Warning . . .This article contains nothing but opinion.

As for the HP VooDoo. Ya, well. Have you actually looked at the specs, and any of the comparisons? Small box, slow performance (for it’s price) with heat issues to boot. And the biggest problem? Little to no expansion ability? No thanks, not at that price point. VooDoo was a failing company after the release of the Blackbird, and HP bought them out to try and compete with Dells acquisition of Alienware. HP has a ways to go to start actually competing in my opinion.

I think it sort of depends on how much the person wants to spend. One of the longest standing gaming system companies is Alienware. However, keep in mind that Dell bought Alienware a while back, so by getting the Dell XPS systems, you are in essence getting Alienware boxes with a different label. In one of my most recent Extreme PC Mag articles, the top 3 gaming systems are listed as: Alienware, Dell (Because of Alienware) & Falcon. In the top 5 you would also see Polywell.

As for recommendations, I would say some of the best bang for the buck would see the Dell XPS 730x, you are sacrificing some of the bleeding edge, so processor and memory are not the fastest they could be. However the price is cheaper, as you can come in at under $2000. If I had the funds however, I would have to say I would be going with either a custom built machine or a system from Alienware. Something sporting the ALX model where pricing starts at $3000+ with an overclocked Corei7 processor and all the best water cooling money can buy is what your looking for.

System specs you must have, would be a 64 bit OS, Vista Ultimate 64 with a minimum of 6gb of RAM (12 would be better). I have not run windows 7 long enough on my gaming rig to be able to make any recommendations about it, however it does “seem” stable. But again, it is untested over the long haul so sticking with something “known” is the better route. For video, anything short of Dual (that’s 2 video cards hooked up in SLI) nVidia graphics cards would be criminal. GTX295’s would be best, but 285’s overclocked would work. Do not even mention the words Radeon, least not without a smile and chuckle. The newest intel i7’s are being heralded as the better processor’s (the Extreme Editions), however AMD still cuts out it’s fair share of the market, and does it with better pricing.

Bottom line is, a good system will cost money. How much do they want to spend? If they raise an eyebrow and look scared when you ask them the question, then the Dell XPS 730X is the best route. If they get a gleam in their eye, point them to the Alienware site have them click on either of the X58’s for Intel processors, or the Aurora for AMD processors and start spending money on upgrades.

Rich Olewine, The Chip Inc.