Biff Hardbody
Member
Warning: The following post was brought on by years worth of heartache in owning a pc and dealing with the unexpected. The following is the true life story of one man's clash with the cold, hard world of pc gaming.
I bought a PC around 3 years ago. It was my first, and I knew it would be trouble. Updating drivers, video cards, ram, and all that other shit scared me. However, I had to have it. Console gaming was getting stale and I had seen one to many threads on kickass pc titles I couldn't play. So, I spoke to a guy online who was supposed to be knowledgeable about pc's and he helped me configure my very own Dell computer for a cool $3000 ("Oh yeah Biff, with all that money you get a killer 20 gig HD! Nah, you won't need anymore space.")
What would follow over the course of the next three years would be a tale of horrors so gruesome and complex Stephen King and Dean Koontz together on a three day weekend could not have dreamed up worse circumstances. The first problem I encountered was my GeForce 32 MB card. I bought my pc specifically to play Tribes 2 and the guy who gave me advice assured me that card would be enough to play tribes with full settings ("While not the most powerful, its the Ferrari of video cards!").
Of course, it wasn't and I played tribes 2 with shitty medium detail for a good part of the first year I had it. Still, the game was far more exciting then anything I had ever experienced on a console. People flying all around, huge explosions that shook my room thanks to this thing called a "subwoofer" and an emphasis on strategy and speed. I was hooked on pc gaming.
After a little while, I would learn certain tricks from message boards like this one on how to speed up my pc. Things like turning unnessesary start menu programs off! Who'd a thunk it!?!?!. This leads me to one of my all time source of heartache problems on the pc, the "oh so close yet so far message board jargon".
Every time I'd see a cool thread about something pc related, I'd want to get involved into it. Lets say I saw a thread about people discussing emulation. Me, being completely clueless at the time would ask how to get started. I'd get such elaborate responses as
"Mirc"
"google.com"
Don't get me wrong; I know this place and other places like it aren't tech support (wait till I get to that). But, it was a real bitch learning how to do all this shit myself. Most of the time when I asked a question on how to get started, I'd get a myriad of one-word answers or people giving me some type of "computer command" response I had no idea about. Fortunately, there were/are some people who gave a shit and actually took the time to explain things to someone computer illiterate like myself. They were far better then a God-awful thing called "tech support".
Ah...Dell tech support. How I love my computer shutting down for no apparent reason and being forced to call into DELL at 3 AM where I am then transferred to fucking PAKISTAN and made to wait for 30 minutes while the support rep asks me if I see an amber light.
Then there were the little things people forgot to tell me about the computer and its accessories in general. Such as?
You have to clean your case with compressed air every so often. That includes taking out the video card and totally cleaning the fan. A good indication of when to clean your card is when you smell something like burnt cigarettes emanating from your pc. It only took me three burned out video cards to figure this out (Thank GOD for circuit city and their flexible take back rules). All that time I was asking people on tech support boards why my graphics cards stopped working, no one ever said "clean the dust". Shit, I thought it stayed clean in there. I never had to dust the insides of my PS2.
When shopping for a MAS stick for PC emulation, don't buy one that is "PC ready". No, that would be to simple. The reason why you don't buy a pc ready MAS stick is because it doesn't work. The board it uses inside makes the pc think you are jamming down on a bunch of keys all at once, and you are lucky if the command for a fireball is met before next week. So, what do you do if you want to use a MAS stick for the pc? Buy it PS2 ready and get a PS2 to USB adaptor. One thing though, just make sure you get the right adaptor. Some aren't compatible. It took me two tries to get the right one.
Make sure you don't buy a PC with any high tech cutting edge bullshit. It'll be obsolete before the dawn, and whats worse is it may not be compatible for future upgrades. I managed to have the great luck of getting a PC that only takes RD ram, the most expensive ram out there (and yeah, it has to be installed in pairs. Almost $300 for 500 MB, great deal!).
Then there's this bullshit with processors I have to deal with. For some reason, my model can only be upgraded to a 2.0 Ghz processor, or if I get some type of add on I can make it a 2.3 Ghz. All this will cost me over $400. The best part is it won't be enough power in a few months. So, I'm skipping it and dealing with sub par processor power in the current games. They look beautiful thanks to my vid card, its just when they move at 10 fps I get a little disheartened.
