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The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 00:13 |
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It's fairly trouble free as long as you stay sane. Mine OC quite well with no issues. The trick is the find the max that will run within temps and stability then back it off. I like to choose a round number :P My cards will do 940/1150 pretty comfortably but I keep them at 900/1100. Good cushion for stability and within the realm of 6870s if not slightly faster. Stock clocks are 775/1000.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388 |
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harvardguy
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18. November 2012 @ 00:21 |
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Oh man, Kevin, you spend way too much time over on the builder side, and not enough time here. The 7000 family is eminently overclockable - ask Sam or Jeff, lol.
Good philosophy Jeff.
Rich
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. November 2012 @ 00:22
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 00:23 |
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Well, if I can determine that my GTX 260 is undamaged, I may just entertain the idea of overclocking the GTX 570. I wouldn't do it, if I don't have a backup GPU ;) I have an 8600Gt laying around somewhere. But it would never run what I want to run ;)
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 00:32 |
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What are we talking here? 1 - 4% gains, depending on the game? If true, that's hardly worth taxing the GPU, as well as the PSU for minimal gains, eh? Even if it's 10%, I probably wouldn't do it. I'm easy to please though. I like a 40 FPS average. Dropping below that doesn't bother me too much either. So long as it doesn't drop below 30.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 03:51 |
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Originally posted by harvardguy:
Wow, I looked at those crysis 3 numbers more closely, Holy Mackeral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regarding the overclock, I'm going a lot on what Blaze said when he said 975 puts the 7950 at the same level as the 7970 at stock 925 clock. Some of the cards were supposed to overclock wayyy better, like even 1100 or 1200, but several had said the HIS IceQ wasn't a super overclocker for some reason (maybe it was voltage control - I was quite attracted to that mil spec MSI 7970 Lightning at 1040 clock, with the daughter card fixed to the back for voltage stability on further overclock.)
Anyway, all the cards that I tested achieved the 975 without much problem - just sayin'
Okay, well we'll see if I can play Crysis 3 at max - a challenge is coming!!! LOL
(BTW - how is the repair on your 30" dell holding up? - I assume it's still working)
Rich
You're right about this, the HD7950 is known for being a superb overclocker, but you are still at risk of the potential pitfalls of GPU overclocking.
So far so good on the 3008WFP as we approach 3 months in...
Oman: have a read of this:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/ra...k_guide,12.html
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. November 2012 @ 03:54
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 09:52 |
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FINALLY beat my original Fallout 3 game at 120 hours for a single playthrough. Talk about extreme lol!
Just got Fallout New Vegas installed with all the DLCs and I must say what a pleasant surprise from Obsidian! Since it's not Bethesda that made the game you'd expect a dip in quality but you'd be wrong! The graphics, gameplay, level design, story, art direction, writing, coherency with previous Fallout games, everything has been improved to a fine degree of polish.
Fallout 3 was somewhat of an ugly duckling with many half-baked concepts and a somewhat sterile and repetitive world. The characters and story arcs all stayed pretty much separated, the scripting was clunky, the same 5 voice actors were recycled over and over, the game had a hard time choosing a coherent theme and art style, etc, etc. It also broke many parts of the overall Fallout story and required a lot of ret-conning to fit properly into the established canon.
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My biggest gripe was the guns, which not only failed to follow Fallout canon, but didn't make much practical sense either. I spent dozens of hours retexturing, tweaking, renaming, and generally balancing the guns to some semblance of sense and realism. Otherwise only 2 or 3 end-game rifles were useful and everything else was junk. It was a struggle to rebalance the guns but keep them balanced among themselves to avoid breaking the game. Everything from relative accuracy, to damage, to the sound they made was changed to bring all of the guns to a proper level of usefulness and historical accuracy.
Sadly there are only a couple dozen weapons in the game, even fewer of them powerful enough to be truly useful, so they are sorely in need of these changes, being a main focus of the game. Many of the lower level pistols and SMGs are basically peashooters, even though the story treats them as deadly weapons.
