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Suggestions for new computer and internet service for gamersFollow

#27 Oct 11 2011 at 10:42 AM Rating: Decent
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To the OP:

Go for the upgrade. You can't upgrade once you buy it. I use a Core i7 MacBook Air and coupled with it's SSD, it's blazingly fast. Although it's no gaming machine, it works through productivity tasks faster than any computer I've ever owned. I know the SSD is a big part of that, but there is something amazing about loading MS Word 2011 and 5 documents in less than 2 seconds.

To the Mac "versatility" argument:

I run Parallels 7.0 on my MacBook Air. I operate a Windows 7 64-bit virtual machine to which I dedicate 1 GB of RAM. It runs VERY smoothly. I can load IE9 in 1-2 seconds (need it for work - I HATE IE!). I can run other productivity applications as well as I can run Mac applications (albeit with limited RAM). Sure it took a $80 piece of software and a $1700 laptop to get here - but I'm here, and it's glorious. I daresay my laptop is about as versatile as you can pack into 2.98 lbs., as long as you're cool with mediocre gaming performance.
#28 Oct 11 2011 at 4:47 PM Rating: Good
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Kanngarnix wrote:
Because they CAN? It clearly speaks FOR versatility if a Mac can boot Windows, because it's something that doesn't work the other way around if you don't count less than a handful exoctic Wintel chipsets and hacked kernels.


You boot camp a Mac because you HAVE TO, not because you CAN.

Look, I'm not a fan of either operating system, so who gives a damn in the end? Since this is a gaming forum, Therion is a gamer and is looking for a laptop to play video games on, I'd recommend a Windows machine over a Macintosh. If he was looking for a laptop to do photo/video editing on, I'd probably recommend a Mac.

In any case, I'd recommend the cheapest of the two he linked since I'm sure the hardware would be enough to play World of Warcraft (the game this forum is dedicated to) on, and since it would save him some money he could spend on a dedicated gaming computer later on.

Also, if anyone has a laptop with a GTX 560M in it, I'd be interested in hearing what the temperature's like when it's put under stress. My GTX 580 in my desktop PC operates at around 90 degrees Celsius when stressed. The thought of putting that much heat in a small metal case that might rest on someone's lap makes me uneasy.
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#29 Oct 11 2011 at 5:33 PM Rating: Excellent
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Mazra wrote:
The thought of putting that much heat in a small metal case that might rest on someone's lap makes me uneasy.


#30 Oct 12 2011 at 7:34 AM Rating: Decent
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Mazra wrote:
Kanngarnix wrote:
Because they CAN? It clearly speaks FOR versatility if a Mac can boot Windows, because it's something that doesn't work the other way around if you don't count less than a handful exoctic Wintel chipsets and hacked kernels.


You boot camp a Mac because you HAVE TO, not because you CAN.


Not quite. I actually meant it the way I put it. If you have to run Windows programs for whatever reason, you CAN on Apple hardware dual-boot or even just virtualize your Windows environment. It's just not possible on a "normal" PC to dual-boot OSX or virtualize it without violating the OSX license, taking extremely high security risks, and/or having to put up with major performance issues.
#31 Oct 12 2011 at 5:00 PM Rating: Good
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Oh ffs, fine! I'll retract my comment about a PC being more versatile than a Mac and instead go with "A PC laptop will, generally, give you the most bang for the buck."

Better? Can we end it there?
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#32 Oct 12 2011 at 5:07 PM Rating: Excellent
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Mazra wrote:

Better? Can we end it there?


Aww where's the fun in that. I still have 3 more un-popped bags.

Smiley: popcorn
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#33 Oct 12 2011 at 5:11 PM Rating: Good
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Yeah, but Therion was all "Guys, please stop" and I was, like, "But they started it!" and they were, like, "Did not!"

Doo-doo heads.
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#34 Oct 12 2011 at 5:35 PM Rating: Decent
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Kanngarnix wrote:
Because they CAN? It clearly speaks FOR versatility if a Mac can boot Windows, because it's something that doesn't work the other way around if you don't count less than a handful exoctic Wintel chipsets and hacked kernels.


windows: can run on any machine
osx: can run only on apple machines

clearly osx is more versatile.
#35 Oct 13 2011 at 12:09 AM Rating: Decent
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axhed wrote:
Kanngarnix wrote:
Because they CAN? It clearly speaks FOR versatility if a Mac can boot Windows, because it's something that doesn't work the other way around if you don't count less than a handful exoctic Wintel chipsets and hacked kernels.


windows: can run on any machine
osx: can run only on apple machines

clearly osx is more versatile.


