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PC Gaming (Also, Advice Needed) (Page 3)
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Aug 12, 2015, 11:12 AM
 
I can almost guarantee that they will. Samsung has been selling drives based on 3D NAND for almost a year now, and other manufacturers are close to launching drives like that as well - Toshiba/Sandisk and IMFT (Intel/Micron) are both in pilot production for 3D NAND now. Even better, 3D NAND is made on older, cheaper processes, making the flash itself very cheap. Controllers are a solved problem, so they don't need to spend lots of cash on on that either.

In fact, I think that HDDs in consumer computers are dying. Windows 10 uses less storage space than older versions, and that must be because OEMs are asking for it. I think that the logic is that HDDs have a price floor - the mechanism is complex enough that it is hard to get even a small, slow drive under $50. With 3D NAND, you can make enough flash to store a basic Windows installation and some apps on flash that is much cheaper than that. At that point, cheap laptops will move to flash. HDDs might survive in desktops for a while, for people who have terrabytes of photos and the like, but I think that their days are numbered.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Aug 12, 2015, 11:31 AM
 
Within a year we'll only see HDDs in data centers.
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Aug 12, 2015, 11:39 AM
 
Within the next year? I see a ton of WD external drives in every tech store in America. You think they'll all be converted to SSD within a year?
     
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Aug 12, 2015, 12:41 PM
 
You'll still be able to buy HDDs, but they won't be the de facto standard for desktop PCs anymore.
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Aug 12, 2015, 06:08 PM
 
I think that the NAS will become more popular. People take lots of pictures and they want to manipulate them on phones and tablets, and if flags becomes standard in PCs as I think, they will need somewhere to store them that isn't the PC. That's where I see the HDD in the future home.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Aug 12, 2015, 08:57 PM
 
I'm eagerly awaiting the day I can replace the HDDs at work with SSDs. We need 72x 2TB SSDs to do the job, currently they're about $800/ea... When they drop to $500 we'll pull the trigger.
     
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Aug 13, 2015, 10:57 AM
 
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
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Aug 13, 2015, 11:12 AM
 
Ordered one yet?
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Aug 13, 2015, 12:02 PM
 
Seems too wasteful since they'll likely drop in price 50% within the next few months, and they're substantially slower than my Intel 750s, anyway. Still, that speaks volumes about where we're headed.
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Oct 19, 2015, 02:46 PM
 
TotalBiscuit's cancer has returned. Doctors told him the average life expectancy should be 2-3 years, which TB mentioned didn't account for skewed statistics due to it mostly affecting the elderly and feeble. The cancer has metastasized in his liver, so the prognosis isn't good. I'm actually taking it badly, as I've come to rely on his videos for entertainment (and information) at night instead of television/Netflix.

A fan wrote this up for TB. I thought it was pretty cool:

Dear TotalBiscuit,

For most of us, you entered our home way back in 2005. You were in our living rooms, our bedrooms, our offices. You were wherever we wanted you to be. You were happy to be there, and we loved having you there. You talked to us about World of Warcraft. You talked about World of Warcraft so much that our ears bled. But we loved it and, in our own little special gamer way, we loved you. We still do.

When you finally left your silly little career in finance (be honest, talking to a computer screen is much more fun), most of us were selfishly ecstatic knowing we'd be getting a bunch more content from you. And you delivered in the most spectacular way. Your videos were, and still are, amazingly awesome. We all sat on our asses impatiently waiting for your next video. Waiting for those sassy and candid reviews, waiting for that British sense of humor. Most of the time your videos were far more satisfying than the game itself.

Your videos are more than just the games you are talking about. They are, for many of us, the highlight of our day. Your WTF series offers your unique perspective on some of the most popular, and unknown, games out there. Your humor, and your wisdom, resonates with far more people than you likely realize. I remember hearing a story once about a gamer who went to visit his dad in the hospital, and when he walked in he caught his dad listening to one of your SoundClouds. His father said that it cheered him up, made him remember that there's still good and honest people out there.

When you first got sick, it hit us all pretty hard. You have been hounding us for all those years, after all. But we felt like we knew TotalBiscuit, and we knew that you'd pull through. It likely wasn't an easy road, but you came out a champion like we all knew you would. You beat it. Of course you beat it. You're a gamer, and gamers don't like to lose.

