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Post by Fayde on May 4, 2010 12:05:29 GMT -8
I just spent a long time looking and researching computer parts... Wow I need to study, lol.
However, I do have a plan to build a computer that'll be just as decked out (and probably more so) as yours.
For about 500 bucks, I will get:
1 gig Graphics card with 720 streaming processors, clocked at 700mhz
Athlon II 2.9 ghz triple-core processor
500W power supply
A AM3 type Motherboard with 4 slots of DDR3 1600 RAM, Dual channel?
4 gigs of DDR3 1600 RAM
A went crap on the case and I'll get the cheapest case I can find lol. I wonder if cannibalizing my current case would work...?
In any case, I will just transfer my older parts to the new one for now (I'm noting buying this any time soon lol). Both my HDs, DVD and CD burners will work for it, as well as my memory card readers and fire-wire port. I'll live with XP for a while and when I get more money, I'll upgrade the rest of it (HD, Windows 7, new DVD/CD combo and so on)
That way, I can have a new computer a bit sooner than later, and I'll have room to grow. Though... I'll probably upgrade my HD soon anyway, cause I feel it's on it's last limb.
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Post by Waspman on May 4, 2010 12:20:25 GMT -8
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESlol What happaned to MS Paint?So.. I cleaned my keyboard (yes under the sink, I always do it) You actually run water on the keyboard? Because that would definitely do it. What I do is just pop off all the keys, let the keys soak in water and then clean them. It's more time consuming though. BTW: here are some Boarebone kits. Those could work. Looks like you still have to install everything though? Like they just ship everything packaged together. If/when you do purchase one just make sure to read reviews and read up on the parts you're getting, the motherboard, etc. I actually spent more than a week just procrastinating, and reading information about my computer parts. It'd probably help if you posted something you were seriously interested in. I've been looking around... What is the real difference between dual-core, triple-core, quad and so on? From my understanding, the processors can separate tasks without looking speed performance. Dual-cores can process two things separately without loosing speed, triple can do three things and so on. Is this true? Yeah, that's some what correct. But basically the cores can work together to perform one task, but ONLY if the software is designed for it. StarCraft 2, for example, performs better on Triple and Quad Core Processors than it would a Dual Core or Single Core. Sins of a Solar Empire or some of the older games or software probably wouldn't receive any real benefit. However, that's not to say just because it's a Dual Core processor means it's bad. Some of them perform better than some Quad Cores. It just depends. AMD is still the champ of cheap Processors, so unless you're going to go all out into buying one monster of a PC I'd probably go with AMD. There's the Dual Core Phenom II X2 like this one, which a lot of people seem to be fine with. Even running Crysis and what have you. Dunno how it compares to my Ahtlon II X3 but I wouldn't be surprised if that dual core did better at most software.
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Post by Waspman on May 4, 2010 12:30:16 GMT -8
Do you have links or screenshots of those? Because I have no idea which motherboard, power supply or video card you're referring to. One thing I forgot to mention when it was brought up earlier, Windows XP will flip out if you're changing all this hardware. Or just simply removing the hard drive and plugging it into another computer. It'll say you'll have to activate it again, which they might not let you since it's an OEM version specifically designed for thatcomputer, in your case being HP. In which case you'd have to purchase a new serial key. Here's a website that has some information about it: michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html |
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Post by Fayde on May 4, 2010 12:33:54 GMT -8
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Post by Waspman on May 4, 2010 12:58:51 GMT -8
I CAN PLAYED SINS ON MAX SETTINGS, MAX RESOLUTION (for my Monitor), WITH NO LAG WHILE FIREFOX AND STARCRAFT 2 INSTALLER IS RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU  Not really a great screenshot but I didn't play for very long. |
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Post by Fayde on May 4, 2010 14:48:04 GMT -8
You sir, are gay. I hate you.
Actually, it doesn't look much different from my computer when I bump it up all the way... However, I am sure your computer plays it much smoother at those settings. If I zoom in or out too fast it will lag out quite a bit. it recovers nicely, but still.
You should post a couple close up shots of a few different capital ships. Those things look so awesome on max settings close up. It really gives you butterflies in your tummy.
I can't wait to see what SCII looks like!