People giving you advice nearly always having an agenda. I remember people kept telling me to stick with my Windows 2000 OS and not to switch to XP. That I should upgrade the RAM and card, that I would get improved performance and in game stability from that. Well, I did and it wasn't the boost I was looking for. It sure cost allot though. When I finally made the switch to XP, my system performed beautifully. I didn't get kicked out of online games anymore, and the frame rate was much better.
Trying to figure out what the next PC to buy and having people tell you "just build it yourself, n00b". Newsflash MacGyver, I don't know how. Will you come over to my house and help me? "Its really easy"...uh huh. Let me just go buy my soldering iron and renew my house insurance.
What is the moral of all this heartbreak? You have to go through a bunch of hell to see a light at the end of the tunnel. No one will ever tell you everything you need to know, and getting multiple opinions won't change that fact. Your going to get screwed somewhere down the line, but if you preserver it will make you stronger and you'll know how to take care of that problem and ones similar to it in the future.
Despite all this bullshit, the PC has been worth it. The games kick fucking ass. X-Box Live is great, and I'll never trade it in. But, for a FPS junkie like myself I could never go back to the controller FPS. I've tried countless times with Riddick and all the other hot console FPS titles. It just doesn't work. The trade off is worth it though. Tribes 2, Global Ops, UT 2004...there's nothing like these on the console.
Whenever I see a port, they are just dumbed down in graphics, scale, and multi. Its just hard to go back to anything but 1024X768 res now...Don't get me wrong. I'll always love my consoles. Always.
Aside from porn and music, the pc has one last saving grace. Classic online 2-D fighters. The X-Box may trump this in the future, but in the mean time I've got Samurai Shodown II online. That's kick ass.
I'm looking at the end of this piece, and it seems like the hassel outweighs the benefits. Maybe, maybe it does. But, I'm getting ready to buy a new PC and do all this shit over again. What does that tell you (Other then I'm stupid and a glutton for punishment)? I'll tell you what it means! That pcs are damn fun and worth it if your willing to accept its bite on the cash, its near instant obsolete hardware, and the days it just decides to stop working. But really, its not so bad as I make it out to be
I bought a PC around 3 years ago. It was my first, and I knew it would be trouble. Updating drivers, video cards, ram, and all that other shit scared me. However, I had to have it. Console gaming was getting stale and I had seen one to many threads on kickass pc titles I couldn't play. So, I spoke to a guy online who was supposed to be knowledgeable about pc's and he helped me configure my very own Dell computer for a cool $3000 ("Oh yeah Biff, with all that money you get a killer 20 gig HD! Nah, you won't need anymore space.")
What would follow over the course of the next three years would be a tale of horrors so gruesome and complex Stephen King and Dean Koontz together on a three day weekend could not have dreamed up worse circumstances. The first problem I encountered was my GeForce 32 MB card. I bought my pc specifically to play Tribes 2 and the guy who gave me advice assured me that card would be enough to play tribes with full settings ("While not the most powerful, its the Ferrari of video cards!").
Of course, it wasn't and I played tribes 2 with shitty medium detail for a good part of the first year I had it. Still, the game was far more exciting then anything I had ever experienced on a console. People flying all around, huge explosions that shook my room thanks to this thing called a "subwoofer" and an emphasis on strategy and speed. I was hooked on pc gaming.
After a little while, I would learn certain tricks from message boards like this one on how to speed up my pc. Things like turning unnessesary start menu programs off! Who'd a thunk it!?!?!. This leads me to one of my all time source of heartache problems on the pc, the "oh so close yet so far message board jargon".
Every time I'd see a cool thread about something pc related, I'd want to get involved into it. Lets say I saw a thread about people discussing emulation. Me, being completely clueless at the time would ask how to get started. I'd get such elaborate responses as
"Mirc"
"google.com"
Don't get me wrong; I know this place and other places like it aren't tech support (wait till I get to that). But, it was a real bitch learning how to do all this shit myself. Most of the time when I asked a question on how to get started, I'd get a myriad of one-word answers or people giving me some type of "computer command" response I had no idea about. Fortunately, there were/are some people who gave a shit and actually took the time to explain things to someone computer illiterate like myself. They were far better then a God-awful thing called "tech support".
