The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

Yeah that's it, actually installing takes around 12-15 minutes, all the rest of the time listed is just wait time.

 

yeah under 40mins till i was ready to install programs

 

Wow, we got the rare boozer visit. Hey buddy what's going on with the boat your folks bought? Are you even more popular than before now that you have your sea wheels?

Speaking of sea wheels - did you guys catch the announcement about the new cruise ship that is 7 times bigger than the Titanic, and 40% bigger than the next thing still floating? I don't know, however, how it compares to something like the Queen Elizabeth - do you Brits know?

You guys out ahead with the new windows and various catalyst problems remind me of how I DO NOT like to play L4D - I DON'T LIKE TO BE OUT AHEAD, lol.

(Damn! This was going to be a quick, short post. Hopefully with this post I have now officially run out of stuff to say about L4D.)

A new friend, Marcus, a "shotgun HERO out-ahead-of-everybody-else kind of guy," asked me yesterday "why uzi, berkeley, when you could have shotgun?" The answer could have been - "If you find defendable positions, in corners for example, or on top of things, the uzi is fine - shoot - melee during your much-quicker-than-shotgun reload - shoot some more. But it depends on the map. I'll start with shotgun in Blood Harvest because you're passing trees on all sides and no real corners to defend from.

With "hero" Marcus last night, there were numerous times on the chapter leading to the church in Death Toll, in the wide-open railroad area around the tower, where I'm sure he grew to appreciate my ability, with uzi, to crouch, and using half a clip in short bursts, take out a long-distance smoker who had him caught. Our out-in-front-hero friend Marcus was smokered more times per hour than anybody I ever saw, haha.

(Colt requires half the number of bullets and additionally has a much longer range of course than uzi. I've tried the same long-range action on smokers with pistols in the past, always crouching for best aim, but whereas an uzi would have gotten them, the pistols wouldn't if the smoker was around 100 yards away or further. But when you have colt/AR/M16/M4 - call it what you want - MAN! - if you can see them - you can kill them. From all the way back to the fence when you start the fork-lift crescendo event, in The Streets chapter in Death Toll, if you crouch, you can fill the air with red head-exploding colt bursts as they pour over the hill at least 150-200 yards away. Very exciting fun. I have never taken a health hit at fence. Also it's a rate-of-fire issue. I have to believe that pistol rounds are as powerful, or more powerful, than uzi rounds, but uzi spits them out really fast in that rather interesting mechanical clicking noise that it makes, and certainly should have a longer range with presumably a longer barrel length than pistol. I guess I could look it up, but it just HAS to be at least a couple of inches longer.)

Back to uzi as a weapon, I remember Sam, regarding that same point, finally insisting that I take a colt when it became available. "Rich take the AR for heavens sake!" Do you remember, Sam?

Today, I can't really understand why I ever liked uzi. It fires faster, yes, but compared to AR it's sooo weak. However, since I prefer to start with uzi over shotgun in Crash Course, I am just lately trying to get more head shots with it, in order to save ammo, and to avoid reloading so often, like in trying to clear out the first basement with 5 zombies, with one clip, to save time before the horde gets started. The head shots are working nicely.

Their little heads don't blow off, like with AR, but they go down fast with a quick 4-5 round bursts. But if it takes me 50 rounds to kill 5, I guess those bursts are maybe closer to 10 rounds each - the uzi spits out ammo like nobody's business. (I also just tested and discovered that two pistol shots to the head is a definite zombie kill.) Perhaps, before, I didn't like the loud colt sound - on CSS I always played with the silencer - but now I DO LIKE the sound it makes. Maybe it was because I formerly was using my other Medusa headset that I discovered is defective, with a virtually dead left-rear speaker (Medusa has five speakers in each ear.)

I will almost always upgrade to AUTO-SHOTTIE, however, over uzi, then I'll often upgrade to AR, depending on my mood, and just lately I'm trying hunting rifle more. Sometimes that's the only thing they give you. So I decided to start trying it out more. One guy the other night came back to the white truck with me and said "No I don't like sniper rifle - I'll stick with Uzi." That's how I used to feel. But I REALLY like the sound it makes, and I am growing to appreciate the SUPER stopping power. So yesterday I put the sniper zoom on F, and switched the flashlight down to C, where pills used to be, and now pills are on 5 next to med kit on 4. My important 4 key is roughed up with 10-15 little pieces of scotch tape so I can find it fast and keep it separate from Reload - I'm uncoordinated.

The flash bangs in COD4 got me trying to learn where 4 is, and after putting them on different keys, I moved them back to 4 and roughed up the key pad for a unique tactile quality so I can find it - 4 seems to be a little bit of a challenge for me with the pointing finger which now covers 6 keypads. Similarly I had a hard time learning to visually look for Z for prone on Day of Defeat, until I trained my little finger. Now it's pretty reliable and that's where prone is on all games that feature prone. Pointing finger covers 6 keypads, while little finger, ring finger, and middle finger, all cover just two, and thumb handles jumping. Thank you god for these fingers so I can play video games.

