A gaming computer should be running DDR, DDR2, or DDR3 RAM of the best quality. Crucial makes the best RAM. You can make use of the UK and US Crucial Memory Advisors below to locate the RAM memory that is supported by a brand-name PC, notebook, or motherboard.

The memory requirements of the versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista

Most of the versions of Windows Vista require more RAM memory to run optimally on a computer that doesn't use memory-hungry applications than Windows XP. A video-editing application is an example of memory-intensive software. Only Windows Vista Home Basic has a recommended amount of memory of 512MB, which is the same amount recommended for Windows XP. Windows Vista Home Premium, the most popular version, and Windows Vista Ultimate require 1GB (1024MB) of memory, which is twice the amount of memory recommended to run Windows XP. However, that is the minimum recommended amount of memory for a standard workstation PC. A gaming computer running Windows XP runs best on 1.5GB of memory or more, and a gaming PC running Windows Vista Home or Vista Ultimate editions runs best on 4GB of memory or more. Note that a 32-bit version of Windows XP or Windows Vista can only make use of up to 3.5GB of memory. A 64-bit version of Windows XP/Vista can use up to 128GB. Only Windows XP Professional has a 64-bit version; all of the versions of Windows Vista do. Read the information on the RAM section of this site for more information and to find out if you should buy memory for use in single-channel or dual-channel modes.

Paul Mullen, the highly-respected computer guru of the Helpfile at ComputerShopper.co.uk - "I have recently been buying my memory only from Crucial Technology. I would rather pay the extra cost than waste time trying to track down the obscure program faults that bad memory can cause."

UK - Crucial Memory Advisor - UK

USA - Crucial Memory Advisor - USA

For example, if your computer has an Asus motherboard, open the menu, scroll down to ASUS, and click GO. If, say, you have a Dell computer, scroll down to DELL, and do likewise. You will be taken to the relevant information on Crucial's website.

If you don't know the make and model of the motherboard installed in your computer, here is a good free utility - Belarc Advisor - that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. Another utility that also provides detailed information on the memory itself is CPU-Z.

PC Games: Updates, patches, upgrades and tweaking

The manufacturers of computer games often provide updates, patches, and upgrades for their games, which are made available as downloads from their websites, or from sites such as the following one that provides them.

Games: updates, patches and upgrades -

http://www.softwarepatch.com/games/index.html

The Software Patch site also provides updates for Windows XP/Vista, device drivers, such as graphics-card drivers, and updates to application software. If a Windows security update from Microsoft Update fails to install, which happens all too often, you can locate it on the site and install it manually.

Gaming Guides -

"Game tweaking is not just about squeezing every bit of performance possible, but also getting everything running harmonically in your system, troubleshooting & fixing bugs, and obviously getting the best visual quality at the lowest cost of performance." -

http://www.techspot.com/guides-gaming.shtml

Five-star and four-star PC games

The ELSPA UK games' charts

Go to http://www.elspa.com/ to view the latest games charts for the various gaming platforms, including All Games, PC Games, Playstation, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance.

Joystick gold for action shooter -

"The modern combat-themed first person shooter, Call of Duty 4, has emerged the clear winner at the 2008 Golden Joystick awards. The game scooped "Ultimate Game of the Year", "Online Game of the Year" and "PC Game of the Year" awards."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7700872.stm

PC games reviews

GameSpot is the world's largest source for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, GameCube, PSP, DS, GBA, PS2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox video game news, cheats, reviews. - http://uk.gamespot.com/

You can find links to many other such review sites by entering the search term pc games reviews in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).

Computer Shopper: Five-star PC games

The following games were given a five-star rating (the highest) in the UK version of Computer Shopper magazine.

Visit the Computer Shopper website and choose Latest Reviews (or Reviews Archive) and choose Games and Leisure from the Browse for Products menu to read the detailed reviews of the games listed below. The reviews can go back as far as 12 months.

Visit the provided websites/pages for the system requirements for each game and the reviews (when provided)

Computer Shopper, issue 257, available from mid-May 2009, gave no games a five-star rating, only three games a four-star rating. the next item covers four-star rated games.

