Computers And Video Games

[Aryan]

@nagoo: If you really want to experience the 'scare factor', then I suggest you play 'Clive Barker's Undying' - one heck of a scary and fun time I had playing this game. Yes, it is a pretty old game, but for the sheer atmosphere and gameplay, it's a masterpiece!

[EL LOCO DIABLO]

^^ I really want to have a go at Silent Hill Shattered Memories, the title is only in Wii as of now, but from the trailers i could see that it was one hell of a game, all the equipment the player has access to is his torchlight and phone, i mean how bad-ass scary is that

[chilled_fire]

^^^ DeadSpace, with good big LCD +surround speakers +sub woofer ,play at night ...scares the sh!t outa me :P

[Aryan]

^^^ DeadSpace, with good big LCD +surround speakers +sub woofer ,play at night ...scares the sh!t outa me :P

DeadSpace is, as it is, very atmospheric! LOVE that game to the core, man.

[indian07_blood]

@Inder: After you are done with Most Wanted, try NFS-Shift. It's almost as good a simulation of track racing as any. I loved the feel of the NFS-Shift. Although, it doesn't have the now infamous street racing, cops, et al, but the graphics, gameplay and the atmosphere more than makes up for the loss.

Agreed, I love UNDERGROUND-2 too.

@Indian: Lower the graphic settings!

Done, but still its not smooth. I should see if something else is eating up memory.

There will be an EP3, but its taking much longer than expected, apparently will not release in 2010.

For details of the episode:
Halflife2.net Half-Life 2: Episode 3

Its not official site and I guess there won't be any more HL2 and if they release one then No one is complaining

[chicane1879]

Finally after days of research,trolling around the websites, I completed assembling the system. I wanted a strict medium level Gaming PC keeping the value-performance quotient in mind.So keeping that in mind i had to search for those parts which provided maximum bang for the buck with no compromise in performance.Here in Bhubaneshwar the prices of the IT parts are highly inflated and i had no option but to order the parts online and get them shipped. So ordered the RAM, Motherboard and the GPU from ITDepot. Excellent service in delivering and the package of the products. Ordered the PSU from ebay.







Initially i had the HD4850 in mind, but i couldn't find those anywhere in stock except from a lesser known brand named Sapphire, as i was quite skeptical about the performance and the service availability of the product i thought to play around safe and instead ended up ordering the HD4830 from XFX which is not too far behind in performance.It has slightly better performance than the 9800GT as far as reviews/benchmarks are concerned.

Internals as seen thru the transparent window






The final specs which i have ended up installing are as follows:

Motherboard: MSI P45C51 DDR3
Processor: Intel Quad Core Q8400 2.66 Ghz
RAM:2 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 (Will upgrade to another 2GB later)
PSU:Cooler Master 600W (ordered from Ebay)
GPU: XFX Ati Radeon HD 4830 512 MB DDR3
Monitor: 20" Acer H203H
HDD:Seagate 1 TB
DVD Writer: Samsung

I had a budget of 40k but i ended up paying 42.5k for the complete system.

Gaming Reviews:Playing the NFS Shift and the GRID currently with all the settings set to the max.Absolute smooth performance, no hiccups whatsoever. Touchwood!!

I would like to thank El loco diablo and technoraj for his offline support.

[Aryan]

@chicane: Nice. By the way, how much does that LCD 20" screen cost you? I am looking for an upgrade myself.

[nightwing]

Initially i had the HD4850 in mind, but i couldn't find those anywhere in stock except from a lesser known brand named Sapphire, as i was quite skeptical about the performance and the service availability of the product i thought to play around safe and instead ended up ordering the HD4830 from XFX which is not too far behind in performance.It has slightly better performance than the 9800GT as far as reviews/benchmarks are concerned.

