PC Gaming Discussion

[gmac]

I've got a few DotA 2 early access to give away on Steam if anyone wants them

[Deathjam]

I've got a few DotA 2 early access to give away on Steam if anyone wants them

 

Ah same here.

[Domstercool]

I think nearly everyone has some DOTA2 keys. I got swamped in them and I can't give them all away. >.<

[Choze]

I think nearly everyone has some DOTA2 keys. I got swamped in them and I can't give them all away. >.<

 

Give me one.

 

In other news EA are releasing Origin on Linux. BF3 for MAC and Linux soon?

[Cube]

Origin on Steambox is a very good sign for Steambox.

 

I also have too many DOTA 2 invites (but I don't think I have Choze on my friends list).

[Oxigen_Waste]

Guys, my brother just got himself a nice new high end pc for his birthday, can we both use my steam account at the same time or what?

[The Bard]

Nah, you can't use the same account while online - obviously that's why PC gaming works so well on Steam; piracy is negated through that means. To be honest though, it won't take him long to get a decent library - there are always weekend deals/ midweek madness deals, and the spring sale isn't that far off.

[Oxigen_Waste]

Nah, you can't use the same account while online - obviously that's why PC gaming works so well on Steam; piracy is negated through that means. To be honest though, it won't take him long to get a decent library - there are always weekend deals/ midweek madness deals, and the spring sale isn't that far off.

 

No worries, we just figured it out. All he has to do is stay in offline mode. He already has all the online games he plays on his account, so it's all good. We be cheatin!

[The Bard]

Ah right, I thought you meant if you guys wanted to play together.

[Magnus]

So Antichamber was released the other day, and it's awesome.

 

It's a first-person puzzle game where you get a gun that shoots blocks. Man, that makes the game sound terrible. Here's a trailer that does a much better job at selling the game:

 

[nightwolf]

I currently have too many DOTA keys, they'll probably sit there forever.

 

Did anyone get invested in Crysis 3? I recently won it from one of the YouTubers I speak to, it's bloody brilliant. If only I were better at sneaking around..

[Sméagol]

Antichamber was pretty good. I downloaded it's previous version a long time ago, forgot what the name was, but it was a UDK showcase game. So yeah, I just had to buy it when it was finally released as a full fledged game to show my support.

 

Anyway, that was not why I logged in to post:

System Shock 2 is available on Steam. Finally I get to play the inspiration for so many games.

[flameboy]

So......

 

I've been in need of a new laptop for quite some time as am still rocking the a knackered old Samsung NC10. At first I was like obviously going to just get another entry level laptop (bigger screen this time round). However it's unlikely I will buy a new computer and next gen console this year. So why not get a gaming PC?

 

What are my options laptop wise? Only seem to find Alienware and they are stupid expensive. I've been looking at desktop building options like this:

 

http://www.gamersnexus.net/pc-builds/46-pcbuildupg/1091-cheap-bastard-april-build

 

I'm contemplating the desktop route, even though right now I don't have room for one. Although I could just plug it straight into TV.

[MATtheHAT]

I've really got into PC gaming since buying a new laptop. I did a lot of research before the purchase though, and it needed to fit certain criteria such as a thin form factor to fit in to my backpack, a dedicated graphics card, enough RAM to run most games at medium/high settings, and Windows Office for some light word processing and excel spreadsheeting.

 

I did find one for under £500, and I have to say, it has been an amazing purchase.

 

My advice would be to stay away from integrated graphics cards, make sure it has dedicated.

[flameboy]

I've really got into PC gaming since buying a new laptop. I did a lot of research before the purchase though, and it needed to fit certain criteria such as a thin form factor to fit in to my backpack, a dedicated graphics card, enough RAM to run most games at medium/high settings, and Windows Office for some light word processing and excel spreadsheeting.

 

I did find one for under £500, and I have to say, it has been an amazing purchase.

