Getting Into PC Gaming

[Young Avenger]

I brought a new Desktop 3 weeks ago and I want to take advantage of my new rig so I thought I should dive into the scary world of PC gaming. I've talked with a friend of mine who's a major PC gaming nut and he recommended I play Guild Wars, City of Heroes and the Witcher to start out. The Witcher looks very good from the gameplay videos I've of it and Guild Wars seems like a great MMO to start with since there is no monthly fees and the expansions count as standalones. Any more recommendations would be great.

Here's my comp's specs
OP: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core 2.20 GHz
Memory: 5GB DDR2
System: 64-bit operating System
NVIDIA GeForce 9400

[Mike Pothier]

what type of games do you enjoy on the consoles?

[Young Avenger]

Fighters, Platformers, Action, RPGs and Puzzle games.

[Mike Pothier]

I'd definitely check out the games by Bioware, such as Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic (if you haven't played that one already on the Xbox).

Since you like puzzle games, try The Longest Journey and its sequel, Dreamfall.

Also, definitely try Deus Ex.

I'm mentioning a few older games here, since I don't know if you ever played PC games before. Also, since your rig can probably play it on decent settings, Oblivion is a good choice.

[Young Avenger]

In my lifetime I've only played one PC game and that was Commander Keen.

I'll definitely took into Nevernight Nights. I'm a fan of Bioware's games. I've seen positive review of Dreamfall in an episode of X-Play. I'l check it out. Looks like my type of game

I plan of getting Oblivion but for my PS3.

[Tobias March]

I'm in the same situation. Waiting for a better connection to start playing City of Heroes again - but I've started playing Painkiller. Great game, very inventive, frenetic and some of the monsters are incredible.

Creepy music too.

[Tyr]

In my lifetime I've only played one PC game and that was Commander Keen.

I'll definitely took into Nevernight Nights. I'm a fan of Bioware's games. I've seen positive review of Dreamfall in an episode of X-Play. I'l check it out. Looks like my type of game

I plan of getting Oblivion but for my PS3.

If you like Bioware game you might like some of there earlier stuff when they worked with black isle in fact I would try some of Black Isles stuff as well. The Fallout series in paticular, is diffently worth a try, as well as Baldur's Gate. There a bit old, but you might be able to find a way to get them to work on your rig.

As for Oblivion or any Elder Scrolls game, if I had a choice weather to get it for the PC or the Console, go with PC if you your rig can handle it. The reason, mods. Bethesda's Elder Scrolls has had a long and healthy mod community. The have mods out there that adds everything from better character graphics, to bigger and better dungeons or even new islands to explore, new monsters, new weapons, armor, clothes etc, and some pretty swank living quarters, even some portable ones ranging from tents to giant floating palaces. Theres even mods out there to address some things that developers left out or overlooked, such as vampire clans in Oblivion, or horses in Morrowind.

Mods are the main reason I still find myself playing Morrowind. I'll tell you once you start playing Morrowind or Oblivion + mods, you'll never want to play the game modless ever again.

[Young Avenger]

I've forgot about the mods. I remember reading an article a while back about their being a mod making it possible to play Morrowind on Oblivion. A friend of mine actually the PC version of Oblivion. I should ask him to loan me the game,

[Young Avenger]

I've forgot about the mods. I remember reading an article a while back about their being a mod making it possible to play Morrowind on Oblivion. A friend of mine actually the PC version of Oblivion. I should ask him to loan me the game,

[BlairH]

NVIDIA GeForce 9400

Get this upgraded to a Geforce 8800GT or a 9600 card post-haste. 8800GT cards can be had very cheaply these days. The 9400 is a low-powered card designed for basic media duties, not for high-end 3D gaming.

[Young Avenger]

Get this upgraded to a Geforce 8800GT or a 9600 card post-haste. 8800GT cards can be had very cheaply these days. The 9400 is a low-powered card designed for basic media duties, not for high-end 3D gaming.

