Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 / Front Matter
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, FOREWORD,
XIII
INTRODUCTION,
1
XI
XV
Welcome to the World of PC Games 1
How PC Games Affect Performance
Aspects of PC Performance, Graphics, Audio,
6
7
7
Physics,
7
Artificial Intelligence,
8
Case Study: Dungeon Siege, Genre Issues,
2
8
12
The Soul of a Great Gaming PC
The CPU,
17
Intel’s Pentium 4 Processor, “Budget” Processors,
19
21
Future CPU Architectures,
21
23
The Memory Controller, The I/O Controller, Motherboards,
23
23
25
Motherboard Formats, Memory,
15
17
The AMD Athlon,
Core Logic,
3
25
28
Memory Bandwidth,
29
iii
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:40 PM
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 /
A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance
iv
T H E
E X T R E M E
Graphics Hardware,
G A M E R ’ S
30
The Future of Graphics, Storage,
32
CD/CD-RW Drives, DVD Drives,
35
36
37
Chassis and Power Supply, The Evolving PC,
3
32
32
Hard Drives,
Audio,
38
40
Operating Systems for PC Gaming
Supporting Software, DirectX,
44
Operating Systems,
46
Windows 95,
46
45
Windows 98/Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Me,
47
Windows XP Home & Professional, 50
Multiplayer Gaming with Your PC
Friday Night Follies, LAN Gaming,
55
55
Internet Multiplayer Gaming, Small-Scale Multiplayer Gaming, Medium-Scale Multiplayer,
56
57
58
Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming,
58
Do-It-Yourself Gaming
The Mod Scene,
61
62
Finding Mods, Do It Yourself,
53
54
Enabling Multiple Players,
63
63
Mod Creation Principles,
64
Mod Development Tools,
66
Case Study: Warcraft III,
68
Case Study: Neverwinter Nights, Finding Resources and Tools,
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:40 PM
48
49
Apple Macintosh,
5
47
47
Windows 2000, Linux,
43
44
Alternative Support Software,
4
P C
71
70
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 /
C O N T E N T S
2
v
Creating the Perfect Gaming PC 6
Tuning Your PC to the Types of Games You Play
Mainstream Games, Strategy Games,
76
77
Turn-Based Games,
78
Real-Time Strategy Games, Role-Playing Games, Simulations,
79
79
81
Action Games and First-Person Shooters,
7
Connecting Game Controllers, The Game Port, The Force Is With You,
88 89
90
90
Flight Controllers, Joysticks,
92 92
Other Flight Control Accessories, Wheels,
93
93
Other Controllers, Voice,
95
96
Mouse and Keyboard, Keyboards, Mice,
97
97
98
Developing an Upgrade Plan
Upgrading Versus Replacing,
Scenario 2: The 2–3-Year-Old System, Scenario 3: The Nearly New System, What’s Your Budget?, Next Steps,
102 103 104
106
107
3D Hardware and Game Performance
Confusion in 3D,
110
The Frame Buffer, Making It Real, Shading,
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:41 PM
101
102
Scenario 1: An Archeological Era PC,
9
87
88
Universal Serial Bus (USB),
8
82
Controlling Your World: Game Controllers for Every Game
Gamepads,
75
114 114
113
109
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 /
T H E
E X T R E M E
A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance
vi
G A M E R ’ S
Texture Mapping, Filtering,
115
118
Anti-aliasing,
121
Programmable Shaders, Vertex Shaders,
122 122
Pixel Shaders,
122
Pushing Pixels and Polygons,
123
Choosing the Right Hardware,
124
Hardware Commonalities, We’re in the Chips, Nvidia,
126 127
127
3Dlabs / Creative Labs, Others,
10
124
126
ATI Technologies, Matrox,
128
128
More PC Hardware Choices
Processors, Motherboards, and Memory, The CPU, Memory,
Storage,
133
134
136
Speakers, Displays,
138
139 140
