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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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25. October 2013 @ 12:02 |
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Yes, you should. Metro Last Light picks up directly where 2033 left off.
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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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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25. October 2013 @ 12:11 |
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Originally posted by Estuansis:
Omega, Metro Last Light :) I do, however, find nudity in games distasteful more often than not. Nothing but shock value. Can draw away from the game's other qualities. I prefer my nudity separated from my hobbies if you know what I mean...
Ha ha, I believe I agree with that statement! Though I imagine Rich may find that unbelievable :p I suppose it does add a touch of realism though. Provided it's done right ;) I like to write, so I can understand what they're trying to achieve here.
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ddp
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25. October 2013 @ 16:38 |
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harvardguy, 1 credit card that is clean. was in debt courtesy of my parents for about $32,000(11,000 my mom owed me when she died & 22,000 for my step father's legal aid bill when he died) & currently down to about $20k just under 3yrs next feburary.
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25. October 2013 @ 17:59 |
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Had another look into the R9 290X. Unfortunately, it's got contemporary AMD written all over it - i.e. all the bits we don't like, and but at least a little of what we do.
Out of the box, the GPU of the R9 290X is an absolute monster for power/heat - the levels for which Fermi was originally mocked at release of the GTX480. The GTX480s very often ran at 95ºC which caused them issues. The R9 290X is engineered to run continuously at 95ºC regardless of load.
Now of course with most graphics cards, the temperatures don't get that high, simply because there isn't the heat there to cause that temperature in the first place - fan speeds is nowt to do with it. The 290X is very much a brute-force approach - maximum power, maximum heat, get as much out of the architecture as possible (with the same cooler as the HD7970 and HD6970 of previous generations, which were built for lower TDPs). This therefore means 95ºC is not only a regular sight, it's a problem.
By default, the R9 290X comes with two fan modes, normal and uber.
In normal mode, to keep at 95ºC the fan needs run at 45% or around 2500rpm, about the highest you typically see a modern geforce run in a well ventilated case. This provides about 88-90% of the card's maximum performance.
In uber mode ("high" if you like), the maximum fan speed the card can apply is 55%, or around 3500rpm, this is the sort of level you get if a system is in need of a clean or isn't well laid out and is overheating slightly, so you raise the fan speed to maintain stability. At this speed, you get 90-95% performance, depending on the title.
To unlock the full performance of the card - this is at stock clocks remember [we're preventing an underclock below stock clocks to gain this performance], you need to whack the fan to 100%, or 6000rpm (Probably not the full 100, but either way, VERY loud). Only then do you get the full increase over and above the existing cards.
To me, this is to GPUs what the 220W Piledriver CPUs are to CPUs. An engineering catastrophe, simply sold 'because it's the best we can do'. Unlike the CPUs, it does at least offer a fairly welcome performance boost, but given the price increase, you'd have to think long and hard whether it's worth melting your PCIe slot for.
In time, hopefully third-party companies will produce versions of the card that have a cooler appropriate to the task, but we are most definitely looking at a full 300W TDP card here. 'Power efficiency' this ain't.
Incidently, there is inexplicably a current 20% markup on this card for the UK market, which makes it the same price as the GTX780 at present. It's still marginally faster, but given the GTX780 makes about 20dB less noise, and runs at its full speed without requiring manual fan speed adjustments, it's without question a better engineered product.
Considering this is the culmination of two whole years of development I'm sorely disappointed. The performance is there, the execution is hopeless. It has long been the case that reference cards are more reliable than non-reference cards, certainly for AMD's case, but here, even if the card survives 95ºC week in week out, it's pretty likely to compromise the reliability of the rest of your PC.
Effectively, think a couple of year old HD4870X2, but minus the crossfire problem. Lots of heat, earsplitting noise, and fan speed and temperature balance that really don't make much sense and you have to sort of 'live with'.
Still, let's not be too negative, what we have here, in the US at least, is a card priced at 60% of the price of a GTX Titan, that is marginally faster at 2560x1600, and a full 10% at 3840x2160 (25% in Far Cry 3), and can run Crysis 3 at 3840x2160 (on medium of course) at 40fps average. That ain't bad for a single card.
In Battlefield 3, it can even handle 3840x2160 'Ultra' at 40fps average, if you turn the AA off. Personally I'm not sure I'd want multiplayer Battlefield with FPS that low, but the AA off I could probably live with at 150dpi. Impressive stuff for a single card.
Card in action at 88%, 90-95%, and 100% performance respectively:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQhqOKKAq7o
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. October 2013 @ 18:04
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harvardguy
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27. October 2013 @ 19:56 |
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Don't worry Kev, I'm pretty sure that 2033 also has some nudie bars. And I think you're right - it adds to the realism. Soldiers and nudie bars go together, lol.
