Psychonauts PC Specs

[MrHoatzin]

I've had absolutely no problems with the computer I've put together and am running right now. None whatsoever. That is why I am tempted to butt horns with Chris over his flagrant generalizations about PC uselessness.

If only I cared.

[SoccerDude28]

Yeah, apparently they do test them for hojillions of hours before selling them. I ran into a weird infinite loop error that apparently could be caused by any number of ridiculous things not due to user or manufacturer error. That's how fragile PCs are.

And I guess it's sort of better than 10 years ago, but 10 years ago there were so few permutations of hardware that games could actually just give you a list of soundcards or whatever and you could just select it, because developers pretty much knew every card you could possibly have. Video accelerators weren't even an issue. The PCs were more of a pain to get up and running and set up in the first place but once you did they were pretty damn durable. I actually have had WAY more problems in the last 5 years with PCs than I did in the years between 1989 and 1995, which was when I was really into PC games (probably because my PCs tended to work).

Hmmm that's interesting. Did you try to reinstall windows? Sometimes just formatting the hard drive might fix the problem since it's a software one. I've had a case or 2 like that where if I format and reinstall windows fresh it works. But then you'll lose your saved games and files that you store there

Oh well I'm sorry you had a problem with your PC. I know how frustrating it is to have these kinds of problems. I just bought a Samsung DLP TV 4 months ago, it broke down, and it's been 4 f****n month and good guys haven't fixed it. The idiots have no f****n clue how, they've changed every piece of the damn thing and it still is broken. I have heard from other people that the TV is great. Oh and I've heard a ton of people say their PS2 or XBOX don't read CD's after 6 or 8 months. I can point you to the forums Shit happens

[baconian]

No I have no problem with spyware (unless my scanning isn't detecting it) or one huge resource hog, its just that I have 40 processes running, ranging from the understandable "explorer.exe" to shit like "LogWatNT", "wdfmgr", etc. And I have no idea what they do and I'm pretty sure only about 10 of things on the list are needed.

alternative to soccerdude's idea:

startmenu-> run

type 'msconfig'

edit the 'startup items' list.

I only have these processes running, and sometimes AVG virus checker:

everything else is pointless.

and it's stable and fast enough on a relatively crap PC.

[Salka]

Chris: every computer I have ever had has lasted fine until I have stopped using it because I got a new one. Uh, come to think of it, except for this one. It shipped with a faulty hard drive, but the manufacturer replaced it pretty much pronto. Other than that, all my PCs have been fine. I've had about five, I guess.

On the other hand, about three different PS2's have broken down in various ways, not to mention two N64s and at one point my Xbox was being dodgy. And it wasn't due to abuse (except in the case of the N64's, I guess they did get it pretty bad sometimes), but stuff breaking down inside them during ordinary use.

I haven't heard you mentioning stuff going wrong with your PCs before... except that ancient old monster of a laptop you used to use which had a 16mb graphics card...? I think either you've had a really bad line of experiences with PCs, you have REALLY bad buying judgement, or... something. Because PCs ain't all that bad.

SoccerDude: No fucking wonder, it's a SAMSUNG.

[Erkki]

No I have no problem with spyware (unless my scanning isn't detecting it) or one huge resource hog, its just that I have 40 processes running, ranging from the understandable "explorer.exe" to shit like "LogWatNT", "wdfmgr", etc. And I have no idea what they do and I'm pretty sure only about 10 of things on the list are needed.

Do a google search for any of the process names -- there are a few sites that tell you what it is, and they should show up as the first search matches.

[Guest]

When I bought my Dell PC back in August, they had a deal going on where they gave you a 240Gig hard drive. I remember when hard drives had 500mb tops...how fookin scary is that?!

Well the hard drive conked out on me, after about 2 months. I installed Moment of Silence...(and we had a good laugh about that, because it ended up being several weeks of silence... ), and the machine just died. It was nothing to do with the game, and it was just pure coincidence, that the game was installed on a bad cluster of this hard drive.

Month later I get the machine back, except they had properly f**kin closed it, there was scratches on it...

Everyone gives Dell the big thumbs up, and yeah Chris, from what I've read, everyone says Alienware is the best you can buy. I was extremely tempted by one myself. Yet, unfortunately in our cases, we got the sh**ty run of the draw.