Back to sniper rifle, that gun of course is a one-shot head blow off, like Jeff discovered a few months back with AR, but anything - hunter, smoker, zombie - two shots anywhere on their bodies with hunting rifle, and they go down. You have 15 powerful rounds, pretty near 200 rounds to start with, but a slightly longer reload - a scary one-second longer reload than AR or Uzi, I believe. I haven't timed it.

Anyway, I was gonna make this post really short, because the more I talk about L4D, the more I want to get on the other computer and start playing again. (Who got me addicted to this thing - Sam and Jeff? - thanks guys ) I really need to get back to my Wednesday-only discipline so I can make some real estate sales and build the new rig, and maybe also take a cruise on that giant ship they just launched.

So here's the one thing I started out to post:

Do you guys remember the warehouse in the beginning of crash course, just a little bit down the alley? The drop-down from that warehouse back into the alley is one-way trip, unless you're an olympian and can make the huge leap from the trash bin, or unless you can make a similarly-tricky, perhaps slightly easier leap, from the front of the adjacent white van.

(It's really nice to be able to get back up if you stumble upon a tank a little further down the alley. I can't tell you how many times I've run back only to have the sickening realization that it was a dead end - and there I am, trying in a panic to make the big leap, and it's not happening, lol.)

But . . . . if you carry a propane tank with you, by crouching down and attempting to push the trash bin, and as you are doing so, throwing the propane at it - you will overcome its inertia and see that it starts to move, ever so slowly, toward the warehouse loading dock. If you want to eliminate any leap at all, it takes about 60 seconds to move it all the way, or half the time if a teammate helps. Then - no prob getting back up anytime you want - like for the horde that is coming right now and you can't make it to the white truck. LOL

If you do this method - may I suggest you put an extra propane tank in the white van on the stairs side of the warehouse - the tank will knock the trash can you just re-positioned out of the way as he comes after everybody, and you could actually get another tank.

For some reason, propane tanks lying around seem to disappear when the tank comes through the neighborhood. Or if you bring two through the warehouse - I suggest you put one in that white truck near the back fence, for safe keeping, for restoring the trash can after perturbed tankie-boy is laid to rest. Like I say, you can still stumble upon another tank - like just as you start to drop down to the road next to the river - so you may be coming back this way soon with tank-on-butt.

By the way, one last thing about tank battles. The most fun tank-killing is near the end of chapter one on Crash Course if you get a tank after you handle the crescendo event from firing the howitzer.

THE MOST FUN TANK-KILLING YOU WILL EVER ENJOY!

Anyway, some of the most-fun tank killing that you will ever have is right after that. You start to cross the bridge and you hear the tell-tale deep chilling growl. Or worse yet, you think you're home free, you're not listening for him, and Mr. Rage is inside in the room just in front of the safe house. The Director is up to new tricks - killed twice that way recently - never had it happen before!

(A guy showed me a place behind the last bus - you make a slight scary drop off to a ledge - he swears no tank can get you. I dropped down to see if I could, without falling into the river. But I haven't tested it against a tank yet - maybe never will.)

Here is my favorite way to kill that bridge tank - this is how I set it up for the team:

Listen carefully, there it is, that low growl. The growl is not that threatening - which makes it even more threatening by contrast with the excitement to come. He is somewhere out on the bridge just past the first set of cars. The players with low health fall back. The weakest 1-health black and white guy takes the minigun. The healthiest player walks out on the bridge and stirs things up. All hell starts breaking loose.

Duhhhhh duh duh duhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - those four very loud ominous notes with full orchestra and tympani, slowly dropping down the scale, 2 beats, 1 beat, 1 beat, 4 beats. I dream about that tank music.

Everybody falls back and takes up positions with AR or sniper rifle next to the howitzer, like when Jeff was describing the defense against the hordes of attacking Chinese in OFR. The minigun keeps up its deadly fire. The tank bellows in rage, and begins tossing huge concrete chunks from the beginning of the bridge. I yell out "Keep firing - he can't throw that far." The concrete gets closer. I say, mostly to keep the minigunner from abandoning his post, "Keep firing, he's almost dead." I can sense it - a subtle slow-down in the powerful movements. Then suddenly the tank collapses!

Hahahaha. An exciting, very memorable, very satisfying tank-killing moment.

