When you’re buying a computer there are a couple of things to consider.  Do you want a Mac or a PC, how much do you want to spend, do you want to build it yourself?

I wanted to build my new computer myself, because it allows me to spend more money on parts I care about, while saving money on parts I don’t.  Also, building a computer saves substantially when putting premium components into your case.  I couldn’t compete with Dell or HP when it comes to building the $200 internet browsing computer you can get at Best Buy.  But I can compete when it comes to putting some serious gaming performance into a relatively cost-effective computer.

Also, because I’m building my own computer that pretty much makes me a PC, because I can’t put OSX on a custom built system.

Part One: Let’s Go Shopping

Shopping is a little bit more fun for the custom PC builder.  It’s actually the only kind of shopping I like to do.  I went to Newegg with the express purpose of buying the components for a custom PC build. I had debated building now versus waiting until StarCraft 2 came out, but then I realized SC2 isn’t going to push the limits of any system I was going to build.

My 2 main objectives were price and performance.  I wanted to come in at a price point that was in the same ballpark as my last computer build (from almost 3 years ago, wow!) while getting a large amount of performance out of the setup.  That price was $1183.33 shipped.

The performance aspect comes pretty easy because of the processor I chose (Intel’s Core i7) because of the overclockability of it.

The parts list follows.

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“Curing The Infection… One Bullet At A Time.”  That’s the tagline on one of the “movies” that you’ll play through when you load up Left 4 Dead.

The hospital is accepting donations.

The game was made by Valve, the same development house that delivered Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2.  All three of those games are classics in my book.  With Left 4 Dead, Valve goes 4 for 4.

Read on for my review of the game I think is probably the best of 2008.

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It’s not often that I’ll come out and say this, but if you play FPS games, you should play Team Fortress 2 (or TF2.)

TF2 is a great game because it’s the one I keep coming back to.  I’ll play other games, but the large-scale team-based gameplay keeps me coming back.

Valve just released another content update for the game on the PC and they’re planning on keeping the content coming.

So here are my 5 reasons you should play.

Team Fortress 2 requires teamwork, or you won't get very far. (Pic from teamfortress.com)

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Updated: Wed. 6:24pm

As I said in the comments of my Blu-Ray post here are the deals you’re going to want to check out for Black Friday.

It covers gadgets, games, TVs, Blu-Ray players almost everything.

Read on and enjoy the savings. Updated Wednesday Night!

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Maybe you’ve heard of the Fallout series.  It started more than 11 years ago.  Fallout and it’s critically acclaimed sequel, Fallout 2 were originally made by Black Isle Studios.

Both games are among my favoites, so could Fallout 3 succeed in the hands of a new development studio?  The game’s made by Bethesda who most recently released a pretty successful game in Oblivion.

So far, Fallout 3 has been given some high praise.  I have to say, I agree.

I picked the game up on release day a couple weeks back and have managed to play through to see several of the many possible endings.

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