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It also adopts a very stylish "Old West" motif for much of the game. This versus Fallout 3, which flip-flopped between the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk, you name it, Fallout 3 takes a shot at it. It creates great atmosphere but Fallout 3 is ultimately left struggling to find a theme and stick to it. As a consequence this leaves the game feeling jittery and disjointed. New Vegas' over-arcing single theme is much more mellow, coherent, and comfortable to play in, and keeps the characters consistent and the story sensible. It makes a better "feeling" game by far.
Good example is companions:
Fallout 3 - Meet someone, help them with a random and trivial problem. Now available to recruit as a silent follower with no other function than an extra gun with legs.
Fallout New Vegas - Meet someone with a legitimate problem that actually has good reason to ask your character for help. Learn a bit about that character and why their request has meaning to them and benefit to you. Execute that quest much to their appreciation. Now more trustful of you, and makes an offer to accompany you as an adventuring companion. Offers comments and opinions during casual gameplay, and normally has meaningful dialogue during important quests and missions. There are even changes to the main story depending on whether they are present or not. You also gain a bonus skill that is active as long as they are traveling with you.
Just one of many examples of how Obsidian took a formula pioneered by Bethesda for Fallout 3 and fleshed it out to a high degree of detail. Every part of New Vegas feels like it was how Fallout 3 should have been. Simply more time and attention to detail has been put into creating this world and the various systems and factions that drive it forward. And this is saying a LOT, because Fallout 3 is an extremely dense and detailed experience.
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As far as mods go, I run only a few mods, a huge difference from every other Gamebryo game I have played which require vast amounts of fixing and improvement to be up to standard. Simply a large re-texture of the world and guns for better graphics, some fixes for ironsights accuracy, some performance tweaks, and a large compilation pack of bugfixes known as an "Unofficial Patch". Altogether this is only 4 or 5 mods that take literally a few minutes to download and install using the Nexus Mod Manager and require zero configuration after they are applied. There is no way to truly enjoy this game without a few small mods, as they offer drastic changes and are easy to use.
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Let's score it out: Fallout: New Vegas
Graphics: 7.5/10
New Vegas is a far cry from Fallout 3 in this department, being much more modern, polished and detailed. This is a very good looking game, but suffers from good old fashioned Gamebryo clunkiness. The draw distance is generally good, with only minor pop-in issues, a huge achievement considering the wide-open environments that stretch for miles. Fallout 3 was much more closed in. The models are also very nice, and convey a sense of depth. Only the textures are truly sub-par and then only barely. Much of the game looks fine but some muddy surfaces here and there look quite atrocious and destroy immersion in this beautiful world. Obviously a holdover from console development, where random things must be tweaked to escape memory limits. This leaves the game looking inconsistent at best, and downright ugly at its worst when left in stock form.
Two simple mods, "NMC's New Vegas Texture Pack" and the "Weapon Retexture Project" drastically improve the quality of the entire world and take the graphics to easily 8.5/10. You are shooting yourself in the foot by not using at least these two mods as they are easy enough for a toddler to apply and offer such huge benefits.
Sound: 9/10
The sound design is spectacular in New Vegas and a huge leap in variety and quality from the previous Fallout game.
New Vegas features a whole new set of radio stations and music that tie the "Wild West" theme of the game together nicely. The radio shows are more interactive with the story and the music itself is good to listen to while exploring/adventuring in the desert wastes.
Ambient sound effects have been given a boost, like weather sounds, wildlife sounds, gunshots and fighting in the distance. The world feels "crunchier" and more organic than Fallout 3.
The biggest change has to be the voice acting. Fallout 3, like Oblivion before it, suffered from a constantly recycled cast of voice actors. New Vegas has aimed to do away with this in a very proactive way. Many professional voice actors and celebrities have lent their talents to this game and it really shows. The overall quality of the voice acting is a hugely improved and there are many more unique voices, offering NPCs more character and depth. The voiceover quality is very professional and helps the game itself feel better made overall.
Gameplay: 9/10
New Vegas offers the same depth and complexity as Fallout 3(same engine, different developers) while vastly expanding on almost every single concept in the game.
The gunplay has received some extra attention and is very tight and natural. The story and characters have been fleshed out to a greater extent and everything has been given more meaning and practicality. The new optional survival mechanics are fun to use and the new ammo system and inventory of items make the world feel a lot more livable. Everything is much less sterile and more homey.
