opening up a computer gaming store, need advice

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: CyberWire
thats all i could find on newegg for ecc registered ram....

Just get dual opterons and 4 of
these
Edit: I just saw the Sonata change, good call. The 1040awg is a little bigger and no cover, it should be about the same price. Either will be fine.

 

[imported_CyberWire]

wouldnt it be better to have xeons.. I would think hyperthereading would help when running multiple dedicated game servers off one machine...

 

[otispunkmeyer]

get rid of the cd drive a good dvd rom drive is better as some games now come on dvd

 

[imported_CyberWire]

otis: already did.. see updated list..

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Pistolero
seems like overkill in a lot of cases for computers that are likely to be slighty abused...

LCDs are nice because they will help keep electric bill down.
you could maybe get 3100+ Semprons
and non-raptor hard drives
and a cheaper video card

you can also see the most popular online games by checking
Although a lot of games are not included in this list
www.gamespy.com/stats

i think sempron is a good idea imo,
also jus a normal sata drive...more space for the price
vanilla 6800 maybe?..dunno if u get 6800gt's they will last u a long while

 

[wuggle]

dont forget diablo ii, everquest. you can also bring up the idea of setting up a small lounge for console games, probably $1000 for systems/controllers/accessories + $500 for games + $2000-$3000 for TVs.

is that switch gigabit? serious gamers want giga! you might also want to get a bigger switch, 16 ports doesnt leave much room for expansion.

 

[imported_CyberWire]

well so far the price has been reduced by 6000 dollars.. not bad at all..

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: CyberWire
otis: already did.. see updated list..

still says 52speed cd rom here

 

[imported_CyberWire]

wuggle, xbox's have crossed my mind, but right now im concentrating on just pc's as thats all the cust has asked me to do....


why get gigabit when the machines have 100?

and its not like im doing file transfers, games just need steady streams of small packets..

in regards to ports... thats what additional switches are for.. uplink anyone?

 

[imported_CyberWire]

otis: look a few posts above this one.. new listing...

 

[wuggle]

Originally posted by: CyberWire
wuggle, xbox's have crossed my mind, but right now im concentrating on just pc's as thats all the cust has asked me to do....

right, but its a good idea though

why get gigabit when the machines have 100?

marketing

time to go home... see ya monday!

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: CyberWire
That's assuming that all stations are filled all the time.
I work with youth (which will be his target audience) all the time, and they won't do anything for $10 an hour. The place which they go to has a happy hour every Sunday night ($7 for 3 hours), and their machines are just ok. People would rather pay $5/hour for decent gaming machines than $10/hr for top of the line.

Well, living in a somewhat college town (we have a college and two large universities all within minutes of one another) and the biggest technological area here in Canada, i can say we have quite a few gaming stores, and the ones that are the most popular are the ones with the best systems... the prices are all pretty much identical, and so are the games... and even though Counterstrike is the most popular game, and it can run well on a system that's under 1Ghz, people still prefer to play them on the 3ghz machines. Why? Like Cyberwire said, it's because they want to play on the best systems, and there's something about going into a store with all draw dropping machines.

And the kids do pay $10/hr to play, because it's not an everday event. It's something they'll do on a friday night or something, and the price still beats going to the movies or arcade.

 

[Looney]

But i don't know if it's a good idea for somebody who doesn't even know what system they want, to set up a gaming center. They'll need to deal with things far more complex than putting a computer together to run it.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

i would happily pay u to play on rigs like that....having one like those myself i would try not to go back.

 

[imported_CyberWire]

hardcore, thanks for validating the concept

 

[arzipper]

Maybe you should consider getting the Half Life 2 Silver Pack on Steam. It costs $60, but you get Half Life 2 (which is a must have game) and it's various add ons (the Souce versions of Counter Strike, Day of Defeat, and Half Life 1).

The Silver package also gets you the entire Valve back catalog, ie everything that the Half Life Platinum pack contains.

Considering that you already had $20 set aside for the platinum pack, it's like getting the Half Like 2 retail Collector's edition (the regular edition doesn't contain all the Source add on games) for $40.

For more info take a look at http://www.steampowered.com/

 

[nick1985]

get value ram, tight timings do almost nothing on the athlon64

 

[xenocyd3]

why the hell would you use a64 procs..

xp 2500
512 corsair
radeon 9600 pro or geforce 4 ti
smallest hd you can find


each unit should cost less than $650

 

[ApacheChief]

You're also going to have to pay for the commercial licenses on the games... 500 a year for each of those Blizzard games.

I'd really only spend ~1200 on each computer, and DEFINITELY get good mouses/mouse pads.

 

[ApacheChief]

Oh and also, why not go with Windows 2000?

Only $42 a copy (I also thought about opening up a LAN center, igames.org for a ton of info..)

EDIT:

and in reference to:

why the hell would you use a64 procs..

xp 2500
512 corsair
radeon 9600 pro or geforce 4 ti
smallest hd you can find


each unit should cost less than $650

You want to provide your customers with the REAL gaming expirience, not the cheapest-as-can-be expirience... he can cut corners on some places, but you really want your investment to last.

 

[silent tone]

Why XP pro and server 2003? You're not going to be running IIS, ftp server, telnet server, email server etc. Do you want to setup a domain? Aside from setting unique passwords for each user throughout the day, I can't see much benefit.
These boxes will be for running games, maybe browsing the internet or IM. Fast user switching, windows movie maker, desktop themes etc can all be dropped to Win2k pro would work.

OT: How do LAN cafes get around games that require the CD to play?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

10$ an hour noone will ever pay. I walk by a Lan Cafe in the mall by my home and it's always empty. They charge like 3 dollars a half hour 5$ for an hour.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: insolence
You're also going to have to pay for the commercial licenses on the games... 500 a year for each of those Blizzard games.

I'd really only spend ~1200 on each computer, and DEFINITELY get good mouses/mouse pads.

isn't CS the same way? I thought you needed some license in order to be able to charge people to play.

 

[ApacheChief]

For most games you need to get a license to charge for play time.

To get around the CD problem you simply use a CD emulator, like CD DAEMON.

 

[imported_Phil]

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet, but you will probably need a backup server. Imagine the main server goes down- if the clients rely on it, then the business is effectively closed until it's fixed.