In this episode of The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable we talk all about Gaming PC's. Build or buy, Mac or Windows, we talk about it all. At the end we discuss game pricing when I recently came to some sticker shock over $60 buy.
What We are Playing & Drinking
Getting A Gaming PC in 2014
Game Pricing and How it is Evolving
This Roundtable was based on the following post started by GregoPeck:
http://cheerfulghost.com/GregoPeck/posts/1888
What We are Playing & Drinking
- 0:45m scrypt: Kingdoms of Amalur & FTL
- 2:45m Travis: TextMate
- 3:25m jdodson: catwebcams.com, Portal 2, Reus & Borderlands 2
Getting A Gaming PC in 2014
- 8.40m What are we current running and what do we like or dislike about our setups?
- 22:00m Building VS Buying
- 29:15m What is the most we want to spend?
- 36:15m Do we have any particular PC brands we like?
- 42:00m What PC did Greg actually get?
Game Pricing and How it is Evolving
- 43:55m Wolfenstein pre-order comes with Doom Beta price is $60
- 49:00m Digital VS Physical
This Roundtable was based on the following post started by GregoPeck:
http://cheerfulghost.com/GregoPeck/posts/1888
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Thanks for the mention and the link to the post. You guys have made some excellent points and covered many things that I agree with. When Aurora arrives, I'll have to change my user pic. So far I can't tell what color the lights are because in the picture you showed they look red, but on the website's gallery they look purple. For now, I should get a pic of Blue64, I have the blue lights on, except for the side fan as I've replaced it with one that doesn't light (the original and replacement have died and has been replaced).
You guys are running better PCs than I currently am, but I'm about to smoke you. I've been building for the last decade or more and have been satisfied, especially when a custom built PC ran right away and booted fine. I always do my research when thinking about building and upgrading. One think I enjoy of building my own is the ability to get what I want and being able to upgrade later (if I choose to). That said, I thought about upgrading Blue64, which by now would be relatively cheap, but the motherboard lacks some of today's standards (DDR3 for instance). When researching on a new build or pre-built PC, I managed to figure out the components I drooled over and really wanted (like the GTX 690). In the end it was more expensive to get all of the components I wanted as compared to all pre-built PCs I looked at. When it came to Alienware, they had what I wanted and at a cheaper price than purchasing all components separately. Since I could afford to, I bought the Aurora. It's one to drool over.
My current specs are listed in the post along with the Aurora. Right now my only complaint with Blue64 (my current custom built PC) is that I'd like a little more speed at least. I've seen little lag in Terraria at high quality, but otherwise that runs fine. Minecraft runs ok, but will look sweeter with the new PC. FTL runs with no apparent lag. I haven't done much PC gaming except for some Command & Conquer, Magic the Gathering, and Morrowind, for example. Although, I think I'd like to play Starcraft 2 and The Sims 3.
I like the cheap cost of great Steam games like the two I've mentioned and Portal (which was a free download, and the other two were given to me). I haven't really questioned a $60 because I got used to buying console games. I haven't bought a lot of them and am particular when it comes to games. That and my budget hasn't always allowed me to buy many games.
I think Steam is my first experience with digital games and ones that are apparently in the cloud. When I move to my new PC, I'll see how all that transfers. Luckily, I know how to back up Terraria.
I think I need to build a computer sometime in the future. I would like to know more about how they work, so what better way than making one? Plus it's like this century's version of building a hot rod.
As an IT guy, like Travis, I'm experienced with working on Dell, Gateway, and HP computers, such as troubleshooting and all the tech basics. I've seen lots of issues, but that's what my job has been as a tech guy.
I'm glad you mentioned controllers. I don't have a 360 controller, so I'm interested in a good PC controller. I suspect Logitech would be my best answer. I've had some of their products and like them, but I found myself liking a wired mouse and keyboard better because of battery usage.
I've been loving AMD and buying their processors, but I am abandoning them for the first time in over a decade. I'm not sure what got me hooked on Nvidia as opposed to Radeon brands, but I've been sticking with Nvidia. Some of the CPUs don't be as expensive as I remember, but some really good stuff is expensive. You can easily build a decent PC, suited to your purposes for it, cheaply. It's a fun thing to do and be able to do. Researching components is something I'm fond of doing, even though I'm not always up-to-date on what's out and what's new and best.
Right now, I'm happy with buying as it does actually seem to save some money. This will be a somewhat new experience for me as I've been running this build of my PC for about 7 years. This recent purchase will give me a decent PC that I can let my son use and still do what we'd want it to do and with an ability to be upgraded at some time.
Aurora is still "in production."
As far as controllers, I definitely recommend going with an Xbox controller. I bought a Logitech (PlayStation styled), and it definitely suffers. A lot of games are programmed for the Xbox controller. The Logitech can look like a Xbox controller to the computer, but you have to use a directional pad instead of a thumbstick, and it just isn't as precise.
Should I just buy an XBox360 controller just for my PC? I'm not sure how much it costs, but I've heard it's great. It might be worth it. I tried getting my PS3 one to work, emulated as an Xbox360 controller, but it still didn't exactly work as I wanted with Morrowind. Maybe I need to change and set some of the controls more properly. I'd like to be able to use a controller for it the same way that I use my PS3 controller to play Skyrim on the PS3.
I think the XBox 360 for PC would be a good purchase. Like Adym said, "normal" controllers are fine BUT some games only want to the the 360 controller. That said, I got mine for under $40 I think. It's the USB one, I think the wireless ones would be a better idea.
My Aurora arrived today (well technically yesterday since it's after midnight). I now have two working PCs in my room that are turned on and ready. There's another very old PC in the room that I tried to set up for my son, but it couldn't handle Minecraft. I can't wait to play Minecraft on this new one with full, ultimate settings! Anyway, I have a point with this comment. Now that I have both PCs up and running in my room, something that I think Jon said in this video is really sticking out to me...the noise level. I built the old PC and the case fans are new and replaced the old ones not long ago. I can tell you that this Aurora is so quiet!!!! I can hear the old PC's fans running. It's not really loud and kind of what you'd expect from a PC, but it is loud compared to this new PC.