"Looks good, improves on every aspect compared to the first one."
That's how I'd summarize JC2 for the PC after a few hours' quick bout with it.
The grappling hook isn't the most original idea (Batman: Arkham Asylum or Bionic Commando, anyone), but it works well. It has more freedom than in AA or BC, and it's easier to use than the BC one.
Capturing helicopters brings Mercenaries 2 into my mind.
More later, maybe. ;)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Gaming rig: continued
I've finally settled the new system in and it's actually on the table and all. ;)
I also added a new monitor: a 24" Benq Led display (G2420HBDL). Very satisfied with the price / performance ratio (at 189 euros here); the image is crisp and clear, there's enough brightness (so much so that I toned it down to 25/100 setting) and, what's really important to me, it's a matte panel display. I don't have to look at my own face or the ceiling light while playing. Also, no dead / stuck pixels and nothing else to complain (yet ;) ).
The 5770 was a slight disappointment on the memory side of things; all I could get out of it stable was 1325MHz (1200MHz default). The core is running at 950MHz (850 default) and still seems to have room for more.
With the CPU at default speed the system gives a pretty standard ~11000 3D mark score in Vantage.
I also added a new monitor: a 24" Benq Led display (G2420HBDL). Very satisfied with the price / performance ratio (at 189 euros here); the image is crisp and clear, there's enough brightness (so much so that I toned it down to 25/100 setting) and, what's really important to me, it's a matte panel display. I don't have to look at my own face or the ceiling light while playing. Also, no dead / stuck pixels and nothing else to complain (yet ;) ).The 5770 was a slight disappointment on the memory side of things; all I could get out of it stable was 1325MHz (1200MHz default). The core is running at 950MHz (850 default) and still seems to have room for more.
With the CPU at default speed the system gives a pretty standard ~11000 3D mark score in Vantage.
Monday, April 12, 2010
New gaming rig: complete
So the final specs of my new Windows 7 (64-bit enterprise) gaming rig were as follows:
- CPU: i5 750 (not yet OCd)
- Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E (for USB- and SATA-3 support)
- Memory: 2x2GBs of Kingston 1600MHz Hyper-X memory
- Graphics: HIS Radeon HD5770
- Disk: Samsung F3 1TB harddisk (with Samsung 320GB drive for automated backups, etc)
- Cooling & case: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler (120mm fan, with possibility to add another later)
Zegamax Luna case w/3 120mm fans
Silver Power 600W 80+ power supply (Cheap, but good reviews and up to 87% efficiency)
The only hiccup: the 120mm fan on the side is exactly where the Hyper 212's top is, so I had to remove it since even rotating the plex-window didn't allow the side cover to fit... ;)
CPU temps are below 30 degrees C in normal desktop / surfing use, so I should be set for a nice overclock later when I get everything running (just did the cabling yesterday, the case is now really roomy with good airflow).
Power consumption is around 85-95W at surfing use and around 170-190W when playing newest DX11 games. The 5770 is still at normal clocks. The HIS card should have Hynix memory capable of 1500MHz memory clocks, so there should be plenty of OCing room for that too.
All in all, pretty good price / performance ratio at little over 800 euros. A i7 860 CPU would've cost another 100 euros and a 80GB SSD drive another 200 euros - but I'm happy with the F3 for now, at least, and in gaming use the lack of HyperThreading shouldn't be a major performance factor (another thing in synthetic benchmarks or stuff like MPEG compression).
- CPU: i5 750 (not yet OCd)
- Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E (for USB- and SATA-3 support)
- Memory: 2x2GBs of Kingston 1600MHz Hyper-X memory
- Graphics: HIS Radeon HD5770
- Disk: Samsung F3 1TB harddisk (with Samsung 320GB drive for automated backups, etc)
- Cooling & case: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler (120mm fan, with possibility to add another later)
Zegamax Luna case w/3 120mm fans
Silver Power 600W 80+ power supply (Cheap, but good reviews and up to 87% efficiency)
The only hiccup: the 120mm fan on the side is exactly where the Hyper 212's top is, so I had to remove it since even rotating the plex-window didn't allow the side cover to fit... ;)
CPU temps are below 30 degrees C in normal desktop / surfing use, so I should be set for a nice overclock later when I get everything running (just did the cabling yesterday, the case is now really roomy with good airflow).
Power consumption is around 85-95W at surfing use and around 170-190W when playing newest DX11 games. The 5770 is still at normal clocks. The HIS card should have Hynix memory capable of 1500MHz memory clocks, so there should be plenty of OCing room for that too.
All in all, pretty good price / performance ratio at little over 800 euros. A i7 860 CPU would've cost another 100 euros and a 80GB SSD drive another 200 euros - but I'm happy with the F3 for now, at least, and in gaming use the lack of HyperThreading shouldn't be a major performance factor (another thing in synthetic benchmarks or stuff like MPEG compression).
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A new gaming rig
I'm having hard time justifying myself a big budget for a new gaming PC since I do most of my gaming on the consoles nowadays, so what I've ended up with is a mid-range, sub 1000 eur, gaming PC consisting of:
Also, the 58XX series Radeon's are out of the picture; I could cash out for the 5830, but honestly, the 5fps difference at FullHD isn't just worth the extra 80-90 euros (considering that I can add another 5770 later for around 130 euros).
If I went for an AMD system with Phenom II X4 955BE, I'd probably save another 30-40 euros, and wouldn't lose many (if any) fps in games - but for more intensive reasons like MPEG-compression and working with RARs, I decided on the i5 750 that is basically a i7 860 that has HyperThreading disabled.
I could save even more if I took the chance with a Phenom II X2 and tried to unlock it with a suitable motherboard.
But with my track record of getting good CPUs I decided not to (anyone remember Celeron 300As? Or 366s? I had to go through 5 specimens of the latter to get them to 555MHz and never got lucky with a 300A... ;) ).
Oh, well... Decisions, decisions.
Maybe I'll get that damn cheap Packard Bell i5 430/Radeon 5650 laptop instead - would save me 200 euros and tons of time... :D
- Intel i5 750 CPU w/ Scythe Katana 3 cooler
- Asus P7P55D-E motherboard (the local store is out of the cheaper GigaByte USB/SATA3 boards)
- 4 gigs of DDR3 1333Mhz G.Skill Ripjaw memory
- HIS Radeon HD 5770, 1GB (another to be added later in Crossfire)
- Zegamax Luna case with a 650W Chieftec "Super Series" PSU (can you say "cheap-ass"?)
- Some random 1TB drive (probably a Samsung F3)
Also, the 58XX series Radeon's are out of the picture; I could cash out for the 5830, but honestly, the 5fps difference at FullHD isn't just worth the extra 80-90 euros (considering that I can add another 5770 later for around 130 euros).
If I went for an AMD system with Phenom II X4 955BE, I'd probably save another 30-40 euros, and wouldn't lose many (if any) fps in games - but for more intensive reasons like MPEG-compression and working with RARs, I decided on the i5 750 that is basically a i7 860 that has HyperThreading disabled.
I could save even more if I took the chance with a Phenom II X2 and tried to unlock it with a suitable motherboard.
But with my track record of getting good CPUs I decided not to (anyone remember Celeron 300As? Or 366s? I had to go through 5 specimens of the latter to get them to 555MHz and never got lucky with a 300A... ;) ).
Oh, well... Decisions, decisions.
Maybe I'll get that damn cheap Packard Bell i5 430/Radeon 5650 laptop instead - would save me 200 euros and tons of time... :D
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