Computer Shopper, issue 256, available from mid-April 2009, gave a five-star review to the following PC game:

1. - Braid - Website - http://braid-game.com/ - Five stars - Best Buy award - Platform puzzle game - Braid (video game) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_(computer_game)
Review -
http://www.thunderboltgames.com/reviews/article/braid-review-for-pc.html

Supplier: http://www.impulsedriven.com/braid

Computer Shopper, issue 255, available from mid-March 2009, gave a five-star review to the following PC game:

1. - World of Goo - Website - http://www.worldofgoo.com/ - Download only - Five stars - Best Buy award - Puzzle game - Review -
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/reviews/249968/2d-boy-world-of-goo.html

Computer Shopper, issue 254, available from mid-February 2009, gave five-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Sega: Football Manager 2009 - Website - http://www.footballmanager.com/ - Five stars - Best Buy award - Strategy game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/248546/sega-football-manager-2009.html

Supplier: http://www.gameplay.co.uk/

2. - Codemasters: Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moira - Website - http://www.lotro-europe.com/minesofmoria/ - Five stars - Massive Multiplayer Online role-playing game (RPG) - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/248548/...

Supplier: http://www.amazon.co.uk/

No games were awarded a five-star rating in issue 253, available from midJanuary 2009. Two games were awarded four-star ratings. To read them scroll down to the next item.

Computer Shopper, issue 252, available from mid-December 2008, gave five-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Far Cry 2 - Website - http://farcry.uk.ubi.com/ - Five stars - Best Buy award - First-person shooter game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/244113/ubisoft-far-cry-2.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

2. - Fallout 3 - Website - http://fallout.bethsoft.com/ - Five stars - Best Buy award - Role-playing game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/244116/bethesda-softworks-fallout-3.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

3. - Dead Space - Website - http://deadspace.ea.com/ - Five stars - Best Buy award - Action game - Review -
http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/244119/ea-dead-space.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

Computer Shopper, issue 251, available from mid-November 2008, gave five-star reviews to the following games:

1. - FIFA 09 - http://www.ea.com/ [the website failed to come up when I tried it, so I have not provided a working link] - Five stars - Best Buy award - Sports game (soccer) - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/238893/ea-fifa-09.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

2. - Civilization IV: Colonization - http://www.firaxis.com/ - Five stars - Best Buy award - Turn-based strategy game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/238896/...

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

3. - Crysis: Warhead - http://www.ea.com/ [the website failed to come up when I tried it, so I have not provided a working link] - Five stars - First-person shooter game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/238902/ea-crysis-warhead.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

Computer Shopper, issue 250, available from mid-October 2008, gave a five-star review to the following game:

1. - Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - http://www.war-europe.com/ - Best Buy award - MMOG game (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) - Based on a tabletop war game - Does enough to distinguish itself from World of Warcraft (WoW) - £30 plus £10 per month. Read the review here:

http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/230286/...

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

Computer Shopper, issue 246, available from mid-June 2008, gave a five-star review to the following game:

1. - Grand Theft Auto IV - http://www.rocketstargames.com/IV/ - Action game - The biggest release of the year so far, but it is not yet available for th PC platform, only the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games consoles - All of the previous versions of the game made it to the PC eventually, so there is no reason to suppose otherwise for this version.

Supplier: http://hmv.com/

Computer Shopper: Four-star PC games

The following games were given a four-star rating in the UK version of Computer Shopper magazine.

Visit the provided websites/pages for the system requirements for each game and the reviews (when provided)

Computer Shopper, issue 257, available from mid-May 2009, gave four-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Men of War - Website - http://www.menofwargame.com/ - Four stars - Real-time strategy game - Review - http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/reviews/253206/...

Supplier: http://www.coolshop.co.uk/

2. - The Maw - Website - http://www.mawgame.com/ - Four stars - Puzzle-platform game - Review - http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/reviews/253207/...