And now, The Boss decides to get in your way. The Boss, unlike previous bosses, seems invincible to most people. But you're not most people. You're a gamer, and gamers always come out on top. It's in our soul. There's no question in our mind that you will find a way to best this boss. It will, without a doubt, be the hardest battle you've ever had to fight. That's okay. It wouldn't be your battle to fight if you didn't have the skills to win.

You've always stood up for us. You watch out for us. You make sure the industry does right by us. We noticed, and today we all queue as Support. Today, we're all Priests, and Shaman, and Druids. We have our Heals, our Lifeblooms, our Power Words, and our Potions ready. We'll make sure you get to bubble hearth home.

They say it's dangerous to go alone. You'll never have to go alone, John.

Love ~
Gamers everywhere.
     
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Oct 19, 2015, 09:57 PM
 
My iMac is my primary gaming machine at the moment. It's a 2010 model, performs fairly well but the age is starting to be apparent. I primarily game on windows via bootcamp. It's time to upgrade and I'm thinking it'd be more economical to build a PC.

What's a good starting place in terms of comparing components to expected performance?

So far, I've read through this article:
http://lifehacker.com/5840963/the-be...r-600-and-1200

And the $1200 price point option seems fine for me, but I'm curious what you guys think.
     
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Oct 20, 2015, 01:32 PM
 
Looking at that guide, I would say that:

CPU, motherboard and RAM: This quide is a bit old, featuring a Haswell chip instead of the newest Skylake. It has also gone with the most expensive chip that fits in a regular motherboard, and diminishing returns have set in. You can save $100 by just dropping down one notch to the top i5, and even more if you don't want to overclock. I would go with a Skylake i5-6600K and a Z170 motherboard with DDR4 memory to be future proof.

Storage: Fine

Graphics card: The 970 is a valid option, but I think that AMD gives more bang for your buck usually. The AMD card that corresponds would be a Radeon 390.

Case is all about taste. That case is a full ATX mid-tower case, but the box is half empty. I would go to a uATX case and a corresponding motherboard, to get a smaller case and usually save some money. My case is a Fractal Design Define Mini, and I'm happy with it.

PSU: Massive overkill with 600W for that box, but Corsair makes OK stuff.

Note that you can use your 2010 iMac as a monitor with a DisplayPort cable.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Oct 20, 2015, 02:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
My iMac is my primary gaming machine at the moment. It's a 2010 model, performs fairly well but the age is starting to be apparent. I primarily game on windows via bootcamp. It's time to upgrade and I'm thinking it'd be more economical to build a PC.
Read up!

I upgraded my 2010 iMac to 12GB of RAM and installed an SSD and it does great for Photos, iMovie, Safari, and Mail along with the occasional video transcoding. The PC I built back in 2010 runs great and stomps all over the iMac with the addition of a new graphics card last year.
     
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Oct 20, 2015, 05:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Read up!

I upgraded my 2010 iMac to 12GB of RAM and installed an SSD and it does great for Photos, iMovie, Safari, and Mail along with the occasional video transcoding. The PC I built back in 2010 runs great and stomps all over the iMac with the addition of a new graphics card last year.
My iMac is running fine for normal use, it has an SSD (bought it with one) and 24GB of RAM. It's purely for gaming that I'd like to upgrade. I plan to continue using the iMac for non-gaming purposes.

That wiki will come in handy when I'm ready to assemble, thanks!
     
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Oct 20, 2015, 05:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Looking at that guide, I would say that:

CPU, motherboard and RAM: This quide is a bit old, featuring a Haswell chip instead of the newest Skylake. It has also gone with the most expensive chip that fits in a regular motherboard, and diminishing returns have set in. You can save $100 by just dropping down one notch to the top i5, and even more if you don't want to overclock. I would go with a Skylake i5-6600K and a Z170 motherboard with DDR4 memory to be future proof.

Storage: Fine

Graphics card: The 970 is a valid option, but I think that AMD gives more bang for your buck usually. The AMD card that corresponds would be a Radeon 390.

Case is all about taste. That case is a full ATX mid-tower case, but the box is half empty. I would go to a uATX case and a corresponding motherboard, to get a smaller case and usually save some money. My case is a Fractal Design Define Mini, and I'm happy with it.

PSU: Massive overkill with 600W for that box, but Corsair makes OK stuff.

Note that you can use your 2010 iMac as a monitor with a DisplayPort cable.
This is helpful, a smaller case would be ideal.