 

My advice would be to stay away from integrated graphics cards, make sure it has dedicated.

 

What laptop did you get? I would ideally prefer a laptop if I can get for a reasonable price.

[MATtheHAT]

What laptop did you get? I would ideally prefer a laptop if I can get for a reasonable price.

 

 

Acer Aspire V3 Laptop

 

- Intel Core i3-3110M 2.3GHz

- 6GB RAM + 500GB HDD

- 15.6" HD + NVIDIA GT630M

- Webcam + Bluetooth

- Windows 8 64bit

 

You can get this for around £420 now. Mine plays any Source game like L42 and CS: GO at high settings and over 60fps, and Minecraft at an average 150fps.

 

It obviously won't play anything like Crysis 3 or Metro Last Light though.

[flameboy]

 

Acer Aspire V3 Laptop

 

- Intel Core i3-3110M 2.3GHz

- 6GB RAM + 500GB HDD

- 15.6" HD + NVIDIA GT630M

- Webcam + Bluetooth

- Windows 8 64bit

 

You can get this for around £420 now. Mine plays any Source game like L42 and CS: GO at high settings and over 60fps, and Minecraft at an average 150fps.

 

It obviously won't play anything like Crysis 3 or Metro Last Light though.

 

Hmm interesting I saw an Aspire V5 in store the other day. Will look out this model. I just wanna be able to play modernish games and indie stuff.

 

EDIT:

 

Hmmmm the V5 seems to have Intel® HD Graphics which I assume is intergrated.

 

EDIT:

 

Or there is a version that's got a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT710M Graphics any good?

Edited June 12, 2013 by flameboy

[Deathjam]

Hmm interesting I saw an Aspire V5 in store the other day. Will look out this model. I just wanna be able to play modernish games and indie stuff.

 

EDIT:

 

Hmmmm the V5 seems to have Intel® HD Graphics which I assume is intergrated.

 

Basically a graphics card built into the processor chip so yeah, integrated. Make sure to stay away from that. Look for Nvidia and Radeon when it comes to graphics. Mat's post was a good one for a basis of what you can get and should aim for.

 

EDIT: When look at graphics cards, the numbers that come after the first one are more crucial indicators of quality. E.g. Radeon HD 7850 is better that Radeon HD 7830 but both are worse than an Radeon HD 6950. The first number denotes the generation, while the second denotes the power or class and the third will denote its place within that class.

 

So when it comes to those cards you mentioned, the GT630M is better than the GT710M. The only gain in the 710 over the 630 is that the 710 has lower power consumption.

 

Doing a google search, apparently an HD4000 integrated graphics solution is ok for gaming, but that is for light, or graphics set to low gaming.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Deathjam

[Agent Gibbs]

I don't know canadian prices, but i seem to remember seeing its considerably cheaper than here

 

i litterally 3 weeks ago bought an MSI GT60 from Ebuyer *cough* £1100 *cough*

Intel i7 3630QM 2.4ghz boosted to 3.4ghz

8gb DDR3 Ram

750gb 7200rpm HDD

2GB GDDR5 GTX 675MX

 

and it kind of pisses on everything i've thrown at it (except skyrim but thats a side issue due to bugs in the engine/compatibility)

 

i'm sure in the US it was $1000 which would make it a lot cheaper than here, and its capable of running everything on ultra settings, the MX version of the 675 is a keppler architecture card that was top of the line last November see here

 

it has for sodimm slots upgradable to 32gb allowing you to expand far more than most other laptops, as such i've already replaced the ram for 16gb of corsair vengeance

 

Thing is its hard to advise someone, i researched for ages, and had an idea of the power i wanted and the length of time i wanted it to survive for, it all depends on what you want to pay and what is you absolute limit

 

 

EDIT:

oh and the newere ivy bridge processors use that intel HD 4000 graphics chip in conjunction with any graphics cards, so it uses the most appropriate to save power, so you aren't running a web browser with a 2gb graphics card