I've been talking about versatility of Apple hardware, not the operating system. You're clearly at an advantage if you actually read whatever you decide to quote.

I don't own anything Apple. I don't approve of their policies, including the one to limit MacOS to their own hardware. But that doesn't mean that I can't give them some credit where credit is due, even if it's their policies being responsible for the situation in the first place.

#36 Oct 13 2011 at 8:23 AM Rating: Excellent
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Kanngarnix wrote:
I've been talking about versatility of Apple hardware, not the operating system. You're clearly at an advantage if you actually read whatever you decide to quote.

I don't own anything Apple. I don't approve of their policies, including the one to limit MacOS to their own hardware. But that doesn't mean that I can't give them some credit where credit is due, even if it's their policies being responsible for the situation in the first place.





tzsjynx wrote:

What's been true for a decade now is that all Macs run on PC hardware anyways


Yes, it's true! If you pick the same components that Apple's using anyway you can make yourself a desktop apple for $750 or so which is on par with what I'd be looking for as my next desktop PC anyway.

#37 Oct 13 2011 at 8:56 AM Rating: Default
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OSX License Agreement wrote:
Other Use Restrictions. The grants set forth in this License do not permit you to, and you
agree not to, install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-branded computer, or
to enable others to do so.
Unless otherwise permitted by the terms of this License: (i) only
one user may use the Apple Software at a time, and (ii) you may not make the Apple
Software available over a network where it could be run or used by multiple computers at the
same time. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute or sublicense the Apple Software.


So we don't even need to discuss hardware issues like (U)EFI and whatnot. Because even if you actually managed to assemble a computer that would install and run OSX, it still would be illegal.

#38 Oct 18 2011 at 1:00 AM Rating: Good
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Kanngarnix wrote:
OSX License Agreement wrote:
Other Use Restrictions. The grants set forth in this License do not permit you to, and you
agree not to, install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-branded computer, or
to enable others to do so.
Unless otherwise permitted by the terms of this License: (i) only
one user may use the Apple Software at a time, and (ii) you may not make the Apple
Software available over a network where it could be run or used by multiple computers at the
same time. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute or sublicense the Apple Software.


So we don't even need to discuss hardware issues like (U)EFI and whatnot. Because even if you actually managed to assemble a computer that would install and run OSX, it still would be illegal.


As someone that's worked for Apple in the past, I can safely tell you that all that means is "don't come to us and ***** and whine when your **** breaks".

It's the same as jailbreaking iOS or installing a dev release of iOS/OS X. Don't ***** and whine to Apple Care/the Genius Bar about it, fix it yourself or revert back to stock and see if that fixes it; if not, then bring the hardware to Apple.

I won't get into Apple vs PC because everyone in their right mind knows that I'm an Apple fanboy (kind of have to be to work for Apple).
#39 Oct 18 2011 at 10:12 AM Rating: Excellent
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Update: For some reason adding ~5 mBps to my connection speed more than halved my ping. I'm getting double the bandwidth than I was in my old place. It's crazy.

Also found a i7 dual-core, GTX 540m laptop for $1100 from Asus. That will leave enough budget to build an i7/GTX 580 desktop in a month or so. Wheeeee!

Cheers all.
#40 Oct 18 2011 at 11:31 AM Rating: Excellent
Apple and PC both have their pros and cons.

End of discussion.

Please, people. Leave it be. We've seen too many raeg fights on this forum about this topic already.
#41 Oct 18 2011 at 11:58 AM Rating: Decent
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TherionSaysWhat wrote:
Update: For some reason adding ~5 mBps to my connection speed more than halved my ping. I'm getting double the bandwidth than I was in my old place. It's crazy.

Congratulations for being lucky! Things could look interely different for your next door neighbor.
#42 Oct 18 2011 at 1:25 PM Rating: Default
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If you're an actual "gamer" spend the money.

If you're just going to play WoW and/or similar games. The cheaper setup will be overkill..A "Tandy color 300" will be overkill for WoW...I think a " Texas Instruments T1-503011" adding machine is sufficient to play WoW.
#43 Oct 18 2011 at 1:55 PM Rating: Good
IDrownFish wrote:
Apple and PC both have their pros and cons.

End of discussion.

Please, people. Leave it be. We've seen too many raeg fights on this forum about this topic already.


This times 5 billion.
#44 Oct 18 2011 at 2:15 PM Rating: Excellent
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I'm not sure what qualifies "actual gamer" from some other description. To me, if you play a game more than randomly at parties, you're a gamer. All other distinctions start to sound like the music genre game of splitting hairs (I mean, wtf is "ambient mathcore", seriously).