Currently I have a thunderbolt display connected to my iMac, are there motherboards/graphic cards that support that?
     
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Oct 20, 2015, 05:52 PM
 
There is, as far as I'm aware, exactly one solution for using a Thunderbolt Display with a self-built PC - Asus has an expansion card called ThunderBolt EX II that installs in a PCIe slot and connects to any video card for the video signal. I think it requires an Asus motherboard to work, though - check the compatibility listing.
     
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Oct 21, 2015, 12:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
My iMac is my primary gaming machine at the moment. It's a 2010 model, performs fairly well but the age is starting to be apparent. I primarily game on windows via bootcamp. It's time to upgrade and I'm thinking it'd be more economical to build a PC.
Not considering the console route?
     
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Oct 21, 2015, 12:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
That wiki will come in handy when I'm ready to assemble, thanks!
The "Buld a PC" subreddit is also really handy for finding good combinations or picking out builds that meet your goals for a certain dollar amount. Lots of discussion and lots of people trying and reporting on what works and what's crap.
     
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Oct 21, 2015, 04:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
TotalBiscuit's cancer has returned. Doctors told him the average life expectancy should be 2-3 years, which TB mentioned didn't account for skewed statistics due to it mostly affecting the elderly and feeble. The cancer has metastasized in his liver, so the prognosis isn't good. I'm actually taking it badly, as I've come to rely on his videos for entertainment (and information) at night instead of television/Netflix.

A fan wrote this up for TB. I thought it was pretty cool:
He's on the liver transplant list, since he's so young and still relatively strong. There's still hope in that area. Interestingly, he's also had >500 fans offer him a lobe of their own livers. Holy cow, that's amazing. (and rather heartwarming).
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
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Oct 21, 2015, 05:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Read up!

I upgraded my 2010 iMac to 12GB of RAM and installed an SSD and it does great for Photos, iMovie, Safari, and Mail along with the occasional video transcoding. The PC I built back in 2010 runs great and stomps all over the iMac with the addition of a new graphics card last year.
2010 sounds like it was a fun year.
     
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Oct 21, 2015, 05:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
He's on the liver transplant list, since he's so young and still relatively strong. There's still hope in that area. Interestingly, he's also had >500 fans offer him a lobe of their own livers. Holy cow, that's amazing. (and rather heartwarming).
Unbelievable.
     
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Oct 21, 2015, 07:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
2010 sounds like it was a fun year.
Well, I built the PC in 2010 (or maybe 2011? The i5-2500k came out in January 2011 so I guess it must have been then) but when the wife got knocked up in 2012 we decided the mess of wires that a tower PC involves wasn't ideal with a baby around, especially after the dog had pulled the tower down twice after getting tangled up. So we bought the 2010 iMac on eBay.
     
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Oct 23, 2015, 07:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
Not considering the console route?


The games I enjoy these days don't work on console - Path of Exile, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft 2. Two of those are playable on Mac OS X, but run smoother in bootcamp on the same hardware.
     
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Oct 24, 2015, 01:41 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Unbelievable.
Shows the social strength of such celebs, I doubt most movie stars would get that kind of reaction.
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Oct 26, 2015, 10:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
Shows the social strength of such celebs, I doubt most movie stars would get that kind of reaction.
That's an interesting point. I think you may be right.

I know practically every celebrity has their fanatics, but YouTubers in particular seem to develop incredibly strong relationships. This is even stranger considering that TB once posted either a video or a tweet — I can't remember — where he specifically stated that he isn't "friends" with his audience, because he didn't have the energy to respond to every Twitter reply and Email that gets sent his way. There are still 500 people that feel strongly enough to offer him a literal piece of themselves. Kind of incredible.
     
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Oct 26, 2015, 10:45 AM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post


The games I enjoy these days don't work on console - Path of Exile, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft 2. Two of those are playable on Mac OS X, but run smoother in bootcamp on the same hardware.
I've been toying with Heroes of the Storm a bit lately, but took some time to plunge into League of Legends this weekend.

...and it's a cesspool. Terrible community.
     
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Oct 27, 2015, 08:46 PM
 
What are your thoughts on building a 4k capable gaming machine? I ordered one of those 4k Monoprice monitors while they were on sale. Looks like I'd need to spend at least $1k on video card(s) alone to power it though.
     