Both games are great with a capital G! Both give you a bit of the Russian way of looking at things. Russians have a rich cultural history including great literature and music - Russian composers were known for impressive melodies - consider Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.
Originally posted by ddp:
harvardguy, 1 credit card that is clean
You definitely are not cut from good old American cloth - you knocked more than 30% = $12,000 off your revolving debt in just 3 years? How would all these banks stay in business if everybody were like you?
Besides, that $32 trillion in debt is funny money - we go into debt to buy their oil, then we sell them our T-bills, so basically we're buying the oil on credit. LOL And then we wage war on any of them who "step out of line." It works out pretty well. We learned it from the Brits. Also - how are we going to develop all these weapon systems over at the Pentagon if we don't know whether or not they actually work in the field - on real people!!
Jeff is thinking about going into the military. If so he needs some war to go to. And Canada has to have the US in a war every so often, so they can send guys over there to get field experience, like in Afghanistan. The free world likes these little small wars. That way - we see a Hitler, we defeat him ahead of time before anybody gets too big of a head.
It's a great system, and we'll probably elect a woman president in 3 years, thereby catching up to Britain, but remaining well ahead of Canada who has never had a woman in a position beyond chief dog catcher.
Originally posted by Sam:
Had another look into the R9 290X. Unfortunately, it's got contemporary AMD written all over it - i.e. all the bits we don't like, and but at least a little of what we do.
Great review Sam. Sounds like the card from hell - and you, better than anybody, know what it means to live with a hot-box, actually a pair of them, requiring you to buy only the 3rd AC unit sold in all of London for that particular year.
I guess the only real hope we have for a solid 4k card is when they get a die reduction, thereby knocking off a great deal of trace resistance, thereby reducing power consumption and heat output. Am I right?
MY COMPUTER WORKS - SORT OF
Hey, that weird graphic card not activating problem, went away when I changed Bios from Resume from Loss of Power = Turn on, my normal setting, to Turn off.
I happened to notice that the problem had gone away, but I had to hit the power button each time I turned on the rig. Sure enough, I had inadvertently changed that power setting. Sounds like a glitchy Asus p5e motherboard. But hey, I don't mind hitting that power switch if it solves my problem - no more loosening up the graphics card connector.
Why on earth would that setting cause that problem? (I know "like all things Asus ....")
MORE FUN WITH A NEW GAME THAT JUST CAME OUT - BIOSHOCK 2
I am having more fun with the DLC I just picked up for Bioshock 2, proving that almost every game Jeff plays is a great choice for me - even the ones he didn't like!
That reminds me - I had wanted to do a full review of that game. I have soooo many screenshots. I loved virtually everything about the game - the simplification of the hacks - the better "video camera splicer research" - the "this is what the drugged out little sisters see when they go through the alleys of leaky beat-up Rapture."
The Bioshock 2 experience is so good, I'll undoubtedly one day go back and replay Bioshock, and do much better, and enjoy it much more this time. Plus - oh I almost forget - spear gun! The guns in total are so much better in Bioshock 2 - they aren't your standard WWII guns, but rivet gun is basically a Beretta, which also takes magnum rounds, and .... back to spear gun - I almost never get tired of tossing a splicer 10 feet and pinning him/her to a wall - there is a real thrill in it. And the AI is great - the spider splicers remind me of people I have known from New York City - that same kind of crazy laugh, and same kind of crazy howl of pain and frustration! Unforgettable and terribly funny!! That's all for now - a full review with 20 screenshots is what the game deserves!
But - one last thought. Bees.
I completed the Protector Trials last night - finishing A+ on 3rd trail of each of the 6 maps, and then perfect score on each bonus round - the idea is that it consists of the part of the game where you have to protect the little sister as she harvests adam from an "angel" - and each trial for each map, gives you very limited weapons and plasmas.
I found out that bees seem to be the most powerful plasma ever - and they are so good that one time on the bonus rounds, when I have all plasmas and all weapons, I totally forgot to activate the two bots at the beginning, and I dominated just as well with solid bees. Unlike the bots, bees can be attacking ten targets at the same time depending on how many swarms you have released - I don't actually know how long a swarm lasts but I release them every 5 to 10 seconds, then I stand close to the Circus vending machine to buy more eve. Your eve runs out for every swarm you release, but you get money for every splicer you kill. (I also love to buy the little mini-turrets that come with the new Bioshock 2 hacking weapon. They don't let you buy too many before the Ammo Bandito machine runs out of them, but those little guys pour out some potent lead, especially two or three of them together! Add a swarm of bees to directed fire from three mini-turrets, even the big ape guy with the British accent dies really fast, lol!)
Rich
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27. October 2013 @ 20:04 |
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Quote:
requiring you to buy only the 3rd AC unit sold in all of London for that particular year.
You'd think so, but when it was delivered the guy said 'these are popular - there's 6 more of them on the van'.
