Ace gamer big on grunt

No one demands more computing power than the serious PC gamer. Today's games are getting so realistic that they need major grunt to run smoothly. I asked New Zealand's ace gamer, Neal Thompson, what it takes.

He says the enjoyment from online multiplayer gaming stems from the satisfaction of winning against actual opponents rather than just computer opponents, also known as "bots."

"The gamers with the fast internet connections, fast hardware and fast fingers will consistently be able to defeat their online opponents."

Mr Thompson says recently released PC games such as Tribes 2 or Black & White require highly specified "gaming rigs" to run the 3D animations smoothly, and "even higher spec'd rigs" to run in high resolution with the full lighting effects.

For him, good gaming hardware includes: an Intel 700MHz Pentium III or faster (not a Celeron chip), 128Mb of memory, an nVidia GeForce or GeForce 2 MX graphics card, 17- inch screen and Creative Soundblaster Live sound card.

But to make the rig excellent, he recommends an Intel Pentium IV or AMD Thunderbird chip, 256Mb or memory and a GeForce 2 with 64Mb of memory.

* Mr Thompson will be in action at the national gaming tournament, "Virtual Magic," at the Christchurch Convention Centre on April 21-22.