PC Gaming

With release of the Steam machines I get the feeling that it might now become profitable to build machines for people.

I used to do it on the side years ago, but became a ball ache as you didn't make that much money on everything, but with a FREE OS and the prices being quoted by third parties for generally low spec machines it could be an opportunity to make a few quid on the side.
 
Razer reveals ambitious modular gaming PC Project Christine
Project Christine promises to be the "world's most modular gaming system."
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Project Christine's modular setup allows users to install modules whenever they want--including CPUs, GPUs, or memory and storage. The system features PCI-Express architecture to automatically sync components. Project Christine can also run multiple operating systems.

Every module is sealed and features no cables that users could potentially find themselves troubled by. In addition, each module features liquid cooling and noise cancellation. Lastly, Project Christine features a touch-screen LED display that shows control and maintenance details.
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Gamespot

Interesting :D
 
Looks that all Steam machines are just using 3rd party components, installation of OS will be a walk in the park and prices will be pretty high.

In 3 months time I think I will be building Steam machines, if they take off profits could be good.
 
bsmaff said:
Looks that all Steam machines are just using 3rd party components, installation of OS will be a walk in the park and prices will be pretty high.

In 3 months time I think I will be building Steam machines, if they take off profits could be good.
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Neophyte question: If I was to build a Gaming PC/Steam Machine from scratch how would I get the Steam OS onto the computer?
 
i have a freaking sweet brand new mac book pro with retina display, anyone gaming on one of these puppies? running boot camp? I have fusion, anyone with any suggestions?
 
gomito#10 said:
i have a freaking sweet brand new mac book pro with retina display, anyone gaming on one of these puppies? running boot camp? I have fusion, anyone with any suggestions?
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Don't run a virtual machine, mainly use Parallels when at work, but you cant beat Boot Camp.
Runs obviously as an independent OS instead of sharing resources plus if using for gaming purposes Parallels doesn't detect the GPU properly where Boot Camp does, so would assume Fusion is the same.
 
Ipswich69 said:
Neophyte question: If I was to build a Gaming PC/Steam Machine from scratch how would I get the Steam OS onto the computer?
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With a USB pen, it is the same principle as installing any other OS.
Linux is abit more complicated but shouldn't be an issue as you can just select auto install.
 
bsmaff said:
With a USB pen, it is the same principle as installing any other OS.
Linux is abit more complicated but shouldn't be an issue as you can just select auto install.
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Ah, I see. That makes sense as I probably wouldn't install a DVD drive. Thanks for the reply.
 
Thought I'd test out Nvidia Shadowplay on a game of Trackmania;

YouTube - Trackmania² Stadium - Shadowplay test

Youtube caps it at 30fps and degrades the quality a lot (probably because of this), but the actual video file looks pretty much identical to the gameplay - 1080p 60fps and it doesn't hit performance at all from what I can tell. It's a great little tool and James/Scutch you should check it out as you have the same card :).
 
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I recently tried it for the first time a few days ago on DayZ, and it was surprisingly very good it runs a lot better than FRAPS ever has and it doesn't hit FPS at all.
I configured mine though so it only done manual record and not just constantly recording the last few minutes.

Have not tried recording anything yet though in 3D and see if that works or whether it records it in 2D, but will give it a go later.

But my 3D monitor will also be going bye bye soon, as the 4K monitors they released at CES should be available by the summer and should apparently only cost around £450-£500. Also will be waiting for the new Nvidia cards to be released in the Spring/Summer and a nice new 4K monitor by the end of the year I will be gaming at 4096 x 2160.
2014 is going to be an expensive year I reckon, but at least that should keep me going until SkyLake is released.
 
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http://www.bundlestars.com/all-bundles/the-brutal-bundle/

£3.64 for that bundle of 10 Steam games, the reason I'm posting it is that it includes Tropico 4: Steam Special Edition which is a very good Sim City type management game where you play as the dictator/leader of a Caribbean island during the Cold War (there's also a DLC/expansion pack called "Modern Times" which is what it says on the tin).

It's £24.99 on it's own on Steam at the minute, so that bundle is well worth grabbing for Tropico alone if you're interested in that type of game, not sure if any of the other games are any good.

Also, if you're into sim racing grab this, I just picked up GTR Evo and Race 07 from the same site for 75p;

http://www.bundlestars.com/store/gtr-evolution/
 
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Tropico 4 is brilliant. Deserves to be more popular than it is.

Race 07 and GTR Evo are must haves. A bit dated now but loads of content to play with.
 
NikoLiberty4 said:
Talking about racing sims, 2014 will be a great year, with Project CARS, rFactor 2 and the amazing Assetto Corsa!
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Hopefully a great year. A long way to go yet as all three are still in development.

rF2 really needs to reach a complete state this year. It has the potential to be the best hardcore sim of the three, the only one with a complete feature set (dynamic track evolution, weather and time of day). It's such a mess at the moment and looks terribly dated in many ways.

AC will be the best all-rounder I think. Great physics, great graphics, good audio, excellent content and nice UI and menus. Probably going to be the first one to reach v1.0.

pCARS - haven't played it but the visuals are very impressive. I've read mixed opinions on the driving physics but then I'm not sure if this game is aiming to be an ultra-realistic sim. Keen to try this later in the year.

R3E is the only one I'm not particularly interested in. I think Simbin are on the wrong path with this F2P project. I was excited for DTM experience but Simbin dropped the ball with that too.
 
The new Humble Bundle is out and it's a good one;

https://www.humblebundle.com/

It's a Sid Meier bundle, the lowest tier ($1) gets you Civ III and IV complete, Ace Patrol and Railroads, the next tier ($8.80) gets you Civ 5 and the "Gods and Kings" DLC and the highest tier ($15) gets you all of that with the Civ 5 Brave New World DLC (which is £20 on it's own on Steam right now).

The new weekly sale also just came up;

https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly

I picked this up because it contained Psychonauts which I've wanted to play for a while now.
 
The Sid Meier bundle is one the better ones, to get all the Civ games for £15 is incredible value.

But personally getting Civilization 4 for 60p is bargain of the century as it is without doubt one of the best 5 games I have ever played, but then I love the Civilization games and have done since I was about 10.
I am also one of the people who doesn't like Civilization 5, as they tried to make it more appealing to the masses and dumped the game down quite a lot and it lost it's element of managing your resources properly and going all out for science or get loads of money to rush build troops for global domination + Every time you play the game it is completely different as the land and the AI you spawn next to is different every time it just makes it replay able over and over again, unlike most games now like Last of Us - Tomb Raider where they are so incredibly linear you have no desire to play them again ever.
 
I picked up both of those bundles for $1 each - I already have Civ 5 and all the DLC on my account and I've heard other people also mention that Civ 4 is meant to be better in some areas.

Yeah I really couldn't pay £25+ on a game that is just an 8 hour linear campaign, there's so many of those around these days though.
 
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