Supplier: http://www.direct2drive.co.uk/

3. - Wheelman - Website - http://wheelmangame.uk.ubi.com/site/ - Four stars - Action game - Review - http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/reviews/253210/ubisoft-wheelman.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

Computer Shopper, issue 256, available from mid-April 2009, gave four-star reviews to the following game:

1. - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of war II - Website - http://www.dawnofwar2.com/ - Four stars - Real-time strategy game - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_War_II
Review and comments - http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=208832

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

Computer Shopper, issue 255. - There were no four-star game reviews in issue 255, available from mid-March 2009.

Computer Shopper, issue 254, available from mid-January 2009, gave four-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Eidos: Tomb Raider: Underworld - Website - http://www.tombraider.com/ - Four stars - Action adventure game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/248549/eidos-tomb-raider-underworld.html

Supplier: http://www.amazon.co.uk/

2. - Crimson Cow: A Vampyre Story - Website -
http://www.avampyrestory-game.com/ - Four stars - Adventure game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/248551/crimson-cow-a-vampyre-story.html

Supplier: http://www.gameplay.co.uk/

Computer Shopper, issue 253, available from mid-January 2009, gave four-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Call of Duty: World at War - Website - http://www.callofduty.com/ - Four stars - First-person shooter game - Review - http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3171247

2. - Left 4 Dead - Website - http://www.l4d.com/ - First-person shooter - Multiplayer - Review - http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3171370

Computer Shopper, issue 252, available from mid-December 2008, gave four-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Website - http://www.commandandconquer.com/ - Four stars - Real-time strategy game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/.../ea-command--conquer-red-alert-3.htm

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

2. - Pure - Website - http://www.disney.co.uk/disneyinteractivestudios/pure/ - Four stars - Racing game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/244128/disney-interactive-pure.html

Supplier: http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Computer Shopper, issue 251, available from mid-November 2008, gave a four-star review to the following game:

1. - Lego Batman: The Videogame - http://www.lego.com/ [the website failed to come up when I tried it, so I have not provided a working link] - Four stars - Action game - Review - http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/238899/...

Computer Shopper, issue 250, available from mid-October 2008, gave a four-star review to the following game:

1. - Spore - http://www.spore.com/ - Website was not available at the time of writing, so I have not linked to it - Strategy/simulation game - You are responsible for the a species as it eveloves from a cell to a galactic empire - £27. Read the review here:

http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/230283/ea-spore.html

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

2. - Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - http://www.pandemicstudios.com/mercenaries/index.php - Third person shooter game - Read the full review here:

http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/230289/...

Computer Shopper issue 249, available from mid-September 2008, gave four-star reviews to the following game:

1. - The Political Machine 2008 - http://www.politicalmachine.com/ - Strategy game - According to Computer Shopper it is "Cheerfully cynical and complex", which I think means that it has complex exploitative goals which are delivered cheerfully - Excellent multiplayer - Can get tiresome after a while.

Supplier: http://www.stardock.com/

Computer Shopper, issue 247, available from around mid-July 2008, gave four-star reviews to the following games:

1. - Race Driver: GRID - http://www.racedrivergrid.com/ (the website is impressive) - Racing game - Exhilarating, balancing enjoyment and challenge - Deservingly heralded as the finest racing game of its kind.

Supplier: http://www.amazon.co.uk/

2. - Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - http://www.lucasarts.com/ - Action adventure game that provides plenty of puzzles, action and humour, but it may be too easy for experienced gamers.

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

****

Computer Shopper, issue 246, available from mid-June 2008, gave a four-star review to the following game:

1. - Trackmania United Forever - http://www.tm-united.com/ - Racing game - Varied and exhilarating - Every game you win contributes to an online ranking.

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

****

Computer Shopper, issue 245, available from mid-May 2008, gave a four-star review to the following game:

1. - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - http://www.rainbowsixgame.com/ - Technical Shooter game - You use your cunning to defeat terrorist attacks in Las Vagas - Excellent online modes, but very similar to the original game.

Supplier: http://www.play.com/

2. - Audiosurf - http://www.audio-surf.com/ - Puzzle game that makes a racing puzzle out of the music on your PC - Visit its website for information on this unique game, which cannot be described in a short space.

