micron PC2100 RAM.

~$75).
~$180 - Lian-Li PC60 All Aluminum Case.
~$050 - Antec 350 Watt Power Supply (or another of your choosing - watch the
EnerMax's though in the PC60).
~$140 - Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 7200 RPM Hard Drive
~$060 - Microsoft Office Keyboard (best keyboard they've ever made).
~$050 - Mouse of your choice.
~$079 - Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound Card.
~$400 - GeForce 3 Ti500 Video Card.
~$300 - High Quality 17" Display.  Don't skimp here!
~$015 - Standard Floppy Drive.
~$175 - TDK VeloCD 16X CDR Drive.
~$075 - DVD Drive.
---------------------
Total - ~$1914.00

Most of these components are best-in-class...

-Larry

I recommend the Epox KHA+ motherboard (KT266A chipset) fast, stable,
compatible - kicks ass.

I'd also recommend ME over XP - below is the magic command to get rid of the
system restore ***and turn WinME into the best *** OS available.

Start / Run  "\windows\pchealth\support\pchsetup /uninstall"
~~

hehe .. I stand corrected :)

"> CPU - might as well go for an Athlon XP1800.  Runs about heads up with a
P4 2ghz

Faster actually, from what I've been reading.