PC modding

Lately, I have been talking about some of the PC games I like. My favorite type of PC games are First Person Shooters. You know, those games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Left 4 Dead. These type of games are incredibly demanding on a PC, especially if you run them on their maximum video settings. An advantage PC gamers have over console owners is the ability to upgrade. For example, the Xbox 360 came out in 2005. Since then I have been able to upgrade my computer various times, and this allows for the PC settings of games to be much greater than their console counterparts. For example the maximum resolution of the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty World at War is 600p (which is a little less than 720p). The PC version's maximum resolution is 2560x1600, which is by far a higher resolution than 1920x1080 (1080p). In layman's terms the PC version's graphics have the potential to be MUCH better than the Xbox 360's. This is solely due to how the Xbox 360 is locked down. You can't upgrade the RAM, CPU, or graphics card in an Xbox 360. This is something that you can do on a PC, and that is why the PC version can achieve better performance. One major caveat is that you have to have high end PC hardware to do this. A $600 Dell computer will never be able to run a game at 2560x1600 with all the game's features cranked up to high. This is why there is a PC hardware industry. One aspect of that industry is to sell to PC modders such as myself.


As far back as I could remember, my family had always owned a computer for everyone to use. Everyone shared our family room computer, but in 2002 I finally got one of my own. My parents bought me a Gateway computer from the now defunct Gateway Store. This was my first venture into computer modding. Throughought the following years I upgraded stuff such as RAM (memory), hard drives, and even my graphics card (the device used to create the computer graphics). I eventually had to find another computer as computer games became more CPU and graphics intense. Two games were preparing to release in 2005, Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 2. These games were prime examples of why I wanted a new computer. For the first time I looked into the possibility of building my computer from scratch. This was radically different then buying a computer from the store, because it allows for almost any hardware configuration. I ended up buying all of my parts from newegg.com, and assembling the computer on a Friday night. This computer served me well, but by 2008 it was becoming obsolete. I ended up selling it to a friend, and I set out to build yet another computer suitable for the games at the time. I am still using this computer today, but I have upgraded minor things such as the RAM and graphics card.

PC modding is a hobby of mine, and it's quite an expensive hobby. However, it is something I like. I enjoy the thrill I get when shopping for computer parts.
Here are the two computers I built. There are a lot of technical terms, but I do have pictures!

"The Tank" built in 2005

AMD X2 4400+ 2.2GHz Dual Core CPU
ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR 400 RAM
two EVGA Nvidia 7800GT CO graphics cards running in SLi Mode
DVD-ROM drive
160GB Hard Drive
600w Ultra X-finity power suppy



"The Magi" built in 2008

Intel Core 2 Duo e6850 overclocked to 3.5GHz
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
8GB DDR2 800 Corsair RAM
EVGA Nvidia GTX275 graphics card
DVD-ROM, DVD-RW drives
160GB hard drive, 100GB hard drive