PC Gamers?

[RedRaptor]

Guys & Gals,

Any of you ppl PC gamers in here? It seems like most people are either console gamers or don\'t game at all.

I find some time to play some PC games. Right now I\'m currently working on: Call of Duty: United Offensive, Sims 2, UT2k4 and NHL 2005. I might pick up Tribes: Vegeanace today.

Here\'s specs of my PC, it ain\'t the fastest but it\'ll hold for gaming for now...

Pentium 4 2.8C (M0 Stepping) HT /w Zalman CNPS 7000Cu| Asus P4C800E Dexlue Intel i875| Antec PlusView 1000AMG Case| Antec TruePower 380W(S) PSU| 2 x 512MB Infineon PC3200 RAM (CL 2-3-2-6)| BbATi Radeon 9800PRO 128 Retail /w Arctic VGA Silencer Cooler Rev1| Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS| 2x WD 36.7GB SATA Raptors 10k RPM /w 8MB Cache RAID 0| WD WD2500PB 250GB 8M Cache HD| Pioneer 16x 117S DVD-ROM| LiteON 52x32x52x CDRW| Plextor 8X DVD Writer 708A| Altec Lansing 251s 5.1 Speakers|

[Dr Butcher]

I\'m huge into war FPS\'s I was hooked like crack on Call of Duty and have been contemplating picking up the expansion. I have Far Cry and found that to be a challenge on the easiest setting. I have the Medal of Honor series but never got around to playing them as I saw a shiny quarter on the gound and lost interest. :)

Here are my specs, at one time they were respectable, now they\'re pretty run of the mill.

Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz Prescott CPU w/ht
Asus P4P800 Deluxe Motherboard
2x512 MB DDR 400 dual channel 3200 ram
Asus V9570, 256MB video (NVIDIA Geforce 5700 )
1.44MB Floppy Drive
Western Digital 120 GB SATA Hard Drive
Enermax CS800TA-BLC Case w/ 350W PSU (the loudest cooling fans known to mankind)
LG 8X +/- DVD-RW

[bluntman]

I\'m occassional PC gamer. I\'ve played throught about 1/3 of Doom 3 after buying my BFG 6800 Ultra OC just for that game, but recently I\'ve been sidetracked by Tiger Woods Golf 2005 on my XBox. I\'ll probably ramp things up again on the PC side when Half Life 2 hits the shelves as well as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. but then there\'s always Halo 2 for the XBox. What was that line that Pacino had in the Godfather 3? Something like \"everytime I think I\'m free and clear they pull me back in\"? I used to play UT2004, what a blast that was to play online! Far Cry was another excellent game experience too. I remember playing so much that at one time (a couple of hours) I was ranked 75th in the world in the original Unreal Tournament!

Here are my specs:
- Pentium 4 3.0C cooled by a Zalman CNPS-7000 Cu cooler
- Asus P4C-800E Deluxe mobo
- 1GB of Geil PC4000 RAM
- BFG 6800 Ultra OC (@435/1.15)
- 2 Maxtor 160GB, 1 Maxtor 40 GB and 1 WD 40 GB hard drives
- NEC-3500AG dual layered DVD burner (black) and a Sony 16x DVD drive (black)
- SB Live Platinum sound card
- black aluminum Chenming case with an Enermax 460w PSU with sleeved cables

[Dr Butcher]

Hey Bluntman, I sent you a friend request on Live. Do you have Links for the xbox? If you do, we should tangle sometime. I got my player to around 57 or 58 stat points IIRC.

Recently I\'ve been messing around with Star Wars Battlefront on Live but on November 9th, it\'s all about Halo 2. I pre-ordered it from EB a while back and apparently they are opening at midnight on the 8th for anyone who pre-ordered. I also heard that recently Halo 2 hit the 1 million mark (in pre-orders). Some people are really, really obsessed.