I understand where you're coming from, wanting to play on consoles. So they don't have every game on the market, and there's constant dispute about who gets what from the developer of the months...but the fact is, 9 times out of 10, they play, without having to adjust something in your config, or get the latest drivers or blah blah blah.

Still...I love my PC, and I normally get the PC version of games, because they are updatable, and you cna play around with them much more than the console counterparts.

[ThunderPeel2001]

For those playing on a PC, I recommend a PlayStation controller adapter! They're cheap and you can play on a nice 'proper' controller instead of that crumby PC thing.

[MrHoatzin]

I remember when hard drives had 500mb tops...how fookin scary is that?!

Dude, I still have a 20mg drive. It is this monstrous thing as big as a cd drive.... It is quite useless, but I still have it.

[MrChlorophyll]

You sentimental bastard you.

I remember playing games on Apple II floppies that my mom copied the code of out of magazines. Good times, good times.

[nsps]

Based on these specs, what video card do people think would be best in terms of cost and quality to replace my crappy Intel 82845G?

I meet or exceed all the other recommended specs with my PC, but I prefer to use my Mac when it's supported, so I never got a nice graphics card.

[Chris]

I've had absolutely no problems with the computer I've put together and am running right now. None whatsoever. That is why I am tempted to butt horns with Chris over his flagrant generalizations about PC uselessness.

If only I cared.

I doubt they are anywhere near as flagrant as you suggest. Anyway, even if you did care, I'm not sure how you'd combat my generalizations with anything except generalizations of your own based on your PCs not working.

PCs are a big pain in the ass. Lots of people don't have problems, but I'm willing to make a pretty sure bet that more people have or have had problems with their PCs than haven't, and surely far more have had problems with their PCs than console owners have with their consoles. Obviously on a forum like this, where many of the people come from places like Adventure Gamers and Mojo, people are going to be generally defensive of the PC.

And hey, a gaming PC costs anywhere between five to twenty times what a current console costs, and you still have to worry about meeting all sorts of extensive system requirements. And then there are the games that for some reason don't support these random four video cards, even though the cards are only a year or two old. If you happen to have one of, well, sucks for you. Go buy a console or two's worth of hardware (ie, one video card) to "fix" the problem.

EDIT: Since Kingz doesn't care, this message is to the world.

[Chris]

I haven't heard you mentioning stuff going wrong with your PCs before... except that ancient old monster of a laptop you used to use which had a 16mb graphics card...? I think either you've had a really bad line of experiences with PCs, you have REALLY bad buying judgement, or... something. Because PCs ain't all that bad.

Well, yeah, I mean that was the most recent PC I had before my current one, and it had severe problems twice, the second time of which was not worth the $500 it would have cost to repair. It's not like I've had a bunch of working PCs in between then and now. How often do you expect me to be able to buy a computer?

And I can't really find any fault in my judgment. I mean I had a Toshiba laptop, and as far as I could discern from extensive research Toshiba makes some of the best laptops around. Then I recently purchased an Alienware desktop, and as far as I could discern from extensive research Alienware makes some of the best laptops around. I guess I'm an unlucky bastard.

However, in addition to being an unlucky bastard, I don't think it's really all that surprising that a box full of components from a dozen different manufacturers all running with various drivers that are revised and updated all the time, while being loaded with demanding software that can potentially come in conflict with said drivers, is at least SLIGHTLY more prone to failure than a device constructed for one purpose and one purpose only, with a set of hardware that (despite obviously being susceptible to the Electronics Diseases that can inexplicably affect anything that whirs and calculates) is pretty much guaranteed to work in harmony at least from a software point of view. Also that sentence is super fucking long but I'm not going to change it.

It's worth noting that I really love PC games. Like I said, I was raised on them, and most of my favorite games are PC games. I want to be able to play them, which is why this is so damned upsetting to me. For crying out loud, I only really even wanted to play one game for the time being! World of Warcraft was the only thing on this machine, and that's hardly even close to the most demanding thing out there these days.

