Video game addicts...

[Off the grid]

Originally Posted by CaveDave

For real savings, avoid Intel altogether. My son and I built a machine last December with an AMD quad-core CPU and an AMD GPU, and it plays everything we throw at it, all for $600, sans monitor.

I know that was the case 10 years ago, but what about now with the Intel I7 chips? I heard they are about the same price, run cooler and are more stable.

Heard the quality control with AMD suffers because of multiple manufacturers, but what the fuck do I know. I used to be a HUGE AMD fanboi back in the day.

[ImaPoser]

Originally Posted by Jonnylotto

What do you want to play?

Single player? Multi-player?

Single player mainly. Fallout, skyrim type games are my fav.

Do you want max frame rate when playing it?

What size screen are you using? (native resolution)

I'm using one of those old 15" tv type monitors. I think I'll be upgrading that as well.

The more generalized the PC the more money it takes to do everything well. Certain types of games are going to push the limits, too.

Look at it this way; you know you need at least 350hp for your next vehicle but unless you know if you're going to be towing a load or hauling a hockey team we don't know whether you want a truck, an SUV or a Challenger.

Got it, sorta.

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by Off the grid

I know that was the case 10 years ago, but what about now with the Intel I7 chips? I heard they are about the same price, run cooler and are more stable.

Heard the quality control with AMD suffers because of multiple manufacturers, but what the fuck do I know. I used to be a HUGE AMD fanboi back in the day.

As it stands AMD lost its price advantage to the i5 and i7 chips. Until you get into the 6 core 3900 series i7. Added bonus Ivy Bridge is also the 1155 chipset like the older 2000+ series, so obsolescence is pushed by a couple years.

Bulldozer has throughput issues with a lot of processor intensive applications from what I've read. So it only ends up working as well as an overclocked i5, for $200 more.

[UnderNewOwnership]

^^^ That's not very relevant for the secondhand market. Frankly, I think Ivy Bridges are stupid expensive. Intel jacked up prices just 'cos they can, and they all but admitted it.

When shopping for used parts, it's better to go for whatever had the biggest price drop (due to various reasons) compared to its performance.

[Dismount]

Early days rocksmith for PC review.

Game itself......Not bad. Decent selection of songs IMO stock, and they are the actual songs not someone covering them. Kind of guitar hero taken to it's logical conclusion.

Difficulty... ramps up a little too quickly for me. Maybe not possible to have it any other way when using actual chords and notes that match up with a real song though. And I suck. Really badly. Could use a little more info on the actual fingering it wants you to do. It does that with chords, but single notes it just kind of leaves you to do whatever.

Interface. Sucks ass. But I haven't met a game in years that I liked the interface for. for those used to console type interfaces, probably not that big of a deal. You have to check and re-check your guitars tuning before every song. In 3 days I haven't had to adjust it and I've been playing probably 4 hours a day. Having said that, the actual tuning and re-tuning from standard to drop-d is easily accomplished and sounds right once it's done. For some reason you can fail out of the riff repeater. But not actually performing the song.

Bass emulation: works quite well as far as I can tell. Bass arrangements are quite a bit easier(so far) than the guitar arrangements.

multiplayer: haven't tried it yet. I believe you are supposed to be able to plug in a second guitar or bass and play split screen. No idea about networked playing.


4 sore, blistered, uncalloused fingers out of 5

[Jeffy]

Originally Posted by Dismount

Early days rocksmith for PC review.

Game itself......Not bad. Decent selection of songs IMO stock, and they are the actual songs not someone covering them. Kind of guitar hero taken to it's logical conclusion.

Difficulty... ramps up a little too quickly for me. Maybe not possible to have it any other way when using actual chords and notes that match up with a real song though. And I suck. Really badly. Could use a little more info on the actual fingering it wants you to do. It does that with chords, but single notes it just kind of leaves you to do whatever.

I think that's the biggest complaint. The game never lets you feel like you've accomplished anything and that's a bit frustrating. There are game specs to Rocksmith but it's really tricking you to learn how to play guitar.

Interface. Sucks ass. But I haven't met a game in years that I liked the interface for. for those used to console type interfaces, probably not that big of a deal. You have to check and re-check your guitars tuning before every song. In 3 days I haven't had to adjust it and I've been playing probably 4 hours a day. Having said that, the actual tuning and re-tuning from standard to drop-d is easily accomplished and sounds right once it's done. For some reason you can fail out of the riff repeater. But not actually performing the song.

So the game forces you to tune and retune after each song or your just have to to stay calibrated? For playing guitar, especially for beginners it's important to play in tune so I can see them wanting that. If the the later, that probably has more to do with the guitar. The combo set comes with a very cheap Epiphone Les Paul Jr. For a guitar it's pretty much at the bottom of the barrel. A better guitar would be less frustrating and stay in tune better. (it's common with cheap guitars.) Although there are tricks to that as well. Like adding graphite between the nut and the strings. Also always tune up and not down. G will usually drop out of tune because of the angle of the string fron the head through the nut. It's a issue with just about all Les Pauls.

