Tossing my 2 cents in...
If you grab an NVidia card (think 8600 series or higher) you'll have issues with CoX and Vista. It's a known issue, with no fix from Windows, NVidia or NC^2, but randomly you'll get "nvddmlkm(sp?) driver has stopped responding" errors. Which translates to your current game client doing a hard crash. I've still not found the reason for it, I just deal with it, and reset when it happens.
I am the 99%. Occupy the World.
Minister of Infinity's Secret Police, Official Mooch of dUmb and League, Official Purveyor of Free Straws, the Most Interesting Man in the World.
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
All sorts of craziness.
You only need dual core... no you need quad core... this brand sucks... no wait it rocks...
Don't build prebought they use cheap stuff.
No buy prebuilt prices are dropping due to crappy economy and they are cheap as hell.
Don't use Vista, vista is fine.
Use this brand vid card NO this one, get 1 G vid card mem... shut up fool 1 G is ridiculous and over priced... she only needs 500K MB vid card memory is fine.
AMD processors are fine. NO they BLOW and it is worthwhile to pay for Intel.
Syn's head usually explodes about here.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've built 2 of my PCs from the ground up and let me tell you what I know from my experiences.
-Generally it's considered better to build your PC. You have better control over what is in it, you don't have to put up with so much superfluous bundled software and you get a better price at the end of it all.
-The PCs that I have put together have lasted longer than any of my pre-built ones. Granted, those were PCs built in the 90's and mine were made from new parts in the 00's, but it's still comparable in my eyes.
-The experience is something to cherish. I got a sense of accomplishment and great satisfaction in seeing my first PC start up for the first time.
-The knowledge you gain from the assembly can help you in trouble shooting in case something goes wrong... Instead of having to send the whole thing out to the company and waiting a very long time to get it back, you can fix it yourself and get it working in a much shorter time.
If you are considering assembling your first PC, I suggest buying online from Newegg.com. It's the only place i trust for my computer parts.
*looks into the camera*
That's Newegg.com.
*Newegg logo pans across the screen*
*smile*
*glint*
[/ QUOTE ]
Building a computer from scratch can be overwhelming for someone thats not familiar w/ working with them. I recently completed a class project of building a computer w/ a $1000 budget (well 2 months ago) and I had used newegg.com and tigerdirect.com as my sources. I must say that it is WAY cheaper to build it than buying a gaming computer off the shelf at Best Buy.
[ QUOTE ]
Tossing my 2 cents in...
If you grab an NVidia card (think 8600 series or higher) you'll have issues with CoX and Vista. It's a known issue, with no fix from Windows, NVidia or NC^2, but randomly you'll get "nvddmlkm(sp?) driver has stopped responding" errors. Which translates to your current game client doing a hard crash. I've still not found the reason for it, I just deal with it, and reset when it happens.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've never had to deal with that - previously I was using a 7950GX2 and was getting hard crashes while playing the game, but that was an overheating issue that went away when I put it into a case with more airflow.
The only problem then was I kept hearing the fans screaming, so I replaced it with the (second) 8800GTX, and haven't had game crashing trouble from it.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
Hey all. Happy Hump day!
Text, did you get the pics of the fabric I sent ya?
G'morning! *yawn*
No, it's not a good morning. Not until the Cable Company gets off their bums and installs my cable!
Yeah, I see that heheh. I hated waiting for my internet over the duration of the weekend at one time during a move. I played alot of Call of Duty offline and it wasn't nearly as fun as it was online =(
So what is everyone else up to?
I'm havin' fun 'cause silly dramaz in random forums... hee hee hee.
Just finished readin' 23 pages of the merit changes from test server. Just killin' time before lunch time.
I'm here at work... kinda working....
Thinking about what I'm gonna do for lunch.
Maybe Chinese. Mmmm... Sweet and Sour Chicken....
Ever had Panda Express? Damn good chinese but I would suggest Beijing Beef! Thats my new thing now 
Can't say I've had the pleasure. There's not one close enough to me, but next time I'm near Lafayette (Indiana) I'm sssssoooooo trying it out.
[ QUOTE ]
Ever had Panda Express? Damn good chinese but I would suggest Beijing Beef! Thats my new thing now
[/ QUOTE ]
I find Panda Express to be only acceptable Chinese food. I live near some topnotch independent Chinese resturants and have been spoiled by them.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What other games besides CoX?
[/ QUOTE ]
This one.
And I have the redone enhanced version of this. which all of the info I'm finding says the enhanced version is great but is way way a resource hog on your machine.
That's just two of them.
[/ QUOTE ]
Okay! Poking around, you could easily get by with a midrange graphics card - 9800GT or GTX (~$130-180) if you're on a budget. If you want complete overkill, double the price and get a nForce 260 or 280.