I don't want to have to constantly worry that one of the most expensive things I own is for some reason one of the most fragile, delicate, and precariously constructed things I own. When I watch a movie, I don't want to need to know how to spool a reel to reel projector (see, I don't even know the terms), and when I listen to an album I don't want to sync up a DAT tape in some complicated studio, and when I read a book I don't want to have to do the bloody typesetting--sure, that's all extremely interesting shit and actually I'd really like to learn about all of it, but not just to enjoy some culture or art or entertainment or whatever you think any of that stuff is.

Same with games. I understand that games are more technology-based than most entertainment, but there shouldn't be any need for that stupid fact to bitchslap me in the face every time I shell out $50 for what I constantly pray will be an even relatively snagless gaming experience.

I really have little to no doubt that eventually the technology will catch up and we'll have beatifully functioning gaming PCs that don't require you to take out a mortgage. Seriously. However, at least for me, and clearly not for some of you, you lucky shits, that time IS NOT NOW. I don't know WHY it's not now, but I've tried to suggest a few reasons and if pressed I'm sure I can think of some more.

In conclusion: I want PCs to be awesome but they hate me and shit on my face every day.

[ysbreker]

Chris, you're absolutely right. And now you make me hate myself for spending way to much money on my new pc For that money I could have bought an ps2 and an xbox... damn you chris for making me doubt my shopping spree

[Chris]

There's still hope! You could have a nice PC and a console! And you could play Psychonauts on either! Or both! At the same time! PSYCHONAUTS MANIA.

EDIT: And if you don't have a GameCube (which may well have more exclusive titles than any other system including PC), they're only $60 friggin dollars for a refurbished one from Electronics Boutique. I stopped in to my local store the other day and almost couldn't believe it. That's like one and a half games, or even less. Ludicrous. I don't really know if such deals exist in everyone's respective countries, but there have to be deals that are at least relatively comparable. Sixty dollars, good lord. Even if it breaks, you could buy like three extras and make a table or something if you have some plywood. Apparently though some show on TechTV took all the current consoles and bashed them with hammers and threw them out of windows and stuff, and after all the "tests" the GameCube still worked.

[nsps]

I agree with Chris about the ease of use of consoles, my only problem is that more than one from each generation creates a cluttered room and the feeling that money has been wasted. At this moment, I haven't put any money toward my computer with the motive of gaming, but now I'm considering doing so in the form of a video card.

I have a GameCube, so I can't play Katamari Damacy and some other games, and I've just learned to live with that (although Psychonauts I have to play no matter what). I didn't buy my computer for gaming. If I had, then all three consoles would have been a considerably better deal. As it stands, it's nice to save money by running things off it, providing that I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on a video card.

If Psychonauts were out on GameCube, I'd just buy that, but since it isn't, the PC is the best choice. If only it were Mac compatible I'd be set!

[Chris]

I agree with Chris about the ease of use of consoles, my only problem is that more than one from each generation creates a cluttered room and the feeling that money has been wasted. At this moment, I haven't put any money toward my computer with the motive of gaming, but now I'm considering doing so in the form of a video card.

I guess I can sort of understand the space thing, but at least you can keep your consoles and keep playing those games. When you get a new PC or new PC components, the old ones are pretty much useless. I mean, I'm planning on buying a new video card as well (when I get my damned computer back) and I can either hock the old one on Ebay for a fairly insignificant sum considering it has no box or manuals or drivers or anyhing, or I can just chuck it.

[Kolzig]

I hope Psychonauts comes to europe in dvd format for pc.

If the game takes 4-6 gigabytes of space in the harddrive, it's going to be one damn big pile of cd's.

[MrHoatzin]

I doubt they are anywhere near as flagrant as you suggest. Anyway, even if you did care, I'm not sure how you'd combat my generalizations with anything except generalizations of your own based on your PCs not working.

PCs are a big pain in the ass. Lots of people don't have problems, but I'm willing to make a pretty sure bet that more people have or have had problems with their PCs than haven't, and surely far more have had problems with their PCs than console owners have with their consoles. Obviously on a forum like this, where many of the people come from places like Adventure Gamers and Mojo, people are going to be generally defensive of the PC.

And hey, a gaming PC costs anywhere between five to twenty times what a current console costs, and you still have to worry about meeting all sorts of extensive system requirements. And then there are the games that for some reason don't support these random four video cards, even though the cards are only a year or two old. If you happen to have one of, well, sucks for you. Go buy a console or two's worth of hardware (ie, one video card) to "fix" the problem.