My biggest source of joy is the GUNS! New Vegas completely disposes of Fallout 3's guns and basically rebuilds the entire mechanic from scratch. There are now many dozens more firearms, ammo types for each, and modifications that can be made to improve their function or handling. The balancing now makes sense, as do the guns themselves, following traditional Fallout canon perfectly. Now every single weapon in the game is useful and deadly, both for you, and your enemies.
With the official DLCs and expansions added, New Vegas offers a staggering amount of gameplay and exploration, dwarfing the already venerable Fallout 3 in overall amount of unique content to experience.
Performance/Stability: 5/10
New Vegas is a mixed bag in this department.
Overall performance is very much improved from previous games on this engine, with only mild stuttering here and there due to the size of the world and the lack of loading between areas. Much of this stuttering can be cleared completely by using a simple "fix" mod called "New Vegas Stutter Remover". Again, a very well made mod that takes only a minute to find and download, and only seconds to apply with the mod manager. This clears the majority of the stuttering and renders the game a fairly smooth experience with relatively stable framerates.
The game itself is not overly demanding, and can be run acceptably on a very wide range of hardware. My system is definitely overpowered for the game.
Stability is where it really takes a hit. There are many gamebreaking bugs, crashes, errors and other oddities that really ruin the immersive experience. Many of these bugs can prevent the game or certain quests from being finished. Other bugs cause repeatable crashes and instability that can occur at any time. This can be a real damper on the fun.
Luckily, there is a community patch available which aims to fix the large majority of these issues. It is called "Mission Mojave - Ultimate Edition". It addresses roughly ~80% of the known bugs and errors in the game, even tiny issues like textures and clipping, in an effort to do what the developers couldn't. It fixes over 20,000 known bugs in the game. With this patch installed, I would certainly rate the stability much higher(maybe 7.5/10), but the game is still not perfect. Prepare to spend some time on the wiki if something breaks. Luckily almost anything can be fixed with a few lines typed into the console. It stands to be said that with Mission Mojave installed, the bugs are few and far between.
Overall the level of stability was disappointing. One very black mark on a game that otherwise did everything right that Gamebryo games usually do wrong.
Overall: 8/10
Fallout New Vegas is a huge improvement on Fallout 3 in every way. Retaining all the latter's size and depth all while telling a MUCH better story and fleshing out the world and characters to make for a drastic difference. Every environment is varied and unique, the story is more far-reaching, involving a larger cast, bigger action set-pieces, better scripting, better dialogue, more unique characters, more meaningful objectives, the list goes on. Much of the world feels more "lived-in" and the story events and dialogue feel way more natural and believable.
Obsidian have grown past making the mediocre sequels to great franchises they have become famous for(KOTOR 2), and have truly made their own mark on the gaming community. Fallout New Vegas is more polished, more detailed, more coherent, deeper, more fun, more practical, more spectacular, etc, etc. Obsidian has simply made a better game than Bethesda by improving upon the formula in every possible way.
The horrible bugginess of the game is a shame, but luckily it can be trimmed up a bit with a few simple mods. This leaves the PC version of the game as the only one truly worth playing as the console versions inherit these terrible problems but not the simple fixes. It's worth noting that both Oblivion and Fallout 3 suffered from similar issues, though not as badly as New Vegas, and similarly needed a few small mods to fix them.
Fallout New Vegas is amazing despite its imperfections, and is one of the greatest games I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Any self-respecting PC gamer owes it to them self to try this game. It is a blast to play any way you want and explore anywhere you want in such a fully realized world.
I would rate it higher if the stock version of the game were playable. Luckily for Obsidian's latest creation, no Gamebryo game is complete without mods. Mods truly save this game and make it one worth remembering. Even with mods though, it's still buggy and feels somewhat unfinished. This game could have used more testing, more patch support, and more development time to add that extra layer of polish. This prevents me from giving it a 9 or 10 out of 10. Only through sheer content and storytelling does it barely earn an 8 out of 10.
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I make a strong argument for mods here due to their ease of use and the essential changes they make to the game. No Gamebryo game was ever worth playing without at least a few mods. They are an essential part of the experience.