Supplier: Online purchase only from http://www.audio-surf.com/ for $9.95

Excellent free shooter game

Cube is completely free and open source single or multiplayer first-person shooter game that runs on Windows and Linux, can be customised, and allows you to make your own game maps from scratch. This game looks truly amazing, with gameplay that is as rapid as it is smooth - even on an elderly PC. The quality of this freeware is superb.

Screenshots - http://www.cubeengine.com/shots.php4

Home page - http://www.cubeengine.com/

Free games from PCWorld.com

Listed from the most (top) down to the least downloaded

Icy Tower v1.1 - Help Harold the Homeboy climb a tower. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22508,00.asp

Chicken Invaders v1.0 - Save the earth from an invasion of vengeful chickens from another galaxy. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22497,00.asp

Fiend v1.0 - Enjoy this horror adventure game, inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22455,00.asp

IT Security Game v2.0 - You're an overworked, underpaid IT supervisor. Now it's time for payback. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22610,00.asp

Galactic Menace - Save the earth in this Space-Invaders clone that will bring back feelings of nostalgia. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22414,00.asp

WinFrotz v5.03 - Walk down memory lane by playing old-fashioned, text-based DOS games on your Windows machine. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22456,00.asp

Mr Cool Ball v1.01 - Guide poor Mr. Cool Ball through a labyrinth and blow up his enemies in this old-fashioned arcade game. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22509,00.asp

Frozen Fruits v2 - Destroy fruit, avoid aliens, and solve logical riddles in this arcade game. -

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22506,00.asp

PowerStrip - Shareware - $29.95

"PowerStrip [at version 3.6 in May 2006] provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest ATI X1900 Crossfire and NVidia Qual-SLI 7900. It is in fact the only program of its type to support multiple graphics cards from multiple chipset vendors, simultaneously, under every Windows operating system from Windows 95 to the x64-bit edition of XP. A simple menu that pops up from the system tray provides access to some 500 controls over your display hardware, including sophisticated color correction tools, period level adjustments over screen geometry, and driver independent clock controls. A powerful application profiler can detect when programs are launched and respond by activating specific display settings, gamma adjustments, performance switches and even clock speeds - returning everything to normal when the program closes. In-game gamma hotkeys let you light up the darkest hallways during game play, and hardware control over refresh rates - with floating point precision - ensure you're never stuck at just 60Hz no matter what OS you're using. A quick setup wizard gets you up and running with minimal fuss, extensive context-sensitive help is available for all controls, and live updates are supported to ensure you're always running the latest release. Finally, an assortment of system and productivity tools - among them, extensive diagnostics, PCIe and AGP device configuration, EDID decoding and jig-free updating, desktop icon management, a system idle thread, Windows resource monitoring, an anti-burn-in orbiting option, physical memory optimization, an on-screen display, and the most advanced monitor support in the industry - round out the compact 800kb package." - http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

Game-port and USB joysticks

If you use a joystick and a standard game port to play games such as Sidewinder 3.02, it will not work under Windows XP, and Sidewinder 4.0 is not compatible with the game port. You have to use a USB joystick.

Microsoft has decided to make the game port history, so Windows XP only has very limited support for game-port devices. You may be able to configure such a joystick by using one of the standard profiles in XP, but you won't be able to program all of the buttons and hat switches, nor maintain different profiles for each game.

Therefore, if you use a game-port joystick, either don't upgrade to XP, use a dual-boot Windows 98/XP system, or buy a USB joystick. Dual-booting Windows 98 and XP is the cheapest option.

Just remember that you have to have Windows 98 installed first, because, without employing an elaborate fix, 98 won't install if it detects that another operating system is installed.

How Joysticks Work: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/joystick.htm

Reviews: Game controllers

For reviews of game controllers, such as joysticks, etc., visit the section on the Computer Shopper site devoted to Input devices:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/archiveproductsearch/8/Input-devices

System information

Note that you will not be able to run an AGP card using full AGP functionality with the initial (FAT16) issue of Windows 95.