Quote:
I guess the only real hope we have for a solid 4k card is when they get a die reduction, thereby knocking off a great deal of trace resistance, thereby reducing power consumption and heat output. Am I right?
Correct - The R9 290X is built on the same 28nm process as the HD7 series and is still based on the GCN architecture, so it's basically like a larger version of the HD7970, if you like.
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Why on earth would that setting cause that problem? (I know "like all things Asus ....")
Nothing further to add here :P
Reminds me, really need to sort out buying that other Nexus 10 before the Asus version replaces the proper one.
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ddp
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27. October 2013 @ 21:29 |
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harvardguy, we still beat you as we did have a female prime minister for a short period in the 1990's & her name was kim campbell.
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AfterDawn Addict
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27. October 2013 @ 21:31 |
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You're both incorrigible! :p
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ddp
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27. October 2013 @ 21:40 |
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why?
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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27. October 2013 @ 21:46 |
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Unrelenting? LOL!
I suppose you believe, you're simply setting the record straight though. But Rich... He just won't let up about the nudity LOL!
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 27. October 2013 @ 21:47
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harvardguy
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27. October 2013 @ 23:21 |
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Did somebody mention nudity? I don't know anything about that - that's Kevin's department.
Originally posted by ddp:
harvardguy, we still beat you as we did have a female prime minister for a short period in the 1990's & her name was kim campbell.
"For a short period?" You mean, when they discovered that she'd really been elected chief dog catcher and it was all a mistake?
Originally posted by Sam:
You'd think so, but when it was delivered the guy said 'these are popular - there's 6 more of them on the van'.
And that was the entire year's worth for London - I stand corrected, it was 6, not 3
:P
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ddp
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27. October 2013 @ 23:27 |
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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28. October 2013 @ 15:23 |
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I would rather the political debate wind to a close before I say some strong words that may get me permanently banned. Shall we keep it clean, or let it get ugly gentlemen? I am a non-partisan voter and have some harsh words for both sides. Rich, I pray to a God I'm not even sure of my belief in that you're joking about Hillary Clinton in office. You know, the same lady who thought the average household income was $100,000+ and asked "what does it matter" after being caught openly lying about leaving Americans to die while they were raped, burned, tortured, and begged for their lives? The same lady who is openly supporting an unconstitutional mandatory tax on the people that will finally succeed in driving my parents from their home, with which failure to comply would be subject to an unconstitutional fine for refusing to buy a service we don't want and can't afford? By the way, it turns out to cost more than the health insurance we couldn't afford to begin with... funny, how multi-billion dollar companies with teams of dedicated lawyers could be deemed unready for the ACA and given an extra year, but the average Joe is considered ready for it now.
She is guilty of treason and should be tried for crimes against the American people. As should our President, and every member of his staff. They have misappropriated vast sums of money, warmongered, disrespected American veterans, been caught spying on most of the western world, race-baited to the extreme, targeted people for tax increases solely based on their political affiliations, taken the shutdown far beyond what was necessary to make it more visible and blame it on the Republicans when Obama simply refused to negotiate the ACA, called an Islamic Terror Attack "workplace violence" and allowed the shooter to receive pay and benefits while imprisoned, while at the same time labeling Tea Partiers as terrorists, etc etc. I don't remember Black Panthers with rifles outside the booth when my parents went to vote for Bush...
I could not imagine a more un-American party to support. Don't even get me started on Republicans. Fox News has nothing to do with my views.
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 28. October 2013 @ 16:01
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ddp
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28. October 2013 @ 17:19 |
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Estuansism, we are just playfully bugging each other.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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28. October 2013 @ 19:10 |
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A lot of what the current administration is doing angers and shames me greatly. I am embarrassed by our leadership and how they have handled every single situation they've either started, or had dropped in their lap.
Now, their actions are directly affecting my family and their living arrangements which, as some of you may know, were already tight. All the while refusing to sign up for the healthcare plan themselves, exempting themselves from it(the literal dictionary definition of tyranny), and imposing a tax(really a fine) on anyone who refuses to sign up.
Not to mention they spent $600,000,000 on a Healthcare website, paid to Canadian contractors(Why not Americans? Won't it help the American economy? Don't want Americans seeing your blatant crimes?), who had been fired by the Canadian Government for failing to meet deadlines and coming up with a piss poor site. Several experts looked at it and almost unanimously concluded that they'd be embarrassed to produce a site of that horrible quality for even $1,000,000. Also, the site is designed to handle a peak of 50,000 people a day, which would mean it takes roughly 15-20 years to sign up the entire nation, while privately owned and funded websites operate on a fraction of the cost, while handling millions of visitors a day. And after all that, not ONE SINGLE CENT has actually gone to help ANYONE except some rich politicians pay for their healthcare. There are provisions in the ACA that allow for private transfers of money to all sorts of people, having nothing to do with the actual bill in any way. Why are those in our healthcare bill? Maybe it has to do with the fact that the person who oversaw the IRS's targeting of political groups, which is a crime against our nation, is the person our POTUS put in charge of the ACA... hmmm...