My "Essential to Enjoy the Game at its Best" mods are:
- NMC's New Vegas Texture Pack
- Weapon Retexture Project
- New Vegas Stutter Remover(better dynamic memory usage = better performance universally))
- Mission Mojave - Ultimate Edition(general bugfixes)
Optional Mods for Personal taste:
- RH_Ironsights and accompanying fixes
- Ironsights fix
Both of these work together to correct some minor errors with ironsights and how they aim. I prefer to use these mods as a gun nut seeking real-world accuracy, but they are not essential to properly play the game.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. November 2012 @ 11:29
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 10:50 |
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Thanks for the link Sam. I've found that since I game at 1920 x 1200, A moderately powerful GPU will do me fine. I do see the gains of OC'ing. Unless I could keep it very cool, I wouldn't do it. I don't game very often. Here's another thing... I don't use AA :S
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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18. November 2012 @ 11:08 |
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Lots of things are a lot more doable without the use of AA :)
Read my review on an old-news game and re-affirm my self-confidence in a group of internet strangers XD
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. November 2012 @ 11:11
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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20. November 2012 @ 06:22 |
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Quite the review, and enjoyable to read. Good work :-)
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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20. November 2012 @ 07:49 |
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Have put a lot of time in on Gamebryo games. Quite the flexible engine. Oblivion is primitive in comparison and still uses the same basic framework :)
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
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harvardguy
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20. November 2012 @ 23:23 |
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Sam, that link you pointed Kevin to, with overclock of 1020, and another at 1150, makes my top overclock of 975 look absolutely conservative!!!!
I was not able to get a stable overclock even at 1000 - it crashed within 10 minutes in Sleeping Dogs, which had been rock solid at the 975 overclock. So Kev - the thing is that the 7970 comes stock clock at 925. The 7950 comes stock clock at an artificially lower (my words) clock of 800, although the HIS IceQ sells a version that comes clocked at 925, for $20 more than the one with the exact same cooling solution, which comes at stock clocks.
So I think they are just playing some marketing games with the clock rate, saying "Okay, for you guys who don't want to overclock, for the exact same engineering design and cooling solution, pay us another $20 and we'll give it to you already overclocked at 925, just like the 7970, versus the stock 7950 clock of 800.
Now - do they cherry pick the 7950 chips for the + $20 version overclocked to 925? I suppose that is possible, but I seriously doubt it - what do you guys think, Sam, Jeff?
Anyway, like I said, when Blazothon, who was pushing the 7950 as a better match for 30" gaming, versus the 7970, a better match for eye-finity - when he said the 7950 at a clock of 975 performs the same as a 7970 at stock clock of 925, then 975 became my target overclock.
Originally posted by Sam on Jeff's Fallout New Vegas:
Quite the review, and enjoyable to read. Good work :-)
Yes, great review. It looks like you present the menu of fixes that will make the game playable - but I wonder, is this a Stalker type of a thing - or is it something that you think might appeal to me, whatever that is, lol. Well - I pulled it up on google, and watched some wacky YouTube videos, and over on steam, there was an interesting article from kotaku.com, about fixing up the look of the game as you were talking about, Jeff, such as this one that "takes the red out." LOL
And this one, called Nevada skies, which adds pretty weather effects:
and this one which introduces some fancy lighting effects,
but which the author turns off when he is in a dungeon, because it makes things too dark.
I don't know if this is my kind of game or not, but I am intrigued.
For the time being, I have returned to Rage, which I loved the first time through, but which I didn't fully take advantage of - I didn't run all the races, I didn't try all the various games, I didn't go on all the possible quests. AND, I didn't have the beast of a pair of 7950 cards that I have now, so I allowed the game to adjust me for a spot on 60 fps vsync ON, with my 750MB 8800GTX.
So now, I have maxed everything possible, and at first I turned off vsync, only to discover that my cards are only running at 40% load, and the game is still running at 60fps - BUT I am getting tearing. So I re-enabled vsync, and pretty much no tearing.
But this time, maxed - the graphics are WAY more gorgeous - amazing little dust devils in the street twirling a couple pieces of paper each time, float on past from time to time - the graphics have kicked up to a higher degree, and per MSI Afterburner graphing, which I get about 30 minutes of history by widening the 1/4" high window clear along the bottom of my 2560 pixel width monitor, the vram usage occasionally hits near max at 3100MB - I have max texture load turned on.