I like to kill witches that same way. Especially if you have about 50 yards to work with. I think we even did it once with uzis, as I recall. Somebody starts the witch, preferably with a molotov. Everybody is lined up sideways. You unload on the burning witch as she runs toward you, while the starter runs backward trying to escape death. When she dies and the player is still alive, especially if it's me - time to Break out the Bud! LOL

Some guys are really good witch killers on auto-shottie. I used to use the auto-shottie in auto mode waiting for the next round. The rate of fire is slightly slower than twice per second, 10 rounds in 5-6 seconds I recall. But I find that too slow these days. Now I hit the fire button - 10 rounds in about 3-4 seconds. You can do two rounds in a half-second - important to do it that way with hunters before they pounce.

Yesterday we were in the Crash Course finale next to the ammo container, and three guys were fairly healthy, and I said "Kill me. I'll come back in the copy paper hero closet with 50 health, instead of the one-health I have now. As a guy started killing me with AR, another guy said "No, wait, go kill the witch." She was just across the way, next to the semi trailer behind the copy paper warehouse. The AR guy stopped shooting, and revived me. Now I'm 30 health, bleeding out, black and white. I grab the auto shottie, walk over, and as she starts getting enraged, I press the fire button as fast as I can, startling her and getting off about 6 rounds. The witch is dead and I'm still alive. Hahahaha. I laughed in total amazement. Now I can kill witches!

As they rescued me from the copy room closet, (Zoey always says "Free copy paper, the apocalypse is totally worth it!") a guy said "You should be able to kill a witch with one shot." I said "Hell, I don't care how many shots it took, as long as she's dead and I'm not, hahahaha."

 

Jeeeesus you still write essays.

And my boat was an epic fail since by dad and his partner both bought it. I've only been on it once. I've bought some nice cars since then though.

 

You may be interested to know Rich, that the L4D2 uzi (in case you aren't already aware) has a higher bullet usage rate, its effect seems to be about the same but it runs through ammo much faster, as the bullets now count down accurately to the sound the gun makes. End result of this is 700 ammo capacity instead of the c. 450-500 from before, though more reloads obviously.
As of L4D2, 'AR' is no longer appropriate for the Colt, as there are now three, the Colt, AK47 and a burst-fire AR, not sure what the real name is.
The pistols do substantially more damage than the SMG bullets that I can tell, and the fire rate is actually quite similar in the original L4D if you have two, and know how to click-spam (two fingers for the same mouse button). The accuracy is a little weaker though, and reload times are longer, and more frequent.

Could do with a little edit at the end, just in case site staff actually sit down to read one of your essays

Much like everyone else I know who owned a Medusa headset.
The sniper rifle is very powerful for small numbers of zombies, but for hordes it's hopeless, and thus, I use it the least of the level 2 weapons (the level system weakens in L4D2 as you can get level 1 and level 2 weapons scattered alongside each other)

I'll be honest Rich, I really don't have time to read the rest.

 

Interestingly, it looks like Catalyst 9.10 writes some code into the game directories, I'm not sure how. Suffice to say a clean reformat with only 9.7 installed still preserves the bugs both with Operation Flashpoint and the Left 4 Dead 2 Demo. Not really sure where to proceed from here, don't want to have to reinstall all the games as well.

 

Yes it does, but you can throttle back on the bursts. If you get a magnum pistol, just use that on everything except for hordes (3-4 shots will kill charger.) After reloading at the safe house, I was able to maintain 300 rounds until we found M16. Yes, I asked the guy with me, up on top after turning off the alarm "What gun is this?" He said "It fires in bursts!" I didn't know, because I always fire in bursts, hahaha. Must be something from COD4.

Haha - good point - three "dirty" words in a row!! But not the "f" bomb. I'll leave it for now

-soon-to-be-banned Rich.

You bast*rd, lol. That was my greatest tank-killing writing I have ever done - and come on - you're a speed reader anyway, fess up.

Hey boozer - yeah another and maybe last essay of all. Sorry they're not letting you use the boat to be "man on the must-date list" but I'd like to hear about those cars sometime.

But no more essays - HEY FORUM BUDDIES - IT'S STILL EARLY FOR YOU BRITS LIKE SAM AND SHAFF - (I have no idea what time it is in Australia and I heard a nasty rumor that L4D2 is banned there)

COME ON AND FIND ME - BERKELEY - OR HARVARDGUY - ON L4D2 DEMO TODAY AND JOIN UP. It's so much fun!! I'll be on for the next 10-12 hours. If you don't have the demo, just find me on your friends list, choose "join game" and Steam will download the 2.2 gig demo for you whether you have pre-ordered or not - free for all Steam users.

Come find me. If the game is full send me a message and I'll invite you as soon as there's a bot.

-Rich

 

I must admit, when we did the Demo on expert (and passed with flying colours, we didn't have to retry once) I found myself using the magnum a lot - I'm liking it!
Yeah there is one gun which fires in 3-round burst as opposed to single shot/continuous like the colt. I don't know what it's based on in real life.
Speed reader + 5000 word essay doesn't equal speed finished

 

The Colt is an M16A2. The Colt in Far Cry is actually an AR15 which is largely the same gun but more modular(just wanted to add that in). I'm fairly certain the new one in L4D2 is an M4 which is capable of firing in bursts in real life.