With that said, I do some paid testing (aka "I signed this stupid NDA and all I got was a broken alpha") and have recently started to consider myself a semi-serious gamer. Been playing these silly things since Wizardry (best game ever) and Ultima 2 on my 8088 AT clone =P

At this point, I think I'll be happy with a good-not-great laptop for work and a gaming/photoshop beast at home. Of course, if the laptop exceeds my expectations, I may not need to build a desktop =)

Again, thank you all for the relevant comments!


ps, I wonder if I can still get Wizardry to run if I could find it somewhere.... hmm... retro awesome sauce =)
#45 Oct 18 2011 at 4:10 PM Rating: Decent
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TherionSaysWhat wrote:
I'm not sure what qualifies "actual gamer" from some other description. To me, if you play a game more than randomly at parties, you're a gamer. All other distinctions start to sound like the music genre game of splitting hairs (I mean, wtf is "ambient mathcore", seriously).

With that said, I do some paid testing (aka "I signed this stupid NDA and all I got was a broken alpha") and have recently started to consider myself a semi-serious gamer. Been playing these silly things since Wizardry (best game ever) and Ultima 2 on my 8088 AT clone =P

At this point, I think I'll be happy with a good-not-great laptop for work and a gaming/photoshop beast at home. Of course, if the laptop exceeds my expectations, I may not need to build a desktop =)

Again, thank you all for the relevant comments!


ps, I wonder if I can still get Wizardry to run if I could find it somewhere.... hmm... retro awesome sauce =)

Go to GOG.com and check for it. If they have it, it will be guaranteed to run on Windows up to Vista.
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#46 Oct 18 2011 at 4:31 PM Rating: Decent
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TherionSaysWhat wrote:
ps, I wonder if I can still get Wizardry to run if I could find it somewhere.... hmm... retro awesome sauce =)


There are plenty of emulators available. If you find the games, you'll find something to run it on.

THIS should get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_system_emulators
#47 Oct 18 2011 at 6:31 PM Rating: Excellent
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Or I could try to build an old AT clone. Hold me back, I'm going turbo to 14 MHz!

Thanks guys
#48 Oct 18 2011 at 11:40 PM Rating: Decent
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Frankly you're probably much better off just keeping the good memories of those old games. Trying to play that stuff after all those years will most likely make you ask yourself how you could ever waste your time on these things, and what you actually liked about it back in the days.

I've had that experience with quite a few games I ran on those emulators.

It's quite devastating to see how those games haven't changed a bit while realizing the changes you went through YOURSELF over the last couple decades. Perception changes a lot over time.
#49 Oct 19 2011 at 2:47 AM Rating: Excellent
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Kanngarnix wrote:
Frankly you're probably much better off just keeping the good memories of those old games. Trying to play that stuff after all those years will most likely make you ask yourself how you could ever waste your time on these things, and what you actually liked about it back in the days.

I've had that experience with quite a few games I ran on those emulators.

It's quite devastating to see how those games haven't changed a bit while realizing the changes you went through YOURSELF over the last couple decades. Perception changes a lot over time.

I dunno, I have a blast going back and playing some old SNES/PS games. Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VI (III US).
#50 Oct 19 2011 at 3:49 AM Rating: Good
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I can't play games with crappy graphics anymore. At least not FPS/RTS games.

Counter-Strike 1.3 compared to Battlefield 3.

Not that the games aren't good. I mean, I used to play the original Half-Life, Unreal, Quake, Doom and even Wolfenstein 3D. Those were good and awesome games - back then. I wouldn't bother with them today, the graphics (and music... dear god, the music) just annoy me too much.

Yeah, I'm a GFX ***** to a degree where Yahtzee would probably stab me in the face if he met me.

Edited, Oct 19th 2011 11:49am by Mazra
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#51 Oct 19 2011 at 9:28 AM Rating: Good
AstarintheDruid wrote:
Kanngarnix wrote:
Frankly you're probably much better off just keeping the good memories of those old games. Trying to play that stuff after all those years will most likely make you ask yourself how you could ever waste your time on these things, and what you actually liked about it back in the days.

I've had that experience with quite a few games I ran on those emulators.

It's quite devastating to see how those games haven't changed a bit while realizing the changes you went through YOURSELF over the last couple decades. Perception changes a lot over time.

I dunno, I have a blast going back and playing some old SNES/PS games. Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VI (III US).


Me too. I <3 me some old PS FF games and other old school stuff.
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