PC for Poker - What do I Need?

[Flanker]

will be playing as many as 8 games at the same time, plus other web activity.

thank you thank you. i brought up the idea of the X2 and 2GBs im just so good

Don't flatter yourself. Probably every single one of us (except Idiotec) thought of an X2 as soon as we read that.

 

[PZEROFGH]

LOL, man, that is WAY overkill. A midrange P4, a lowend gfx card, gig of RAM, he'll be fine. Those poker apps don't take sh!t, trust me, I play a lot of poker as well...

hehe

 

[poker player]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Unfortunately I am now more confused than ever. It seems a lot of this is personal preference or opinion.

I realize that I don't neccesarily need to go high end on this stuff, but of there will be any performance advantage by doing so, I really dont mind spending the money.

I am leaning towards something like this:

Case
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower 450Watt ATX12V
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...uct_Code=100588

Motherboard
DFI Lan Party NForce4 SLI-DR Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...uct_Code=110222
(I was planning to go with the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE/USB/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939 but the guy at Monarch said that they have been having a lot of trouble with these, and the DFI would be a better choice - any thoughts on this comment?)

Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual-Core 512K Per Core 90nm (939) (Retail Box-w-Fan)
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...uct_Code=120244
(This seems to be everyone's idea of the way to go, assuming I go with AMD)

Memory
Corsair 2GB kit (2 x 1GB) TWINX2048-3200PRO DDR-400 (PC-3200)
(Got this from the Corsair Reccomendation for this Mobo, but am open to any suggestions of course)

Hard Drive
Western Digital 74 GB SATA 10K Raptor (WD740GD)
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=150239

Video Card
BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC 128MB GDDR3/PCI-E/TV-Out/Dual-DVI (Retail Box)
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=190474
(Seems to be a good choice - gets me the dual DVI outs without spending like $500 on one of the really high end cards)

DVD
NEC ND-3540A 16X Dual Layer DVD±RW (Black) (OEM)
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...uct_Code=160236

How is this looking now?


Monitors: I was considering getting the Dell 24" (or 2) but I have heard there is some kind of high pitched squeal issue with these, so I am now leaning towards getting 2 of the Samsung or Viewsonic 20.1"s - they both look good and have good reviews - any thoughts?

Thanks again for all the input

 

[Flanker]

Its good. Though with the rest of your system, the 6600GT is going to slow down the rest of your system by A LOT.

I suggest getting the 6800GT.

 

[locki433]

He's just playing poker, not BF2. I play alot of poker on my computer, 4-6 tables at a time, and I get no lag or slow down from my junk graphic card. Usually 1-2 IE open at the same time to. The 6600GT will be more than enough for poker.

 

[Gigabite]

Most online poker games are probably java, flash, or such, so you probably dont need a newer graphics card. Geforce 6600 vanilla would probably be enough. You might just get like 1 GB of ram, and a quick CPU.

OH and broadband of course if you dont already have it.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Its good. Though with the rest of your system, the 6600GT is going to slow down the rest of your system by A LOT.

I suggest getting the 6800GT.

He is playing poker for christ's sakes, he doesnt need a better card.

Your build is GREAT, and I do highly recomend the DFI board over the Asus.

 

[Flanker]

I know, and the system is great for Poker, but if he ever wants to play a game, he won't be able to take advantage of the rest of the system.

 

[macdude425]

Oh come on! This system is at least slightly future proof, so if he wants to do so later, he can easily pop in a whatever type of card he needs. Don't worry about it now, geez.

 

[PZEROFGH]

pop in a 7800GTX, you got a gaming machine! pop in a 6600GT you got a poker machine