Furthermore, several people in my family and friends' families are serving or have served, and the current administration's treatment of our armed forces is sickening. Refusing to pay death benefits to the families of dead soldiers, dumping dead heroes' remains in a landfill, cutting benefits, TV/Internet access, food rations, and religious services to deployed soldiers... Preventing aging WW2 veterans from visiting a privately owned and funded open-air memorial while leaving the WW1 monument basically open because there were no living veterans to prohibit, preventing Vietnam veterans from visiting the Vietnam Wall memorial, also preventing many who had friends and family on the wall... releasing the names of two full teams of US Navy SEALS, which is already considered treason, directly leading to their deaths, all the while taking direct credit for their achievements... I could carry this list on for days.
I do not trust our government, I do not like our administration, I do not like their blatant disregard for the Civil Rights of US citizens. I do not like how every time someone doesn't approve of our president, his defenders turn it into some sort of racial issue. I do not like their fingers in every facet of my life. I do not need them to force me to pay for their approved healthcare when they've already told me in no uncertain words that my safety and well-being are not their responsibility. The Constitution does not muddle its words. People from both sides of the political fence are starting to realize that. We need to impose term limits on our politicians and legislators, and hold criminals accountable for their crimes, not promote them to higher positions. We need to stop sending money to countries that hate us and teach their children to hate us, when we can't even take care of our own. We need to stop supporting an administration that threatens cuts in Social Security, Disability, Military Benefits and Paychecks, shuts down the Amber Alert website, and sends more people to secure a WW2 Memorial from our own veterans than it sent to save 4 American lives during an 8 hour gun battle that they wrote off as a small riot caused by a Youtube video.
ALL of this, while politicians get raises, and bonuses, and people who make a living from welfare and foodstamps after entering our country illegally don't face a single consequence. Only people who work hard for what they have, have to give it up. How bad does it have to be before politicians start getting things taken from them? Remember Michelle Obama said that everyone's gonna have to give something up so everyone can have something? Why are the people with 10% of the money giving up to the people with 90% of the money?
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I'd bring up some of my issues with the Republican side, but that would mean involving religion, which I'd like to avoid on this forum. I have no issues with religion itself, but many issues with how people use and impose it.
Strong feelings flare up easily over sensitive issues. I'd prefer it stay out of the PC Hardware forums guys. It's very personal for me, and I'd rather not have to see or say anything about it here. I respectfully request we either take this to PM or Skype or whatever else, but leave it out of here. The above is the tip of the iceberg for me.
Rich, I may seem very militant, but that could not be further from the truth. War is an absolutely terrible thing. I can't imagine how humans could create a worse hell on this earth. I never want to go to war. If I were to join the armed forces, I would be accepting the responsibility to do what my nation requires of me, but that would not mean I am excited to participate in killing. My own weapons are for home and national defense, not war. Firing them at a person is something I hope I never have to do. I am a big softie at heart, but that doesn't make me a victim either.
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 28. October 2013 @ 23:21
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harvardguy
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30. October 2013 @ 03:43 |
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Sorry I stirred up a lot of anger and emotion. The comments were meant to be light satire, and no disrespect for the serious job undertaken and the sacrifices made by the military, was meant. I served in the US Army and I was sent overseas to peacetime Germany, and I was proficient in use of the M16 rifle with an expert badge. If that had meant killing somebody, or of getting killed myself, I would have done my job.
Regarding the capture/killing of Osama Bin Laden, I have no doubt that there is even a way to spin that as yet one more administration blunder.
My brother believes 911 was an inside job. I showed him the Tau Beta Pi National Honorary Engineering Society magazine that I received discussing the two theories about how heat caused the floor couplings to weaken, but "it was an inside job with dynamite" is all he'll discuss. Then he says, "Explain to me how the other 47 story building across the street collapsed hours later when it wasn't even hit by the jets?" I show him google interviews with fire chiefs who evacuated the building as it started giving out massive noises of stressed metal, the result of tremendous burning due to fires spread by the collapsed world trade towers - and he's still "it was dynamited also, you idiot, just like the others!" I just emailed him this link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...sumed-fire.html
And my brother's a smart guy - he's the super proficient CAD guy helping build that enormous hospital with his Dell workstation - that I helped him set up - with the twin 27" hd monitors like Stevo's new monitor - but he's also the king of conspiracy theorists.
Back on topic, unfortunately everything ddp has said about Canada is wrong, and it certainly doesn't surprise me that those Canadian ACA website builders that Jeff talked about don't know what they are doing.
