.gif) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Puget Spirit (AMD Edition) | Puget Serenity Home | Puget Deluge-i7 Mini A2 | Puget Deluge-i7 A2 | Puget Deluge-i7 L2 | Custom Air Cooled Gaming Computers | Custom Liquid Cooled Gaming Computers |
Recommended uses:
| Recommended uses:
| The power of the full size Deluge, in a compact mATX chassis. Through our optimized airflow and cooling, it is both quiet and cool running! | With Asetek CPU cooling, this is the best value of our Deluge series -- a very popular choice. | Our highest end Deluge option comes with single or dual ATI video cards... and our custom liquid cooling still doesn't break a sweat! |  Custom built from scratch!Want more choices? Customize your own air cooled gaming computers from scratch. |  Custom built from scratch!Want more choices? Customize your own liquid cooled gaming computers from scratch. |
 Show Specifications | ||||||
| Buy as Configured: $858.67 (as low as $808.45)  | Buy as Configured: $1477.29 (as low as $1100.51) | Buy as Configured: $1679.82 (as low as $1214.57) | Buy as Configured: $2083.61 (as low as $1842.40) | Buy as Configured: $3389.86 (as low as $3215.81) | ||
Hide Specifications
Looking for an Extreme Gaming PC?Introducing the Puget Deluge Gaming PlatformDeluge is a finely tuned gaming computer, custom designed and hand built to meet every requirement of the discriminating gamer. It harnesses the intense graphics processing power of nVidia's SLI technology, the most high-performance motherboard designs, overclocked Intel 45nm Core2 Duo processors, blazing fast Solid State hard drives, and low latency OCZ DDR2 memory packed into our sleek, custom liquid cooled system. It is a must-have gaming computer designed for the elite who push their rigs to the very limits of performance. Deluge Key Partners
|
What do you need to know about building gaming computers?
Fallout 3 |
One of the most popular reasons for getting a custom-built computer is gaming, as computers are by far the most powerful and versatile platforms available for playing video games. Not everyone knows exactly what hardware they want or need for the latest game titles, though, so here is some basic information on what to look for in a solid gaming rig.
The three most important factors in a gaming computer are the CPU, video card, and memory (or RAM). Each serves a different purpose, but all are equally important; balancing these three components is key, and picking them well will determine what motherboard, power supply, case, etc will be required. |
CPU
Currently, as of 2010, many video games are beginning to scale beyond two processing cores. Because of this, a quad-core is the best choice going forward - and eventually if games continue in this direction even more cores may be beneficial. Intel and AMD both have great processors to choose from, but Intel does have the lead in terms of maximum performance (if you are willing to pay the slight price premium). If you are on a more limited budget then AMD has a better price / performance ratio and more affordable motherboards.
Video Card
There are a variety of choices available in this category; probably more than in any other single selection in a computer. What you will want also varies greatly depending on a few factors:
- Resolution - The higher of a resolution you want to play at the more powerful a video card you will need. This is pure mathematics: the higher the resolution the more pixels there are on the screen, and the more processing power is required to compute what they all should be. If you are going for an extremely high resolution (over 1920x1200) it is very advisable to consider a dual video card configuration (SLI or Crossfire - for more info, see the section with that title below).
- Game Type - Different genres and styles of games tend to have different performance requirements. For example, first-person-shooters tend to be most demanding: they involve constant movement, and high frame rates are critical to ensure smooth gameplay and the ability to take out enemies quickly. Strategy games, on the other hand, tend to have less going on visually at any given time; as such, they don't put as much of a load on the video card. Microsoft's Flight Simulator X is another beast altogether: once you have a certain level of video card anything beyond that is wasted, and the differences between brands of video chipsets and drivers makes a much bigger difference than raw processing power. Of course, there are exceptions to these rules - but the thing to keep in mind is that you need to match the video card to your specific types of games so that you don't over- or under-spend.
- Noise Level - Most video cards have a dedicated fan on them to keep them from overheating, and these often have the unfortunate side-effect of being loud. If your gaming needs are not extreme, though, you may be able to find a passively-cooled model that will avoid making your computer louder. Even if that is not an option, it is a good idea to pay attention to reviews if you want to get a card with a relatively quiet cooling system.