 

However! it can be problematic as i have found with Skyrim, at first it tried to always run skyrim through the onboard intel graphics chip, but its not too hard to change that, the nvidia control panel lets you alter it

but some windows functions are irritatingly locked out from using the gpu, for instance the system rater, i have a crap score because when running the analyser it only detects the onboard intel stuff, and without messing with systems you can't really disable it

but its not really an issue, just something to be aware of

Skyrim is fucked though anyway, it will only run in windowed mode (which then can be put to full screen) and when it does its over 60fps and has all the highest res textures

but in its own fullscreen mode.....lag in buildings and near straw textures.....Random

but i digress

Edited June 12, 2013 by Agent Gibbs

[Deathjam]

I don't know canadian prices, but i seem to remember seeing its considerably cheaper than here

 

i litterally 3 weeks ago bought an MSI GT60 from Ebuyer *cough* £1100 *cough*

Intel i7 3630QM 2.4ghz boosted to 3.4ghz

8gb DDR3 Ram

750gb 7200rpm HDD

2GB GDDR5 GTX 675MX

 

and it kind of pisses on everything i've thrown at it (except skyrim but thats a side issue due to bugs in the engine/compatibility)

 

i'm sure in the US it was $1000 which would make it a lot cheaper than here, and its capable of running everything on ultra settings, the MX version of the 675 is a keppler architecture card that was top of the line last November see here

 

it has for sodimm slots upgradable to 32gb allowing you to expand far more than most other laptops, as such i've already replaced the ram for 16gb of corsair vengeance

 

Thing is its hard to advise someone, i researched for ages, and had an idea of the power i wanted and the length of time i wanted it to survive for, it all depends on what you want to pay and what is you absolute limit

 

 

EDIT:

oh and the newere ivy bridge processors use that intel HD 4000 graphics chip in conjunction with any graphics cards, so it uses the most appropriate to save power, so you aren't running a web browser with a 2gb graphics card

 

However! it can be problematic as i have found with Skyrim, at first it tried to always run skyrim through the onboard intel graphics chip, but its not too hard to change that, the nvidia control panel lets you alter it

but some windows functions are irritatingly locked out from using the gpu, for instance the system rater, i have a crap score because when running the analyser it only detects the onboard intel stuff, and without messing with systems you can't really disable it

but its not really an issue, just something to be aware of

Skyrim is fucked though anyway, it will only run in windowed mode (which then can be put to full screen) and when it does its over 60fps and has all the highest res textures

but in its own fullscreen mode.....lag in buildings and near straw textures.....Random

but i digress

 

Those specs...that's a pretty beastly laptop. As for your skyrim issues, have you seen if there are mods available that could help?

[Agent Gibbs]

Those specs...that's a pretty beastly laptop. As for your skyrim issues, have you seen if there are mods available that could help?

 

It has 24gb of RAM now...got a little shopping mad on RAM

I bought a system with a spec i knew would last me for a long time

still the price was painful to spend

 

I have solved the issue, or rather found a work around

The game loads in the same resolution of 1920 x 1080 but in windowed mode, then there is a mod to allow you to then make said window borderless and appear full screen.

It seems its a pretty rare and wierd error that can occur, where full screen mode has lag and no concrete explanation why or a definitive fix either

[Deathjam]

It has 24gb of RAM now...got a little shopping mad on RAM

I bought a system with a spec i knew would last me for a long time

still the price was painful to spend

 

I have solved the issue, or rather found a work around

The game loads in the same resolution of 1920 x 1080 but in windowed mode, then there is a mod to allow you to then make said window borderless and appear full screen.

It seems its a pretty rare and wierd error that can occur, where full screen mode has lag and no concrete explanation why or a definitive fix either

 

That's Bethesda for you.

