Which is better for gaming and why. is it true that widescreens are bad for aiming in shooters?cyprusxx

I'm not sure to be honest, but I would imagine that if you're serious about gaming competitively then I would say go with a monitor with a standard aspect ratio (I believe it's 4:3) to be safe, unless you hear that there is no real discernible difference. I have a wide screen myself though and haven't noticed any difficulty playing online shooters and I'm running at a standard 1600X1200 resolution believe it or not and it looks great.

Hey guys,

I'm seeking the advice of anyone who knows anything at all about game servers. I've almost got all of the pieces to my setup. I've got an Assent Wireless MBR400 router which for internet use, utilizes my internet service through Millenicom on my Franklin CDU-680 modem. I just recently purchased an 11 db gain antenna for my wireless internet and now I get a consistent -72 db signal with decent speeds.

My recent speedtest.net test showed a speed of 845kbps down with 230kbps up and a 386 ms ping to a server in Washington DC. My ping isn't that great, but it's certainly better than my other two options that I have in this rural area (satellite = yea right, and dial-up = are you kidding me?). However the LAN should be plenty fast.

Anyways, getting back to my question, I would like to know everything concerning game servers. Assuming I know next to nothing about game servers would be a genuine assumption. My main rig is an x2 4400+ OC'd to around 2.5 GHz, MSI 8600GT OC Edition (I overclocked the overclocked edition, lol, to 1646 MHz memory and gave the gpu about a 50 MHz increase), and 2 gigs of low latency DDR2-800 memory with my page swap for virtual memory on a second hard drive inside my PC (drivers are SATA-150).

Would this rig be capable of acting as an effective game server for a 3 computer LAN in my office here at home that I plan to have friends over to play team-based action games on or will I need a dedicated server? If I need to go the dedicated route, please explain the basics of what's involved in the process. Thanks so much! :D

[QUOTE="RayvinAzn"]

IBM-compatible? You mean they're Intel-based now? Apple left IBM's PowerPC architecture for Intel's Core-architecture.

As for backing up the claim that Apple machine can boot to Windows, I'm having a flashback to 2005. Google Boot Camp, it's been around for ages.

Angry_Bosmer

Yeah IBM compatible is a term of the 80s.

I agree 110% that IBM compatible is an ancient term and understand the correction. I'm old school and should adopt a new one, but have always been a geek for nostalgia, even when it comes to stuff like that, lol. :D

Anyways, thanks Kodai for the time you spent answering my questions. I never looked into all that before, but you've shed light on all of it for me and it was very much appreciated.

[QUOTE="kodai"]

The hardware you listed will make a fine portable game system. Ignore anybody that tells you otherwise. There is a caveat though. You will have to dual boot with XP or Vista if you want to run more than the hadfull of games offered on the OS-X platform. If you have your heart set on a mac book, then by all means, go for it. Same hardware and same performance as a Win PC. Just boot Windows for games and OS-X for anything else. As for the games up mentioned I can only say that on Windows with that hardware you will find Crysis to perform somewhat poorly. Crysis and the 8600m are not good friends and they never will be. The rest of your list will play very well. Infact, you should be able to either max them out or get very close to doing so. The 8600m is a very good budget 3D card for notebooks. There is better, but not on the Apple line at the momment.

chadw_genx

Wow, that is news to me. Kodai, can you really boot Windows on a Mac box? I had heard that for the last couple of years or so, Macs were using IBM-compatible hardware, but never looked into it. I guess if the hardware is 100% IBM-Compatible with the x86 achitecture etc., then Windows would install as long as the Mac uses the same NTFS file system or Vista could read the Mac system.

Could you give me some more information on that last point regarding the file system and if the new Mac hardware is 100% IBM-compatible. I may just have to buy a Mac for my next PC. Wow, never thought I would say that. I'm not trying to come across as condescending, but do you know of any sites that back up your claim? Thanks in advance as this is extremely interesting to me. :D

I just remembered that Vista and all other Windows OS's are capable and require formatting the hdd with what the applicable filesystem (NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, etc.), so that is really a mute point as with two partitions - one could be formatted with NTFS and the other with whatever OS-X uses or just NTFS if OS-X can utilize NTFS. So I guess then if the hardware is 100% IBM-compatible and really just PC type parts, then you're 100% right. Wow, I've got to look into this as I've always wanted an excuse to learn the Mac OS.

The hardware you listed will make a fine portable game system. Ignore anybody that tells you otherwise. There is a caveat though. You will have to dual boot with XP or Vista if you want to run more than the hadfull of games offered on the OS-X platform. If you have your heart set on a mac book, then by all means, go for it. Same hardware and same performance as a Win PC. Just boot Windows for games and OS-X for anything else. As for the games up mentioned I can only say that on Windows with that hardware you will find Crysis to perform somewhat poorly. Crysis and the 8600m are not good friends and they never will be. The rest of your list will play very well. Infact, you should be able to either max them out or get very close to doing so. The 8600m is a very good budget 3D card for notebooks. There is better, but not on the Apple line at the momment.

kodai

Wow, that is news to me. Kodai, can you really boot Windows on a Mac box? I had heard that for the last couple of years or so, Macs were using IBM-compatible hardware, but never looked into it. I guess if the hardware is 100% IBM-Compatible with the x86 achitecture etc., then Windows would install as long as the Mac uses the same NTFS file system or Vista could read the Mac system.