*Re-tapes the middle of his glasses*

[RedRaptor]

Yup, once HL2 comes out, I\'ll do the whole reformat thing, install the latest drivers and maybe upgrade a few things although since I got my car, my computer hasn\'t received much attention from me lately.:sarc

I\'m 1/3rd done Doom3 also. Dr. Butcher, you should definitely get the expansion for Call of Duty. It is very different than the original one and much more challenging. The first scene took me at least 10 times to get pass on \"Regular\" level and it was only 5 min in the game. I love the Call of Duty series, it makes you feel so involved in the game. The expansion is a MUST for all COD fans.

I would like to upgrade my video card also for HL2, but between that and HIDs, I think I would choose HIDs.

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Dr Butcher


Hey Bluntman, I sent you a friend request on Live. Do you have Links for the xbox? If you do, we should tangle sometime. I got my player to around 57 or 58 stat points IIRC.

Recently I\'ve been messing around with Star Wars Battlefront on Live but on November 9th, it\'s all about Halo 2. I pre-ordered it from EB a while back and apparently they are opening at midnight on the 8th for anyone who pre-ordered. I also heard that recently Halo 2 hit the 1 million mark (in pre-orders). Some people are really, really obsessed.

*Re-tapes the middle of his glasses*

No I don\'t have Links, sorry. Tiger Woods my first \"seriousl\" golf title for any console. Those \"island hopping\" courses are killing me. :sarc

Hopefully EB will still have their \"Trade in 3 get Halo 2 for free\" promo after the game\'s release.

My dad is a gamer too. Unfortunately, I have to wait until he finishes Call of Duty: United Offensive until I can play. :(

[majic]

Originally posted by RedRaptor


Guys & Gals,

Any of you ppl PC gamers in here? It seems like most people are either console gamers or don\'t game at all.

I find some time to play some PC games. Right now I\'m currently working on: Call of Duty: United Offensive, Sims 2, UT2k4 and NHL 2005. I might pick up Tribes: Vegeanace today.

Here\'s specs of my PC, it ain\'t the fastest but it\'ll hold for gaming for now...

Pentium 4 2.8C (M0 Stepping) HT /w Zalman CNPS 7000Cu| Asus P4C800E Dexlue Intel i875| Antec PlusView 1000AMG Case| Antec TruePower 380W(S) PSU| 2 x 512MB Infineon PC3200 RAM (CL 2-3-2-6)| BbATi Radeon 9800PRO 128 Retail /w Arctic VGA Silencer Cooler Rev1| Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS| 2x WD 36.7GB SATA Raptors 10k RPM /w 8MB Cache RAID 0| WD WD2500PB 250GB 8M Cache HD| Pioneer 16x 117S DVD-ROM| LiteON 52x32x52x CDRW| Plextor 8X DVD Writer 708A| Altec Lansing 251s 5.1 Speakers|

Iusually like to play 1 game at a time till i finish it..

CoD was wicked.. someone said it was as good as crack.. if not better.. amazing AI.. haven\'t installed the expansion pack yet..
CnC Zero hour - it\'s is an excellent RTS game
UT2004 - \"RAMPAGE\" need I say more?
NHL2K5 - meh.. i tried it.. it got boring with all these new moves and all.. what ever happened to nhl 93 or 96 .. those were good :p
FarCry - great graphix but pretty hard to kill those mutants when one swipe at you and u\'r dead. 70% done
Splinter Cell - very nice game.. haven\'t tried Pandora Tomorrow yet.. that will be next

i\'m up for any of those games (and others) anyone in for a la party? :p

pfft.. no AMD lovers here eh??? :( well my rig:

a64 3200+ 1mb cache
2x512mb OCZ 3200 EL Platinum series
Asus K8V Deluxe mobo
TT K8 silent boost
R9700 Pro - by crucial
2x74gb raptors RAID 0
2x250gb WDC 8mb SATA RAID 0
Afree 52X cd-rom
Pioneer 16X - 106 dvd-rom
LiteOn 48x16x48x cd-rw
Plextor 708A 8x dvd+/-rw
Sblive 5.1 digital
Hauppauge Tv Tuner
Antec 1000 series case with 430TRUE POWER
Cornea 1702T 17\" LCD (primary)
Viewsonic GS815 21\" CRT (secondary)

Ps. Redraptor - nice pc setup ;) except for that p4 chip :D

[Frost]

I\'m another gamer out there :)

Over the years I\'ve had consoles ranging from Atari, Sega Genesis all the way thru to PS2 and Xbox. I usually go through phases where I enjoy consoles over PC games and vice versa.