[Sméagol]

Hmm, if you require a laptop for other reasons, I’d go for a entry level laptop (again) and a medium range desktop. Otherwise desktop all the way, they are always cheaper.

[Agent Gibbs]

does anyone use the dolphin emulator? and an actual wiimote?

 

i've got a working script for glove pie to use the classic controller pro, that i've fiddled with and seems to work

 

Keyboard.ArrowKeys = Wiimote.Classic.Joy2

Key.W = Classic.LeftStickY < -.5

Key.S = Classic.LeftStickY > .5

Key.A = Classic.LeftStickX < -.5

Key.D = Classic.LeftStickX > .5

 

//D-Pad (D-Pad)\\

i = wiimote1.classic.up

k = wiimote1.classic.Down

l = wiimote1.classic.Right

j = wiimote1.classic.left

 

 

Space = Wiimote1.Classic.b

 

 

z = Wiimote1.Classic.y

x = Wiimote1.Classic.ZL

c = Wiimote1.Classic.R

u = Wiimote1.Classic.ZR

v = Wiimote1.Classic.x

q = Wiimote1.Classic.a

g = Wiimote1.Classic.L

 

//Plus (Start Button)\\

Enter = Wiimote1.Classic.plus

 

//Minus (Enter-Error Skip)\\

Enter = wiimote1.Classic.Minus

 

//Home Button (ESC Fullscreen)\\

Escape = wiimote1.Classic.Home or wiimote1.Home

 

 

//Remote 1 Battery & Channel\\

var.Batt1 = wiimote1.Battery / 48

 

if true then

wait 5 seconds

Wiimote1.Report14 = 0x80

end if

 

 

if wiimote1.b = 1 then

wiimote1.leds = 1

 

elseif 0 < var.Batt1<=1 then

Wiimote1.Leds = 1

 

elseif 1 < var.Batt1<=2 then

Wiimote1.Leds = 3

 

elseif 2 < var.Batt1<=3 then

Wiimote1.Leds = 7

 

elseif 3 < var.Batt1<=4 then

Wiimote1.Leds = 15

 

endif

 

//Remote 2 Battery & Channel\\

var.Batt2 = wiimote2.Battery / 48

 

if true then

wait 5 seconds

Wiimote2.Report14 = 0x80

end if

 

 

if wiimote2.b = 1 then

wiimote2.leds = 2

 

elseif 0 < var.Batt2<=1 then

Wiimote2.Leds = 1

 

elseif 1 < var.Batt2<=2 then

Wiimote2.Leds = 3

 

elseif 2 < var.Batt2<=3 then

Wiimote2.Leds = 7

 

elseif 3 < var.Batt2<=4 then

Wiimote2.Leds = 15

 

endif

 

//Remote 3 Battery & Channel\\

var.Batt3 = wiimote3.Battery / 48

 

if true then

wait 5 seconds

Wiimote3.Report14 = 0x80

end if

 

 

if wiimote3.b = 1 then

wiimote3.leds = 4

 

elseif 0.25 < var.Batt3<=1 then

Wiimote3.Leds = 1

 

elseif 1.25 < var.Batt3<=2 then

Wiimote3.Leds = 3

 

elseif 2.25 < var.Batt3<=3 then

Wiimote3.Leds = 7

 

elseif 3.25 < var.Batt3<=4 then

Wiimote3.Leds = 15

 

endif

 

//Remote 4 Battery & Channel\\

var.Batt4 = wiimote4.Battery / 48

 

if true then

wait 5 seconds

Wiimote4.Report14 = 0x80

end if

 

 

if wiimote4.b = 1 then

wiimote4.leds = 8

 

elseif 0.25 < var.Batt4<=1 then

Wiimote4.Leds = 1

 

elseif 1.25 < var.Batt4<=2 then

Wiimote4.Leds = 3

 

elseif 2.25 < var.Batt4<=3 then

Wiimote4.Leds = 7

 

elseif 3.25 < var.Batt4<=4 then

Wiimote4.Leds = 15

 

endif

 

