Custom Gaming Rigs

If you follow the hype and have come to believe online video and social networking are huge, consider this: Through last year, the number of U.S. consumers taking part in online gaming was almost double that of video or social networking, according to research firm Parks Associates.

And with hardware margins under constant pressure as a way of life in the commercial IT industry, and with fertile ground so evident in gaming, CRNtech decided to ask the question: What does a traditional system builder or VAR have to do to succeed in a market that includes "World of Warcraft" and "Halo"?

The answer has nothing to do with capturing weapons, energy pods or wielding a fast sword (well, not for the most part, anyway).

So far this year, the Test Center has reviewed new quad-core processors from Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., new motherboards designed for performance and efficiency from companies including AsusTek Computer Inc., and new graphics and video technology from the likes of Nvidia Corp. and others. The net result: Moore's Law is alive and well, and putting more power than ever into the hands of individuals. Pricing competition between Intel and AMD has been fierce, too, giving system builders an opportunity to deliver greater customization and price/performance in a PC gaming system than name-brand platforms like PlayStation 3, Wii or Xbox.

But how do system builders or VARs translate throughput and multithreading into value for customers and growth and profit for their businesses?

Two industry and channel veterans who have made it work provide some clues. Jon Bach, president of Puget Custom Computers in Seattle, and Thomas Glen, of Uberclok Gaming PCs LLC in Chicago, offered insight into how it's worked for their companies.

With Puget, the "custom" part of custom systems has led to this: There is no "Buy" button anywhere on the company's Web site. After configuring their desired system, customers save it to be reviewed by a Puget representative. In this way, Puget can ask buyers all the relevant questions to make sure the system they want is really the system they need, Bach said. By finding out the customer's budget, what games they play and what resolution they plan to use (which, Bach adds, is more important now than in the past), the representative can better help select the best components for the PC. Puget speaks with the customer about every single PC it sells.

The first question Uberclok asks potential customers is about the size of the monitor they will be using to game with. "Resolution is the big, hidden secret of gaming," Glen said.

"[Resolution of] 1,680 x 1,050 will directly affect what video card they should use."

He explained that a game like "F.E.A.R: First Encounter Assault Recon," a survival/horror game, by default will launch into 1,440 x 900 resolution. If a gamer is playing on a 24-inch monitor that has a higher resolution than the game's default, "performance issues arise," Glen said. And when you're fighting for survival, that counts.

Uberclok has preconfigured machines designed to address this very issue: The company's Ion system is designed for 22-inch monitors or smaller, while the Reactor model is designed for 24-inch monitors or larger. "No one talks about [higher resolutions] because they just don't want to get into the complexity."

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