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Oct 28, 2015, 11:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
What are your thoughts on building a 4k capable gaming machine? I ordered one of those 4k Monoprice monitors while they were on sale. Looks like I'd need to spend at least $1k on video card(s) alone to power it though.
Realistically? A single 980TI or Fury X will suffice in the vast majority of games @4K, as long as you aren't playing on Ultra settings. A quick glance shows you can get one of those for ~$600 if you shop around. It's really not a great time for GPUs though, Maxwell isn't that impressive unless you want to heavily overclock your GPU, and the AMD Fury X is loud (worst coil whine I've ever heard), mechanically flakey (I have 2 pre-release samples and the original pumps have died on both of them), and isn't the best performer with DX9 and 11.

The thing is, there won't be a refresh that matters (HBM 2) until the middle of next year. So, I'd buy a nice 980TI with a good non-reference cooler; Gigabyte G1 Gaming, MSI G6, or Zotac AMP! Extreme, crank it up to >1450MHz and play with that. Then when the next gen comes around reevaluate, and if you want to sell your 980TI and get something newer, you can, without losing too much of its original cost.
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Oct 28, 2015, 11:33 AM
 
4K gaming is an expensive endeavor right now. Your options are basically...

* Single Fury X. As the Cap'n says, the first cards had coil whine and troublesome coolers, though it should be better on new ones. Generally fast enough for 4K but not at Ultra.
* Single Fury. Haven't seen too many reviews, and supply is limited, but it is a chunk cheaper than the Fury X and exists with many good third-party coolers. Slightly slower than Fury X, but only on shaders and texture filtering, which is rarely where the bottleneck is.
* Singe 980 Ti. About the same speed as a Fury X. Not as strong on DX12, issues with poor support of async shaders which might be a big deal down the line.
* Dual 390 (X). Faster and cheaper, but CrossfireX usually requires a profile update for each game to work well. Requires a crazy-large PSU and massive cooling, and the cards with external cooling are rare and not very good.
* Dual 980 or 970. If you get an 8GB version, should work well, with the same bit about driver updates for SLI. About the same speed as the above with lower power reqs, a little bit more expensive, finicky about motherboard support, same issues with async shaders as 980Ti.

My advice would be... None of the above, for now. Get a cheaper card and game at 1080p. The best of many poor options is probably the non-X Fury if you can get a good price on it with a good cooler, but both manufacturers have somewhat spotty DX12 support in this generation, and at 4K the 4GB limit on the Fury might be an issue down the line (it is not today, no matter what nVidia is implying). The next generation, Pascal from nVidia and Arctic Islands from AMD, is penciled in for Q2, and should spread HBM down the line a bit. I would also expect them all to have full support for the all the optional features of DirectX 12 by that point.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Oct 30, 2015, 03:47 PM
 
Waiting until the options are better and prices come down sounds reasonable. How would I go about choosing a setup that is going to be compatible with both a 1080p card for now & a 4k card of the future?

For example, I'm thinking I should get a larger case to be able to fit any potential card. Some of the existing 4k options are REALLY big.
     
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Nov 1, 2015, 08:18 AM
 
If you're thinking about going high end, future cards are likely to be smaller, because HBM means that you no longer need space on the cards for memory outside the main package. But there are other considerations. If you plan to go with a single powerful card:

* Pick a PSU that can handle the 300W load of a top-of-the-line card. Normally that would be a good quality 550W PSU or bigger. Note that there are some real garbage PSUs out there, research what you get or pick one that is over spec by a lot.
* A case that can fit a card that is over 300 mm in length. As noted, this is likely to be less relevant in the next generation, but you never know. Also check the opportunities to fit a big radiator that vents outward, in case you want to add a GPU with CLC cooling (closed loop water cooling)
* A nice Skylake CPU and combo, i5-6600K and any Z170 motherboard should be enough, but don't go smaller than uATX

If you want to have dual cards, requirements go up. The PSU must be able to handle at least 800W. The case must be big enough to able to space them out a bit for cooling, so a roomy ATX case is the smallest you can get away with. You also need to pick a motherboard that not only has two x16 slots but also lets you share the PCIe bandwidth from the CPU into two x8 slots - not all of them do that, some have two x16 slots but one slot only gets an x4 connection from the PCH. Consider if you should get something from an Haswell-E platform, those extra PCIe lanes and cores start to make sense at this point. You are deep into the diminishing returns part of the market if you do this, though.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Nov 1, 2015, 03:14 PM
 
Just go with a good 800W PSU out of the gate, you don't know if you'll want SLI/CF in the future and the price difference between decent 500W PSU and 800W PSUs is pretty negligible. The best value right now:

EVGA 220-GS-0850-V1 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W 7 yr Warranty ECO Mode Fully Modular NVIDIA SLI Ready and Crossfire Support Super Silent Continuous Power Supply - Newegg.com
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Nov 1, 2015, 06:55 PM
 
But only because there is a deal on that one right now. It is normally $150, and the Seasonic 550W I have is $80 without any rebates.

