Newbie needs help on Networking

[durian]

I have a Pentium (I) 200MMX, 32MB RAM, 4MB Video Card, etc.

I would like to buy a new computer to:
1. network with this old one so that I can play multiplayer with the latest games.
2. I have one service provider and I would like to use both computers for my brother and I to surf and play games at the same time.

Please advice on what computer I should buy (including the name of the video card). I really want a good system to play the latest games. Below is what I have in mind after some researching; will it do?

Intel Pentium III 667EBMHz/133MHz FSB, SECC2
Asus Slot 1 M/B P3V4X 133MHz, AGP 4x, UDMA/66
Hyndai DIMM PC133 128MB 168Pins, SDRAM
Asus AGP-V3800TNT2 unltra Deluxe with video in
IDE HDD Seagate 10GB U10, ST310212A UATA/66
DVD ROM drive Aoopen DVD-1640P 16x/40
Netgear Network card FA 310TX 10/100

*I'm not sure what cable to use for my network cards.

Please advice. I will appreciate any follow-ups. I'm new to networking.


A Grateful Grandite.

 

[jmcoreymv]

Use a crossover cable.

 

[BCYL]

Networking does not require much resources at all, so when deciding what system to buy you should concentrate on meeting the requirements of the games you want to play.

As for the networking cable, just buy a crossover CAT5 cable if you are connecting the two computers directly.

 

[cot]

If you just want to network the two machines together, then I'm with jmcoreymv and BCYL, get a crosoover cat5 cable. I'd stick another netgear card in the other machine, since netgears seem to work pretty well and it's nice to keep things as similar as possible .

Now, you didn't mention the kind of connection you want to share, is it a modem connection or a DSL/cable one?

If it's a modem connection, the crossover cable should do fine, but you should realize that it will be hard to play most online games together over one modem. There is just too much information for an analog modem to handle. You can still play games by yourself over the network with no probs. And web browsing should be ok, since you aren't constantly downloading data.

If it's a DSL or cable connection, 2 machines for online games is no problem, but you may need to get a hub instead of just using a crossover cable. This is because the connection to the DSL/cable router or bridge is usually ethernet.

cot

 

[durian]

Thanks everyone. I think I have the confidence to do it right.

Thanks again

Grateful Grandite