I was looking for the GPU chart I found months ago that convinced me to get the GTX 690, but it's apparently been updated for May 2014. Sadly my GPU isn't on the new chart (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-8.html), your's is (well the Ti model). Even though my card is worth about 10x that of yours, I'm happy for you. I've been enjoying throwing games and my new PC to see how they perform and I have not yet been disappointed. I have not yet tinkered with resolution settings. My desktop is currently maxed at 1920x1200.

I don't understand the "dialed everything to 11" part of your post. I guess that's a setting some where I haven't yet explored.

Hahahahaha, I wasn't trying to belittle Jon and his new GPU. Ah, well I guess that makes sense since I'm only familiar with Spinal Tap by name. As I said in my Skyrim post, when I installed Skyrim it detected my hardware and put everything on "Ultra High" settings. Still, Jon's getting more resolution in his set up than I am. My guess is that my 24" Dell monitor is the source of my resolution limitation.

Yes, Travis, that is exactly what it means. Perhaps I should look into that. I believe the GeForce Experience can help me with that, too.

Ok, I just updated my GeForce Experience and for the first time I went in to configure my games. Well, I only tweaked Skyrim for now. I couldn't tell which settings it was changing because my configuration for it looks the same as what it suggested, but I told it to optimize anyway. With the old PC, I was unable to utilize this feature of GeForce experience as my 8800 GTS wasn't supported.

Ok, I was able to optimize Starcraft II and Diablos III. Why didn't I think of this before? I was playing those two games on lower quality settings. So, thank you Jon for your post and Travis for your comments. Now I have some optimized games. I wonder how they look now....

Thanks for the link, Jon! That is an awesome comparison. What I gather from it is that while mine costs about 10x more, your's does a really good job of coming close to my performance. It seems as though you got a good deal. =) That's something I learned with that chart on TomsHardware.com, that just because a model has a higher number doesn't mean that it's better. One thing that surprises me (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is that mine is quieter than your's. I'm not sure that this makes sense, but I do know that my new PC is VERY quiet.

Haha, imagine that, a spaceship-looking GPU in an Alienware PC. This isn't the default GPU that came with this build, I was able to customize it and specifically chose the 690 because TomsHardware.com showed me that even though it's expensive, it's a bad ass GPU.

Looking at the Alienware website (http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-aurora-r4/pd?oc=dpcwny2&model_id=alienware-aurora-r4), it looks like it comes with a 770 by default, which has half the memory of the 690. I'm not sure if that option has changed since I got mine.

I'll look into it, Travis. I don't know why I didn't think of it before.

Jon, I used my 50" Samsung plasma TV as a "second monitor" on the old PC. I have not hooked the new PC up to it.

Skyrim settings are maxed out, I believe they've been maxed out this whole time I've been playing. The game is beautiful and it doesn't seem to have any lag. Granted, objects are still behaving strangely. The last time I talked to Maven Black-Briar, a few objects took flight after I opened the door and entered the room. A wooden plate was stuck on Maven's neck, like a collar. I should have taken a screenshot before she moved, which is what removed the plate from her head. I also found a Mammoth stuck in ice. Oh and one of the dragons I fought kept nose-diving down and flew back up after it hit the ground with it's head.

I think your card is better than mine. I'm using a Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1Gb. I know little about the relevance of certain features on cards these days. I like that yours has a low power draw. I'm sure that keep the system nice and cool. With the demands of some of the newer games, I was contemplating upgrading processor and GPU sometime this year, but this upgrade would be significantly expensive. Is there a market for selling used components?

Core i5 2500K @ 3.3GHz

It is, and it's been working really well. There are instances where I'd like to see a game perform at higher settings (Rage, Skyrim, etc.), but maybe an updated GPU would suffice. What I'm getting at the moment is still gorgeous, so I'm not complaining by any means. Just curious to see how much more there is to see :).

Awesome! Can't wait to play :)

You'll go to many different amazing places, including a secret underwater compound, and one that's so awesome I don't even want to mention it here.

Is it the Fuhrermuseum?! That would be kinda sick if it was.

iD tech 5 = too week for burritos

That Onion video is hilarious. Oh, Canada...

Agh, that's horrible! And lame that they showed that spoiler! ;)

Kidding! Was X-men any good?

USPS forgot to put my package on their truck today. Fuckers. I'll get it tomorrow. Hopefully.