Hard Drives,
140
Optical Storage,
141
How to Buy Hardware,
142
Now for the Screwdriver…,
11
143
The Easy Upgrades
Electrostatic Discharge,
145
146
Installing a New Graphics Card, Get the Latest Drivers,
147
147
Uninstall the Old Graphics Driver, Driver Installation,
152
Replacing Your Monitor,
156
Multiple Monitors Rule!,
156
Upgrading Your Sound System,
157
Adding Memory,
162
On to Bigger Things,
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:41 PM
131 132
132
Motherboards, Audio,
P C
166
148
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 /
C O N T E N T S
12
Major Surgery
Preparation and Tools, Upgrading Storage,
169 170
171
IDE Hard Drive Installation, Replacing a Primary Drive, SCSI Drives, Briefly,
178
Installing Optical Storage, Replacing Your CPU,
171 176
178
179
Upgrading an Athlon XP Processor, Upgrading Your Motherboard, The World Awaits,
13
195
Installing Windows
Installing Windows XP, Home or Pro?,
197
198 198
Upgrade or Clean Install, The Install Process,
199
199
The Issue of Activation,
205
Motherboard Chipset Drivers, More Drivers,
208
Upgrade or Clean Install?, The Install Process, 209
Hardware Setup,
210
210
211
IPX Gaming,
14
208
208
Setting Up a Home Network, TCP/IP,
212
Be Your Own Dell
Chassis and Power Supply, Choosing a Case,
215
216
216
Choosing a Power Supply,
219
Building Your Own Game PC Is Easy,
220
What You Have Already Done,
220
Easier than Upgrading,
221
The Path from Upgrading to Building, Assembling Your Masterwork,
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:42 PM
205
206
Installing Windows Me,
The Upgrade Install,
185
189
222
221
vii
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 /
A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance
viii
T H E
3
E X T R E M E
G A M E R ’ S
P C
Tweaks and Troubleshooting 15
Common Problems and Solutions
Troubleshooting Techniques, An Example, Can’t Boot Up,
226
227
228
Hardware Issues,
228
Operating System Issues,
231
System Lockups and Crashes,
233
OS Lockups and Crashes, Hardware Crashes, Performance Problems,
233
234
Application Crashes,
236
236
Stuttering During Gameplay, Frame Rates,
237
237
Audio-Related Issues, Network Problems,
238 240
Network and Multiplayer Problems (LAN), Multiplayer Problems (the Internet), Latency Issues,
242 243
Poor Network Game Design, Cheaters,
244
245
Hardware Tweaks
Tuning Your PC,
249
250
Hardware and BIOS Tips,
250
BIOS Information on the Net, Updating the System BIOS, Why Overclock?, Keep It Cool,
257
257
258
Watch the PCI and AGP Bus, Memory Issues,
259
260
Graphics Card Overclocking,
260
263
The Personal Touch: Case Mods,
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:42 PM
251
252
Overclocking CPU and Memory,
The Quiet PC,
241
242
Connection Speed Problems,
16
225
264
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
Blow the Lid Off! / The Extreme Gamer’s PC: A Gamer’s Guide to Ultimate PC Performance / Case / 222637-4 /
C O N T E N T S
17
Software Tweaks
Operating System Tuning,
269
270
Unload the System Tray and Startup Applications, Background Processes,
Antivirus and Firewall Software, Tools and Utilities,
Other OS Issues and Tweaks,
Online Resources, Patches,
276 276
278
283
283
Game-Specific Tweaks,
4
275
275
The Importance of Defragging, Additional Resources,
270
272
284
The Future of PC Gaming 18
Where to Next?
Internet and Web Games, Compact PCs,
289 291
292
The Impact of Wireless,
292
Handheld and PDA Gaming, Gaming Across Platforms, Final Thoughts,
Index
P:\010Comp\BlowLid\637-4\fm.vp Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:24:43 PM
293
294
295
297
ix