So yes - it looks really rich!
Rage isn't exactly as open world as New Vegas of course, but certainly a lot more open world than the underwheming on-a-rail recently completed Black Ops II.
There is one peculiarity about Rage - maybe you guys have some feedback for me:
There is a tiny 1/16" square box in the middle of my screen which covers over colors behind it - it is not opaque - I can see the colors behind, but I have never seen anything like this before. I can't find anybody talking about it on google - so I have decided to ignore it. Again - it is not my monitor, there is no little box on my desktop, nor in Black Ops - I went in to check.
So I really don't know what it is, but it is small enough that I have just decided to ignore it and not let it bother me. LOL Any ideas?
Rich
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. November 2012 @ 23:28
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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22. November 2012 @ 18:04 |
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Definitely not running any OSDs? I'm sure an OSD application used to do that, although i forget which one.
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harvardguy
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23. November 2012 @ 20:51 |
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Good thought Sam, I'll double check.
I'm pretty sure I had the OSD off when I tested - but generally, yes, I do run the OSD so I can keep track of the time.
Here we go, no OSD, and I didn't even turn on Trixx. I went right into Steam and loaded the game and took an F12 screenshot of where I had last left off in the game.
It's just behind the cashier's head - center of the shot.
Hard to see? Let me zoom in a little:
It is not completely opaque - I can see the darker colors come through the box, which helps me try to ignore it. Quite a curiosity - definitely wasn't there the first time through with the 8800GTX.
But I will accept the little box for the difference in quality that I get now.
Any other ideas? LOL
Rich
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AfterDawn Addict
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23. November 2012 @ 20:56 |
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Is it always in the same location? That would be curious indeed.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 23. November 2012 @ 20:57
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harvardguy
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25. November 2012 @ 16:35 |
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Yes, always dead center. Rather strange, huh?
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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25. November 2012 @ 16:47 |
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There has to be a logical explanation for that.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
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ddp
Moderator
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25. November 2012 @ 19:35 |
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try the card on another pc to see what happens.
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harvardguy
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26. November 2012 @ 01:56 |
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I agree Kevin - there is some reason somewhere - I got excited when Sam said it might be the OSD, but that wasn't it.
So I'm still waiting for one of you guys to figure it out, lol. In the meantime, I'll just chalk it up to a Rage anomaly, and continue to ignore it. Maybe I should revert to the default graphic settings, and see if that eliminates the box.
Originally posted by ddp:
try the card on another pc to see what happens.
You're saying, move the graphics card? But keep in mind, DDP, that the mysterious little box does not appear during any other game, nor on the desktop.
I may soon have an over-hot i7 rig in an antec case to repair. If that comes my way, I should be able to install Rage on that rig and test one of the HIS IceQ cards.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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26. November 2012 @ 02:05 |
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It's probably just a bug associated with that game, in tandem with your configuration. In other words, either they missed it, or it's highly rare.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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26. November 2012 @ 10:02 |
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SO I got a chance to try Medal of Honor Warfighter. Let me say this, the actual setpeices in the campaign are cool, but that's about it. It uses the same engine as Battlefield 3 but the quality and polish just aren't there.
The graphics are muddy, visually confusing, and even with the FOV adjusted, very claustrophobic. How they made a game with worse graphics than BF3 a year after it's been released and on the same engine absolutely escapes me. They're not bad, but compared to BF3 it feels like a PS2 game. Very muddy, very blurry. Even turning off motion blur and post processing-smoothing doesn't do much to help. Textures are only average, and in some places are actually horrible.
The controls are just crap all around. Come on guys, it's not hard to put an FPS on the PC, but they fail despite this fact. It's impossible to entirely remove mouse acceleration, even through editing ini files, so simply aiming is a chore. Feels very much like a console-only game that was lazily ported. Think sliding around on ice, where you slide past your intended target and have to fiddle around needlessly to bring something properly into your crosshair. Really horrible aiming.