I just checked Amazon for GeForce 8800GT cards and theres so many of them with varying prices. This is going to be hard

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

I just checked Amazon for GeForce 8800GT cards and theres so many of them with varying prices. This is going to be hard


Well here is a list of the ones from evga. They make damn good cards and I used them for my past 4 nvidia cards. They have lifetime warranties, never given me a problem and when I called their customer service with a question about their steup program a real english speaking person answered that knew what they were talking about. Newegg is the best place to order parts. They almost always have best prices and good shipping prices, they ship quick and about always have rebate offers, good customer service and very reliable.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001402&Description=8800%20gt&name=EVGA

Of course if your going to actually invest in a new card I wouldnt reccomend getting a 8800gt unless you just can not afford more anytime in the near future. Youll be buying old tech that has been far surpassed. For another hundred you can get a card that is double the performance that is also cooler running (using the new 8.8 driver version), quieter and sucks up less power from the psu.

I just got the new one from ati to replace my 8800 gts g92 and it blows it away and even the new nvidia 260 and is almost on par with the new nvidia 280 series for a hell of alot less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129113

Here is a comparrison.......
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=1
and
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870,1964-7.html

[Bazooka Jones]

World of Warcraft.

Whether you end up loving it or hating it, you might as well check it out.

[Young Avenger]

Well here is a list of the ones from evga. They make damn good cards and I used them for my past 4 nvidia cards. They have lifetime warranties, never given me a problem and when I called their customer service with a question about their steup program a real english speaking person answered that knew what they were talking about. Newegg is the best place to order parts. They almost always have best prices and good shipping prices, they ship quick and about always have rebate offers, good customer service and very reliable.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001402&Description=8800%20gt&name=EVGA

Of course if your going to actually invest in a new card I wouldnt reccomend getting a 8800gt unless you just can not afford more anytime in the near future. Youll be buying old tech that has been far surpassed. For another hundred you can get a card that is double the performance that is also cooler running (using the new 8.8 driver version), quieter and sucks up less power from the psu.

I just got the new one from ati to replace my 8800 gts g92 and it blows it away and even the new nvidia 260 and is almost on par with the new nvidia 280 series for a hell of alot less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129113

Here is a comparrison.......
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=1
and
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870,1964-7.html

A good GFX card that I can afford? Holy Crap! Before I make my decision I want to know how easy it is to install this thing. I've never had experience in adding new computer hardware in my rig.

[Lester C.]

If you make some upgrades you might want to buy games you already own on a console. For instance I'm playing Knights of The Old Republic 2 on my computer and the inscene graphics look like the game was made for the Xbox 360 rather than the Xbox. This is true for all my other old console games like Fable and Grand Theft Auto. The only downside is that the cgi scenes look the same from the console to the PC.

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

A good GFX card that I can afford? Holy Crap! Before I make my decision I want to know how easy it is to install this thing. I've never had experience in adding new computer hardware in my rig.

Give me a little while Ill throw something together that you can see and that will tell if you want to tackle it yourself. Its not really as daunting as you would expect, its fairly easy since things only go in certain spots certain ways, kind of like a puzzle only you have for the most part just a few big pieces.

[jesse_custer]

Fallout
Fallout 2
Baldur's Gate II
Planescape: Torment
Heroes of Might and Magic III

These are the best games I've played on the PC.

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

Ok. Updating a video.

First things first.

#1 you need to make sure you got room in your case. The video card I most reccomend is 9 and 1/2 inches long plus you need another inch of room atleast for the power connectors.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/Gargus/d.jpg

#2 For what you have in your pc already plus this card you should have no less than a 500watt power supply with 2 free pci-e power connectors. Which I pictured below. And no, it does not suck up power just because there are 2, it draws less power than even a 8800gts I used to have or the new 260 or 280 series from nvidia when underload.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/Gargus/b.jpg

#3 You will need 2 free slots since newer cards will be double the width of normal ones to allow for a decent cooling system. Ideally 3 slots open is the best so it lets the fan suck in as much air as it need, it sucks in air, moves it through the heatsink system and blows it out the back of the video card on the backside of your pc. You can see in this pic what I mean, the grills on the bottom is where the air comes out.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/Gargus/e.jpg

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

Ok Before we start, the prep work.

