Hardware

My computer is the average gaming machine, an amd k6 233mmx which I really like, alot of games support mmx. 96 megs sdma memory that comes in handy while using power apps, 24x cd rom adequate for the amount of use it gets, a 33.6 modem (boo!) a 3.2 gig fugi hd, a 1.7 gig seagate hd, an iomega zip 100 drive which i am really glad to have. It holds all my mp3s, vivos and zipped games, backed up files and i can even run stuff from it. A jaton 4meg direct 3d video card, and a 4 meg virge (spare) 15 inch magnavox moniter, top gun mainboard that features 1024kb l2 cache, and 16bit onboard 3d stereo sound. Of course its all running windows 98. To enhance my computing experience I run Cacheman, a utility which tweaks the disk cache settings and prevents frequent swapping of the data to disk resulting in an improved performance. Its pretty cool and worth checking out. To keep my cpu frosty I run rain 1.0 in my system tray at all times, along with my fan and heatsink.

I now have 2 sets of  hardware for playing my games. The Winner Joypad 707 And now a new piece since Christmas `97 the Ultimate Per4mer Racing Wheel (and pedals) by Platinum Sound. You would want a cheap joypad, just for kicking around because they can get expensive, with usless gimmicks and dont get used very much for most types of games. I use the mouse/keyboard for Unreal, Quake and Quake2 because it is just more accurate and pratical. I highly reccomend the joypad or anything of its kind. Its durable easy to setup install and use and works with most games, racing and anything else. Unless youre a die hard racing sim fan should you want or need a racing wheel. Ill tell you about them.

The one I have, Ultimate Per4mer Racing Wheel is ok. It was extreamly diffacult to setup, and I even had to change some settings on my sound hardware. Altho this might not be the case on youre machine, it just was, for me a very hard thing to get working. But other than that its great. 15 buttons 3 led lights, (that have a different meaning for each)  joypad like controls, 4 suction cups and clamp to hold the thing to youre desk, and comfortable and smooth handling in the steering and gas/brake. The pedals are on their own axis to allow you to tromp on it and the car peels out, or touch lightly and the car crawls. It also has a plug for a gear shift, but i dont have one (yet). In Canadian funds itll set you back about $140 depending on the store. I also think thrustmaster makes a good product that will prollably have an easier installation. There is now a force feedback ul. per4mer wheel, if that floats your boat.

can be purchased at Radio shack, Cosco wholesalers, Future shop, and other pc game/hardware retailers.