The final specs which i have ended up installing are as follows:

Motherboard: MSI P45C51 DDR3
Processor: Intel Quad Core Q8400 2.66 Ghz
RAM:2 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 (Will upgrade to another 2GB later)
PSU:Cooler Master 600W (ordered from Ebay)
GPU: XFX Ati Radeon HD 4830 512 MB DDR3
Monitor: 20" Acer H203H
HDD:Seagate 1 TB
DVD Writer: Samsung

I had a budget of 40k but i ended up paying 42.5k for the complete system.

Gaming Reviews:Playing the NFS Shift and the GRID currently with all the settings set to the max.Absolute smooth performance, no hiccups whatsoever. Touchwood!!

I would like to thank El loco diablo and technoraj for his offline support.

Congrats.By the way,Sapphire is the most reputed brand of Ati GC manufacturers and their after sales/RMA service is better than XFX.
Is your PSU Cooler Master Extreme Power 600W?

[saif71184]

^^ +1
I'm using a sapphire hd4850 myself since last 2 years and touch-wood no problems!

BTW just completed Batman:Arkham Asylum, what an awesome game!

[chicane1879]

@chicane: Nice. By the way, how much does that LCD 20" screen cost you? I am looking for an upgrade myself.

Thanks, Aryan!!

The Acer costed me 6400 bucks. The LCD's picture quality has come up above my expectations.The reason i went for Acer because it's lower version won the "Best Buy" tag from Digit. Outstanding picture quality, i must say!!

Congrats.By the way,Sapphire is the most reputed brand of Ati GC manufacturers and their after sales/RMA service is better than XFX.
Is your PSU Cooler Master Extreme Power 600W?

Thanks, nightwing. Well i know Sapphire is one of the premier brands but in this part of the world hardly anyone has heard of it and also the service part was a concern as none are present out here.Rashi provides service for the XFX brands and also the card has got 3 years warranty.And yeah got the graphics card for only 6k.So in the end i saved up some money as i had already crossed the budget. Will upgrade to a better Direct X 11 card later.

Yes, the PSU is Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus-600W

[Aryan]

@Chicane: Rs.6,400/- for the 21" monster is damn good value for money, I would say!

[nightwing]

Thanks, nightwing. Well i know Sapphire is one of the premier brands but in this part of the world hardly anyone has heard of it and also the service part was a concern as none are present out here.Rashi provides service for the XFX brands and also the card has got 3 years warranty.And yeah got the graphics card for only 6k.So in the end i saved up some money as i had already crossed the budget. Will upgrade to a better Direct X 11 card later.

Great.Happy gaming.Get COD Modern Warfare 2 as soon as possible!

[Aparajith]

Great config Chicane!!! Enjoy. Why did you not try for the 4870? I could have got you a 4850 1 GB version if u had PM'ed me.

P.S: Sorry to be breaking into ur happy mood, but the CM PSU does not have great performance. So if u plan on upgrading any of ur components, make sure the PSU will support it.

[chicane1879]

Great config Chicane!!! Enjoy. Why did you not try for the 4870? I could have got you a 4850 1 GB version if u had PM'ed me.

P.S: Sorry to be breaking into ur happy mood, but the CM PSU does not have great performance. So if u plan on upgrading any of ur components, make sure the PSU will support it.

Thanks, Apar!! Well as i mentioned i was already breaching the thresholds of my budget. Would have gone in for a 4850 but couldnt find.

And about the PSU i wont be able to run crossfire setups as my mobo doesnt support it but still i would upgrade to a better GPU later and also i have no other plans to install any other power hungry components.So i think the 600W is just about ok to run.Also i did refer to one of your previous posts..

And I think the PSU still has enough dough to handle another graphics card, 2 HDD's atleast. We always tend to over estmate the power consumption figures Nazrene. Check this article for a lo-down on how much we actually need -> PC Power Consumption: How Many Watts Do We Need? - X-bit labs

Just outta curiosity i noticed a overclocking tool in the Ati Catalyst module.Is it advisable to fiddle with it. If yes, then by how much should i boost the clock speed!!

[tanay]

^ Monitor the temps and increase in very small increments indeed.
GPU's usually don't go beyond 4-5% on their stock coolers.


Also, whats the resolution of your LCD?