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The CandyMan's LAN Gaming Table |  |
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The CandyMan's LAN Gaming Table | |
Hi and welcome to The CandyMan's Computer LAN Gaming Table Project. Below is a link to pictures of my Computer LAN Gaming Table and the systems I have built and continuously update. Along with the table and systems are a printer, router, 2 switches and numerous cables and cords. I also keep a small dorm refrigerator nearby to keep the beer nice and cold! Check out the information below and then take a look at my ongoing project.
Link to LAN gaming table pictures is at the bottom.
UPDATE!
October 1st, 2007 ~ Well it's been about a year but I decided I need to update this site and soon! Especially since I have added a sixth system, which means the table is fully loaded, plus updated video cards and two systems have all new hardware including faster procs, better video cards, and more hard drive space. I added 4 Athlon X64 procs 3400 and 3800s, one Nvidia 7600, one ATi x1600, and two ATi x1650s, all with 512 megs of ram. The two completely replaced systems (with the x1650 video cards) contain Sapphire Pure AMD mobos with Crossfire PCIe slots, so when I decide to jump to a newer, faster ATi card in one system, I can put the other x1650 video card in the other system. Earlier in the year I replaced the only two AGP systems left with two Nvidia 6800GTs that I unlocked and overclocked to 6800XT Ultras. All the systems now have over 1 gig of ram each, and all of them have at least 300 or more gigs of hard drive space, which means I have just about enough room for all the games! Granted I will have to keep upgrading, especially with the system requirements on newer games coming out, but for now they run most games pretty smooth and very playable.
I added a 2 new LCD monitors, both from X2Gen, one is a 19" 4:3 and the other is an 19" wide screen (16:9). I use the standard 19" while my girlfriend Holly likes to use the system with the 19" wide screen The rest of the except computer number six have 19-21" CRT monitors and computer six has a Samsung flat screen 17" CRT.
Below is an updated list as of October 10th, 2007 of the games currently on all my systems.
*Quake Wars:Enemy Territory |
*Supreme Commander |
October 22nd, 2006 ~ Well, after a few months of no updates I decided that this site need to be updated soon as I had made some major updates to both hardware and the computer gaming area itself. This includes new motherboards in computers 3, 4 and 5, new procs in computers 4 and 5 and more ram added to each system (1gig total for each). Also unlocked the pipelines in my two Nvidia 6200 video cards from 8 to 16 thereby making them 6600, lol and added a SATA drive to computer 4, plus increased the storage size of computers 2, 3 and 4 to 160gigs for more games.
From the pictures you can see I add the first of 5 (well 6 when I build the sixth system in the next few months) LCD Monitors, a nice X2gen 19" monitor that really looks great. This made more room on the table itself, so adding 4(5) more will be a no-brainer as everyone will have more room to move around when gaming.
July 24th, 2006 ~ Moved this web site to a new host, Awardspace.com, seems FSphost is gone. Hey, you get what you pay for! ;)
Added some new games including Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006, Prey, and HL2 Episode One. I been doing a search for LCD monitors and plan on purchasing one or two by the second week in August to replace 2 of the CRTs. Also adding more ram to two systems, and computer 3 is getting another hard drive.
Come November I will be building computer Number Six to replace my system. The new computer will be iGames Redux Computer One and the current one I use, the one I'm typing on now, becomes iGames Redux Computer Number Six. Looking at AMD x2 for proc or maybe one of the newer Core Duo 2 from Intel and one of the high end video cards, most likely an Nvidia since I want SLI configuration available.
May 16th, 2006 ~ Well after some thought, I decide to name my gaming area iGames Redux after my old gaming cafe I owned and ran back in 1999-2003. With it I designed a new logo and wallpaper (for each computer). Below is an example. Many of my friends and family will remember iGames, but for anyone who doesn't know, it was a computer gaming and internet cafe here in Columbus that I designed, built, and ran for 4 years. Between this and my other business, I worked an average of 80-100 hours a week! So needless to say, I sold iGames (equipment, software, proggys, etc.) and got out. But iGames still meant a lot to me, a dream I always had, so in a way I'm paying homage to that dream, but with a lot less work, lol! So now The CandyMan's Computer Gaming Area will be known from here on out as iGames Redux (redux means to bring back or reborn in case you missed the word in English class).
April 16th, 2006 ~ Well the table and computers have been run through their paces with 4 nights of serious LAN gaming, and everyone agrees that the table is a great setup. We played everything from CSS to SWBF2, from NFSMW to Crashday, and though there were a few hiccups with the computers (network issue on one game, steering wheel not configured correctly on another) overall everyone had a great time. So all in all it was a great project that turned out better than I expected. And in a few weeks I'll be purchasing LCD monitors, and then building a sixth system, and upgrading some of the others. Look for updated pictures after this is completed.
What brought me to this point was that after an exhaustive search, I could not find any desks, tables, RTA (ready to assemble) or wood projects (for desks or tables) online that fit my needs. In fact, I could not find one example or mention of anything close to what I finally built on the internet, and RTA was just too expensive. The best, least expensive RTA desks I could find (6 in all) still would have cost over $400 while building this table myself only amounted to a total of $300, a savings of almost over $100 which I used to make other improvements. Granted, the table is smaller in desktop space than the computer desks would have been, but with the replacement of the CRTs (which you can see in some pics take up a lot of room) with LCDs plus putting the computer towers themselves underneath, I will have more than enough room even with the CRTs. I currently only have space for 5 computers because of the CRTs, but after purchasing the LCDs for each computer, I'll be able to add a 6th computer, which I plan on building for my own use on this gaming table, replacing the one I currently use. Of course The CandyMan always gets the best and fastest computer! :)
Some final touches need to be done on the table (touch up paint, some trim nails, clean up the wiring a little more), but overall it's pretty much finished. I still need to update and install some newer games, plus check that all the steering wheels work, but overall I'm about 80% done. Some cleaning is needed as well including the table, chairs and floor but I think it came together quite nice overall and should be ready for use in two weeks (April 13th) when I host my first LAN party.
Being my first table I think it came out about how I expected. I had to make a few changes along the way (from legs to base because of CRT weight, not using monitor risers because of lack of room, white trim instead of soft black leather) but the finish project looks good in my opinion. If you wish to have the material list and rough directions on how to build this, drop me a pm on the forum board. If enough people request it, I may list it on here instead.
The CandyMan's Computer LAN Gaming Table Pictures