PS:
had to go out and get a new keyboard... I honestly have NEVER gone out and actually bought a keyboard. I always had one on hand.
It works really nicely, and it was only 18 bucks. Flat, silent (I type loudly apparently), cheap. I love it.
NOW TO STUDY!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Post by Waspman on May 4, 2010 20:03:16 GMT -8
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Post by Fayde on May 4, 2010 21:10:14 GMT -8
NICE! actually, I have to stand down from my comment that Sins looks the same as mine. Up close, it looks like there is a lot more atmospheric/ambient lighting in your screenshot than my own. I guess maybe from far away it looks about the same, but your textures and lighting are way better, even when I bump it all the way. SCII looks awesome! Looks like the screens that are actually on the website. I wonder though if you can possibly take away the interface to get a clean shot (like SoaSE). While it would be nice for screenshot taking, it also gets annoying, as I found the user HUD to be freaking massive and it takes up half the screen. In any case though, you're computer officially kicks butt. Both games look amazing. Hows the normal computing processes going? Have you played around with Windows 7 much? Studying is going well. I ended up falling asleep for a couple hours while studying, but it was much needed sleep, as I haven't gotten much of it the past few days. Meli just tested me verbally and I did pretty good. I am covering 8 chapters of Nutrition. If anyone ever thought Nutrition was a basic easy class, they are wrong...  Here we go. This is only half a chapter's worth of goodness. Protein Synthesis! YAY! Gotta literally memorize all of this... Interesting and totally amazing, but annoying to have to memorize only to vomit it onto a piece of paper. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJxobgkPEAoAnother half of a chapter, Creb Cycle, Glycosis, ATP (energy), Aceytl CoA, and more.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=juM2ROSLWfwWhile we do not have to have a massive deep knowledge of all these things, it gives you an idea of what the class is actually about... ^^; It's not just diet analysis and "don't eat this". Lots of chemistry/biology. Amazing but annoying stuff. |
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Post by Waspman on May 5, 2010 13:51:48 GMT -8
I looked and there's no way to remove the HUD, unless you created a map or mod that changed it. Which you can actually do with the Map Editor. Everything's been running fine. Nice and speedy. Even things I wouldn't have thought would change, like DVD ROM access speed and internet speed has improved. Like I download faster now.. which is pretty odd. It does have trouble with old games that run in full screen but low resolution. Like Unreal Tournament 2004, or if I change WarCraft 3 to full screen. It just gives a black screen of death. Otherwise, it's been handling everything I've thrown at it with no trouble. I even played some Crysis: img709.imageshack.us/img709/4026/crysis1g.jpgimg197.imageshack.us/img197/9230/crysis2b.jpgimg202.imageshack.us/img202/6900/crysis3kt.jpgimg443.imageshack.us/img443/5993/crysis4.jpgSo it's actually a lot more powerful than I thought it'd be.. although it actually doesn't matter a whole lot because I can't find anything to do on here. I'd really only play Sins and StarCraft 2 with other people. I spend most of my time just surfing the internet. |
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Post by Fayde on May 6, 2010 11:18:17 GMT -8
Is Crysis as good as everyone says it is (graphics and otherwise?) It looks like your just playing a demo, and I'm sure it would look better on a more powerful machine, but still. Any good? Worth the hype (as if anything is)?
Well, SoaSE and SCII is a good reason to get a powerful computer honestly. Those games both will take up a lot of resources, and will run so much smoother now.
I wonder if the lag on SoaSE will decrease now that you can run the actual program better, that way your computer isn't trying to catch up with everyone elses, on top of internet interference. We'll have to see. ^^; I do plan on buying a new computer before the year is over, but I would like some more information first hand at Windows 7. Maybe you could put together a review of some kind with some screens and personal opinions about the OS and the way it handles things (new and old and inbetween).
I personally want to know if you can go "classic" like you can on XP. While I don't mind the new "cool" stuff, I tend to go as light weight as I can. Pretty OS's don't impress me much once you actually start using the computer. But I do like features (like the new search that's supposed to be really good now).