#1 First things first, dont use drivers that come with video card, they are always outdated and so are drivers from the manufacturer of the card. Always get them from the official ATI website. So go here and download the drivers for it and leave them on your desktop where they are found easily.
https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/gamesite/8-8_vista64_dd_67981.exe

#2 Go into the windows control panel and uninstall the old nvidia display drivers. After its done it will ask if you want to restart, you say no and go into your C: driver through my computer and delete the nvidia folder and then you can restarts. After it has restarted the screen will look funky and ugly since drivers arent installed. Shut down the pc now.

Now on to the removal.

When you take the side off it should look like this somewhat more or less. And if you look at the yellow circle I (poorly) put in there you can see a little white clip, you should have something like it in the same spot in your pc, it just locks in the video card. You either push it down or pull it up to free the video card after you unscrew it from the back of the case where the back plate is secured (which I noted with a red circle) and it comes right out.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/Gargus/f.jpg


Now you have a big empty spot like this. As far as hardware installation goes, the hardest part is over, its all downhill from here.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/Gargus/c.jpg

Now you just take the new card, seat it firmly into the top slot being pci-express slot (dont worry if you have more than one, just put it in the top slot nearest the processor). And it should snap into place and be firmly in there. Now you just put the 2 screws back in and clip in your 2 power pci-e 6 pin connectors and close it up. And should look about like this.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/Gargus/a.jpg

Now turn her on.

When you first fire up your pc the icons and background will look all big and ugly, thats because we dont have the drivers installed. So just double click on the drivers I had you download earlier and go through the steps and after you reboot it will look all better. Then you can shrink down the font size and such to your liking cause it will likely max out and be tiny sized as a default.

After that you should be good to go. I tested my card and it runs everything maxed out for new games. The only time I had a bit of a issue was with crysis, the frame rates would drop a little bit when I was in a area that had a ton of trees in it. But I had it max settings in like a resolution of 1680x1050, it would still run in a playable manner but it chugged a little bit, but thats not even my cards fault, its the shoddy coding and lack of support from cryteam on the game. Unreal tournament 3 is max everything and runs great,call of duty 4 is max everything and runs smooth, all the newer games run just fine on it with no issues on my end. Even games like world of warcraft and stalker look better because of the color pallete, especially in stalker the colors look richer.

[Young Avenger]

:eek: I can begin to tell you just how much I appreciate this. Thanks a lot!

[DrewTheXenocide]

Wow, dude. Mad props on the walkthrough.

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

After that I would suggest downloading and running ccleaner. Its basically for like spyware and such but it also checks and clears registry entries, so it will get rid of old nvidia registry entries that "might" cause a issue as well as clean up other assorted trash.
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
Personally I like a full system format especially if I change major hardware like a motherboard or change video card brands since I do check for bios update, dvdrom firmware up and just start allover fresh. But in your case you wont have to.

And on a side note, since your using vista and not sure if your using service pack 1 or not I would say make sure you have it since it increases performance quite a bit and solves alot of file transfer issues and helps with hardware compatibility (just make sure you always chose custom updates and never get the hardware updates from microsoft unless you want a headache hehe).
Here is a link to the sp1 update full version http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d-5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en

Oh and if you use yahoo messenger you can find me as imaginary_fiction on it or send me a pm here if you got a question about anything or want to know about pc games (been playing everything since I was 6 and that was 27 years ago hehe).

[Serik]

Your case is so nice and clean. My Antec 900 case is a jungle of wires, probably ruining the air flow the case is designed for.

Cool walkthrough.

[Phrozen]

Really any Civilization Game
Any Total War game
Age of Empires III
Command & Conqueor III and Red Alert III (coming soon)
Half Life 2

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

Your case is so nice and clean. My Antec 900 case is a jungle of wires, probably ruining the air flow the case is designed for.

Cool walkthrough.


Hehe well I did rebuild it not but like 3 months ago and the hard drive and video card I just put in like 3 weeks ago. But I try and keep everything I have in good condition.

Oh and it wasnt like 15 minutes after I posted my yahoo messenger name if anyone needed help and I had 2 people add me but I accepted I think before I noticed who they were (didnt add to me list) so hope I didnt ignore you or something on accident. So shoot me a message sometime.

