Mid & Early war arenas have vanished

[popeye]

Wish I would have kept my old S100 bus Imsai 8080.

Heheh...   I had a Zenith Z-100 with S-100 bus.  It had a 10 MB hard drive that cost $1700US -- in 1980 dollars.
Some things do get better...     

[Max]

I have the same problem, proprietary motherboard, only the one 320 watt power supply available with the special non standard motherboard connectors and cables.  Would love to replace the whole thing, but that isn't going to happen.

Will definitely keep away from the big box brands HP/compaq etc.  with all the special space saving features meaning you cannot buy off the shelf peripheral upgrades. 

Folks, I can't stress enough that gamers should build their own systems. With some guidance and online resources, such as www.pcpartpicker.com, your 1st system is relatively easy to build, will save you HUNDREDS of $$$ and is easily upgradeable when that time comes. For most of us, once the initial system is operable, upgrades will probably be a video card, and possibly a new CPU.

[Condor]

Folks, I can't stress enough that gamers should build their own systems. With some guidance and online resources, such as www.pcpartpicker.com, your 1st system is relatively easy to build, will save you HUNDREDS of $$$ and is easily upgradeable when that time comes. For most of us, once the initial system is operable, upgrades will probably be a video card, and possibly a new CPU.

I will second that enthusiastically. For years I was afraid to build a computer. Than after I started AH I decided to take the plunge with the encouragement of a squadie who lived 800 miles away and some guidance from the internet. I've now built two and both started and ran without a problem.

[Hajo]

I have the same problem, proprietary motherboard, only the one 320 watt power supply available with the special non standard motherboard connectors and cables.  Would love to replace the whole thing, but that isn't going to happen.

I finally did bite the bullet and ordered a evga750ti SC that gets its power from the PCI bus, needs no PS connector and has a 55-60 watt draw.  Thanks to skuzzys post suggestion to check the  9800 vs 750  performance using their 9800 as the benchmark I will see what happens.  Will definitely keep away from the big box brands HP/compaq etc.  with all the special space saving features meaning you cannot buy off the shelf peripheral upgrades.  Wish I would have kept my old S100 bus Imsai 8080.

I used a 750Ti and it did great! I gave it away to a player who is  using it with great success.  A few adjustments and I was playing with a frame rate of 59, which is monitor refresh rate (60)

[Bizman]

Folks, I can't stress enough that gamers should build their own systems. With some guidance and online resources, such as www.pcpartpicker.com, your 1st system is relatively easy to build, will save you HUNDREDS of $$$ and is easily upgradeable when that time comes. For most of us, once the initial system is operable, upgrades will probably be a video card, and possibly a new CPU.

That's a very good advice. Letting a builder shop build one according to a thoroughly thought through plan is a very good alternative. Such a plan can be achieved by making a compilation in PcPartpicker and letting people here evaluate it.

[Masherbrum]

I'm not pissed off at HTc--but it's hard to know what you need-when there are no specifications listed for what you need to play AH3. nobody knows what the minimum video card is needed.

and if my computer can't play it, then I won't and i'll find something that it will.

That is a cop out.   There is plenty of information contained within the confines of this BBS (ie Hardware & Software, O'Club, GD and even Technical Support) from which all of what you are going on about.....is available and searchable.   Again, for the better part of two to three years, this "upgrade" word, has been known.   Just like last time from AH to AHII.

[DaddyAce]

Another useful site to build your own puter is my son's site:  http://www.logicalincrements.com/  They include a range of builds for various price points including tiers of compatible parts and a lot of information about different options and how to build your puter.

[hitech]

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series
The Define R5 XL is a kick bellybutton case.
You can not hear it run.

HiTech

[Gman]

Hahaha, HT meets the sensor bot. 

Fractal are great, I agree, their quiet/windowless models are very elegant, simple, and quiet.  I had one ordered and waiting for one of the new PCs I just built but they sold it out from under me as I was a day late getting there.  It took a month but they got another in, so I had to pull apart the Corsair 750 and rebuild it all, but it only took a couple hours while watching youtube vids.

I got the R5, the Fractal "enthusiast" full size (ish) case, fantastic quality, and very, very quiet.  No window, but if you really need to show off your components taking the side panel off isn't hard.  Their fans and fan controller aren't bad either.

[redcatcherb412]

I used a 750Ti and it did great! I gave it away to a player who is  using it with great success.  A few adjustments and I was playing with a frame rate of 59, which is monitor refresh rate (60)

My 750ti came in and runs AH3 great with much higher settings than I plan on ever using.  I don't know how many people bought 'off the shelf' PCs that have proprietary Motherboard/Power Supply  issues like the HP8000 does, I didn't know till I popped the case a while back to check slots available..  The 750 was just the ticket since I can't afford to replace the entire system just to get up to a 450 watt power supply for high end cards. Even the after market 'add a 2nd power supply' option was a bit high and required a lot of hardware revamping.  The gtx610 I took out  used 30 watts and the 750ti uses 60 watts for a net gain of 30 watts all powered by the PCI bus.  I did fudge and unplugged the dvd/cd drive to save a few more watts since I never use it. You're right Hajo, the 750ti runs AH3 quite well and at $50-60 used and around $100 new is not a wallet buster.  Not as bad as the transition from AH1 to AH2 where I from a slow laptop that ran AH1 fine to a tower for AH2.

[toddbobe]

Old arenas never die... they just fade away.......

[Hajo]

3 years ago I was very busy in life.  My father was gravely ill.  I was working long hours also.  I did some research.  I did not have the time to research and build a PC.

I was on call 24 hours a day with work and with my fathers illness.  What I bought was an ASUS gaming PC.  Why?  Because I've built many PCs and I would only use ASUS Mobos.

They were rock solid, upgradable and very dependable.  Since I've had this ASUS PC I've upgraded the power supply and two video cards with no problems.

ASUS gaming PCs are reasonably priced not 1800 dollars.  24 hour support and dependability and the ease of upgrading is the key.

Remember, if purchasing a PC DO NOT purchase one with onboard video.  Make sure it has a card.  Power supplies and video cards are easy to replace.

[nooby52]

3 years ago I was very busy in life.  My father was gravely ill.  I was working long hours also.  I did some research.  I did not have the time to research and build a PC.

I was on call 24 hours a day with work and with my fathers illness.  What I bought was an ASUS gaming PC.  Why?  Because I've built many PCs and I would only use ASUS Mobos.

They were rock solid, upgradable and very dependable.  Since I've had this ASUS PC I've upgraded the power supply and two video cards with no problems.

ASUS gaming PCs are reasonably priced not 1800 dollars.  24 hour support and dependability and the ease of upgrading is the key.

Remember, if purchasing a PC DO NOT purchase one with onboard video.  Make sure it has a card.  Power supplies and video cards are easy to replace.

I agree with Hajo about the ASUS motherboards: I bought a I BUY POWER gaming computer that has an ASUS mobo, and I have had the same experience Hajo is talking about. Except I bought mine instead of building my own because I am a computer illiterate.

[bustr]

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series
The Define R5 XL is a kick bellybutton case.
You can not hear it run.

HiTech

Now we know what really happens when the arenas and the web pages go down. Hitech forgot and hit the power button on his case when he left work that night. It's only an urban legend that Skuzzy trips on the power cord........