Think our ultimate gaming rig is over-the-top? Well it was meant to be since it was built to be the best for the most hardcore. For the casual, non-elitist gamers, you don't require the highest-end components or give up an arm and a leg to have an enjoyable gaming experience. You want to frag with peace of mind, not to obliterate your bank balance. Drawing a line between price and performance, we've come up with a more mainstream system that will still be able to undertake all the rigors of gaming today while packing enough next-generation technology to give you headroom in future titles.
We do away with much of the fats to leave a lean PC with its core components still packing a punch. A Pentium 4 processor is used instead of a Pentium D, though you notice that both are actually equal in raw clock speeds. We chose a Radeon X1600 XT graphics card for this system. As far as mainstream is concerned, this baby will probably be ATI's next price/performance sweet spot for the X1000 range. You will still get SM 3.0 and HDR capabilities and with ATI's AVIVO video technology onboard, you can take a break from gaming and watch HD videos without any worries.
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Cooler Master Centurion 5 SRP: US$70
The Centurion 5 casing has an elegant look to it, with clean lines and a symmetrical design. Like most of Cooler Master's Centurion lineup, it has a solid build and comes with an affordable price tag. Nothing too fancy, but this is the same case used throughout this year's World Cyber Games, so you can at least feel like a world class gamer.
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