I used to build my own machines. I took great pride of getting the last clock cycle of power out of them. To get one more frame per second out of them. Then I got married, had kids, and now just am happy to be able to play games at all let alone overlocking my video card or purchasing a premium motherboard.
So when Half-Life 2 came out, I decided to get a new computer. One that was pretty well set up for gaming. I haven't played HL2 yet because I want to experience it in its maximum visual glory. So what did I do? I bought a Dell. 
Here are the specs:
Dimension XPS
Pentium® 4 Processor 560 with HT Technology (3.60GHz, 800 FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition |
Qty: 1
Unit Price: $3,555.00 |
| Dimension XPS |
Pentium® 4 Processor 560 with HT Technology (3.60GHz, 800 FSB)
|
M368H
|
[221-5484]
|
| Memory |
SAVE $100! 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x1GB)
|
2GB5P
|
[463-2996]
|
| Keyboard |
Dell Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
|
EMK
|
[310-1696]
|
| Monitors |
FREE UPGRADE! 17 in E173FP Flat Panel Display
|
E173FPP
|
[463-3987]
|
| Video Card |
256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X800 XT
|
X800XT
|
[320-3916]
|
| Hard Drive |
400GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
|
400S
|
[341-0989]
|
| Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices |
3.5 in Floppy Drive
|
FD
|
[340-1927]
|
| Operating System |
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
|
WHXP
|
[313-7222]
[462-4610]
[412-0688]
[463-2282]
[420-4834]
[420-4927]
|
| Mouse |
Dell Optical USB Mouse
|
OM
|
[310-4037]
|
| Network Interface |
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
|
IN
|
[430-0742]
|
| Modem |
No Modem Requested
|
N
|
[313-3607]
|
| Document Management |
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
|
AAREAD
|
[412-0705]
|
| CD or DVD Drive |
Dual Drives: 48x CD-RW Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write capability
|
CDR6DVR
|
[313-2998]
[420-4919]
|
| Sound Card |
Sound Blaster Audigy™2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, and IEEE 1394
|
SBA2X
|
[313-3114]
|
| Speakers |
No Speaker Option
|
N
|
[313-4514]
|
| Productivity Software |
Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Outlook, Word, Excel
|
BASICC
|
[412-0449]
|
| Security Software |
No Security Subscription
|
NS2
|
[412-0732]
|
| Digital Music |
Dell Jukebox - easy-to-use music player and CD burning software
|
MMBASE
|
[412-0691]
|
| Digital Photography |
No Digital Imaging Software Requested
|
NODPS
|
[461-3064]
|
| Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options |
1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr Technical Support
|
S111OS
|
[950-1260]
[950-3337]
[950-9797]
[412-0360]
[960-2800]
|
| XPS Specialized Support |
Dimension XPS, Specialized Support
|
XPSSUPP
|
[960-2697]
|
| Internet Access Services |
No ISP requested
|
NISPFSS
|
[461-3063]
[412-0625]
|
| Enhanced Software for CD or DVD Burner |
Combo: RecordNow! and MyDVD Deluxe
|
RNDVDLX
|
[430-0947]
|
| Video Editing |
IEEE 1394 Adapter
|
1394
|
[320-0169]
|
| Dell Media Experience |
No Dell Media Experience™ Selected
|
NODMX
|
[462-5372]
|
| Wireless Networking Solution |
TrueMobile™ 1300 WLAN (802.11b/g) USB 2.0 DT Adapter
|
TM1300
|
[430-0575] |
Now, some of this stuff I'll end up putting onto other machines. The monitor won't do of course. But I can bring it to work. And yea, maybe I should have gotten 4 gigs of RAM but I decided that I didn't need it and could always add it later if I really had to have it. But this should be adequate to play HL2.