Which reminds me...Didn\'t you all get an Xbox when you purchased your M3 ?

[///M]

I don\'t play many games, but I can and do get really addicted to certain games that I like.

Last game I played was Far Cry - got 3/4 of the way through before I formatted my HDD and lost all the save files.

I still waiting for the next installment of GTA. Best game ever - had so much fun with GTA3 and Vice City.

My rig (slower than most of yours out there):
- P4 2.4C
- Asus P4P800
- 512MB DDR400 ram
- Zalman AlCu7000
- Zalman PSU
- Panaflo case fans
- 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax 9 (SATA)
- Leadtek A280SE (GeForce 4 Ti4800) with Zalman heatpipes cooler
- old school SB Live DE 5.1
- Sony 16x DVD-Rom
- NEC DVD writer
- Black Lian-Li PC65
- Sony SDM-HS73P 17\" LCD
- Eluminx Keyboard

http://individual.utoronto.ca/cc_706/rig/rig_01.jpg
http://individual.utoronto.ca/cc_706/rig/rig_05.jpg
http://individual.utoronto.ca/cc_706/rig/rig_04.jpg

[profusion]

Yeah Im playing right now.. Knights Of Honor, Painkiller, War Hammer 40 000, Star Wars Battle front. Finished Doom 3, Preaty much all the new games. I dont buy them they are given to me as gifts *caugh*.

Here are my specs:

Specs of my Server PC (http://www.myimages.zapto.org/3DMark/SI.xml)

Pics:

http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc1.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc5.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc7.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc8.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc9.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc10.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc4.jpg
http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc3.jpg

Workstation =P

http://www.myimages.zapto.org/pc11.jpg

Host Server home of mazda3 team that I play my games on at the same time lol.
Not bad for a home server? and up 24/7. All custom built by me. Everything setup on it I did myself from the webdesigning to database to pop3 server. Its doing more then what one server should do and running fast. Im preaty impressed with this build out of my
many.

:p

[RedRaptor]

Profusion,

Nice rig. Clean your wires up inside tho. ;)

[profusion]

Oh that clean compared to how it was before lol. Theres to many wires going in different directions to twist tie them to geather. =)

[mEtH]

MOHAA anyone?

[mazda3ride]

Nice Setup.

[AfterBurner]

I am a hardcore PC gamer so far that I have never owned nor had the need to own a console system. I recently got my new PC after about 5 years of the old one. I am still playing catch up with the games (can\'t play Max Payne 2 without 1 first) but I have to say I am the biggest UT fan out there. Ever since the original (which was the first game I loaded on my new computer) I have been UT\'ing it on my dial up connection lagging everybody out.:D

I am also a huge fan of stealth games like Thief, Splinter Cell, and even Hitman 2. Non-lethal kicks arse! And I am also a huge fan of the Need for Speed series of which I own every version (including Special Editions) with the original boxes.:)

Before I got my new computer right after graduation I was \"gaming\" on my 400Mhz beast with 1st generation 3D acceleration (deceleration?). Because my comp could not handle the newer games I started going back in time and playing older games so much that I still play them on the newer machine. The golden era of comp games was in the late 80\'s/early 90s after that it all degraded to 3D graphics!!

I am up for a LAN party. Load up all our PC\'s into our respective M3\'s and drive to a parking lot and network them and play from the comfort of our cars. :D :D haha

If you guys wanna create a TM3 clan in UT2K4 I am up for that.

My specs are as follows (Built by AfterBurner in Black Mica):
P4C 3.0Ghz
Gigabyte 8IK1100 875P MOBO
2x512MB Corsair PC3200 DDR
ATI 9800Pro 256MB
WD 160GB 7200RPM SATA
BENQ 8X DVD Writer
BENQ 17\" Monitor
Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical
Raidmax 868 Scorpio Case w/ 420W PS

Everything is done in black with silver accents and my case has a window with blue LED\'s inside and outside.