@jdodson - PS4
@Travis - Confession: I got both. I saw some picture of an Asian child shrugging her shoulders, and it moved me. Trying out Watch Dogs as I'm typing this, and I'm really liking it. It's less like Assassin's Creed and more like Red Dead Redemption, but in Chicago, with hackers. I haven't read the reviews, but the gameplay feels like it's on par with what has been shown in pre-release videos. Granted, I'm only an hour or so into it, but I've covered a lot of the city (underground, and water systems). It's quite the playground.

I tend to favor sci-fi/tech over fantasy, even though the margin is thin. The significant things about Watch Dogs are the nuances that separate it from the other sandbox titles. The size of the world isn't that big of a deal, though it is absolutely beautiful. The way you can observe and affect the environment, and people in it, however, is creepily fun. You can hack cameras in the city to map out your plan of attack, or use the cameras themselves as extensions of you. Everything is connected, as they say, so you can jump from camera to camera, then hack a remote detonator on a guard, the explosion will draw the attention of another guard who has a camera on his phone, hack into that, then he carries you over to his post, where on the wall you can see the security panel for building access, hack that, and keep going. Or you can just take the guards out John McClane style.

There are problems with it, evident even in what little I've played. Everyone in the city has an identity. Everyone. Ubisoft did a pretty good job at making them diverse, but you can see repeating patterns here and there. Dialog could have been a little more diverse, too. In one motorcycle ride across town, I can't tell you how many times I heard the exact phrase "We have roads for a reason!" A "Hey, asshole, keep it on the asphalt!" or "Unless your mowing it, stay off the lawn!" would have been nice. I did swing around a corner once, taking out several newspaper racks and a light pole, and some lady shouted a very timely "What...the...fuck!" That was entertaining :).

My bad! I was going from memory. All I remembered was dark hair and not white. Shoulda looked...

Finally got to play a bit of Wolfenstien. Just a bit passed the sex scene. Really, really liking it. This is the new standard for shooters this generation (at least for consoles). Everything feels and looks and sounds so good.

It was my understanding that SteamOS, as a whole, doesn't support AMD and Intel graphics at the moment.

Thanks for clarifying :). I see that they've pulled the whole Witcher 2 store page down on Steam. They'll get it sorted. Valve has magic faeries on retainer.

This sounds awesome! Sorry I can't make it. I mean, I guess it's ONLY a 16 hour drive assuming I make no stops except for gas...

California is a very long state.

Listened to the RT while cooking dinner tonight. Great episode everyone!

It was a fun romp. Nice to sit in with Cap again. You were missed!

I was just on another game site (for shame...) watching a dev diary for Valiant Hearts, a new game in the UbiArt pipeline coming out next month. One of the comments under the post said "Ubisoft are doing indie better than the indies." This is a ridiculous statement, and is exactly what I'm talking about. When did "indie" become an aesthetic? No wonder people want to dump the monicker. It's been misappropriated to the point of falling under vague urban definition. Next step: games that are solely created in the state of Indiana = Indie games.

This is interesting, although I'm not sure it's something I will use. However, if I could stream my Steam games to my PS3, that would be awesome! I would then be able to use my big screen TV instead of this smaller monitor. Then I could lie in bed and play all the Steam I want. I don't think the PS3 is included, but it would be really cool if it worked!

Streaming is a new-to-me feature I'm still learning about and getting used to. When I got the new PC, I did not hook it up to my TV, like I did the old one. This is because I finally started using a PS3 media server on my PC to watch videos I have on here via the PS3. I love that I can do that, it seems to simplify what I'm trying to do by removing the need for me to attach the PC to the TV as a second desktop and configure video and audio settings for use and reconfigure them when I'm done with what I'm watching. Setting up the PS3 server on the PC is incredibly simple and effective.

This is really exciting, and the thing I've been looking forward to the most out of the whole SteamOS environment, even though I've recently downsized to one computer. The future looks promising :)

I've tried keyboard and mouse in the living room, and for me it just feels weird. Like, I still need to be at a desk, in the living room, to have the right feel. Am I the only one? What about the new Steam controller? Does that still support key-mapping?

Practical effects! That is so awesome. That alien guy looks really cool. I'm suddenly given a New Hope for the Star Wars movie.

Pun completely intended.