Could you give me some more information on that last point regarding the file system and if the new Mac hardware is 100% IBM-compatible. I may just have to buy a Mac for my next PC. Wow, never thought I would say that. I'm not trying to come across as condescending, but do you know of any sites that back up your claim? Thanks in advance as this is extremely interesting to me. :D

Examine your processor closely. Make sure the pins on your processor are all still intact as well as the processor itself. Intels are tough, but 100 degrees celsius is firey hot.

If all looks ok (you can't really judge anything other than the pins), ensure that your cooling fan over the heatsink is plugged into the motherboard's pins for your CPU fan. Also, if you're using aftermarket thermal paste, you only need to apply a pea sized amount to the middle of the processor before latching the heatsink over it.

One of the other posters mentioned removing the old paste with alcohol, etc. and that's darn good advice. Turn your system on next time with the case open and visually inspect your CPU fan to ensure that the fan is spinning. Also make sure nothing is obstructing the contact of the heatsink and processor. Nothing other than thermal paste should be between these two things and the heatsink should be pressing down quite firmly on the processor.

Hope this helps mate and have a pleasant night! :D

Hey guys,

I'm debating on whether to go with an additional 8600GT (currently have an OC'd MSI) or possibly put my existing 8600GT on eBay or craigslist and just upgrade to a single 8800GT. My board will probably be a factor in this decision, I've got a Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 rev 2.0 motherboard.

This particular board runs 2 cards in SLI with 8 lanes per card, as opposed to having true dual PCI-Express architecture and running both with 16 lanes. Having just a single card installed will dedicate all 16 lanes to the sole video card on the board's bus.

My dilemma is deciding on which route to go. Buying an additional 8600GT will probably be the cheapest route, whereas selling my current 8600GT and opting for an 8800GT will ultimately be a more costly expense. I do think that a single 8800GT on this board would outperform 2 - 8600GT's in SLI mode, though, and being a PC gamer = a need for speed.

So what do you guys think? I'd love for multiple opinions with reasons backing the respective opinion, if you have the time. I thank everyone in advance for taking time to read and/or reply to this topic. Thanks!

chadw_genx

[QUOTE="chadw_genx"][QUOTE="luamhtrad"]

[QUOTE="chadw_genx"]Microsoft Windows Longhorn (7) will likely be a much better OS than Vista. Vista is still the same Windows code as the original just with tons of updating. Windows Longhorn will be coded from the ground up. Thus, don't expect it to be compatible with anything older than 2 years old. I doubt they will incorporate support for any legacy devices. The key point is Longhorn is not yet out, and Vista stands as the best OS available today that is from MS. If you have the money and haven't upgraded yet, do it and you will not be disappointed. Add a bit of RAM or turn off Windows Aero interface if you're worried about resource hogging. Cheers :Dthreepac81

Longhorn was Vista's development codename. The development codename for Windows 7, is Vienna.

Uhh, Longhorn was the codename for Server '08, not Vista.

Your half right... Longhorn was/is the codename for Vista and Server 2008. SOURCE HERE

I stand corrected. I just googled longhorn and indeed it did also refer to Vista as well as Server 2008.

[QUOTE="chadw_genx"]Microsoft Windows Longhorn (7) will likely be a much better OS than Vista. Vista is still the same Windows code as the original just with tons of updating. Windows Longhorn will be coded from the ground up. Thus, don't expect it to be compatible with anything older than 2 years old. I doubt they will incorporate support for any legacy devices. The key point is Longhorn is not yet out, and Vista stands as the best OS available today that is from MS. If you have the money and haven't upgraded yet, do it and you will not be disappointed. Add a bit of RAM or turn off Windows Aero interface if you're worried about resource hogging. Cheers :Dluamhtrad

Longhorn was Vista's development codename. The development codename for Windows 7, is Vienna.

Uhh, Longhorn was the codename for Server '08, not Vista.

I got vista home premimum. It looks pretty, and daily operations are not bad. But the biggest drawback is that Vista doesn't run KOTOR or KOTOR II period. I have tried for a year using every method I can think of, but KOTOR still doesn't run.wow1059

I have KOTOR II on my Vista 32-bit Business OS and it runs just fine. Try patching the game and/or your video card drivers.

The truth about MS Vista: I used to bash this software constantly. I wondered why they had to revamp the GUI and make permissions set so tight. The truth is, since I've owned Vista, I haven't received a single piece of malware. Not one virus, not one worm, trojan, spyware, or piece of adware. I have scanned with 4 different virus and spyware scanners on many occassions and never gotten a piece of malware.

In addition Vista is extremely stable on my machine. The only time I ever received a lockup or BSOD was when I overclocked my RAM insanely high. Vista SP1 is the best MS OS that has ever been released by leaps and bounds. It is much less of a resource hog than it used to be and while games may run a tad bit slower because Vista uses a tad bit more resident memory, this can be completely bypassed by turning the Windows Aero interface off. Vista will no longer look so pretty but will use about the same amount of resources as XP, only with Direct X 10 and a more stable OS.

Microsoft Windows Longhorn (7) will likely be a much better OS than Vista. Vista is still the same Windows code as the original just with tons of updating. Windows Longhorn will be coded from the ground up. Thus, don't expect it to be compatible with anything older than 2 years old. I doubt they will incorporate support for any legacy devices. The key point is Longhorn is not yet out, and Vista stands as the best OS available today that is from MS. If you have the money and haven't upgraded yet, do it and you will not be disappointed. Add a bit of RAM or turn off Windows Aero interface if you're worried about resource hogging. Cheers :D