[Xenon]

My comp\'s 2 years old. but meh... i have no money to buy a newer one... I\'m saving for a tablet PC...

Xenon\'s PC

Intel P4 Processor @ 2.24 GHz
ASUS P4S333 Motherboard
LG DVD-RW (can\'t remember the speeds...it\'s like 2 months old tho)
512 MB DDR RAM
NVidia GeForce FX5800 128 MB
40 GB HDD
SB Live 5.1

That\'s about it... I have a basic NEC Flat CRT Monitor...

BUT... I do have a 560 Watt THX Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Logitech Speaker System. The woofer (by volume) is bigger than my PC Tower.

[majic]

tablets are teh suck..

i\'ve seen and used a few.. might as well get a decent pda... i find they are a crappy compromise b/w a real laptop and a pda.. the battery life is da shits tho.. 6hrs on some models.. but no performance and IMO they are expensive notepads :p

[miggiddy]

Originally posted by Frost


I\'m another gamer out there :)

Over the years I\'ve had consoles ranging from Atari, Sega Genesis all the way thru to PS2 and Xbox. I usually go through phases where I enjoy consoles over PC games and vice versa.

Which reminds me...Didn\'t you all get an Xbox when you purchased your M3 ?



Atari still kicks a$$! I haven\'t hooked it up in a long time but it still works :D

I\'m looking at upgrading my p4 1.6GHz, just a new mobo and cpu (3.2). Does anyone have any hook ups for computer parts?? I\'m trying to keep it within some sorta budget.

[majic]

unfortunately no.. but www.canadacomputers.com has really good prices if u know what you need.. if u don\'t.. u\'r in for an unpleasant ride.. :( they are slow and I CAN\'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY SAY!! :p they have 4 locations now.. they seem to be better mannered at the mississauga one than downtown.. (the latter is just a zoo and a jungle all in one)

[Xenon]

Originally posted by majic


tablets are teh suck..

i\'ve seen and used a few.. might as well get a decent pda... i find they are a crappy compromise b/w a real laptop and a pda.. the battery life is da shits tho.. 6hrs on some models.. but no performance and IMO they are expensive notepads :p

I\'m looking at the Toshiba PortegeM200... it does everything a laptop can do, and it also has a tablet scren. It has a built in keyboard, the screen just swiveles around and folds over the keyboard when you want to use it as a tablet.

Batery life is 8 hours, thanks to the Intel Centrino Processor. I have a PDA, but I miss the functionality of a keyboard and the processing power. I have an hp Jornada 568. My PDA will be going on eBay when I get my tablet.


Side note: Some of those PCs have more neon lights than riced up civics http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons6/13.gifhttp://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons6/23.gif

[firstmazda]

I\'n not much of a computer guy.
Mine\'s about 4 years old an i\'m not even really sure what my specs are to be honest!! :p

one question though, anyone got hookups with computer stuff?

specifically wireless routers (sp?). I don\'t know anything about those things, I just
wanna get one for my brother for christmas.

Thanks,
Ray

[majic]

does he already have a WiFi card?
does he need it for networking and file sharing or merely just internet access?
how much are you looking to spend?

i would suggest linksys WRT54G router and a linkys USB/PCI/PCMCIA card depending on if it\'s a laptop or a desktop. I\'ve had my linky for a while now and it\'s been pretty good. my buddy just bought the netgear 108mbps one and i\'ll find out shortly how that is. lemme know what the actual usage would be and also what kind of a PC he has (how old roughly) and we can go from there...

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by majic


does he already have a WiFi card?
does he need it for networking and file sharing or merely just internet access?
how much are you looking to spend?

i would suggest linksys WRT54G router and a linkys USB/PCI/PCMCIA card depending on if it\'s a laptop or a desktop. I\'ve had my linky for a while now and it\'s been pretty good. my buddy just bought the netgear 108mbps one and i\'ll find out shortly how that is. lemme know what the actual usage would be and also what kind of a PC he has (how old roughly) and we can go from there...

A who what?? huh?
I don\'t think he has a card... but he might.
My computer is in the basement. I wanna get it so he can study from his
laptop upstairs in his room.
It\'s a brand new laptop, I\'ll try to get his specs.

