Introduction
The disparity between gaming and home/office systems is vast. It is not uncommon for people to ask me about what someone should buy. Before answering their question, I always ask the person what they will be using their machine for. The classic response is: "Well, I want to use it for writing and other office things as well as for surfing the Web and email." If that is the end of the statement, I generally refer the person to the company with the lowest price and a solid warranty (I don't want to fix their system). If they continue by saying: "And I want to play some games," I then have a noise go off in my head like a person dragging a needle across a vinyl record. I have to follow that up with: "What kind of games?" Some people just want to play flash and other Web-based games, and if that is the case, I refer them back to the simple build. However, if they start talking about demanding 3D titles, I have to start talking about budgets and expectation levels.
Custom-built high performance gaming systems can range in price from the extreme at over $25,000 and as low as what we received from ABS. For about $4,000, this system is a bit expensive when compared to the classic "email-and-surfing-the-Web" type system. However, games demand something entirely different from a computer. From the tests we ran, this system from ABS definitely has what it takes to be a high-performance gaming system.