I've been wanting to try Rocksmith but the PC version got pushed back a year after the console version and is twice as much for some reason. I'll stick to just playing guitar without the nanny.

[Jonnylotto]

Originally Posted by ImaPoser

Single player mainly. Fallout, skyrim type games are my fav.
I'm using one of those old 15" tv type monitors. I think I'll be upgrading that as well.

A good 24" HD (1920x1080 or better yet 1920x1200) monitor will run ~250. I'm partial to the Dell Ultrasharp / USB ports. If you've been using a crt all this time it will melt your eyeballs right out of your head.

Graphics card should probably be nVidia GTX 650 TI or better.

Processor should be an Intel Core i5 or better.

Ironically, building your own system is no longer the cheapest way to get a good computer. I'd recommend going down to the local newstand and getting a copy of PC Gamer and Maximum PC. Both will usually have a recommended build for "Best Bang for the Buck!" plus all of the advertisers inside can give you an idea of what builds are generally priced at.

Note that the three things that usually cost the most to upgrade when custom building a system (Storage, Graphics and Ram) are some of the easiest and cheapest to do by yourself. So you could buy a system for ~$400 see what you like about it, play some games and then target upgrades for what's really needed. I've upgraded my graphics card twice since building my current system, Once for Fallout 3 and again for Skyrim. I currently have an Invidia GTX670 so I'm good until Fallout 5.

I will be honest, you'll never build a good game computer cheaper than a console of any kind, but a computer is the best pr0n machine ever built. Plus, first release games are usually the same price (except for the Lego Games) as console games. However, the computer games are always discounted first, are more likely to go on sale cheaper and are easier for companies to patch. Not only that but services like Steam and GOG (Good Old Games) are always offering nut-buster sales of all sorts and GOG updates the old classics to play in modern versions of Windows and Mac(!).

[ImaPoser]

Here's one I was considering.....till I saw the $2k price tag

It's the latest Gen i7 Overclocked at 5.9GHZ (Yes, 5.9GHz)
It's got a liquid cooler
512GB SSD (For OS)
Its got 32GB of Ram (you can upgrade to 64GB)
a 560 TI 1GB Video card
2 2TB harddrives
A blu-Ray reader/Writer
It also comes with a 3D 24' Display that has 2 3D Glasses

Then I see ones like this for $400, and I get all kinds of confused.

I've got an amazing PC that i built about 5 months ago that i no longer have any need or desire for. 3.6ghz processor (i upgraded the heatsink which is about 7x larger than the stock sink tht came with it, so you're free to overclock to about 4.6ghz, but i never messed with it.) Video cards are moderately powerful (i have 2 installed), i can stream on HD 1280x720p with all settings on League of Legends being on "very high" and still maintain 100+ FPS. Without streaming, i sit pretty at about 300+FPS when playing. 1TB hard drive, split into 2, but you can remerge if you'd like of course. Avast (the best free anti virus out there) already installed, harddrive relatively empty, but will be ghosting the computer anyway before final sale. If you're interested in learning more about it, or getting some pics, let me know. Aslo, it has 8GB of RAM and a pretty hefty power supply.

No idea what the difference is.


Anyway, A friend loaned me Rage for the xbox. I'm digging it. Probably be able to put off buying that new computer to play war z for a few weeks at least.

[Dismount]

Originally Posted by Jeffy

I think that's the biggest complaint. The game never lets you feel like you've accomplished anything and that's a bit frustrating. There are game specs to Rocksmith but it's really tricking you to learn how to play guitar.



So the game forces you to tune and retune after each song or your just have to to stay calibrated? For playing guitar, especially for beginners it's important to play in tune so I can see them wanting that. If the the later, that probably has more to do with the guitar. The combo set comes with a very cheap Epiphone Les Paul Jr. For a guitar it's pretty much at the bottom of the barrel. A better guitar would be less frustrating and stay in tune better. (it's common with cheap guitars.) Although there are tricks to that as well. Like adding graphite between the nut and the strings. Also always tune up and not down. G will usually drop out of tune because of the angle of the string fron the head through the nut. It's a issue with just about all Les Pauls.

I've been wanting to try Rocksmith but the PC version got pushed back a year after the console version and is twice as much for some reason. I'll stick to just playing guitar without the nanny.

It has tricked me into learning a couple of things. My big gripe about the fingering is that i have no clue about whats right. Hell maybe it's in there and i'm missing it.

The in tune thing... I know why its doing it, it's still annoying though. The only place I've found that it doesn't make you check is in between songs while "performing" them, and in the virtual play what you want amp mode. Otherwise every mini game, playthrough of a song, riff practice, makes you sloowly pick each string from low to high.

[Jeffy]

Originally Posted by Dismount

It has tricked me into learning a couple of things. My big gripe about the fingering is that i have no clue about whats right. Hell maybe it's in there and i'm missing it.