Money wise, my buddy told me to expect about $200 for a card and modem.

Thanks for the help though!! I\'ll get back to you

Ray

[bluntman]

You can buy an 802.11g wireless router and a USB wireless network adapter from Costco for about $150.

[miggiddy]

Originally posted by majic


unfortunately no.. but www.canadacomputers.com has really good prices if u know what you need.. if u don\'t.. u\'r in for an unpleasant ride.. :( they are slow and I CAN\'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY SAY!! :p they have 4 locations now.. they seem to be better mannered at the mississauga one than downtown.. (the latter is just a zoo and a jungle all in one)

I was there on Saturday (sauga location). I think their pricing is pretty good. It was somewhat busy. I agree if you don\'t know what you want or are looking for then you can be screwed cause 1. it was hard to find a staff member to help you 2. lots of selection, to easy to get lost.

[majic]

Originally posted by firstmazda



Originally posted by majic


does he already have a WiFi card?
does he need it for networking and file sharing or merely just internet access?
how much are you looking to spend?

i would suggest linksys WRT54G router and a linkys USB/PCI/PCMCIA card depending on if it\'s a laptop or a desktop. I\'ve had my linky for a while now and it\'s been pretty good. my buddy just bought the netgear 108mbps one and i\'ll find out shortly how that is. lemme know what the actual usage would be and also what kind of a PC he has (how old roughly) and we can go from there...

A who what?? huh?
I don\'t think he has a card... but he might.
My computer is in the basement. I wanna get it so he can study from his
laptop upstairs in his room.
It\'s a brand new laptop, I\'ll try to get his specs.

Money wise, my buddy told me to expect about $200 for a card and modem.

Thanks for the help though!! I\'ll get back to you

Ray

who? you and your brother
what? wireles
huh? i dunno.. huh? :p

anyway.. ok.. i assume file sharing is not the main concern.. just surfin the web.. good that gives a few more options..

mbps - mega bits per second.. just a data rate (speed) of the device

802.11b - 11mbps (theoretical)
802.11g - 54mbps (theoretical)
802.11a - forget it (54mbps BUT MUCH SHORTHER distance)

ok.. i have the WRT54G linksys router on the first floor. when i am on the ground floor, the signal is pretty much perfect 48-54mbps.. we do have an fairly open space in our house.. when i go to the basement i get roughly 36mbps

what is all that jibberish you ask.. well those are throughput rates.. obviously the higher the better but u can\'t avoid walls that impact the performance.. having said all that jibberrish, your ISP is no more than 5mbps connection (cable is 3-5mbps) and DSL is 1-3mbps.. so you see how even a 11mbps router/network card would do you fine.

now if youdo want to do some hard core file sharing (b/w u and your bro) - wired solution is the only option IMO.. but then there is the new wave of routers and cards out there 108mbps.. BUT i believe it\'s just a gimmic since they use software compression so u really won\'t get 100% improvement over the 54mbps transmission standard.. maybe 10-20% increase? i dunno

i would personally get the 802.11g standard devices. why? well they are a bit more expensive BUT they build on 802.11b meaning they are a bit better, they are faster 5x in theory.. and they work on a different frequency so they will not interrupt with your 900Mhz and 2.4GHz equipment (microwaves/phones). also if your ISP goes down, you will be able to steal your neighbours\' internet (both \'b\' and \'g\') until your connection comes up :D

you will find a lot of 802.11b units at ridiculously low prices b/c 802.11g is what everyone wants to sell but they need to sell the old stock..

whatever route you go.. USE A FRIGGIN WEP KEY!!!