//Debug Display\\

debug = "Battery level 1: " + 100*48*var.Batt1/192 + "%" + " - Battery level 2: " + 100*48*var.Batt2/192 + "%" + " - Battery level 3: " + 100*48*var.Batt/192 + "%" + " - Battery level 4: " + 100*48*var.Batt4/192 + "%"

 

 

as the classic controller isn't analogue triggered, i've had to separate out the extra click, but since i've only ever used it on mario sunshine i've only got a function for R (ZR is short press R is full R)

its easy enough to edit it for full L but then you'd need to assign Z somewhere else

 

just thought this could be useful to some people, because it drove me mad getting this to work right

[flameboy]

Went to best buy to look at midrange laptops without intel ingrated and this is what I came back remotely in my price range:

 

 

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-envy-sleekbook-15-6-laptop-black-amd-a6-4455m-500gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-6-1168ca/10225644.aspx

 

It's $649 in store but $499 online. Comes with:

 

Processor

Processor Type AMD A6-4455M

Processor Cores 2

Processor Speed 2.1 GHz

Processor Cache 1 MB L2

 

Storage & Memory

Hard Drive Capacity 500 GB

Hard Drive Speed (Revolutions Per Minute) 5400 rpm

RAM Size 8 GB

RAM Type DDR3 SDRAM

RAM Speed Information Not Available

RAM Slots 2

Optical Drive Not Applicable

Built-in Memory Card Reader Yes

 

 

Graphics

Graphics Chipset AMD Radeon HD 7500G

Video Memory Configuration Integrated

Dedicated Video Memory Size Not Applicable

Wireless Display (WiDi) Capable No

 

Reviews say things such as:

 

While the AMD Radeon HD 7500G GPU in the Sleekbook 6z are touted as "discrete class graphics," in reality, they're no better than the integrated Intel HD 4000 GPU. Not surprisingly, more graphically taxing titles such as "Batman: Arkham City" are out of reach, but gamers can effectively zap their productivity with games such as "World of Warcraft" and "Street Fighter X Tekken."

The Sleekbook 6z notched 3,648 during 3DMark06, 1,784 points below the mainstream category average. The Gateway NV57H54u and its Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU notched 4,454. The Sony VAIO E15 and the Lenovo Ideapad Z580 and their Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU scored much higher, reaching 5,964 and 5,876.

 

On the "World of Warcraft" benchmark, the Sleekbook 6z averaged 45 fps on autodetect at 1366 x 768. That's certainly playable but slightly below the 50 fps category average. When we cranked the settings to maximum, the Sleekbook 6z's frame rate dropped to 18 fps, missing the 26 fps average.

 

 

Like I should make it clear I don't want a kick ass gaming machine, for that I will still lean on consoles. I'd like to be able to play indie games, even "higher end" ones such as antichamber, amnesia, etc..... and maybe the likes of Old Republic other MMOS. Maybe Diablo 2.

 

Or this:

 

HP Pavilion

 

Processor

Processor Type AMD A8-4500M

Processor Cores 4

Processor Speed 1.9 GHz

Processor Cache 4 MB L2

Storage & Memory

Hard Drive Capacity 750 GB

Hard Drive Speed (Revolutions Per Minute) 5400 rpm

RAM Size 8 GB

RAM Type DDR3 SDRAM

RAM Speed Information Not Available

RAM Slots 2

Optical Drive Super-Multi DVD +/-RW

Built-in Memory Card Reader Yes

Memory Card Reader - Compatible Memory Type Information Not Available

Graphics

Graphics Chipset AMD Radeon HD 7640G

Video Memory Configuration Integrated

Dedicated Video Memory Size Not Applicable

Wireless Display (WiDi) Capable No

 

Slightly confused are this radeon's intergrated worse than the regular of the same cards?

Edited June 20, 2013 by flameboy