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JonCole

Testing Out New Hardware

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With Chris and Nick upgrading their PCs, it seems as though PC upgrade season has sneaked up on us. Personally, I'm just on the precipice of upgrading a handful of components (new WD Caviar Black HDD, Radeon 5770, Windows 7) and I know that there's going to be one thing I'll want to do as soon as I've got everything up and running: play a sweet video game.

I've heard of some people going back to age-old favorites like Half-Life 2 to flex their machine's gaming muscles, but I'm torn among some sharper looking games. Just picked up Mass Effect on Steam, which may be a good test, but the classic Far Cry 2 also has some great graphical effects with the fire and whatnot that are enticing as well.

So, any recommendations on what I try out first (For what it's worth, here's my list of Steam games)? How about you guys, do you have some classic games that you like to slap on the new HDDs in your new machines and test out?

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I have this on Xbox so haven't played it on PC but I think Resident Evil 5 has the best graphics out of any game this generation, so I think that'd be a great one to try if you don't already have it for consoles. I don't really have a game that I continually go back to on PC though, recently at least, as there is just so much to play I don't have time to both play everything I want to play and go back to older stuff.

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I make sure that every machine can run some version of Half life 2, UT 2004, Oblivion.

Far Cry 2 is probably a good start along with Mass Effect. Burnout Paradise may be a good stretch too.

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Try to run Crysis and burn a dvd at the same time. If it doesn't work out, spend an additional $500 and try again. Repeat as necessary.

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I always install Max Payne 2 and Diablo II first. Diablo II is always on there just because it is awesome, but I really like testing new hardware with Max Payne 2 since it's just such a beautiful game with great post-processing effects. I'm currently building my new rig as well, so I can't wait to see how silky-smooth and pretty MP2 is going to be.

Just got my Asus P6T Deluxe v2 Mobo in the mail today, along with my Core i7 CPU and Rosewill 1000W PSU.

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Try to run Crysis and burn a dvd at the same time. If it doesn't work out, spend an additional $500 and try again. Repeat as necessary.

But.... that hardware doesn't exist yet

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Jake also recently ordered a new PC's worth of parts.

As for games to test new hardware, I am a horrible example. All I've played so far on the new rig is Torchlight.

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All I've played so far on the new rig is Torchlight.

With netbook mode enabled? ;)

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I always install Max Payne 2 and Diablo II first. Diablo II is always on there just because it is awesome, but I really like testing new hardware with Max Payne 2 since it's just such a beautiful game with great post-processing effects. I'm currently building my new rig as well, so I can't wait to see how silky-smooth and pretty MP2 is going to be.

Just got my Asus P6T Deluxe v2 Mobo in the mail today, along with my Core i7 CPU and Rosewill 1000W PSU.

Yikes, when was the last time you actually upgraded? Love both games though, and they are both installed on my PC to this day...

Some ideas;

- Mirrors Edge (enable physx support)

- ArmA 2

- Empire Total War

- Left 4 Dead 2 (use console commands to spawn hundreds of zombies)

- Dead Space

- The Sims 3

- DCS Black Shark (or some other heavy simulator)

- PS2 emulator running Shadow of the Colossus

...and maybe Grand Theft Auto 4. There's some new mods out that get rid of the nasty post-processing effects and make everything super-(PC clarity)-sharp, but when combined with its already poor optimisation it eats frames by the dozen. So it should be a good work out for a new system.

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Jake also recently ordered a new PC's worth of parts.

As for games to test new hardware, I am a horrible example. All I've played so far on the new rig is Torchlight.

I will no doubt be playing both Torchlight and Borderlands right after I upgrade to continue feeding my addiction. As a side note, is there any way to transfer Torchlight saves to my new HDD/do you know where to find the Torchlight save data folder?

Some ideas;

- Mirrors Edge (enable physx support)

You might have overlooked it, but I said I'm getting a Radeon 5770... I thought nVidia owned PhysX? As for the rest of the suggestions, they all sound great. Left 4 Dead 2 is a definite purchase for me, so that's a good call.

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Yikes, when was the last time you actually upgraded? Love both games though, and they are both installed on my PC to this day...

Haha, I haven't upgraded for a LONG time; kind of embarrassing for a PC enthusiast like myself. But! I'm super excited to get my new machine up and running. I also forgot to mention that the first thing I usually install is Steam and I pick and choose games off my Steam list.

But who am I kidding? I'm having Torchlight withdrawal, so I'm probably just going to play that first.

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Wagh.. I've been needing to buy a new computer for months. My old .. (as in 8 years) old system kicked the bucket a few months ago.

My housemate is a true hero and has been letting me use his in the interim, but I've really got to get moving on replacing my old one.

If only I had half a clue what I was doing... :frusty:

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Wagh.. I've been needing to buy a new computer for months. My old .. (as in 8 years) old system kicked the bucket a few months ago.

My housemate is a true hero and has been letting me use his in the interim, but I've really got to get moving on replacing my old one.

If only I had half a clue what I was doing... :frusty:

If you're just looking to buy a prebuilt computer, you don't need to know a whole lot. If you're looking to build your own, you indeed need to do a bit of research, but things like barebone kits and the ubiquitous tech support forums make the process far less painless than it used to be.

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Just don't forget the all-important Motherboard standoffs... or else you're going to have one hell of an expensive ride ahead of you.

Summoning the Shitty Wizard may also help.

wizard.gif

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If you're just looking to buy a prebuilt computer, you don't need to know a whole lot. If you're looking to build your own, you indeed need to do a bit of research, but things like barebone kits and the ubiquitous tech support forums make the process far less painless than it used to be.

Fortunately, my housemate is pretty adept at computer building, so he's kindly offered to give me some help. It will be nice to not be a clueless idiot about how these magical game-producing boxes function in the future. :hah:

Summoning the Shitty Wizard may also help.

wizard.gif

He'll either turn it into one of those super nifty-looking, water-cooled, super-machines or an empty 386.. heh.

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But.... that hardware doesn't exist yet

It will within a month. If you can't keep up, why don't you just go play on consoles, noob.

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As if Valve heard my video card's cry, Crysis Maximum Edition is the weekend deal on Steam. Once I'm done downloading, I'm curious to see how it'll run.

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As if Valve heard my video card's cry, Crysis Maximum Edition is the weekend deal on Steam. Once I'm done downloading, I'm curious to see how it'll run.

Do tell! I'm interested to hear. I thought my rig was pretty hardcore, but Crysis brought it to its knees. What proc have you got?

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