Messages

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Gaming / Re: 10 games for 2018

« on: December 12, 2018, 09:35:40 AM »

I bought a game boy player for the gamecube about 3 weeks ago

Just as a heads up, the GBP handles controller input in a really really wonky way, so if you suddenly find yourself unable to do something you can do consistently on a real GBA, it's probably not your fault. That happened to me when I tried to play Metroid: Zero Mission on my somewhat recently-acquired GBP (that said, my playthroughs of that aren't the most casual).

There is some software called GameBoy Interface that does an amazing job of driving that hardware. I don't have access to it personally just yet (I can't run homebrew on my GameCube at the moment), but I've used it on a friend's system. It's quite good.

Naturally, stuff like this isn't likely to improve your experience with stuff like Advance Wars, but it might help with more action-y stuff.

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Introductions / Re: Can admin or moderator give me cracked XEvil captcha solver?..

« on: December 11, 2018, 09:37:01 PM »

Discussion of software cracking is not allowed here.

3) Keep it legal.  Any content that is illegal in the good ol' US of A is strictly forbidden here.

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Computing / Re: Anyone experienced with streaming?

« on: December 11, 2018, 09:31:39 PM »

Does anyone have a card that would be an upgrade that theyd be willing to part with?

I don't. Sorry!

Also, feel free to create new topics if you have any questions like this. It'll make your posts a little more visible.

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Song of the Day / [Prog Metal] Devin Townsend - Kingdom

« on: December 03, 2018, 12:01:20 AM »

Wait, I didn't post this yet? Let's fix that, shall we?

Here's the album version (audio only):

And here's a really entertaining live performance that he did for EMGTV (which exemplifies why I freaking love Dev):

Those freaking vocals. Holy shit.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 29, 2018, 07:06:07 AM »

Mindless Self Indulgence is always a good choice.

Seriously though, yeah, MSI makes good shit. Additionally, my last three (well, technically four...) cards (680, 2 x 980, 1080 Ti) have all been EVGA and I've had very good experiences with all them as well. My old 680 and both 980s are still being as daily drivers to this day. I don't think the individual manufacturer makes as much of a difference now as it used to, to be honest. The main difference between them that I see are the specific coolers they use and how aggressive the factory overclocking is on models that feature that.

The 1070 Ti and 1080 would both be very solid choices. If the 1070 Ti is in your price range, go for it. If you can find a refurbed or clearance 1080 for a better prices, you're going to get slightly better performance (we're talking 5% or less, so don't break your back for it) out of it (bear in mind that they're no longer manufacturing the 1080).

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 27, 2018, 07:35:41 AM »

It kind of depends, really. What games do you plan on playing with it? Are you mostly focusing on slightly older competitive titles or are you looking for something to run newer games with fancier graphics?

If it's mostly going to be the former, the 1050 Ti should do a very respectable job driving that display. If you're looking at the latter, I'd try to trade up to at least a 1070/2070 down the road. That'll give you a much better shot of being able to maintain 1440p with over 60 fps on newer releases.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 23, 2018, 02:50:26 PM »

Well....This is kinda fucked.
Was waiting for the black Friday sale...And now the monitor has gone UP in price from $749.99 to $899.99?

Wow. That is fucked. D: My sympathies.

The other one you linked would have been a noticeable step down, btw (only 1080p instead of 1440p, which is a pretty significant resolution hit), so you were better off going with the pricier one.

Yeah, persistence of vision is a bitch for stuff like say, playing osu!mania, like I do.

The 165hz refresh is definitely noticeable compared to 60 when playing mania, but since it's a light note on black background (for highest contrast), there's still some pretty noticeable POV effects. Still, it's definitely better than 60hz was.

That's one thing I always miss about CRTs. The CRT that I used to play StepMania on back in the day was capable of a 200hz refresh rate (up to 800x600, I think). It's also capable of syncing and legibly displaying 1920x1080 at 60hz (though obviously you'd need to manually letterbox the image to correct the aspect ratio).