(Other than that, it is good unit - 70 amps on a single 12V rail means that it is a modern design and likely up to the task of powering a big system without letting out the magic smoke)

My point is more that he needs to think about whether he wants a dual card config now, because three major things change if he does.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Nov 3, 2015, 11:51 AM
 
How was I unaware of this title until now?

Hard West is delayed a bit, so here's a new trailer - PC Gamer

Basically, it's XCOM in the Old West. I could do without some of the supernatural aspects thrown into the game, but it looks very, very interesting.

Gameplay video.
     
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Nov 3, 2015, 01:21 PM
 
Interesting, but two weeks from now I will be playing Fallout 4, and if I somehow tire of it, there is Legacy of the Void coming out on the same day.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Nov 3, 2015, 11:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Interesting, but two weeks from now I will be playing Fallout 4, and if I somehow tire of it, there is Legacy of the Void coming out on the same day.
Fallout 4, I'm with you.

As for LotV, I've never played a Starcraft game in my life. Is it a 1v1 RTS in the vein of Command & Conquer?
     
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Nov 4, 2015, 03:44 PM
 
At its root, yes - although the tech tree is a bit deeper and more varied than I remember C&C being, but in general, they're similar. Main thing about the Starcraft games is that the three factions are extremely different and play differently, yet the balance is perfect or very close to it. SC2 has a renewed focus on the singe player campaign, with the final slice coming in Legacy of the Void. I'm pretty terrible at MP Starcraft, but the SP campaigns have been good, and every now and then I play an MP game or two.

The story is more than a little involved at this point, and while it is not as bad as the monstrosity that is the Warcraft "mythos", it is not exactly well written. Basically, humans exiled from Earth ended up being neighbors of an alien race called the Protoss. The Protoss were actually genetically engineered by another alien race called Xel'Naga. Said Xel'Naga went on from the Protoss to create another race, the Zerg. Said Zerg then basically exterminated the Xel'Naga, some crazy Terrans tried to use the Zerg as an alien weapon against internal rebels, Protoss got scared of Zerg and nuked planets from orbit as soon as the Zerg had won there, and pretty soon we have a massive war with everyone against everyone. Even Earth sends some representatives, and of course there is a mysterious shadowy force controlling everything, because Blizzard (1). If nothing else it will be interesting to see how they wrap things up.

(1) See, he's crossing Zerg with Protoss to create hybrids. Which is bad, but the good thing would be to cross Zerg with Protoss to create hybrids, except somehow different. Because the Xel'Naga were this other sort of hybrids, presumably between Xel and Naga, and they were sterile, and the whole point about creating a new race would be because that is the only way for them to be reborn. And the bad guy is probably a Xel'Naga himself, so you'd think he'd know how to create the good kind of hybrids, and not the ones that extinguish all the stars in the galaxy in a fit of pique. Or something. Just go with it.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Jawbone54  (op)
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Nov 4, 2015, 04:11 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
(1) See, he's crossing Zerg with Protoss to create hybrids. Which is bad, but the good thing would be to cross Zerg with Protoss to create hybrids, except somehow different. Because the Xel'Naga were this other sort of hybrids, presumably between Xel and Naga, and they were sterile, and the whole point about creating a new race would be because that is the only way for them to be reborn. And the bad guy is probably a Xel'Naga himself, so you'd think he'd know how to create the good kind of hybrids, and not the ones that extinguish all the stars in the galaxy in a fit of pique. Or something. Just go with it.
     
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Nov 5, 2015, 09:02 AM
 
It's not important to playing the game. Build a base and kill the other guys. Most other studios who can't write stories just hire an author to write the background for them, but for some reason Blizzard won't do that.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Dec 3, 2015, 04:20 AM
 
Hardware news.