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Post by Waspman on May 6, 2010 18:14:15 GMT -8
Meh, not really. Granted, it was just a demo and I didn't play a whole lot but there wasn't a whole lot of action. Like there was a lot of scenery and hardly any enemies. And gameplay-wise, it's just your average shooter. Nothing different or special. Graphics-wise, it's pretty good and I think some of the filters and effects are good. But I honestly think there's plenty of other games that have graphic engines that are on par with the Crysis games. Well, you can customize a lot. It does use Aero, which I think Windows Vista uses too? So like Windows has effects and what have you when moving or opening/closing windows. I do like the transparent task bar and that you can look at other folders/programs/files in a little preview window, without having to bring it up. You can turn all that stuff off if you don't want it, though. It's pretty customizable like most Windows OSes, so you can change stuff around if you don't like it a certain way. I did notice that you can't do a Classic Start Menu though. It's like the "New Start Menu" in XP:  But there's software you can install to change it, just like how you have Windows Blinds and other such software to skin the task bar. Other than not, there's not a whole lot to say as it's not radically different from XP. It does run smooth on my PC and start up time is super fast. If you have a more modern PC, I don't think you'd be bogged down at all using it. Might be different if you installed it on a 5+ year old PC with only 512 Mb or 1 Gb of RAM or whatever. The only thing I'd consider to be an actual issue with Windows 7, is you might have some compatibility issues with some old software. Like WarCraft 3, I had to run in Windows XP mode and give it Administrator privileges otherwise it wouldn't even install:  I'm sure there's some software that won't even work on Windows 7 period (which I haven't encountered yet) but from what I hear it's a better situation than Windows Vista. As for drivers working with old devices, I didn't have any trouble but the only thing I hooked up were my old keyboard/mouse and old Gamepads. So nothing special. All in all, I don't think a whole lot has really changed. It's not a big leap like Windows 98/ME to Windows 2000/XP. Here's some crappy Overviews on Windows 7, with new bust mostly irrelevant features: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTBK47xD3lEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=jZxRWTz8qiYI actually didn't know about some of this until watching those videos though. |
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Post by Waspman on May 6, 2010 18:18:33 GMT -8
That window thing I mentioned + delicious Wallpaper  |
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Post by Waspman on May 6, 2010 18:20:33 GMT -8
Also forgot to mention that MS Paint has vastly been improved. However, it's still nothing compared to Photoshop or most any other image editing program. But at least you can open and save JPEG files now! Which you couldn't do before, amazingly enough!
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Post by Fayde on May 7, 2010 11:09:50 GMT -8
I could save Jpegs in MSpaint... I did hear they improved it though. I think they really should have over-hauled it though and made it a very well used tool, rather then a "holy crap lets see what kind of horrible pixel art I can make after staying up for 72 hours!"
How does the XP mode work anyway? Is it like Virtual PC for mac where you literally run XP as it's own application? Or does it run it like running old '98 games on XP? I heard it takes up a bunch more RAM to run in XP mode, but I don't know how it works. Do you see a decrease in performance with WCIII?
I am thinking more and more about seriously considering Windows 7. It doesn't sound like it has all the problems and fluff that Vista had, while keeping some of the neat little features that actually matter.
Keep me updated on things you like/don't like about the OS.
I personally hated how user-friendly-only Vista was. It would ask you if it was OK to open ANYTHING that wasn't Explorer and Media Player. And it hid 90% of your files from your as if you were capable of destroying the world if you found them. I could never find a way to turn that crap off either. Although I was not familiar with the OS, it seemed harder than it should have been. Do you encounter any of these problems? I am really worried about W7 being so dumbed down that people who actually know what they are doing can't do anything on it.
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Post by Fayde on May 10, 2010 10:58:14 GMT -8
So! Some news. We move in tomorrow to the new house completely. We're pretty much finished cleaning and finishing it. Why does this relate to games you may ask?
We're upgrading our internet to 10mb download, and 1mb upload! YAY!! It is currently at 4mb download and 0.5 mb upload, so that's more than twice the speed!! WEEEEEEEEE!!! Note that we will have 3 computers doing things at once, but still, on a good day, I will be at double speed, so maybe Sins won't lag as much between all our computers being able to run it well, and my faster net speed... MAYBE. ^^; Although I supposed no matter what you do, you're only as good as your weakest link. ^^; LETS ALL UPGRADE TO T1!!!!!!!! YES
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