The in tune thing... I know why its doing it, it's still annoying though. The only place I've found that it doesn't make you check is in between songs while "performing" them, and in the virtual play what you want amp mode. Otherwise every mini game, playthrough of a song, riff practice, makes you sloowly pick each string from low to high.

Well for chords you can look them up inline or get a chord book. For fingering it's really up to the player. What's easiest to do while taking into consideration what the next note is so you don't have to much too much. You can also learn some tricks by looking for how-to's on youtube. Think of it as a cheat of sorts.

[Dismount]

Originally Posted by Jeffy

Well for chords you can look them up inline or get a chord book. For fingering it's really up to the player. What's easiest to do while taking into consideration what the next note is so you don't have to much too much. You can also learn some tricks by looking for how-to's on youtube. Think of it as a cheat of sorts.

Hrmm i'm not expressing it well... I'm talking single note picking.

An indication of say... Index finger 5th fret. I find myselfmstarting a series of notes with my index finger, and then trying to twist my hand into a knot, where i wouldn't have if i had started with my ring finger.

[Jeffy]

Originally Posted by Dismount

Hrmm i'm not expressing it well... I'm talking single note picking.

An indication of say... Index finger 5th fret. I find myselfmstarting a series of notes with my index finger, and then trying to twist my hand into a knot, where i wouldn't have if i had started with my ring finger.

Well, you can do whatever is easier. There are no set rules.

You might consider asking in the Guitar thread since Rocksmith bridges between the two.

[RxZ]

I just kinda sorta got a free xBox with Kinect!

Longer version... A few years ago I had bought a pretty decent GPS for my wife to use in her car. For some unknown reason I bought the 4 year warranty as well (I rarely buy extended warranties, they often are a waste of money). Well, 3 years and 11 months later the GPS will not work anymore. So I took it back to Best Buy where I had bought it expecting to have to get another GPS. I picked one out, but before getting it I just happened to ask the CSR if I had to get another GPS, or if I could get anything of "equal or lessor value". Really, I do not need a stand alone GPS in the car anymore. Google Maps works perfectly fine off my phone. Luckily, after speaking with the manager they said I could get anything! So, since my old first generation 360 got the RRoD about 6-8 months back, I picked up a new slim model with Kinect!

Now to reactivate my xBox Live account...

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by UnderNewOwnership

^^^ That's not very relevant for the secondhand market. Frankly, I think Ivy Bridges are stupid expensive. Intel jacked up prices just 'cos they can, and they all but admitted it.

When shopping for used parts, it's better to go for whatever had the biggest price drop (due to various reasons) compared to its performance.

I mentioned Sandy Bridge specifically.

The Sandy Bridges handle overclocking far better than the Ivy Bridge do, the Ivy bridge is a fantastic MOBILE chip, for gaming applications and heavy crunching Sandy Bridge will outperform it assuming you aren't afraid to overclock.

[Jeffy]

Originally Posted by ImaPoser

Here's one I was considering.....till I saw the $2k price tag

Then I see ones like this for $400, and I get all kinds of confused.

No idea what the difference is.


Anyway, A friend loaned me Rage for the xbox. I'm digging it. Probably be able to put off buying that new computer to play war z for a few weeks at least.

The first one is built by an enthusiast who likes having the latest and greatest and is upgrading. It's a decent computer and with it OC'ed should stay at the relevant for a while. Too much RAM can be a bad thing as it can slow your computer down if you're not able to use it all. 6-12GB is what's considered optimal for gaming. You also have to consider the type of RAM it is. Value RAM is dirt cheap and slow. The Gamer stuff are usually more expensive but depending on what the exact specs are price will vary a lot. The SSD drive is nice and has really gone mainstream. There are some things to consider buy overall they're really nice to have. 24" monitor could be OK but I'm gonna guess it's a cheaper one. Dell's Ultra Sharp is probably one of the best in it's price-range but they're not cheap. Also, there is no mention of the motherboard which really comes into play if you're OC'ing. The video cards are good but not the best. They're mid-range but should be good for most games. The 500 series has been replaced by the 600 series. It's a good card but most worth more then $250-300 new. If you're spending that much, you'll want to know everything about that computer so as you're not getting screwed.

The second listing is so vague. Either he doesn't know what he has or is trying to be as vague as possible about it. CPU speeds mean nothing unless you state what is it. You can buy a new computer that can play games OK for $500. For more dedicated gaming, you'll probably have to spend more coin.

Keep in mind though, if you buy a more expensive rig, it will stay current longer which can save you money over the long term. The use of premium parts will give you more room to squeeze more speed out of other components. Having a really fast computer is no good if you have a bottle neck somewhere. OC'ing really depends on a good selection of parts. I'll buy the next lossleader and OC when I have to finally upgrade. Going this route gets you the best clock speed per dollar you can find. I'd never spend $1000 for a Extreme Edition Intel when I can spend $300 on a lossleader which can be OC'ed faster then the EE.