But most surprising of all is how ddp got google to bring up all those phony web sites about somebody supposedly named Kim Campbell. That shows you - you can't believe ANYTHING you read on the internet.
(But in the unlikely event that ddp's not scamming me again, more power to Canada for allowing a woman to break through the glass ceiling, like Thatcher did in England.)
My final comment, returning to gaming, is that Bioshock 2 continues to rock and roll in every way.
The new DLC that I talked about earlier, contains a second part, a full story called Minerva's Den, and the main protagonist is a black man, Charles Milton Porter. He's a computer genius, who many years back was hired by the British to help them crack the Nazi code, and who at that time took his young 23 year old wife to London with him, where she was tragically killed in one of the London bombings.
In his despair he retreated to Rapture and designed a behemoth computer called "The Thinker." A letter of condolences from Churchill over the death of his wife, hangs in his Rapture office. We see that at the very end of the story.
This tale is surprisingly good for a DLC - you will read that same comment all over - every bit as good as anything in the rest of Bioshock 2. It even includes two Big Sister battles. The only thing missing was photographic splicer research - but you finally find the two main tonics that only successful splicer research unlock in the main game: natural camouflage, and fountain of youth.
For some reason, even though the game builds up the Big Sister battle, I did not even break a sweat killing her this time. Either they reduced her formidable powers, or my new main plasmid turned it into child's play.
I didn't even have to use my former ace weapon, trap spear, against the Big Sister, since I had just discovered the power of bees in the first part of the DLC.
The Protector Trials, the first part of the DLC, taught me that bees (insect swarm is the name of the plasmid) absolutely rule, and with bees you really don't even need your security bot buddies, although I always like them tagging along with me. Every time you release a swarm - it's like 30 miniature bot buddies on the job. Forget about decoy 2 - my prior favorite - forget about electro shock, fire, cold, etc. All you need is bees. (You still need electro to open stuck doors, and heat to melt some ice.)
Anyway Minerva's Den was a great story, and another example of the power of video games to tell a story and deliver a thought-provoking message.
One of the interesting things that Charles Porter said in the game, was
Quote:
Sure you hear it in Rapture. One of the business types asked me 'Why don't you splice white? Get ahead!' Well that's some idiocy. I told him, 'First of all, I AM ahead. Second, in Rapture, it's your WORK that supposed to matter, not your skin.' Too bad for some folks you can't splice in common sense.
The YouTube audio recording is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0j3tcX1I14
It was a video game message about race, about shared humanity, about tragic loss, delivered in a very light way. Just like Alyx's dad and Alyx herself from Half Life 2, it was nice to see a non-white main character for a change.
In this historic time of America's first black president, we are starting to see more of that finally.
In the main Bioshock 2, they did have a black lady jazz singer - not a splicer - she was not deformed in any way. (She returns to the Protector Trials as the singer in the run-down Pauper Town map.)
And you have a very poignant moment with her, as you fight through an army of splicers to reach her, for an important key that she holds, and she then tells you that she is not going to give you the pleasure of a fight, and she says, "Go ahead, monster, and kill me." She fully expects you to kill her because she has been led to believe by the religious zealot, the main lady villain, that you are nothing more than a non-thinking, Big Daddy brute destroyer.
But you don't kill her. The guy on your radio, I think it's Sinclair, tells you - "she DID send all those splicers your way, and probably you are angry at her - but she is not armed, and she's in failing health." So the game hints that you don't need to kill her - and in my opinion anybody with any decency would not have done so.
And that event, the non-killing, turns into an epiphany for her - she starts to question - maybe all that the religious leader has told her is not necessarily true.
Interestingly enough, except in the main splicer church as non-deformed corpses in the pew, I don't recall any other NPC blacks in the main game. I certainly don't recall having to shoot any black splicers.
I have all these screenshots - I really need to do a proper Jeff review of Bioshock 2 one day.
The racist issue was of course dealt with very differently in Infinite. First, in the very racist Columbia, blacks were fulfilling only subservient roles, and a few rebellious leaders had prices on their heads. Then there was the rioting, and we took part, on the side of the rioters. Then we actually had to fight black soldiers in order to help Elizabeth return on the main blimp.
(I always wondered, however, why those black warriors wore multi-tasseled (harlequin) joker hats - for some reason that seemed disrespectful to me - why that style hat for those particular NPCs? It almost seemed like another form of subtle racism - I wonder if anybody else noticed that.)
Rich
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30. October 2013 @ 03:58
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. November 2013 @ 23:39 |
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Sorry I stirred up a lot of anger and emotion. The comments were meant to be light satire, and no disrespect for the serious job undertaken and the sacrifices made by the military, was meant. I served in the US Army and I was sent overseas to peacetime Germany, and I was proficient in use of the M16 rifle with an expert badge. If that had meant killing somebody, or of getting killed myself, I would have done my job.