- SLI / Crossfire - These are nVidia and ATI's names for multiple graphics card setups, where the capabilities of two or more cards are combined to run a game faster than a single card could. I alluded to this when I talked about resolution earlier, but it is a good idea to think about not only whether you want to get such a setup when you first build your computer but also about the possibility of upgrading in the future. If you think you may want to upgrade the graphics capabilities of your computer within a year of purchasing it, then getting a video card, motherboard and power supply that are all capable of running two cards is a good idea. After a year, the chance that you can get a second identical card will rapidly diminish - and because of advances in technology it will likely be the case that a new single card would be a better investment anyways.
Crysis Warhead |
RAM
There aren't a ton of choices when it comes to memory, like there are with CPUs and video cards, but the key thing here is to get enough RAM that it will not be a bottleneck for you. That means an absolute minimum of 2GB, and to be on the safe side I usually recommend 4GB these days. You
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King |
In addition to the amount of memory, you will also need to decide on the type (currently DDR2 or DDR3) and speed. In our testing, faster RAM does not usually translate to much of an improvement in overall performance; because of that, I recommend going for the most cost-effective and reliable type and speed of memory. Often this decision will be made for you, at least in part, by the motherboard choice (which in turn will be decided by what CPU and video card you want, along with what other special features you need).
If you are ready to configure a computer for your gaming needs, check out the configuration pages linked to above. If you are still unsure about what you need, or would like a professionally-designed setup, please email our sales consultants or call us at 1-888-PUGETPC (784-3872).
Benefits of Puget Gaming Computers
| Highly Reliable Product Line All components in our product line are reviewed weekly. Any trends in failure rates are acted upon immediately, leaving us with a highly reliable product line that continues to improve. We do not add a part to our product line unless we feel we can stand behind it. This results in a high quality product, that works as it should. You can feel confident that any selection you make on our website is a quality product. |
| Fast Build Times By keeping inventory of our most popular parts, and maintaining a short supply line to parts we need, we are able to offer an industry leading ship time of 3-7 business days on nearly all our system orders. |
| We're Here, Give Us a Call! We make sure our representatives are as accessible as possible, by phone and email. At Puget, you can actually talk to a real person! We understand that personal service must be a priority for small businesses on the web. We are happy to provide as much help as you need, with no obligation to order. We understand that the best way to have satisfied customers is to help them make informed decisions before they buy! |
| Lifetime Support/Labor Warranty When you buy a custom pc from Puget, we are here to help you for life. Even when your parts warranty expires, we are happy to continue to answer your questions and even fix your computer with no labor costs. |
| Completely clean OS installation (no added software) No one appreciates a computer preloaded with trial software, advertisements, and promotional offerings. Not only is it annoying, but it can even slow down your computer! Our competitors do this for the supplemental income, but Puget refuses to offer anything except a clean install. |
| Latest drivers, patches and service packs applied For best security and performance, it is important that each computer ships with the newest software and drivers available. We give personal attention to each computer before it ships, making sure it is updated. |
| Meticulous assembly and cable routing standards Assembly techniques, especially cable routing, is an art. Our experienced system builders give great effort to assembling your system with care. We want you to be very happy with what you see if you open the side of your case. Check out our featured systems to see examples of our work! |
| Innovative Thermal Imaging Our thermal imaging process allows us to identify and correct any hot spots in your system, making your system cooler and quieter, leading to a longer lifespan. We take thermal images of each computer we ship, and make them available to you! |
| BIOS Screenshots For most builds we provide screenshots of every BIOS screen, as documentation of your BIOS settings. We feel it is important to keep a record of all settings we used, just in case! This also allows you a convenient record of our settings, in case you decide you make changes and can't remember your original settings. |
| 92 point quality control checklist When you're shipping as many computers a day as Puget, it can be challenging to make sure nothing is overlooked when you have so many things that you want to give personal attention. To ensure nothing gets missed, we have a comprehensive checklist to step our techs through the process. Each check point records the exact time and name of the technician. |
| Safe Packing Materials Shipping damage is one of the biggest problems in the computer industry. Using specially made packing materials, our computers receive excellent shipping protection, far exceeding UPS and FedEx recommendations, as well as our competitors! |
| Burn-In Process Your gaming computer is fully tested prior to delivery. All hardware and software components are tested under heavy load to ensure reliability in the harshest conditions! |
| System Restore DVD In addition to receiving your full operating system disks, we also provide a system restore DVD, allowing you to quickly wipe your hard drive and restore your operating system to exactly the way it was when you first received your PC! We include this service with our Windows 7 PCs (except where prevented by an especially exotic configuration). |