I still have that sucker--it's connected to my retro PC. It's amazing how much of a difference pushing up the refresh rate makes even with normal desktop apps. I'm running Windows 98 SE on that box and generally keep the display at 1024x768 at 85hz (if I push it beyond that I have to start tweaking alignment whenever it drops to 70hz for full screen DOS titles) and the cursor motion is noticeably smoother than it is on my 60hz LCD panels. I love it.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 22, 2018, 01:19:43 AM »

Woo! Hope you like it (and can get a killer deal).

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 21, 2018, 10:15:46 AM »

Also...When I look on Amazon here....The IPS monitor is cheaper than the TN....?
Im confused now.

It's because the TN monitor is only available from a third-party seller (at a price closer to what I assume was its original MSRP). That's Amazon's fallback if their warehouses don't have any in stock.

But honestly...Would the IPS make THAT much of a difference for gaming and stuff?

Whether you can tolerate TN's shortcomings or not is kind of a subjective thing. That said, even before I used an IPS display I hated how little head movements would cause colors to shift drastically. While they've improved somewhat, even the modern TN panel that I use at work (and the one that was in my old ASUS ROG laptop) look terrible if it's not lined up nearly perfectly. The displays that I use at work aren't really anything special, either. They're just normal low-end business class Dell displays, yet even within the same class IPS looks significantly better than TN.

As far as response times are concerned, while I haven't used a 144hz display for any personal tasks, I've played fast-paced games on both my laptop (4K 60hz IPS panel) and iMac (1440p 60hz IPS panel) and there was no observable blurring or smearing even when I played stuff like Quake 3. Even with the cheap panels that I use at work, moving a black box along a white background (about the most intense stress test you can perform) produced fairly minimal smearing on the 8ms IPS display, and the 5ms response time of the TN panel (still higher than the Acer) made it even less noticeable. With 8ms it's noticeable, but when you start pushing 5ms and lower you get to the point where you have to specifically look for it to be able to spot it.

As far as the response times are concerned, the TN panel you linked has a 1ms response time and the IPS one is rated for 4ms, both measured for gray-to-gray transitions. 144hz translates to one frame every 6.94ms, so unless you're alternating between all-black and all-white frames at 144hz the IPS panel is going to be able to keep up with what it's getting fed. While technically the image is going to be "fully formed" a bit faster on the TN panel, I really dubious as to whether any would really be able to perceive a difference between the two, especially when you factor in fun little human qualities like persistence of vision (this is the phenomenon that causes you to see, for example, multiple copies of your cursor when you move it across the screen, even on CRT displays).

Really, modern LCD panels, especially ones intended for gaming, are so close that it's usually just becomes a spec race. If I were currently in the market for a display I would go IPS all the way for the sake of both quality and convenience.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 20, 2018, 08:28:05 AM »

The spectere correction hits again. I'm always forgetting details like that whenever I start talking tech lol.

It's mostly just because I have to deal with that annoying tightrope walk constantly, really. I use a 4K 60hz non-GSync TV attached to a 1080 Ti, and trying to reduce tearing from both being over and under target has morphed me into a bitter, cantankerous asshat.

That said, at least it's not as irritable as an SLI setup. Whew.

I am planning to jump back to a more traditional setup so that I can better take advantage of my hardware (still trying to decide between 1440p/144hz and 4K/60hz, since 4K/144hz is just too goddamn expensive right now) but I have to shuffle a lot of things around to be able to start building my ideal setup.

https://caen-store.acer.com/27-predator-xb1-gaming-monitor-xb271hu-abmiprz

Best of both worlds. 27", WQHD, gsync, TN display. (I read up on IPS, but I think TN would be better for gaming, considering the faster response time.
What you guys think. Good choice and price or wha?

Lookin' good!

