... so, does anyone know how to analyze a graphics card with regard to a game if it isn't the sort listed under system specs? IE I'm getting a laptop for college (requirement), and I want to figure out what a NVidia Quadro FX770 w/512 RAM with run (I just copied that down from the system requirements Rose gave me; I don't know much beyond that.) I know that it's specialized for CAD and autodesk-style software as opposed to gaming, and I want to figure out what it can handle. Hopefully something (relatively) new on the gaming market, like Empire: Total War, or Left 4 Dead would be awesome, but I don't know how to convert that video card capability to determine how good it would be for playing a game.

 

Also- anybody know if you can do multiplayer through either A) a 10/100/1000 Ethernet Card (don't know if that would be even remotely applicable), B) 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless (whatever that means), or C) Bluetooth (I know a bit more about that one.)? Anyone who knows stuff would be appreciated, thanks.

According to Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_quadro

The FX 770M is based on the 9600M GT. It is a decent card for gaming, I would consider the minimum card for any laptop that wants decent gaming performance.

 

Multiplayer

a) 10/100/1000 Ethernet Card - yes, that is just a LAN card that will allow you to get on a wired network

b) 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless - also yes, but you may have more lag because transmissions are through the air

c) Bluetooth - no, Bluetooth is only meant for short-range and does not have high-enough transfer speeds. No one uses it for Internet access.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, the Quadro is exactly like the GT, just this one can do a few more fancy-pants things that a game wouldn't need to do in the first place? Sweetness!

Yep, more or less.. same chip, slightly different software

Do you actually work there Kryt?!

 

I havn't mentioned I'm an artist at a game company? Ha .... ahh, in that case. Guess what?! I'm an artist at a smallish Melbourne game company called Firemint

 

Congrats Krytos, one of my dreamjobs you have

Didi you work Flight Control too? I've read it's a huge success. Tell us about you work!

Just picked up Sacred 2 for the PS3. Im looking forward to starting it up.

I'm planning on grabbing a copy of Left 4 Dead for PC at some point in the future (IE when I get my laptop), and the GF is grabbing the Game of the Year edition for X Box 360. I may or may not shell out the extra ten bucks for GotY when I get my copy... I'm going to wait and see what folks have to say about it, and whether or not the multiplayer stuff is worth it.

On computer news. I finally finished repairing my computer!!!

I am now the happy owner of a 1 tb drive.

What the heck is one tb?! Is that like a million mb or something???

What the heck is one tb?! Is that like a million mb or something???

You are correct Rob! One million Megabytes is one thousand Gigabytes which is one Terabyte.

 

@Mad: What other high end components are on that thing? DVD-ROM? Video Card? wireless what? etc. ...

I've just read somewhere, that Assasins Creed 2 now has 450 people wokring on it. I'm quite unsatisfied with the prequel, but the concept and the atmosphere was perfect.

What the heck is one tb?! Is that like a million mb or something???

You are correct Rob! One million Megabytes is one thousand Gigabytes which is one Terabyte.

 

 

WOW!!!

 

Talk about lucky guesses...

Just ordered 3 more 1TB drives myself.. to add to my other 4

Wanted to get more of the Samsung Spinpoint F1s, but Newegg was out. They just recently restocked the HJ103U

Hoping these Hitachi 1TB are worth it. Great price and similar reviews overall.

What do you people do that requires that much memory?!

 

Most games take up, like, six gigs, max, and that's if you download the entire game! Or are you lot all doing work stuff that requires an insane amount of memory in the realm of a terrabyte?

You don't realize how much you can fill up a file server until you have one...

Granted I'm using file duplication on Windows Home Server, so its 50% less than what I would normally use. And it isn't all the way full, though its getting there.. thus the extra drives.

What do you people do that requires that much memory?!

It's not "memory", but "storage" space. All of those vid's you make & put on Youtube, de-motivation posters, Zoot War posts, all of those take "space". I know I've collected quite a bit over the years

 

Besides, you never want your hard drive too full, it just slows everything down trying to keep track of it all. And doing multiple drives (a RAID system), is just good insurance should your drive ever just ... die.

I do a bit of video editing and let me tell you it is very Memory heavy.

For an example:

50 minutes of raw AVI footage is 10 Gb and if you do it often you can easily fill up HDs. I filmed a theater show recently and all the footage put together was about 600 GBs.

I guess my camera's just not high enough quality to take up too much space. Well, that and I delete the old raw footage once I post it to YouTube. *Shrug* But yeah, video files will tax you out the wazzoo, I suppose.

Just wanted to re-state how awesome Sacred 2 is. Its on the PS3, 360, and PC, so everyone here should be playing it on some platform or other. Its a nice hack-and-slash dungeon crawler which reminds me of the likes of Baldurs Gate and Champions of Norrath, but in an open-ended world where you go anywhere you want. Six specialized classes to choose from. Good and evil quests/story. Heck of a lot of fun.

 

Still waiting for my buddy to buy it so that I can play online.

*Toot Toot* I have Left 4 Dead, now, for PC. I'm on Steam, same nickname as here: DarthTofu. I might also show up as chris.chrispete, seeing as that's what the game is presently calling me; my Steam account ought to have the Tofu name, though.

 

Anybody know if I can play someone on a 360 when I'm on PC?

Im going to go ahead and guess that no, the 360 and the PC work on two different servers/whatever you want to call it, so you wont be able to play someone on the 360. But thats just a guess...Im not 100% sure on it.

Rob is correct; Steam and X-box live don't mix, despite the pure awesomeness that would occur if they did. Also:

Rob is correct

 

I never thought I would hear you utter those words.

Also:

 

The true awesomenss of that trailer cannot be defined with words. I want that game. I want it now!!!

Prepare to drool...

 

The trailer for The Old Republic was revealed at E3 yesterday. Its an MMO for the PC, but is being considered for the PS3 and 360. You gotta check it out...it looks amazing.