On a budget, $80 for an AMD processor, $30-35 for a heat sink, $75 for a motherboard, $50-60 for 4GB of memory, $80-100 for a power supply, $30 for a DVDRW, $50-120 for hard drive (320GB-1TB), $50-60 for a case, and a $130 graphics card ($200 for a better one); total price: $600-700
Dell's version (2GB memory, ATI 4670 - an $80 graphics card, overclocked AMD 5600+ CPU, 500GB HD) is $999; so you save a chunk of money building it yourself, plus you know what went into it - as opposed to the cheapest available parts.
The price will fluctuate a bit more as you look at different cases, other options, and if you want to replace fans with silent, no-led fans in the case you pick (I did, at $8 for a 120mm 16dBa fan). But that should at least get you a starting point for a decent gaming system, and you can work up from there are your budget allows.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
And now that I'm done poking around on newegg, I think I'm going to go check the merit drama thread.
And I've had Panda Express, but it's just bleh IMO.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
Don't be silly, there's no drama on these boards.
Panda! I'm getting some once I head home for the day, hell yah. What drama? We're fluttering, tweeting, sweet, peckerin', s***ing lil love birds in this fine nest we call a community =)
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What other games besides CoX?
[/ QUOTE ]
This one.
And I have the redone enhanced version of this. which all of the info I'm finding says the enhanced version is great but is way way a resource hog on your machine.
That's just two of them.
[/ QUOTE ]
Okay! Poking around, you could easily get by with a midrange graphics card - 9800GT or GTX (~$130-180) if you're on a budget. If you want complete overkill, double the price and get a nForce 260 or 280.
On a budget, $80 for an AMD processor, $30-35 for a heat sink, $75 for a motherboard, $50-60 for 4GB of memory, $80-100 for a power supply, $30 for a DVDRW, $50-120 for hard drive (320GB-1TB), $50-60 for a case, and a $130 graphics card ($200 for a better one); total price: $600-700
Dell's version (2GB memory, ATI 4670 - an $80 graphics card, overclocked AMD 5600+ CPU, 500GB HD) is $999; so you save a chunk of money building it yourself, plus you know what went into it - as opposed to the cheapest available parts.
The price will fluctuate a bit more as you look at different cases, other options, and if you want to replace fans with silent, no-led fans in the case you pick (I did, at $8 for a 120mm 16dBa fan). But that should at least get you a starting point for a decent gaming system, and you can work up from there are your budget allows.
[/ QUOTE ]
Dell is the devil.
[ QUOTE ]
Just finished readin' 23 pages of the merit changes from test server. Just killin' time before lunch time.
[/ QUOTE ]
Don't forget to go to the market forum. There is a fun filled merit thread there too!
I think I made some of the marketers mad when I told them I hoard everything good that drops instead of selling it.
Hee hee... its fun. 
[ QUOTE ]
Don't forget to go to the market forum. There is a fun filled merit thread there too!
I think I made some of the marketers mad when I told them I hoard everything good that drops instead of selling it.
Hee hee... its fun.
[/ QUOTE ]
I do that, too. It's just too darn hard to replace some things if I sell it. I'd rather craft it and store it for future use by myself or Mr. Sins or friends.
Who doesn't hoard the good drops? 
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
No one I know.
Apparently, everyone in the market thread.. you know... the people that flip stuff constantly and then resell it to rip the rest of us off!
What other games besides CoX?
That video card should work well for you; if you're looking for cheap an AMD processor for under $80 will get you there (I'm on an overclocked 5000+ Black edition - the clock multiplier is unlocked so all I did was set it to 15x to get to 3GHz without having to touch the voltage at all). I recommend an aftermarket heatsink and fan if you're going that route, though. Pick a decent motherboard and at least 2GB of memory, grab a power supply and case, and you're good to go.
My current system(s):
[ QUOTE ]
AMD 5000+ Black OC/3 GHz @ default voltage
Gigabyte M61P-S3 motherboard
XFX nVidia 8800 GTX 768MB
2GB Patriot DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
150GB WD Raptor (boot drive)*
300GB Maxtor Diamondmax (storage drive)
OCZ 650W power supply
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Intel X6800 2.93GHz
Intel 975X MB
PNY 8800GTX 768MB (dead and needs replaced)
2GB 4-4-3-8 DDR2 800 (forget brand)
1GB Maxtor HD, 3 partitions
750W Antec power supply
[/ QUOTE ]
Both are more than capable, and the rest of the AMD system combined cost less than the graphics card. I'd recommend skipping PNY as a brand name, though - there's no excuse for that card dying in under a year but I can't find the receipt to get them to replace it.
* - this is the only one (of 3) I have that hasn't died in 18 months - I won't buy another