EDIT: Since Kingz doesn't care, this message is to the world.

I can see that you are pissed, but I really didn't mean to start a battle of any sort. The last thing I want is another exchange of mag-esque 700-word rants.

PCs are like women. You gotta know how to work them lovingly, how to keep them happy so that they don't give you headaches.

[Ryam BaCo]

i never had any serious troubles with pcs (except the first few months on my first pc in 1997 when everything was so new for good old ryam ). i'll buy the pc version of psychonauts. because i'm a pc-games-whore. and don't own a x-box. and don't want to buy a console just for this game.

but i could buy a x-box (or steal it from my brother... ) plug it into my pc and could play the xbox-version of psychonauts on my pc.

[Salka]

PCs are like women. You gotta know how to work them lovingly, how to keep them happy so that they don't give you headaches.

Man, go fuck yourself.

Now we're making comparisons, what about PCs being like men? 'Cause all they do is sit there, and then they give out on you? And they're full of porn?

Anyway, it's a shit comparison. If PCs are so like women, then how come Chris has had a run of problems, where you have been trouble free? Sounds pretty backwards to me, you munkshit. And where do I fit in? Am I GAY or something?

five to twenty times

Maybe not twenty. You can get a good gaming PC for about E1300 here (monitor not included), which I assume would only be less in the States, considering the difference in price between Ipods over there and over here. Okay, so that's about 7 or 8 times the price of a console. But it you can also do a lot of other stuff on a PC, whereas a console is just a console.

But, even though my PC is fairly good for gaming even now, I still play console games, 'cause it's nice to not have to install stuff and what have you.

[Ryam BaCo]

Anyway, it's a shit comparison. If PCs are so like women, then how come Chris has had a run of problems, where you have been trouble free? Sounds pretty backwards to me, you munkshit.

yeah. like women.

[SoccerDude28]

And I can't really find any fault in my judgment. I mean I had a Toshiba laptop, and as far as I could discern from extensive research Toshiba makes some of the best laptops around. Then I recently purchased an Alienware desktop, and as far as I could discern from extensive research Alienware makes some of the best laptops around. I guess I'm an unlucky bastard....

Chris I totally understand your frustration, and you are totally right. Having something with a lot of moving parts can be more susceptible (sp?) to error than a known set of hardware. I'm sorry that among all people your PC broke. It really puts a different perspective on things when you are experiencing the problem. For me for example, I've had PC's since I was 10 years old (I'm 28 now) and swear to god, never had a glitch Sometimes we just get unlucky with our purchases (I mean it is human made after all).

The reason why I personally like the PC, is from a nostalgic standpoint, I've grown up playing PC games. Also from a technological standpoint, I know that it is superior than console games. And my biggest reason is supporting diversity, small studios and developers who can't afford shedding millions to MS and Sony for rights to publish their games. I mean just take Psychonauts. MS dropped the bomb on it, and if it wasn't for pure luck that a new publisher was rising, we wouldn't be able to play it. And with all that, buying an XBOX version is paying MS back some money on a game they didn't believe in, in the first place. Oh well I think I'm really But I really hope you get your PC fixed. Best of luck

[Salka]

Everyone gives Dell the big thumbs up, and yeah Chris, from what I've read, everyone says Alienware is the best you can buy.

Are you kidding!? Dell is the fucking devil!!! Have you ever phoned their technical support? And their PCs are shit! And they do shit like advertise 'THE ULTIMATE GAMING PC!!!' a CELERON with an intel XTREME INTEGRATED graphics card, 256 mb of RAM, and all for... E2000!!! They give the cheapest shit they find in their toilets every morning with their packages! Dell stuff is the most cheaply made, badly produced, ugly, awful, slow, buggy, pathetic stuff OF THEM ALL. And then you try to phone their technical support, and everybody is fucking INDIAN and can't understand what you're saying. And then they put you on CONFERENCE calls. You might as well just buy a PC from ALDI or LIDL, or WALMART. They're THAT SHIT.

[tabacco]

And with all that, buying an XBOX version is paying MS back some money on a game they didn't believe in, in the first place.

Actually, they did believe in it in the first place. Then Ed Fries left.

[Erkki]

a x-box.

an x-box