All I have to say is that it's the Hillary Clinton line that set me off. That witch needs to be burned at the stake. I couldn't imagine a worse president. If opposing her makes me sexist, feel free to call me sexist... :)
I think we are both reasonable people Rich. You don't have to apologize to me.
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My brother believes 911 was an inside job. I showed him the Tau Beta Pi National Honorary Engineering Society magazine that I received discussing the two theories about how heat caused the floor couplings to weaken, but "it was an inside job with dynamite" is all he'll discuss. Then he says, "Explain to me how the other 47 story building across the street collapsed hours later when it wasn't even hit by the jets?" I show him google interviews with fire chiefs who evacuated the building as it started giving out massive noises of stressed metal, the result of tremendous burning due to fires spread by the collapsed world trade towers - and he's still "it was dynamited also, you idiot, just like the others!" I just emailed him this link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...sumed-fire.html
And my brother's a smart guy - he's the super proficient CAD guy helping build that enormous hospital with his Dell workstation - that I helped him set up - with the twin 27" hd monitors like Stevo's new monitor - but he's also the king of conspiracy theorists.
There are a LOT of facts about it that simply don't line up. There are eyewitness reports conflicting with official sources. The possibility that explosives were used to aid in bringing down the buildings is high. There was an explosion in the basement of the first tower a few minutes before it came down. Powerful enough to knock people off their feet.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/video-911-f...-collapsed.html
There were hot spots in the wreckage measuring nearly 1000*C up to a month after the attack. These cannot be accounted for by a building fire, or a normal aviation fuel fire. Aviation fuel does not burn that hot or for that long. It burns very fast, and flashes over like gasoline fumes. What does account for it though, is the possibility of explosives being used. Thermite most likely, presumably chosen for its ability to quickly burn through structural steel and weaken the building. Thermite DOES burn that hot and for that long.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/wtc_hotspots.html
Whether it was an inside job or not I cannot say. But it's certainly possible that someone was able to enter the buildings and rig them with explosives. I have a friend who served as a demolition specialist for the US Army, and he had a lot of interesting things to say about the towers coming down. Basically, there is no way they would have come down like they did, without something weakening the base of the structure.
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In regards to Bioshock's racial references, I don't see the big issue. Racism exists. Races exist. Stereotypes exist. Better to have open dialogue and social commentary about it than to pretend these things don't exist or don't happen. A great many racial stereotypes are true. That's why it's so interesting and uncommon to see people break the mould society expects them to fit. Bioshock's story is largely a statement on modern culture. In a modern culture, people conform. Are Bioshock's depictions of black people racist? Sure! Bioshock's world and culture are inherently racist. The blacks, just like everyone else, are conforming to their mould. Charles Milton Porter chose not to conform, which is why he's a unique character in the game, and not some other random guy.
I really liked the story behind Bioshock 1+2, which is why I found the repetitive gameplay and environments so disappointing. Bioshock Infinite is miles better, while having a comparably meaningful story. Not to mention the environments are fantastic and the art direction is superb. The game definitely creates its own atmosphere.
Also, Eli's and Alyx's color have always been a non-issue for me. They're smart, likable characters, and I would like to continue their story, or at least learn the conclusion. Nothing to do with color.
As far as Barack Obama is concerned, he has done more to set back and damage racial relations in this country than any president in history. Rather convenient way to draw attention away from other wrongdoings, eh? Opportunistic race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson make me sick. They are far more racist than any of the people they accuse of racism. They are more focused on generating hate for profit than they are on actually helping people or furthering the cause of racial equality.
Just for the record, BO is not ethnically an "American" black. He is half black and half Middle Eastern, and was partly educated at Muslim religious schools outside the US. He spent a large part of his early life in Africa. Why don't we call him Middle Eastern or Mixed-Heritage? He certainly isn't like any of the black people from Chicago that I know...
Before speculations of veiled racism come my way, I do have to mention that one of the best friends I've ever had is a black Puerto-Rican whose last name is Alvarez. I recently attended his wedding. He agrees with me on a lot of this. Was initially an Obama voter himself, but is starting to change his tune now that Obama has shown his true colors. Racism towards any race isn't cool, and there are those within our society that would promote racism under the guise of eliminating it. I remain non-partisan due to this and many facts. If we had a Republican president/politicians pulling the same things right now, I'd have a LOT more to say about the Republicans. As it stands, the power is firmly with the democrats, and the final decisions are theirs. If you would like to discuss some of the more personal aspects of my political beliefs, or maybe my thoughts on conspiracies and whathaveyou, feel free to send me a PM. I am open to new ideas, and willing to explain my theories in more detail. We should really try to keep this place politically neutral though. In particular, those from the UK and Europe have entirely different histories than us, and are bound to see key things in a different perspective. No need to create international hostilities :P
Thank you for your military service BTW Rich. You don't have to be a combat vet to serve your country. Simply accepting the risk is enough :)
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 7. November 2013 @ 01:42
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ddp
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7. November 2013 @ 18:41 |
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Estuansis, bases of the towers had nothing to do with the collapse but at the floor levels were the fires were did cause the collapse.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. November 2013 @ 17:28 |
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So the release day dust has settled, where are we now?