on my way from work (Go train) i had a Network Stumbler on.. out of 80-90 access points/routers ONLY 1/3 was using WEP :sarc

oh and wrt to what kind of a wireless netowrk card to get .. well PCMCIA will fit in the laptop only.. PCI will go into the desktop only.. and the USB will go wherever u have a USB port.. so there you have it.. any more questions? :D

oh yah.. if u want to \'try out\' some product.. ie. linksys.. netgear.. dlink.. go to bestbuy/futureshop and buy it.. test it and return it.. go to a little computer store and buy from there way cheaper. :p prob is.. if it comes to warranty stuff u\'ll have to deal with manufacturer b/c the little stores will show u the middle finger :D

oh oh.. one more thing.. IF your house is messed up enough (steel walls or something - interference and stuff) you can always try to use another product.. Ethernet over Power.. simply put .. you plug the device into your 110V SOCKET and hook up another one where the other PC is.. and done.. speed is 14mbps thoretical.. but this is another chapter ;)

laaater.. hope this helps

--majic

[firstmazda]

WOW!!! Thanks!
That\'s more than enough I guess.
It\'s so incredibly detailed.

Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate it.

Ray

[Xenon]

majic: you should work in Future Shop or something

[majic]

heh.. no thanks.. :sarc

but yah.. firstmazda.. hopefully it all makes sense now.. and if u need more info just PM me or reply here.. i\'ll look for a deal when u need one :D i know a bit more about comps than i do about cars.. till the next PC question ;) :D

[AfterBurner]

Originally posted by majic

BUT i believe it\'s just a gimmic since they use software compression so u really won\'t get 100% improvement over the 54mbps transmission standard.. maybe 10-20% increase? i dunno


Actually they don\'t use software compression but rather two techniques known as \"Channel Bonding\" and \"Frame Bursting\". Channel Bonding basically combines multiple existing channels (frequency ranges) into one wider channel. This is akin to adding more lanes on the 401. The downside is that interference with devices operating on those other channels will increase. Frame Bursting is basically an increase in the data packet size, so for each packet transmission more data can be sent and received.


Originally posted by majic

i would personally get the 802.11g standard devices. why? well they are a bit more expensive BUT they build on 802.11b meaning they are a bit better, they are faster 5x in theory.. and they work on a different frequency so they will not interrupt with your 900Mhz and 2.4GHz equipment (microwaves/phones).


11B and 11G devices operate on the same frequency band which is centred at 2.4GHz. 11A devices operate in the 5GHz band.

I recommend G gear since they contain advancements in throughput, security, compatibility over the B gear. But if you want the cheapest solution you can\'t go wrong with B as its still the most widely used specification.

I personally use a US Robotics USR8054 wireless router that is part of the G+ specs. The + meaning that they exceed the 54mbps G standard (mine is currently at 125mbps). The mbps is greatly over exaggerated and it is not possibile to achieve it even under the best of conditions. This router is not for non-techie types as the amount of settings available can be overwhelming (I haven\'t even gone through 3/4 of the settings available). It supports 125mbps connections and WPA (successor to WEP) to name a few. To get the 125mbps connections you MUST also be using the corresponding USR PC card or PCI card. This is true for G+ products from other manufacturers like Linksys, D-Link, NetGear, ...

The number one issue with wireless routers is the reliability and not the speed. Just go to DSLreports.com (www.dslreports.com) and look for wireless routers in there forum and you will see what I mean.

Futureshop is the best place to get the wireless gear but only when it comes on special. I also like to shop at www.tigerdirect.ca. Just look at the products on the site and you can visit their outlet store on Woodbine Ave. just south of Highway 7 to pick it up if you don\'t want to ship it.

[majic]

yeah.. sorry.. i had my head up my ass when talking about different frequencies.. when i posted i was thinking of my phone.. duh.. that i actually upgraded to 5.8ghz b/c it was dropping my network connection.. so as Afterburner said.. 2.4 for B and G and 5Ghz for A

anwyay.. what is your max throughput on the G+ side? i thought of potentially upgrading but prolly not till i get rid of my OTHER 2.4ghz phone that so far does not interfere with my WiFi set up.. also i won\'t if there isn\'t a significant advantage

and yes.. WAP is better.. but WEP is better than nothing and pretty much every device supports WEP whereas WAP isn\'t as widely used.. good point tho

WEP also is NOT 128bit encryption as they advertice b/c the first 24 bits are used as \"overhead information\" and the encryprion then relies on 104bits .. (or 40bits in the case of 64bit WEP)

thx for finding my mistake :p