As far as TN vs IPS, I always choose the latter. It's true that TN does have a slightly faster pixel response, but IPS is more than good enough for gaming and has the advantage of having a ludicrously good viewing angle. The only real artifact with IPS displays is that you can see the backlight ("IPS Glow") if you view dark scenes at an extreme angle, but you generally have to try to see this effect. With TN panels, the colors will wash out, even with fairly minor adjustments in your vertical viewing angle. This is generally far more noticeable with laptops than a properly configured desktop, but I still notice it on my system at work (I have one TN panel and two IPS panels, because consistency is overrated I guess). It might just be me being picky and pedantic, but I can very quickly spot even a modern TN panel due to how the color shifts when I simply bob my head up and down even very slightly.

IPS also allows for more accurate color representation than TN, so bear that in mind if you plan to do anything artsy. As a result, they also make games look freaking gorgeous, particularly if they have a higher contrast art style (think Blizzard titles, Borderlands, etc).

That said, there is definitely a price premium if you jump up to IPS. I think it's worth it, personally, but YMMV.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 19, 2018, 09:02:34 AM »

It's a neat feature, really, but it's only really effective if you can't drive a game at whatever framerate you've set the monitor to.

I disagree. Tearing can happen at higher framerates as well if the framerate isn't somehow capped. It's the same principle, except that instead of the game drawing, say, two thirds of a frame, it draws, say, 1.25 frames during a refresh cycle. It drives me nuts.

You could get around this with standard Vsync, sure, but then if you drop a single frame below your target, you're suddenly dealing with a halved refresh rate for that given period of time.

It's weird, because I have never once in my life experienced screen tearing.

You might have been running with Vsync on, or the games you play have good limiters. Generally speaking, letting a game run uncapped will lead to tearing. The exact degree of it depends on the game in question.

The worst part about it is that the second you notice it once you can never unsee it.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 13, 2018, 01:38:07 PM »

A 2070? I ain't dropping no $800 on a gfx card anytime soon.

Right, I didn't factor in the conversion rate. It's USD$600—still expensive, but not horrible for a solid performing new card.

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Computing / Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.

« on: November 12, 2018, 02:53:17 PM »

Looks sharp! And hey, you have my RAM.

The only real issue that I can see is that your CPU and GPU are a bit mismatched. If you can, I'd try to trade up the 1050 Ti for at least a 1070/2070. Still, not bad for the price, and you have a solid platform for additional upgrades.

Also, what would you suggest for a new monitor? I wanna get one of those 144hz or whatever they are, I hear they are amazing. Just dunno which one I should get.

144hz displays are really nice if you like smooth gameplay experiences. Even the cursor in Windows looks noticeably smoother at that refresh rate.

Just make sure that you get one that supports G-Sync. 144hz is a hard target to consistently hit, especially on 1440p and up (even with higher end cards) and that feature ensures that you can have tear-free rendering without having to deal with frame rate halving like you would on a standard display with vsync.

I'm a bit too far removed from displays to make an informed recommendation at this time, though. Sorry!

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Gaming / Re: World of Warcraft

« on: November 12, 2018, 02:42:35 PM »

How bout that blizzcon eh?

Heh.

My favorite part of it has been the frantic attempts at damage control.

-Need to somehow get a new job that pays roughly what I make at 50 hours, with 40 hours...yeah good luck with that...mister I got no degree.

FWIW, my degree didn't do anything for me aside from put me deeply in debt.

-Group of people to play with who aren't totally bumfuck casual, but also not "unemployed playing all day dedicate your life to the game" hardcore. I like progress, but even a nerd like me has some kind of a life, somehow.

How about "unemployed playing all day yet still bad at the game," like my former guild leader?

In all seriousness, I'd be down for that, at least for a while. I miss the classic guild dynamic, before the days of cross-realm bullshit. I'm pretty good at doing things, too.

For Thrall's Horde!

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News / Re: Anti-Bot Measures Increased (Slightly)

« on: November 12, 2018, 01:57:23 PM »

I R O N Y

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SON