And don't get me started on the guns. The ballistics are crap, plain and simple. Absolutely none of the wonderful, realistic ballistics from BF3 are carried over. Large caliber rounds fail to penetrate plywood, and 50 caliber BMG sniper rounds drop several feet after only a couple hundred yards. All the guns feel like toys and actually firing them is a joke.
Sound is another weakness. Medal of Honor used to be famous for its expert sound design, even when the rest of the game sucked. They don't even have that going for them. All the guns sound like plastic toys and the impacts sound like a ping pong ball bouncing.
Mix all that with level design that kindergarteners could manage to improve upon... The scripting is absolutely ridiculous and everything feels(and looks) like it was tacked on.
Basically, Medal of Honor Warfighter was forced out the door only 25% finished in time to compete with Black Ops 2. The reviews also confirm this. I hope this means they will drop the franchise completely. Black Ops 2 may have Treyarch's usual meh workmanship, but to Treyarch's credit they do know how to make a fantastic campaign.
I am slowly being turned off to gaming in general. Quality standards have dropped like a rock in the past few years and the number of consolized idiots turning crap games into best sellers has only increased. EA Games is certainly partly to blame for this. They seem to have developed the rather bad habit of forcing otherwise decent companies to release games as early as possible, ruining their quality. Why in the world do we need another painfully generic multiplayer FPS?
I believe this video explains it quite succinctly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOHyD49DaeA
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26. November 2012 @ 12:20
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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26. November 2012 @ 12:23 |
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sadly I agree with that sentiment, although it hasn't yet put me off PC gaming entirely.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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26. November 2012 @ 12:31 |
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Well I don't feel that way universally. There are certainly some games on my radar that are being released by reputable companies, in their own time, and with a certain level of polish. I remain quite excited about Far Cry 3. Far Cry 2 was somewhat boring but was fantastic quality. Take out the boring and you have an awesome game...
Also, the latest Xcom game is awesome fun.
I feel that the console stagnation is mostly to blame. New hardware was always what triggered innovation...
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26. November 2012 @ 16:46
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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26. November 2012 @ 16:45 |
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Sorry for the double but just got done trying Black Ops II.
Holy crap, it runs better than MW3 and Black Ops and is the best looking Call of Duty game yet. The graphics are awesome, every bit what Infinity Ward ever managed to squeeze from the engine ie very high fidelity. The technology issues seem to have disappeared. The disjointed models and ugly textures are eliminated. The hideously overused specular lighting has been toned back and been given a more natural glow. They have also added in an effect which made its debut in MW3, Ambient Occlusion. It has a drastic impact on this engine. The campaign itself addresses most of the main issues from Black Ops which were few as Treyarch excel at SP campaigns.
The only thing I can complain about is that the weapon sounds lack impact. Otherwise Treyarch have finally addressed their quality issues with gusto.
Treyarch actually managed to pull it out of their ass this time and properly use this fantastic engine to its potential. It is by far the best looking CoD game ever made, which is a huge accomplishment. It's finally wrestled that title from MW2's cold, dead fingers. Their reputation in my eyes has suddenly flipped 180 degrees.
Mind you I've made my thoughts on MP vs SP known. The campaigns should be long and high quality. Treyarch and Infinity Ward never disappointed there.
Seems I am eating my words from my previous post. Some companies do care about quality :)
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26. November 2012 @ 16:46
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AfterDawn Addict
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26. November 2012 @ 16:55 |
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finished BO2. my god i need a GPU upgrade. i cant even play BO1 with all low settings at 1920x1200, without it dipping into the 40s online. so currently have BO2 on my xbox. great SP. and the online is nice, but my god are controlers crap vs kb/m
MGR (Micro Gaming Rig) .|. Intel Q6600 @ 3.45GHz .|. Asus P35 P5K-E/WiFi .|. 4GB 1066MHz Geil Black Dragon RAM .|. Samsung F60 SSD .|. Corsair H50-1 Cooler .|. Sapphire 4870 512MB .|. Lian Li PC-A70B .|. Be Queit P7 Dark Power Pro 850W PSU .|. 24" 1920x1200 DGM (MVA Panel) .|. 24" 1920x1080 Dell (TN Panel) .|. |
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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26. November 2012 @ 17:04 |
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It's really pretty :)
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
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