Double-weighted minimum scores:
Crysis 3
GTX770: 76.2 [79.9%]
R9 290: 91.2 [95.6%]
GTX780: 95.4 [100%]
GTX Titan: 103.8 [108.8%]
R9 290X UM55: 107.6 [112.8%]
GTX780Ti: 107.9 [113.1%]
Far Cry 3
GTX770: 93.9 Test B [84.7%]
R9 290: 113.0 Test B [101.9%] UM47 mode [87.1 in SM40 mode]
GTX780: 117.2 Test A - 110.9 in Test B
GTX Titan: 123.0 [104.9%]
R9 290X UM55: 125.3 [106.9%]
GTX780Ti: 136.8 [116.7%]
Tomb Raider
GTX770: Test parameters do not match - not included
GTX780: 87.6
R9 290: 99.3 [113.4%]
GTX Titan: 98.9 [112.9%]
R9 290X UM55: 107.5 [122.7%]
GTX780Ti: 110.0 [125.6%]
Metro: Last Light
HD7970GE: 109.0 [86.3%]
GTX770: 105.6 [83.6%]
R9 290: 128.2 [101.5%]
GTX780: 126.3
GTX Titan: 136.5 [108.1%]
R9 290X UM55: 142.6 [112.9%]
GTX780Ti: 146.6 [116.1%]
GTX770: 130W & 80°C - fan speed not recorded
HD7970GE: 170W & 74°C - fan speed not recorded
GTX780: 175W & 80°C @ 1800rpm typical
GTX Titan: 190W & 80°C @ 2100rpm typical
GTX780Ti: 210W & 83°C @ 2200rpm typical
R9 290: 230W & 95°C @ 2800rpm in UM47 mode
R9 290X: 240W & 95°C @ 3300rpm in UM55 mode
Overall scores:
GTX770: 827
GTX780: 1000
R9 290: 1031
GTX Titan: 1087
R9 290X: 1138
GTX780Ti: 1179
GTX770: 'Value' price (500x(0.827^2) = $342. Actual price = $330 -> Good
GTX780: 'Value' price (500x(1^2)) = $500. Actual price = $510 -> OK
R9 290: 'Value' price (500x(1.031^2) = $531. Actual price = $410 -> Excellent
GTX Titan: 'Value' price (500x(1.087^2) = $591. Actual price = $1010 -> Very poor
R9 290X: 'Value' price (500x(1.138^2) = $648. Actual price = $600 -> Good [low availability]
GTX780Ti: 'Value' price (500x(1.179^2) = $695. Actual price = $710 -> OK
So there you have it. Notable points:
R9 290 - By far the best value card on the market, good availability, default fan speed causes underclocks but latest drivers fix this
R9 290X - Hard to find and considerably more money than the 290, but also notably faster - default fan speed in both modes causes overclocks - needs manual adjustments. Extremely loud, reference models unlikely to be reliable long-term, non-reference designs suggested
GTX 770 - Price drop makes this a very cheap card comapred to the others, but justifiably so given its considerably lower performance. More a competitor for the previous top end (GTX680/HD7970GE)
GTX 780 - Welcome price drop makes this finally sensibly priced, but still offers marginally less performance than the R9 290 for 25% more money. Quieter, but that and nvidia-specific features are all that extra $100 buys you.
GTX 780Ti - New king of the hill for single-GPU performance. Very expensive at $700, and offers little above the 290X for performance, but a far better engineered solution. For best of the best in a single card, this is now the card to buy.
GTX Titan - Because of the Double Precision features, this card retains its original $1000 price tag, even now it's thoroughly outclassed in the gaming arena by a brand relative and a competitor. If it was a silly purchase for gamers before, the GTX780Ti renders it entirely useless from here.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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13. November 2013 @ 14:44 |
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GTX770 - Based directly on a GTX680 PCB. Same as my GTX760, so no surprise that it competes with the previous gen high-end. Quite good cards. Not fantastic, but solid.
GTX780 - Actually somewhat of a disappointment, but a major win for AMD. Solid hardware, but not the best performance or value.
R9 290 - As I've read, these cards are very much power hungry/possibly unreliable, but their performance and pricing are good. Long-term will tell. I'm sure you'll have some stats to post about it later.
GTX780Ti - Should be priced much better. Slightly above the GTX780, and the 780 and 770 should see a slight price drop. Prevents a lot of these cards from being a good value. My GTX760 is an exceptional card for $300 at the time of purchase, but still isn't a great value.