Ah...Dell tech support. How I love my computer shutting down for no apparent reason and being forced to call into DELL at 3 AM where I am then transferred to fucking PAKISTAN and made to wait for 30 minutes while the support rep asks me if I see an amber light.
Then there were the little things people forgot to tell me about the computer and its accessories in general. Such as?
You have to clean your case with compressed air every so often. That includes taking out the video card and totally cleaning the fan. A good indication of when to clean your card is when you smell something like burnt cigarettes emanating from your pc. It only took me three burned out video cards to figure this out (Thank GOD for circuit city and their flexible take back rules). All that time I was asking people on tech support boards why my graphics cards stopped working, no one ever said "clean the dust". Shit, I thought it stayed clean in there. I never had to dust the insides of my PS2.
When shopping for a MAS stick for PC emulation, don't buy one that is "PC ready". No, that would be to simple. The reason why you don't buy a pc ready MAS stick is because it doesn't work. The board it uses inside makes the pc think you are jamming down on a bunch of keys all at once, and you are lucky if the command for a fireball is met before next week. So, what do you do if you want to use a MAS stick for the pc? Buy it PS2 ready and get a PS2 to USB adaptor. One thing though, just make sure you get the right adaptor. Some aren't compatible. It took me two tries to get the right one.
Make sure you don't buy a PC with any high tech cutting edge bullshit. It'll be obsolete before the dawn, and whats worse is it may not be compatible for future upgrades. I managed to have the great luck of getting a PC that only takes RD ram, the most expensive ram out there (and yeah, it has to be installed in pairs. Almost $300 for 500 MB, great deal!).
Then there's this bullshit with processors I have to deal with. For some reason, my model can only be upgraded to a 2.0 Ghz processor, or if I get some type of add on I can make it a 2.3 Ghz. All this will cost me over $400. The best part is it won't be enough power in a few months. So, I'm skipping it and dealing with sub par processor power in the current games. They look beautiful thanks to my vid card, its just when they move at 10 fps I get a little disheartened.
People giving you advice nearly always having an agenda. I remember people kept telling me to stick with my Windows 2000 OS and not to switch to XP. That I should upgrade the RAM and card, that I would get improved performance and in game stability from that. Well, I did and it wasn't the boost I was looking for. It sure cost allot though. When I finally made the switch to XP, my system performed beautifully. I didn't get kicked out of online games anymore, and the frame rate was much better.
Trying to figure out what the next PC to buy and having people tell you "just build it yourself, n00b". Newsflash MacGyver, I don't know how. Will you come over to my house and help me? "Its really easy"...uh huh. Let me just go buy my soldering iron and renew my house insurance.
What is the moral of all this heartbreak? You have to go through a bunch of hell to see a light at the end of the tunnel. No one will ever tell you everything you need to know, and getting multiple opinions won't change that fact. Your going to get screwed somewhere down the line, but if you preserver it will make you stronger and you'll know how to take care of that problem and ones similar to it in the future.
Despite all this bullshit, the PC has been worth it. The games kick fucking ass. X-Box Live is great, and I'll never trade it in. But, for a FPS junkie like myself I could never go back to the controller FPS. I've tried countless times with Riddick and all the other hot console FPS titles. It just doesn't work. The trade off is worth it though. Tribes 2, Global Ops, UT 2004...there's nothing like these on the console.
Whenever I see a port, they are just dumbed down in graphics, scale, and multi. Its just hard to go back to anything but 1024X768 res now...Don't get me wrong. I'll always love my consoles. Always.
Aside from porn and music, the pc has one last saving grace. Classic online 2-D fighters. The X-Box may trump this in the future, but in the mean time I've got Samurai Shodown II online. That's kick ass.
I'm looking at the end of this piece, and it seems like the hassel outweighs the benefits. Maybe, maybe it does. But, I'm getting ready to buy a new PC and do all this shit over again. What does that tell you (Other then I'm stupid and a glutton for punishment)? I'll tell you what it means! That pcs are damn fun and worth it if your willing to accept its bite on the cash, its near instant obsolete hardware, and the days it just decides to stop working. But really, its not so bad as I make it out to be
