Tip of the week (SPG)  

August 3, 2008 If all else fails, you have your receipt, right? Buy from reputable dealers only. Save all receipts and be sure to know their return policy in advance.

July 27, 2008 Taking a little bit of extra time to really understand what you need for computer hardware is important, but it can be just important on your wallet when considering how much power that hardware is going to use over the long-run. If you want to save power above all else, "Green" components are often easily identifiable at the stores we reference.

You can also purchase a "Kill A Watt" device from sites like NewEgg, Tigerdirect, or your local hardware store. The device sits between your electrical component you want to test and your power outlet. It will tell you exactly how much each device uses (even if the device is powered off, some will still "bleed" electricity!).

July 20, 2008 The smoother you want your game connection to be, the more you will want to ensure properly running hardware and keep tabs on what you download or purchase for software. Don't always blame your ISP or the Best Buy salesman!

July 13, 2008 Having a dual monitor setup is a great investment both for work and gaming purposes. You can have a game running on one monitor in windowed mode, while the other monitor displays important information from sites such as Allakhazam, about the game. Two 22-24" monitors are optimal for this configuration.

Anything larger and you may find yourself moving your head around too much if the monitors are close to you. Anything smaller and it may not be worth purchases two. Instead, one larger 25-28" monitor would be best. Best to avoid 30"+ due to the cost and video card requirements, unless you use also the monitor as TV and it sits back farther from your position.

July 6, 2008 Surround sound can make a great audio experience in just about any game that involves a 3D world. That experience can be ruined however if your speakers are placed in the wrong locations or their settings are improper for the speaker system you have. A center channel speaker, two wide-spaced front channel speakers, two rear channel speakers even wider spaced (slightly), and a subwoofer are all you really need. Check your in-game settings to further enhance sound quality, but be sure the sound system itself is setup properly first.

June 29, 2008: When purchasing a monitor be careful that you do not choose one that is too large! Consider desk space as well as viewing distance from the monitor as your primary considerations. Secondary considerations would be other persons viewing at an angle, as well as additional port features as HDMI and card readers. Tertiary considerations may be height adjustment, pivot and swivel features. 22" monitors are the "sweet spot" for the average gaming consumer today. Higher the price will generally reflect a higher quality and feature-set.

June 22, 2008: Don't be fooled by how "large" something is. If you are shopping for a graphics card and notice it has 1GB instead of the average 512MB, it doesn't mean the card will run faster or support more games over a card that is newer. Some cards that have 256MB are faster at the majority of games than those with 1GB!

June 15, 2008: Not everyone needs a quad-core CPU right now, especially gamers! Looking for the most powerful system build to ensure WOW, or the new Age of Conan game runs smoothly? Don't consider the CPU at too high of a priority. As with most gaming rigs, the GPU is the most important factor. Dual-core CPUs, either AMD's Phenom's or Intel's Penryn C2Ds will do just fine. Quad-core's "may" be useful for MMO and other games in 2009 or beyond...

June 8, 2008: When selecting a computer case there are three primary things to consider:

1) How large and heavy do you want it to be? Select a full-tower for space, but select aluminum material if you don't want it to be too heavy!
2) Don't need a power supply? Some cases automatically come with them!
3) Enjoy peace and quiet? Purchase a case with as many 120mm fans as possible.

May 25, 2008: When purchasing several components for a new computer system ensure that each component is certified to work with the others. For example, certain motherboards are sensitive to the speed and configuration of inserted memory modules. Start with matching up the motherboard, memory, and CPU. The motherboard should also have a slot to accommodate your selected video card. After selecting your other components, choose an adequate sized case and a PSU powerful enough to power everything. Our recommendations here are in relative harmony for this.

May 18, 2008: Periodically check your hard drive space on all partitions to ensure there is at least a couple of gigabytes unused. This allows the drives to "breath" when performing swapping and defragging tasks. Ensure at least 15% of a drive's space is unused when defragging as well, otherwise defragging will take significantly longer to complete.