I've fired M16's, AR15's, and AK-47's in real life too. All semi-automatic of course. There's very little operational difference between the M16 and the AR15. My friend has two of them and basically they're all metal vs composite for the M16. They are also easier to modify and can have different sight rails installed. Haha just random gun stuff. I myself have a Ruger .357 Magnum my uncle gave me for Christmas, and a Chinese AK-47 with a folding stock and a 71 round drum. And a few deer/target rifles, a Marlin 30-30, a Winchester 7mm Magnum, and a Ruger .22 with a 10 round rotary magazine.

I don't use all of my guns but I've had them out to the range at some time or another. I use my 30-30 to hunt whitetail deer and that's about it. Sometimes my friend and I go to the range with his AR15 and my AK-47. Fun as hell to shoot up pumpkins and 2 by 4s. Haha we're both computer geeks too. It's hilarious

 

Ah, US gun culture, and how I will never understand it...

 

yet oh how i want to be part of it

 

What's not to understand? Guns are awesome! It's like a million times more fun to fire the real thing vs clicking a mouse. Only problem is you can't do it all the time due to the cost of ammo. The 7.62mm aluminum for my AK isn't too bad though. I'm not really a gun nut but I have happened to get my hands on a few over the years. My AK and Ruger .22 have seen maybe 10,000 rounds whereas my Ruger .357 has seen maybe 50. I don't plan on using any of them for other than target practice, they're just fun to have. Take caution around them, unload your magazines, make sure a round isn't chambered, and dry fire it down range before packing it up. Carry them in the trunk and in the cases when not using them and they're perfectly safe too.

 

Reading a few articles, it looks like nvidia have pulled the plug on the Lucid Hydra. Back to the drawing board for my upgrade plans then I guess

Essentially, since the Hydra will cost nvidia huge amounts of money due to not needing the SLI tax to allow SLI, they have decided to bribe MSI into cancelling the program. To cover this up, they have seemlessly swapped the MSI Big Bang for the 'trinergy' and 'fuzion' boards, the trinergy being 'released shortly' and the fusion 'pushed back to Q1 2010 to perfect drivers' - considering the drivers already work, one would think that Lucid would want the board out for initial hubbub and then perfect them totally later on - after all, that's what all the other companies in the industry do.
The real cringe here is that the Trinergy board does not actually exist, the image of it is a photoshopped version of the Fuzion board. To get the nforce 200 onto the P55GD80 will take a new design to be brought up - by the looks of things MSI only accepted the bribe recently, and the Trinergy board has obviously yet to be designed.
Q1 2010 is enough of a pushback for the Fuzion to quietly push it back again, and then finally axe it when people lose interest.
It's times like this when I sort of wish the more corrupt companies out there would just hurry up and go bankrupt, they're halfway there already...

 

any proof on what your are saying?

 

Stems from this article:
http://www.semiaccurate.com/2009/11/04/nvidia-crushes-msis-lucid-based-board/

I'd provide the other supporting links but the article includes them.

Let's make it plain, this is a very anti-nvidia website for no good reason, so you have to take a broad aspect of what's being said.
However, as per the last article they wrote (which is slowly coming true), the evidence seems pretty solid.

 

Ah hah! Got my first Xbox 360 controller today. Gonna have to have some fun tonight

 

I think they are anti-Nvidia biased and are purposely seeking out negative news. Nvidia may be buttoning up a bit but remember they are MUCH larger than ATi. Nvidia isn't as desperate as the news seems. They are just having a tough time with their tech right now. Just watch, things will improve again. Remember they've been trading blows for years.

Also remember when all ATi/AMD could manage was the Phenom and the HD2900? Both of these were very buggy and slow with low yields. It really looked like they were going under because of the craptacular sales. But now look they are back in force with good quality products and decently competitive performance. If it didn't kill ATi, Nvidia sure isn't going down.

 

Very true, but the sad thing is, people still bought Phenoms and HD2900s, it's kind of hard to buy products that don't exist. nvidia are a larger company than ATI, but not a larger company than AMD. Only thing holding AMD back is actually their CPU market at the moment. If you don't think a product's very good you don't get rid of it. nvidia could learn a lesson from ATI on that one.

 

For sure, Nvidia is really kicking themselves in the balls on this one. Why did they stop producing their current cards if they couldn't even get a working prototype out? As far as I was aware the GTX series has been selling well so where's the logic in cutting off your own bread and butter? I understand the entire world is spiraling into an economic crisis right now, but it seems some of these company heads have just given up. Is our entire economy really run by such idiots?

 

LOL! I often wonder myself...

Well, time to try out my new controller