Full AGP functionality is only provided by Windows 95 OSR 2.1 and above, and any version of Windows 98 or Windows Me.

This is because full AGP functionality requires the USB files to be installed. USB can be installed in Windows 95 OSR 2.0 by installing an update file, but it is buggy and not as fully functional as the USB that comes with the subsequent versions of Windows 9.x, Windows Me, and Windows XP.

Good sound reproduction is essential for game playing. For some information on sound cards, visit the Sound page on this site.

If you want to play heavy-duty games, you should not purchase a PC that has a motherboard or upgrade a computer by installing a motherboard that uses an integrated graphics chip.

Graphics chips that are integrated on to the motherboard, and have to use system RAM instead of the dedicated RAM available on a dedicated graphics card. This results in poor gaming performance.

The manufacturers of motherboards use new chipsets made by chipset manufacturers, such as VIA, Intel, ALi, and SiS, for every motherboard they bring out these days, so I am not going to provide any examples here. The third Motherboard page on this site provides links to sites that provide motherboard reviews. If you know the make and model of a motherboard, you can download the user manual from its manufacturer's site. It contains all of the technical information about the motherboard, including information on the chipset.

Online PC gaming

Online gaming on the Internet is an activity that is growing rapidly, both in the number of people taking part in it, and in the variety of games being played.

It helps if you have a fast broadband cable or DSL connection to the Internet, but it is possible to participate with a 56K dial-up modem.

With existing equipment it is possible to play games online between two players all the way up to many thousands participating at the same time.

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the leading manufacturers of gaming equipment. The Xbox (Microsoft), Playstation 2 (Sony), and the GameCube (Nintendo), all come ready for the Internet, and there is a steady stream of new games being released to keep the participants happy.

Thanks to games such as EverQuest and Ultima Online, online gaming has grossed approximately $500 million so far, made up of the sale of software and online subscriptions.

Sony and Nintendo both see the future growth of the online gaming market as being largely dependent on the widespread take-up of broadband DSL or cable connections. Neither company sees the required adoption of these services happening until 2004 in the US and 2005 in the UK.

This site - http://www.mmorpg.com/ - is devoted to massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

Massively multiplayer online game -

"A massively multiplayer online game (also called MMOG or simply MMO) is a video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on general purpose computers; most of the newer game consoles (Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, Wii, etc.) can access the internet, and thus can have MMO genre games." -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game

Here are the web addresses of some of the most popular online games:

Ultima Online - Origin/Electronic Arts - http://www.uo.com/

EverQuest - Sony - http://everquest.station.sony.com/

Asheron's Call - Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/games/zone/asheronscall

Dark Age of Camelot - Mythic Entertainment - http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/

The best free online games -

"With video games developers taking action against consumers who illegally share their games, Shopper took a look at some of the best the web has to offer. These games that are available to play online or download for free, may get you hooked, so beware." -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/news/220899/...

The most difficult aspect of online gaming is finding a good place to play.

Smiley’s Games Emporium has more than 30 games to play for free online. Classics to choose from include Asteroids, Breakout and Centipede. All of the games are written in Java, which means that you don't need to download any plug-ins to play. -

http://www.clickets.com/targets/Games/Games.asp

Virgin Media Games

The Virgin Media website provides plenty of online games, such as Battlefield 1942, from its servers.

Gaming routers

Click here! to go to information on routers on the Networking section of this site.

Microsoft's Live account

Live is the online gaming service for the Xbox 360 gaming console, which Microsoft has now included in Windows Vista. You require a Live account to play many releases online. A Live account gives you a Gamertag unique identity that allows you to see which players are playing which games. Your Gamertag also tracks your gaming achievements that can then be compared to those of your gaming friends. Live accounts are divided into silver and gold membership. Silver membership is free. It allows you to view what your friends are doing online and to join a limited set of online games. Gold membership is what you need if you want to set up multiplayer games, use the TrueSkill matchmaking service, and play cross-platform games against Xbox 360 owners. A gold membership currently (July, 2007) costs £40 a year, which covers PC and Xbox 360 use. Note that currently there are not enough games available for the PC to justify signing up if you are just going to use a PC.