SSD prices are great right now, I saw one for $110 for 480GB, but I'd hold off unless you really need one. Just got out of a shareholder conference call w/ one of the largest manufacturers and they're targetting .12 /GB in Q2 of 2016 and .09 by Q4 for TLC drives and ~20% more for MLC.
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Jawbone54  (op)
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Dec 3, 2015, 12:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
Hardware news.

SSD prices are great right now, I saw one for $110 for 480GB, but I'd hold off unless you really need one. Just got out of a shareholder conference call w/ one of the largest manufacturers and they're targetting .12 /GB in Q2 of 2016 and .09 by Q4 for TLC drives and ~20% more for MLC.
I'm glad you told us this. I've been dying to pick up one of the 500GB drives, but if prices are really going to slip that much by next year, I'd rather wait and see if the 1TB drives become feasible.

My Macs have spoiled me with their SSDs.
     
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Dec 3, 2015, 01:22 PM
 
By this time next year, you'll be able to buy them for < half what they are now. Excellent 1TB drives will be $100 (while good ones will be even less). If you really need a drive, $110 for a 480GB is pretty darn good (Newegg), and that would be an excellent apps/game drive, but you'll get a lot more for your money in the near future (when production ramps up after the Chinese new year).
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Jan 16, 2016, 07:04 AM
 
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
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Jan 16, 2016, 09:26 AM
 
Another thing happening that will reduce the price of drives: NVMe, the standard for attaching SSDs to the PCIe bus, has added an optional feature to let drives directly access a reserved part of main memory - just like graphics cards can do (though high end cards usually have enough to not need to). The advantage here is that drives apparently only need tiny amounts of memory usually, but need much more in tiny bursts. By using main memory for those tiny bursts, drives can ship with less memory in the drive - probably only on-chip memory - and be smaller, cheaper and cooler.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Jawbone54  (op)
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Jan 25, 2016, 12:03 PM
 
I'm not familiar with Mushkin. They a decent brand?
     
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Jan 25, 2016, 12:40 PM
 
They're good for RAM. No experience with them for SSDs, but from the text, that drive seems like a pointless hack to get in the news - they have taken two 2TB drives and a simple RAID controller to gang them together, losing a lot of performance in the process.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Apr 11, 2016, 10:30 PM
 
Amazon.com: Crucial BX200 480GB SATA 2.5 Inch Internal Solid State Drive - CT480BX200SSD1: Computers & Accessories
Amazon.com: Crucial BX200 480GB SATA 2.5 Inch Internal Solid State Drive - CT480BX200SSD1: Computers & Accessories

aaaaand here we go. Crucial 480GB and 960GB SSDs for $99 and $199. Although it's being billed as a special, that's going to be the new regular price as of May.
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ajprice
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Apr 12, 2016, 02:51 AM
 
So, I've got a PC now, I was going to build one (with help from mates for the tricky bits), then I saw an Area 51 on the Dell outlet store and caved. Ordered on Monday, arrived on Friday. Most of the games I have on Steam are smaller Macbook friendly games, so I'll probably get some more stuff to play now I've got something that can run them. Only installed a few things so far, Euro Truck Simulator 2 runs great on high settings though.

It's an i7 6 core 3.5ghz (overclocks with the Alienware software), 16GB RAM, 2x GTX 960 2GB cards, plugged into the TV with the console's for sofa gaming (so 1080p). I'm now on the lookout for Steam sales/Humble Bundles/other places for cheaper stuff, and I'll be pre ordering No Man's Sky.

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
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Apr 12, 2016, 04:20 AM
 
That is a bit of a strangely balanced system, if you don't mind me saying. 4 cores is fine for most things, but a 960 isn't all that impressive. Having 2 of them CAN be powerful, but you need to rely on SLI compatibility updates.

OTOH, GPUs are always possible to update later, a Haswell-E (right?) is going to be good for a long time, and there is a new generation of GPUs around the corner, so maybe the timing is good.

For deals, I like the Humble Store but also Green Man Gaming.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Apr 12, 2016, 06:22 AM
 
Yeah i know, before i saw it, I was looking at 4 core i7 and at least a 970 card that I could upgrade or double up to SLI later. The processor is a 5930K, I thought it would be better to get the 6 core base computer from the outlet than the new 4 core setups i was looking at.

And by the time I do want or need to upgrade the graphics cards, the GFX 10 series, 1080GTX or whatever they call it should be around.
( Last edited by ajprice; Apr 12, 2016 at 11:12 AM. )

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