GTX Titan - Really interesting cards but always a bit silly.
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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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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13. November 2013 @ 14:54 |
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I also have to mention that the AA implementation on the GTX760 blows away that of the HD6850s. Much better image quality. Not that the 6850s looked bad, but the effect is just straight up better.
Just got myself a new game. Was originally an Xbox Live Arcade game that did somewhat well, but was finally ported to PC via Steam. Valve was able to convince the developers that supporting it for PC and putting more money into patches and free addons would make it more successful. Boy did it work!
It's called State of Decay, and it's one of the best Zombie games ever. Basically, think Grand Theft Zombie Survival with a hint of X-Com or FTL thrown in. You spend much of the game gathering survivors, leveling them up to survive and fight better, and building bases with different modules to keep them alive and fighting. Very unique game formula. Totally open-world map, similar in size to maybe Vice City, so not huge, but quite big. When your player character becomes tired or injured, you switch to another one of the survivors you've gathered. All of them have unique traits, and just a little bit of backstory to give them some personality. Deaths are permanent, but I don't think any of them are scripted.
You can follow the story, or simply play the game freestyle and build and maintain your survivor colony. Resources are limited, and it's smart to build near a large town so you have a place to look for supplies. You can find ammo, medicine, food, and construction materials caches which you return to your base for points towards the respective resources. They keep your people alive and give you a larger pool of useful items to draw from.
The game also has an extensive amount of guns. They are placed somewhat intelligently. Ie Small pistols, some shotguns, and .22 rifles in residential houses, shotguns and bigger rifles at the police station, military rifles and whatnot at outposts and checkpoints. Everything is finite and randomly placed, so every playthrough is unique. Ammo is scarce, so it's better to leave it in the stockpile for friendlies. Guns you don't want to use can be brought back to base for Reputation points which allow you to draw more resources and gather more survivors.
For $20 it's a tremendous value and worth hours of fun.
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 13. November 2013 @ 15:46
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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13. November 2013 @ 15:54 |
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Not sure how it'd happen but I'd be interested to see your thoughts on the AA quality on an HD69 vs an HD68, and likewise an HD79 or R9 2xx versus your HD6800s. The HD6800 series has had known image quality deficiencies since the beginning, most of which were supposed to be solved when they cut the performance back. I haven't really used a system with HD6800 series graphics much at all so I don't really know how bad it is, but I've never really considered AA lacking on my HD6970s.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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13. November 2013 @ 16:30 |
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The 6970 was marginally better in some places, though not much different. It was largely a difference in performance. More time with the card may have made a change in my perspective. I wasn't looking for it.
The 7870 is actually better as well, in my opinion. Similar to the Nvidia card. The biggest difference can be seen on my 1920 x 1080 monitor. The large pixel make the differences very apparent. In this case, the 6850s were at the bottom of the pack. The GTX760 is at the top, the 7870 is somewhere near the 760, and the 6970 I'm not sure about.
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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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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30. November 2013 @ 09:37 |
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Well, the Dell UP3214Q is now selling to US customers, and shortly to UK customers too. Through business contacts I may be arranging one to be delivered to me in the near future. Only issue is, nobody can give me a straight answer about whether the HD6900s can actually drive 3840x2160. I see no reason why not, but the lack of any official mention of it is a little disconcerting, since no reviewer would have tested it (Partly because the competitor to the HD6970 had no displayport, and primarily because back in late 2010/early 2011, contemporary 4K monitors were $50,000 ish).
The official product page for the HD6970 says a max of 2560x1600 per display on Displayport, whereas the HD7970's says 4096x2160 per display, but both cards use Displayport 1.2, the interface itself being capable of 4096x2160 @ 60Hz.
There is a technology demo document published shortly prior to the HD6800 series release stating they support 4096x2160 @ 50Hz, but give no mention on whether that extends to 3840x2160 @ 60Hz (It usually does).
Since the 31.5" 3840x2160 displays are tiled (two monitors merged using Eyefinity or nvidia surround, on a single cable through internal MST), I'm not expecting there to be an issue, but I really can't say for sure without trying it.
Ideally, I'm hoping to avoid having to upgrade graphics until the dieshrink of the R9 200 series, that much heat and noise and questionable reliability is really something I hoped to have left behind.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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30. November 2013 @ 12:07 |
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I would definitely wait. The R290X is a great card, but everything about it smacks of 8800GTX or GTX480. Huge die, huge power requirements, huge heat, limited lifespan. This time around, Nvidia has the superior product from a design standpoint. Nice to see them put Nvidia in their place for performance though.
As far as my own personal performance goes, the current Crysis game is playable maxed, so everything else is a joke to run. All my most often played games have been boosted to minimum 60 or similar. Not having any regrets going Nvidia this time around :)
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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