[Mike Pothier]

Hehe well I did rebuild it not but like 3 months ago and the hard drive and video card I just put in like 3 weeks ago. But I try and keep everything I have in good condition.

Oh and it wasnt like 15 minutes after I posted my yahoo messenger name if anyone needed help and I had 2 people add me but I accepted I think before I noticed who they were (didnt add to me list) so hope I didnt ignore you or something on accident. So shoot me a message sometime.

I was one of them. I do have some questions, so expect an IM from me soon.

[CConMan]

A good site for online gaming is instantaction.com

It has a ridiculously large catalog of games for free, so you should check it out.

Also, they are doing this promotion to get people to quit smoking by saying its better to game than to smoke.

I am going to try it out, because I waste too much time taking smoke breaks at work (think the boss is starting to notice).

antismokebreak.com

Enjoy!

[Wally_West]

Since you like puzzle games, try The Longest Journey and its sequel, Dreamfall.

That game (the first one), got good reviews. But does it play like myst? Is that what they mean by adventure/puzzle?

[Mike Pothier]

Its in the same genre as Myst, but the interface is completely different. The Longest Journey plays more like the old Kings Quest games (you point and click where you want your character to walk and interact with).

Both games are very story driven, so expect to sit and listen to the dialog. But its all very well written and acted, so there's nothing to worry about there.

[Pariah74]

Any Total War game

Quoted for truth. I recommend you start looking at genres that don't exist on the consoles. For the most part PC gaming & console game are the same except for a few small but important differences. One of which is the complete lack of any turn based strategy games on the consoles. Try out some Total War and come back and thank us.

The other differences are going to come from FPS. Why anyone who loves first person shooters would only play them on a console is beyond me. On a PC you're gonna have better graphics, more people in one game and the all important MODS!

Which brings us to RPGs...another genre that I can't believe exist on consoles when PC's just rock the house so much! Neverwinter Nights is a perfect example. That game is old as my grandpa's farts but I still play it. Why? Because of all the user made content! I love to make a quick module and copy it for some friends, or download an old classic like Keep on the Borderlands and play it through. Impossible on consoles...or at least hasn't been done.


As far as MMO's go...well to each his own and I did my stint in City of Heroes but honestly it's not worth it to me.
I pretty much agree with the spaz who made this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubmX-Xg1bAQ

[Lester C.]

Is there a new version of Windows coming out soon? I want to get a new gaming computer but Vista has a bad rep for not being able to play games not made for Vista.

[Mike Pothier]

Windows 7, but there is no offical release date yet. Its supposed to focus on touch-screen capabilities.

Vista does get a bad rap, unfairly I believe. I've been using it for roughly 3 months now, and its not that bad. It has many new features I like.

[Pariah74]

Is there a new version of Windows coming out soon? I want to get a new gaming computer but Vista has a bad rep for not being able to play games not made for Vista.

There is no real reason IMO to use anything but XP yet. Vista is XP with some features moved to different locations and not much else. Even Microsoft cannot explain the difference between Vista and XP. Windows 7 may or may not take off, but Vista will soon go to the pile with ME, NT3.x, and heck you could probably throw 98 on that pile too.

The difference with Vista and ME is that Vista is being crammed down our throats. Vistas problems were, and continue to be, myriad for the average user, whether they know it or not. It's slow and clunky compared to OSX and even XP, it wastes time flashing it's features at us when all we want to do is get to it. The best operating systems are invisible, intuitive and shouldn't be noticed by the user, sort of like the plumbing or electricity in a building. There will always be those who want flashy colorful interfaces etc, but let them be an optional extra, not the required norm. On top of all that, if you strip away the mostly useless flash of Vista you are left with XP.

Instead of Vista Microsoft should have just slashed prices on XP so all of us with a bootleg version could have bought the real thing. :biggrin:

That said, it's also common knowledge that Microsoft doesn't get anything right until the third version anyway.

[Serik]

Windows XP is still my OS of choice for gaming. The latest Steam hardware survey (http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/directx/) reveals that 67% of respondents still use 32-bit XP, so you don't have to worry about developers leaving it behind (unless they're retarded).