It's time for a massive PC gaming up grade

[Venatore]

I've had my little computer for six years, trying to hang onto the gaming experience, my wife handed me the PC version of "Gears of War" yesterday and I immediately loaded it up which took on near an hour.

My wife has also put on hold Assassin's Creed PC version and I dare say I would run into the same drama.

Many errors started; firstly with the good old graphics card then a message saying my specs didn't meet the minimum requirement. I got the game to work but it looked like the 1981 version of Castle Wolfenstein :o

I knew straight away PC gaming technology had finally caught up with my little variant. I was going to ask what is the best to buy :hmm: but that's like asking which is better Holdens or Fords, Rugby League or AFL, SH3 or SH4, and in the end opinions are like arse-holes everyone has one :rotfl:more so in the PC gaming spec area :yep:

I'm not a console gamer I'm a PC gamer and with PC gaming you are able to mod the games sometimes very limited and other modding to make the game totally different [SH3 & 4 for example].

Having Gears of War sitting here looking at me and not being able to play it is killing me :nope:

Thought I would just share my day with you; in the struggle & life of a PC gamer ;)

[FIREWALL]

I had to bite the bullit once also and my rig is still behind the times. :)

I've about rung all I can out of this one and am building a new one now.:yep:

[JSLTIGER]

Not so much in certain areas though...are you looking for something pre-built or are you planning on self-building?

If you're self building, you'll probably want either a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad, plenty of RAM (it's cheap these days), and a SATA II HDD and DVD Burner. From that point, the only real question is what video card, which is where the questions begin.

For $300, you can get the GeForce 9800 GTX, which runs about equivalently to AMD's (ex-ATI) Radeon 3870X2. For about $200, you could also go with the 8800 GT or GTS 512. Right now, any of these cards is a good buy.

[stabiz]

Yup, good advice.

[Platapus]

These days it seems that as soon as you swipe your credit card, your computer is already obsolete. :nope:

[JSLTIGER]

On the contrary...there hasn't been a truly significant upgrade in either CPU or GPU technology in some time. Sure, some die shrinks have been introduced, but there have been no fundamentally "game-changing" architectures (the Core 2 Duo and GeForce 8800 setting the bar) in either field since 2006.

[August]

I'm trying to build a system around this:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/digital/home.php

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[JSLTIGER]

It shouldn't matter. You should be able to use any graphics card, although if you're planning on driving three monitors, and 3D gaming, I'd suggest a high-end card.

[August]

It shouldn't matter. You should be able to use any graphics card, although if you're planning on driving three monitors, and 3D gaming, I'd suggest a high-end card.

Geforce 8800 series?

[GlobalExplorer]

I'd suggest you get a 9600 - they go around half the price of 8800s - and they also run at half the temp. CPU speed is much more the limiting factor these days, so I'd invest heavy in a Wolfdale and a good, stable mainboard (the ABIT IP35 Pro and IX38 are insiders tips these days). For the graphics card I would get the 9600 with the option to replace it in 2 or 3 years. Also get a good, quality PSU of at least 500W, no matter what people are telling you.

[GlobalExplorer]

I'm trying to build a system around this:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/digital/home.php

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

August, I was also toying with the idea to get triple head. But I keep hearing user reviews that in the end it's nothing but hassle. So TrackIR might be a better investment.

Of course it must be a dream to drive the 1967 Spa Grand Prix in GPL on three projectors - but hey I'm not a millionaire.

[August]

The game i was going to use it for was Eve Online so trackIR wouldn't be really suitable.

What specifically are you hearing? Hassle in what way?


http://www.matrox.com/graphics/surroundgaming/media/supported_games/screenshots/eve_online/EveOnline1.jpg

[Tchocky]

1967 Spa Grand Prix in GPL
Oooh, think I'll be firing that one up again now that you've mentioned it :D

August, that looks damn cool

[antikristuseke]

These days it seems that as soon as you swipe your credit card, your computer is already obsolete. :nope:

Bull**** unless you want to be on the bleeding edge.
Ofcourse if your computer wong give you all the eye canty available when its is a bit behind the bleeding edge, but calling it obsolete soon after purchase is bull****.

[GlobalExplorer]

These days it seems that as soon as you swipe your credit card, your computer is already obsolete. :nope:

Bull**** unless you want to be on the bleeding edge.
Ofcourse if your computer wong give you all the eye canty available when its is a bit behind the bleeding edge, but calling it obsolete soon after purchase is bull****.

Yes, complete bull, and light hearted repeating it is annoying.

If you choose your components wisely, and buy when they are cheap/reliable, you can build a great system for a grand or less, and use it for 4 years upwards. My computer is running since 2004 - well it does not run SHIV, ArmA or the Witcher well enough - but 90% of the games I play are fine. Not to forget the system wasn't not even bleeding edge when I bought it.

It makes me angry when I see ppl buying consoles, buying macs, because of this rubbish. Byebye mods, freedom - hello retarded gameplay and enforced decision. Finally a system that I need not understand! It runs everything without problems - everything it wants to run!!

[GlobalExplorer]

The game i was going to use it for was Eve Online so trackIR wouldn't be really suitable.

What specifically are you hearing? Hassle in what way?


http://www.matrox.com/graphics/surroundgaming/media/supported_games/screenshots/eve_online/EveOnline1.jpg

nice screenshot.

You never know if / how it runs with your game, the bezels are disturbing, it needs a lot of space, cables, it needs lots of cpu power, settings often dont get saved (in which case you need to tinker manually), you often just gain 50% more FOV (much less flexible than TrackIR), well ultimately it is too expensive.

I would says for racing games on three projectors / monitors it is ideal, but for anything else, including flight sims you might regret it.

[August]

You never know if / how it runs with your game, the bezels are disturbing, it needs a lot of space, cables, it needs lots of cpu power, settings often dont get saved (in which case you need to tinker manually), you often just gain 50% more FOV (much less flexible than TrackIR), well ultimately it is too expensive.

I would says for racing games on three projectors / monitors it is ideal, but for anything else, including flight sims you might regret it.
Much obliged. Given my gaming habits i think it's still a good choice for me but i'll certainly take your points about cpu and vid card power to heart.

[Graf Paper]

Since I haven't purchased any new games after SH3 hit the shelves, I can say my system works just fine for me.

As long as it does what you want it to do, that's all you really need.

Unless someone knows of a (legal) way I could build a new system for under $50, this is all I got for the foreseeable future. :p

[flakmonkey]

Gears of war is actually pretty system spec friendly, you could get it running on a potato with a couple of wires sticking out of it:up:

[Graf Paper]

Let me guess...

The operating system for such a spud would be FritOS?

With internet security in mind, it would bring a whole new meaning to "Phish and Chips".

What kind of chip is your CPU? :p

(I just know I'm going to get beaten for this. :o)

[JSLTIGER]

Let me guess...

The operating system for such a spud would be FritOS?

With internet security in mind, it would bring a whole new meaning to "Phish and Chips".

What kind of chip is your CPU? :p

(I just know I'm going to get beaten for this. :o)

:rotfl::rotfl: