City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Cade Lawson

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  1. Cade Lawson

    Graphics Problem

    POST-ACTION

    O_O


    The next time Lawrence offers, take the blue pill.
  2. Cade Lawson

    new computer

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by deadlydemoncoh View Post
    Youève quoted the same product identifier for processor and OS.
  3. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jeremy_C View Post
    I see what you did there...

    You forgot about the "upgrading from ati to nvidia" or the "sticking with the best and getting another nvidia card" options.

    Since you're clearly a shrewd gentleman, I have some delightful beans you might consider buying. They're magic.
  4. Cade Lawson

    new computer

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by deadlydemoncoh View Post
    Hello everyone. I am in need of a new computer. I headed over to newegg and this is what i cooked up. http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx . Please, if there is any problem with what I have selected please tell me and tell me what i should change. I have a $700 limit so please try not to go above that. I want this computer to be able to run/play/fast load with CoX and be able to play Sc2. Also, I DONT CARE FOR ULTRA MODE!

    Thanks
    Its probably faster for you to simply post direct links to the components you're looking at, rather than fighting with the newegg private/public shopping lists; makes life easier for all involved.

    Considering your stated budget, I'd start by looking at the build guides in Father Xmas's signature - they're, generally, a great resource and jump-off point.

    As a sidebar: You want to run/play/fast load CoX, but you don't care about Ultra Mode. Are we to assume that means you want a seven hundred dollar rig that runs CoX on minimum? It'll always run faster with everything turned all the way down. If you don't want to max out UM settings, that's one thing...but what level of quality are you actually willing to accept with respect to the games you play?
  5. Cade Lawson

    Sally's Extinct

    POST-ACTION

    You can't find her because she's migrated to one of the ponds in Galaxy for the summer. Duh.
  6. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Agonist_NA View Post
    Update on this: just got the GTX285 up and running. The frame rate went from 15-20 fps to 20-30fps with the exact same hardware, drivers, etc.

    With my not-cutting edge rig (WinXP, 2 Gb RAM, AMD 4400+ duo core, 1920x1200 monitor), the GTX285 lets me run ultra on everything except 16x antialiasing (I don't see a difference in frame rate or visually between 2x, 4x, and 8x), ultra quality shadows (I actually prefer the more subtle high performance setting anyway). Of course, going to stencil shadows jumps the framerate up to 60+.

    Which brings up an interesting observation: with the new card I can run Crysis at "enthusiast" level with amazing lighting effects, projected shadows, etc., at high framerates. But CoH runs much slower than Crysis (!!!). Is this an artifact of bolting on Ultra-mode to the existing platform, or a symptom of inefficient coding?

    I'd guess the later, as a consequence of the former. Even MacGyver can only do so much.
  7. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Texas Justice View Post
    *makes a note to add Cade Lawson to The List as well*

    What's The List exactly?
  8. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TonyV View Post
    Well, color me convinced. ATI it is, then, and I'm really glad I asked. You guys are awesome.

    I've decided to go with this one. It's out of the price range I was considering, but that should future-proof me pretty well, I hope, and will hopefully kick ultra mode's a**. I'm also buying a 128 GB SSD.

    Again, thanks for the advice. I really had pretty much decided to go with one of the nVidia cards.

    Good pick, I don't think you'll be disappointed; I've only seen good things said about that particular card. I actually just bought a new(er) card for my rig, though I went an order bigger with a Sapphire 5970.
  9. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Captain_Simian View Post
    Fair enough Cade.

    Yes, a new monitor is in order. I am a big media buff, so I stream movies, play games, work and generally (god how did this happen to me?) in front of this rig. The laptop has run everything to satisfaction, but like all things in life "wish it could do more". Multi-monitor would be a nice change especially for work. (Not kidding...how weird to say that...)

    I am trying to have to keep the costs down, so let's keep the rig itself at or under 1500. I've read Santa's rig write ups. They are really informative.

    </rant>
    I am coming from a somewhat angry place right now with Dell due to this somehow shortened warranty. Come Monday when customer support opens back up I will know more, but I know how Dell is and they never fun when they think they are right.

    So would it be best to buy the parts and pieces and put it all together or get a warranty plan with a manufacturer? To give you some perspective, when I bought this laptop it came with a GeForce 8600M GT card. What they don't tell you is that the memory is in has a reduced pipeline, so it's a downgraded version of the full on mobile card. (For the record it has performed admirably, I only know this because I did my research before buying it.) I just don't trust when I buy something and the seller isn't completely forthright, and then shortens their warranty.
    </rant>

    I am rather technically skilled so assembly isn't the issue. But if a part goes out (and they always seem to within a year or two) I have to follow up on manufacturer warranties which generally only last a year, and track each one seperately. Either way it's a headache.

    Now that I've ranted and raved...*sighs*

    Let's see what we've got for details.

    Monitor - check
    dual monitor - capability later is fine
    HD - yes please, movies are so pretty
    SLI/Crossfire - Not necessary, but I do like other games that support it, and hopefully we can get it for CoH soon.

    Ultra-Mode - at LEAST capable of mid-range settings with decent FPS

    Size constraints - could care less. Let's build a rack!! (I kid...or do I? mwa haha)

    Cost constraints - rig under 1500, prefer under 1000 to accomodate a nicer monitor.

    As a side note I see iBUYPOWER.com has some pretty reasonable boxes up for what appear reasonable prices. Anyone have experience with buying there?
    If you're confident enough to build you own, head over to newegg.com (or newegg.ca like I did) and pick out some stuff. Id recommend using X's builds as a good jump-off point. Once you make some decisions, we can help refine...but inviting people to pick out stuff for you will degenerate into AMD versus Intel (and nVidia versus ATI) fanboi catfights. *cough* ATI + Intel win *cough*

    You really can do this within your budget, and most decent video cards can support multiple displays (although multi HD I'm not entirely certain about). For support on that particular issue, I'd recommend sending a PM to Je_saist; she's incredibly knowledgeable.


    Go. Shop. Find partts.
  10. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Captain_Simian View Post
    Hey guys, I've loved how up-to-date you guys can be and so I am turning to you all for a little help. I am a skilled technician, but haven't worked in the computer field for well over 5 years.

    Let me bring you up to speed. In March of 2008 I bought myself and my wife two Vostro Dell laptops on a steal and they have run our gaming and business needs remarkably well. Today my power supply...died? Sort of. It's on the way out, so I called Dell and much to my chagrin my 3 year warranty has apparently expired a year early. Fancy that.

    So unless customer service can make everything happy with rainbows I am stuck with a system that I cannot do much more than moderately surf the web. I work from home, so you can imagine how much this will affect me.

    I am hoping you technical lot can help me figure out what I need, and how to find it cheapest in order to run my beloved CoH, preferably with ultra mode settings. I've bounced around in here, but it's a bit hit or miss or dated.

    Do you guys think it would be best to build it myself or go through someone to get a reliable setup? Not concerned about the budget until the wife says "whoa there fella". But at the same time I am not a rich guy either, so budget is something of a concern. Right now I need to just get a preliminary view of what I am looking at.

    On a side note/related question, I have next to no experience in maintaining a water-cooled system. Is it worth it? Is there a high maintenance to it? Like I said, I am married, I have enough high maintenance going on. ;-)

    Thanks in advance for any help or direction you guys can give. I sincerely appreciate your taking time to even read this.
    Based on your original post, I'm inclined to think that you, as a user, would have no reasonable application for a water-cooled desktop system. If a Dell laptop, several years old, has been running CoH and meeting all your 'gaming and business needs', then looking at something which would truly benefit from liquid coolant would be an exercise in deliberately seeking Overkill (note the capitalized 'O').

    I'll second the rigs recommended in X's sig; building really isn't terribly challenging (yes, I do mean 'even for you') and you'll end up ahead by a good chunk in the end. If budget is no immediate object, then you've got quite a few very solid options out there, but we really ought to throw out some numbers so we can sort of...you know...suss out what you need to pay for versus what you want to pay for, you know?

    Just how much are you willing to spend for the sake of CoH/Ultra Mode? Are you a big media-on-pc guy (HDTV, DVD, etc)? If you were laptop'n before, you probably need a new monitor, right? How big can you reasonably go? Are there spacial constraints for your 'desktop' area (ie, is an ATX-Full out of the question)?

    Let's get some details on the table.
  11. Cade Lawson
    At last update, UM was not ultra-mode compatible. I believe the word from the Dev team was that they were working toward it, but that was some time ago.

    I would, in all honesty, suggest you get the 5xxx over the twin 4xxx. I believe it would be the wiser choice.
  12. Cade Lawson

    New pc for I17?

    POST-ACTION

    I concur; the third system looks like the best option.
  13. Cade Lawson
    Just recieved this by e-mail from XFX:

    Quote:
    Dear XFX Customers,

    In light of recent events, we have come to suspect that one of our 5970 Black Edition Limited cards may have been compromised. In our current inventory check of this limited run of 1,000 individually serialized pieces, #68 has been unaccounted for. Due to evidence of a security breach in our facility, we believe it to have been illegally obtained as the product has yet been released per the embargo date. Please be aware that the person responsible will be subject to persecution by law. If any news can be provided to lead us to the apprehension of the suspect, or you can provide us with any information, please report it to security@xfxforce.com. Please do not attempt to buy, trade, or barter for this unit. We thank you for your cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

    Sincerely,
    XFX
    Has the world gone mad?
  14. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba View Post
    I'm getting the same issue. I have no idea what's causing it. As it doesn't seem to be affecting anything, I haven't pursued it. In this particular case, DXDIAG and COHHelper won't be of any use.

    For comparison's sake: I'm on a 5870 with Windows 7-64bit on an I7 proc with 6GB RAM.
    I had this with my HD5770 and with my brand new HD5970. It doesn't seem to affect anything at all; I'd assume it's some kind of legacy bug from the "nVidia club" days, but I'll wait until i17 hits to say it with confidence.
  15. Cade Lawson

    Thinking of...

    POST-ACTION

    Update: Recieved my Sapphire 5970 today (UPS just leaves it at the door? the hell?) and it snapped right into place...okay...i lie. Full ATX case and it took a /little/ coaxing to skirt P1 connection, but it fit.

    I was also extremely pleased to find that Sapphire included, with the card, several different power connection adapters ( the molex-to-8pin made me go "Noice!").

    Just updating test client now.

    See y'all pretty-side. ^_^
  16. Cade Lawson

    New pc for I17?

    POST-ACTION

    Am I reading this wrong, or are there two PSUs in that build?
  17. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ozmosis View Post
    You have any suggestions for websites to would build the PC for me? Keep in mind I'm in Canada.
    I didn't even notice where you were located!

    J'habite à Ottawa! Si vous préférez, je recommanderai plusieurs bons magasins.
  18. Cade Lawson
    Looks a decent build to me, though if you wanted to save a little money, you could consider dropping that i7 to the Lynnfield i5-750; in terms of gaming performance, it's not going to matter that much. It also won't make a difference later on, since the i7 you selected uses the same socket as the i5 - the bigger i7s use a different socket (1366) altogether.

    My build is similar, but I opted for a full ATX case; its the only thing that made my recent 5970 purchase possible. I would think something like that would be a bloody tight fit in a midATX.

    You could also stand to get a slightly bigger PSU; 650 isn't bad, but considering the expectations of higher end GPUs, it may need replacing at the same time you do your graphics card...though admittedly I didn't bother to look up the exact demands of the 5850.

    I didn't see any incompatibilities here.
  19. Cade Lawson
    You'd hardly be the first to provide those resources on these boards.
  20. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fiery-Enforcer View Post
    Is building the PC yourself totally out of the question? I know you said you're not too good with computers, but it's really not that difficult if you follow the directions. A couple of my friends whose only experience was upgrading a video card had no problems doing it themselves.
    This. It really isn't hard, despite how intimidating it seems. I can't stress that enough.
  21. Cade Lawson

    Thinking of...

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tex View Post
    Cade_Lawson, what kind of CPU are you using?

    See this post for more information on if a better CPU could improve your Ultra mode experience.

    http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...39#post2796939
    Whoa...I've been directly addressed by a redname O.O

    Thanks for the link, Tex.

    I'm running an Intel i5-750.
  22. Cade Lawson

    Thinking of...

    POST-ACTION

    Mhm...it shouldn't be a problem, I have a little room between my needs and the ceiling; no OC'n and I'm not sporting an enthusiast i7 core.

    That said, the PSU will be the next thing to be replaced.
  23. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    Great then. I know of people who were surprised by the length of the single GPU HD 5870 and were forced to break out the power tools.

    Edit: Yep, the HAF 932 can handle cards up to 12.7" long. That's a BIG case.
    It really is. I'm running an XFX 5770 now and if you tap the top of the tower, it gongs like an empty oil drum. Its quite a monster.
  24. Cade Lawson
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    You do realize that the HD 5970 is over a foot long? I hope your case can fit it.
    I do. Its preposterously huge...12.2" if I recall correctly. I've got a CM HAF932 ATX Full Tower, and some good headroom to maneuver in. I'm only running a single optical drive at the moment, so that should leave enough clearance for the card.

    Linky:

    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-160-_-Product
  25. Cade Lawson
    Sapphire 2GB 256 HD5970 ordered.

    It was in stock on newegg for about two hours. Hot.