Is gigabit Ethernet desirable for network gaming?

A new PCI Gigabit Ethernet standard is now available that can transfer data at 1000Mbits/s - ten times the speed of a 100Base-T Ethernet network - across the same Category 5 (Cat5) cables as the latter standard.

For new network installations, the recommendation is to use Cat5e cable, even though Cat5 and Cat5e cabling both have the required 100MHz (1000Hz) bandwidth, because Cat5e cable is manufactured so that the additional parameters that are important for high frequency data transfer using gigabit Ethernet are better controlled.

Any recommendation to use Cat6 for a gigabit Ethernet installation should be turned down out of hand! Cat6 was added to the TIA-568 standard in June 2002, and has a 200MHz bandwidth. It is much more expensive than Cat5e cabling, so you should only consider it for use on a 10 gigabit Ethernet network.

Most networked games are designed to be played over the Internet, so they are programmed to rely on the processing power of your computer for the heavy work, and only send the data they have to across the network. In short, these games can all be played by using any one of the wide range of network conditions encountered on the Internet.

Although in gaming faster is always supposed to be better, gigabit Ethernet won't provide any advantage, because response time is the important factor for networked gaming. On the fastest broadband connection access times below 10ms don't provide any advantage, and since this can be achieved with an ordinary 10Base-T network that is a 100 times slower, gigabit Ethernet's extra capacity would be wasted.

For more information on this topic, enter Gigabit Ethernet in the Google search box provided at the top of this page, with its Web radio button enabled.

Gaming-related webpages and sites worth visiting

Top ten free Flash games -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2009/05/01/top-ten-flash-games/

"Tom's Games has 5272 online games! All of our flash games are free! We have thousands to choose from including action games, adventure games and sports games. The games offered on this site are privately owned by their designers, but are free online." -

http://www.tomsgames.com/

PlaySEGA - free online games - http://www.playsega.co.uk/

http://www.computershopper.co.uk/news/241794/...

AMD Game - AMD's PC gaming site - http://game.amd.com/us-en/default.aspx

Build Your Own Budget Gaming PC - How to buy & assemble the right components & peripherals for less than $2,500. -

http://computershopper.com/feature/build_your_own_budget_gaming_pc

PC games news and reviews - http://www.gamespress.com/

Yahoo! Games - Download your Video Games For Free -

http://uk.download.games.yahoo.net/index.php

Games and leisure -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/archiveproductsearch/21/Games-and-Leisure

Building a High-End Gaming Workstation -

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/building_gaming_opteron_2003_Part1/page2.asp

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/building_gaming_opteron_2003_Part2/default.asp

Flight Gear - a free flight simulation PC game - 85MB - http://www.flightgear.org/

Some rollicking new games are available from the Arcade section of the Lockergnome site: http://www.lockergnome.com/arcade/.

A good example is Adventure Elf -

http://lockergnome.com/arcade/games/adventure-elf.phtml

Gamespot.com - free memebership - http://www.gamespot.com/index.html

"BEST video/computer game EVER" - Sysopt.com Forum thread -

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=142667

Freeloader.com - Different types of inexpensive subscriptions to this site allow you to downdoad plenty of games of all kinds. A newsletter is available. -

http://www.freeloader.com/content/freeloader/en/games/desktop

MSN (Microsoft Network) Gaming Zone - http://zone.msn.com/

Classic Free Games - http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/04/2016246

Gaming Links page - http://www.infinitefrontiers.0catch.com/Links.htm

http://www.clickets.com/targets/Games/Games.asp

Visit Freeware Gaming where there are hundreds of free downloadable games to play offline. Categories include Puzzle/Logic, Sport Card/Casino and Action/Arcade. Games are rated and reviewed and each listing shows the size and system requirements.

Gaming forums

TechSpot PC - Gaming and Consoles -

http://www.techspot.com/vb/menu11.html

SysOpt Forum - http://forums.sysopt.com/

Google PC gaming searches

Use the Google search box at the top of this page (with the Web radio button enabled) to find links that may have changed for existing sites, and many more gaming sites.

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