kalniel

Then get onto your MP and ask them to change the law - at the moment companies are allowed to put copy protection mechanisms on their products, and bypassing them in any way is illegal. Atari have thought of people like you though - if you want you can buy the digital download version instead, and that doesn't need a CD-check.

Well you said I love Intel and suggest them whether they're better or not, which is the same thing :p But no worries - sorry if I came across badly too.

Dual core gets you more bang for buck. Only in very poorly optimised titles such as GTAIV does quad make a difference - but it's possible that when they optimise them properly that difference will go away. The situation may yet change (seems like it must eventually), but today, dual core is still the better choice.

Look at my computer. If I was a fanboy why would I have an AMD cpu in my own computer? :p Fact of the matter is AMD have not produced competitive chips for years - Intel produce much faster ones *at the moment*. But fine - attack me for giving PC advice which people usually pay me for. This is an advice thread - you can't moan that someone is a fanboy just because they have a different viewpoint to your own. At the end of the day as long as you're happy with your own machine (no matter the fact you could have got a faster one for the same money) then it doesn't matter. You are wasting money if you go for an AMD CPU (and to a lesser extent, 9800GTX+ graphics card), but that's your prerogative. Please count - my suggestion came out cheaper. Good luck with the build Chrisicus, let us know how it works out.

Try this: -- OLD IMAGE REMOVED (imageshack) --

Hang on a minute - have I got this right? You've gone from a great Intel build to a much much slower AMD one? And you've changed from a fast graphics card to a slower one, which you still can't use hybrid with? What's going on in your head?? Are you mad?? :p (And you're giving rep to the person who's helping you make these terrible decisions! :p) If I'd known you were trying to build the slowest PC for the money I'm sure I could come up with some better suggestions for that too! CPU: Intel is much much faster than AMD. GPU: 4870 is faster than 4850, which is faster than 9800GTX+

You have to be careful - you're allowed to backup the contents (data), but not bypass the CD-check. So use of virtual drives is illegal if you're using them to prevent the need for the disk to be in the drive for the copy protection check. I've never had a problem, and I get games in and out of games loads (over years too), but you do have to be careful and not tug them out. Of course it's quite possible that it's a manufacturing defect, so taking it back to the shop as Diablo suggests is another possible plan.

So you won't like hearing that it'll still lag with this upgrade then? ;)

How are you treating the poor thing?! You could try some strong nail varnish around the central ring - make sure to keep coverage even and not get any on the data part of the disc.

1) Why are you buying two PSUs? 2) How much faster is that cold cathod kit going to make your PC? :p 3) You can save at least £20 by going for a non-pro P5Q 4) You can save another £20 with different RAM 5) I wouldn't trust that PSU to be honest. 6) Are you only running linux? CPU and GPU choice are good though.

Are you comfortable building a PC yourself from parts? If so then it's something to consider *alongside* looking at pre-built systems. Don't rule anything out at this stage (except playing crysis on full with that budget :p)

LOL which zoo was that?

Merry Christmas ;) -- OLD IMAGE REMOVED (imageshack) --

This kind of attitude only seems to come from those who don't know what they're talking about :p How are Atari or EA lazy? Do you think it's easy to create a modern computer game (go on - try to make one yourself!) :p hehe I think you're about right with the timing - I'm not up on the ebs and flows of console release timings. Would be great to get a PC version in the same year though.

Yup exactly - Twilight engine. They can't work on that in parrallel so they'll be improving it for AitD and then taking that and improving it further. I really hope they add in a better networking engine though - very very tricky to create, but they've got to make something that's more tolerant of bad routers than the PC version of TDU was.

3 years is a decent development cycle (PC games can be quite a lot longer than this), especially if you consider that the same studio is also working on other games (Alone in the Dark recently). Some bits you can do in parrallel, but a lot you can't.

Bruno isn't dead.

The photo above is already a cat ;)

Just delete the whole folder. It'll ask for cd key again next time you play, but that's fine. 256mb isn't low at all for this game. I can play at 1680x1050, full details and AA AF with a 256mb card. And £60 is an absolute joke for a card as bad as the 8600GT. 1gb of mem on a video card is just a marketing con. I agree this seems a bit high. Stuttering can be a symptom of throttling back to avoid overheating. Open up the PC, clean out all the dust, check connections are secure etc. Then do a full cleanout/reinstall of your drivers.

Well lets see: Crysis+Crysis Warhead - these are the most demanding games out at the moment. You don't mention if you have Vista or not - if you don't then you have to edit ini files to get the advanced effects. Far Cry 2 - possibly the second best looking shooter right now. Less demanding than the crysis games. Dead Space - kind of the new Doom 3. Again less demanding, but lots of lighting/shadow effects. Bioshock/UT3/Mass Effect/Gears of War - these all use the same game engine, and it isn't at all demanding, so it's not something that will stress your machine, but it looks ok regardless. STALKER:Clear Sky - bit of a buggy/hard game, but graphically quite demanding. Let us know how the rig gets on with them on full details ;)

We all used to do it as kids, before it ever got called parkour. I think it's probably quite rubbish as something to 'take up' - there's no real motivation or goal-orientation that will keep you wanting to do it. Rock climbing is remarkably similar from a fitness point of view, and is well-established in most countries meaning you can join a club, get out and see some great countryside etc., so I'd go for that instead if I were you.

"I never could park in the box quite right" "Nope.. changing the paint didn't help." "So I set my car on fire in frustration." "Almost.. no-one will notice the scratch on the bumper anyway" "I know.. I'll just find a box so big it doesn't matter how I park!" "Yeah, that's working nicely" "Hey, wow! I can park. Did you see that guys?.. Er.. guys?" :p Well you said you wanted comments ;)

Fallout 3. Brilliant, but a bit gory :p

I do a couple of classical things, but the only recordings I've got are still being sold commercially so I can't put up anything on the 'tube, sorry.

Just a few of the 'suitable for all ages' shots here.. -- OLD IMAGE REMOVED (imageshack) -- -- OLD IMAGE REMOVED (imageshack) --