Components Continued

DVD

Pioneer 103S 5x DVD ROM drive - $90: I actually picked up this Pioneer drive a year ago, transferring it to the gigahertz box from the old Klamath machine. The funny thing is that I don't even watch DVDs on my computer. The primary reason I have this drive is because it's a slot loader, like the kind you find in most car CD players. There's no drawer or external mechanism of any kind. Just pop your disc in the open slot and the drive gobbles it up. Yes, I'm so lazy I can't be bothered to press the button twice to open and close a standard drawer loading CD drive.

Slot Drive DVD

Sound

Soundblaster Live! Value sound card - $45: No one ever explained to me why I should spend more money on the Live Value's more expensive brethren, the Live! Platinum, the Live! X-Gamer, and the Live! MP3+. The Live! Value gets the job done - it's not as if the others are going to get me more framerate. The sound card is as good a place as any to skimp.

Ethernet

Intel InBusiness 10/100 Network card - $50: I've used the $5 no-name network cards. Trust me - you don't want to go there. The headaches you'll save by going with an Intel or 3Com card are worth the extra money you spend. Everyone who's tried to set up a home LAN knows how flaky Windows networking can be. You might be doing everything right, but still end up having to sacrifice your first born child to the networking god just to get your computers to see each other on the network. Don't give yourself extra headaches by trying to save a nickel and a dime on your ethernet card. If 50 bones is still too rich for your stingy heart, try the mid range brands like Linksys or D-Link at least.

Monitor

Sony G400 19" Monitor - $555: The G400 is an FD Trinitron monitor, meaning you get a nice flat screen. Some of our message board regulars complain that this flatness results in skewed geometry but we don't notice anything out of the ordinary with FD Trinitron screens. If anything, the perception that FD Trinitrons are skewed may be a result of the psychological effect of working for years on very curved screens. You fool yourself into believing those curvaceous screens are showing you straight lines when in fact they aren't. In any case, the FD Trinitrons give a bright, crisp picture, and we don't mind the two faint, spidery thin lines that hold up the aperture grille.

There are other monitor brands that sell FD Trinitron monitors using the same tubes that Sony uses, but we prefer just sticking with the original.

Case

InWin A500 Mid Tower Case - $50: I didn't actually order this InWin case. When James went out to buy parts, I asked him to bring back an Enlight, but the store was out of stock at the time so he came back with the InWin. It actually isn't a bad case at all, with a sliding, removable backplate for the motherboard. My only two complaints would be the relatively weak power supply (235W), and the lack of space between the power supply and the motherboard. After affixing the heatsink and mounting the slot CPU, there was barely enough space to slide the motherboard into the case! This is because the case is a bit shorter than a standard mid tower (looks closer to a mini tower, if you ask me), because of the positioning of the power supply.

Tight squeeze

Heatsink

Golden Orb CPU Cooler - $20: This is an item I got based on word of mouth, and the fact that we use them for all the processors on the FS testbed. I haven't done any formal comparisons with a digital thermometer, nor do I intend to, but it seems to work just fine and hey, it looks pretty darn cool too.