Game X3

Planet Computer’s “low-end” gaming machine delivers high-end performance

The young elf crossed the bridge and entered the fields outside the gates of North Qeynos. Shadows danced at his feet, while the afternoon sun bathed his head and shoulders with its warming touch. Ahead lay the fields of Farmer Walcott and animated scarecrows, with pumpkin heads spinning to look at all passers-by, evil waiting to be conquered.

Oh, but wait … Where were his companions? Ah, still traversing the arcane zone between North Qeynos and the bridge into Antonica. The elf turned back and waited patiently. This adventure required stalwart companions, and certainly one of those was the PC that was hosting the EverQuest II client.

In this time, when thoughts turn to purchasing big items for the home, which will serve not only as a connection to the outside world, but also as a gateway into the worlds of wonder created by PC game developers, it is best to look around at the machines on the market and make the best choice.

Massively multiplayer online games, like EQ II and World of Warcraft (both of which have set new records in attracting gamers), and other wonderful titles such as Dark Age of Camelot or Star Wars Galaxies or a host of others, all deserve to be played on machines capable of rendering them in vivid detail. The gaming world is amazing and deserves to be seen in all its glory. Think of it this way: would you rather watch the Super Bowl on a 13-inch black-and-white television, or on a 36-inch Hi-Def big screen?

When the Planet Computers (http://www.planetcomputers.com/) package arrived in the mail, the box was huge. The case of the X3 model received was big, a lot bigger than the HP machine used to write reviews. The case of the machine measured 24” long by 20” tall by 9” wide. This was a “barebones” version, with one DVD/CD drive (slots for four other drives) and one floppy drive.

But check under the hood – therein lies the true measure of the beast. Unlike smaller towers, where everything is crammed together and little is accessible with a degree in contortionist yoga moves, the interior of the Planet Computers machine is spacious and you can easily get to everything.

The machine sported only a 65-gigabyte hard drive (OK, only seems silly but when you are talking games that are taking upwards of 4 gigs to run, 65 gigs can be eaten fast), but it was a Pentium 4 3.4 gig processor with 1 gig of RAM and an Nvidia 6800 video card. Fans – one in the front and down at the bottom of the cabinet, and a second in the back – purred to life and were relatively quiet while keeping the machine’s powerhouse of an interior cool.

The first game loaded on was EQ II. The X3 gobbled it up. With the increased processing speed, the install – which took almost 30 minutes on the HP previously being used (2.26 P4, 768 RAM and Nvidia GeForce FX Ultra card) – was cut to 17 minutes. Launching the game was pure nirvana. The details that the better graphics card rendered made the game feel almost new yet again (and this was a game played in closed beta and immediately after launch). This was the case using both an HP Pavilion f70 flat screen and an older Micron CRT monitor.

World of Warcraft followed, and then the betas for a couple of other MMOs (Wish and Dark and Light), which would lag to the point of unplayable on the previous machine. The WoW game was playable on any machine in the house; it was the betas that were hogs when it game to the graphics card and processing speed. The X3 played them without a hitch.

When the machine first arrived, the travel had not been overly kind. The front fan rattled a little. Because everything is so accessible, it was easy to get to the screws and loosen them a little (the fan was clipping the front cabinet a little) to silence the rattle.

Planet Computers also does not load their machines with spyware or adware. All you get is the OS (Windows XP – with the install disk) and the machine. There is a Planet Computer icon on the default desktop screen, but that is all.

When it comes to the sound emanating from the machine, with two big fans, one would think there would be a fair amount of white noise. This is not the case. The machine is very quiet – in fact, it is a lot quieter than the Micron P3 866 with dual fans, which sits on another desk somewhat neglected.

If there were any drawbacks to this system, it would be the oversized casing (which, incidentally, looks good). But when you want to swap out an audio or graphics card, or upgrade RAM, you will be grateful for that space. If offers accessibility to the machine’s inner workings.

Planet Computers may not be a household name when it comes to purchasing PCs, but it should be. This machine is remarkably fast for being one of the lower-end systems, and gaming never looked so good, thanks to the power and video card packed inside.

When it comes down to PC game, developers create games they hope can play on a wide range of machines with different system specs. The last thing a PC owner wants is to have a machine that cannot play the very next generation of games. The power of the Planet Computer system guarantees that it will handle the next generation, as well as the one after that. The machine is simply that good.

Pros:
The machine’s processing speed is incredible, and even with a lower broadband connection speed it was simply amazing. Of course, throw in customer support 24-7 and an incredible price (the X3 bottom line system is just a shade over $900, while the machine with the P4 3.2 gig, 1 gig of Corsair Dual Channel TWINX XMS DDR SDRAM and Nvidia 6800 card will run about $1,500) and you have a machine for the present and future.

Cons:
Got ahead and laugh when I mention this, but this ‘barebones’ system only had a 65-gig hard drive. Massive games like EQ II (which is a minimum of 7 gigs of hard-drive space) will eat that alive in short order. However, because you can customize this machine when you order it, you can configure a machine to meet current and expected needs rather easily.

Overall: 9.4
This is a value-priced machine that is also one of the best powerhouse gaming machines I’ve had the pleasure to play on. They do have sleeker and faster machines, but for the price and power, this is very hard to top.