Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Thanks for the info. Never knew that about graphics cards. Mine is a 5770 and it works pretty well for most new games. I think eventually I'll buy a second 5770 and apparently that will speed up framerates significantly.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Some up and coming PnC Adventure Games that might be of some interest:

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - solid little horror adventure game that plays something like Myst stuck in a nightmare.

Lost Horizon - based on the book, looks like a low rent version of Uncharted 2 but apparently has a lot of it's own merits, critically well received thus far.

Gray Matter - from Jane Jensen, creator of Gabriel Knight. It's finally set to come out Feb of 2011 in EU.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

After months of nagging me, my cousin (who built my computer) talked me into buying a second 1 GB 5770 to cross-fire with. What sort of an improvement of performance should I be expecting? Will it really be twice as fast a frame-rate? Will I be able to play just about everything on high settings now?

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Depends on the games. In Crysis Warhead you'll go from 23 fps (1920x1200 resolution) to 37 fps. 26 fps to 42 fps in 1680x1050.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Interesting. That's a pretty significant improvement. If you don't mind me asking, where did that information come from? I've done a Google search, but haven't found any good informative articles on cross-firing the cards yet. That single 5770 works very well for my needs usually -- even for some very new, graphics-heavy games like Just Cause 2 and Mafia II. Others like Metro 2033 and Starcraft II do get some slowdown. And of course Crysis.

Also, I have a question : When you add the second card, is it always being used, or does it just engage when being used for graphic-intensive applications like games?



BTW I found the weirdest quirk recently : With Mafia II, when the game is just installed, it would only show the static, hanging flags and the fluttering eyelashes of the characters -- nothing else. I went to a forum discussion and found out that the default setting is anti-aliasing OFF. Turning the anti-aliasing ON made the game look beautiful. Very strange.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

I just did a google search on 5770 crossfire.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articl...ormance,5.html

I otherwise don't know a whole lot about multi-card use.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Keep in mind it's essentially a point-and-click adventure game. Go in expecting anything remotely close to Uncharted (which is a third person shooter with some minor exploration and puzzle solving mixed in) will leave you disappointed.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Does anybody know why Steam installs DirectX with every new game I launch? Is there any way to stop that from happening? i do notice that if you hit "Cancel", then relaunch the game, it skips that step. Still I think there has to be a more elegant solution than that.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Yeah I should have noted that. Funny too that the third person shooter aspect is, imo, the weakest point of the Uncharted series.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

I've recently started playing World of Goo and Angry Birds in my free time. They're fun little time wasters. They require a little bit of strategy and thought, but they're also just fun distractions. Do any of you have some recommendations for similar games?

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

I've always wondered about that too.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Found this article on Crossfiring 5770s. Sounds like it should give me good results. Hope so -- FRAPS tells me I only get about 20 FPS on Metro 2033.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

I thought the shooter aspects were much improved in Uncharted 2. Likewise for the brawling. The puzzles and exploration also got an upgrade but I felt they could have gone further with both. I understand their reluctance to attempt long Tomb Raider/Ico type puzzles but I wish we'd get something close to that in Uncharted 3.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

They were improved but they were still a weak point, imo, felt like tedious filler instead of adding to the experience. Still a great series.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Given the games are primarily shooters with minor puzzle/exploration elements tossed in, that's a whole lot of filler. :lol:

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Looks like it's working well. I went from 20 FPS to 37 on Metro 2033 and in Crysis Warhead from 26 to at least 40 FPS. Totally worth the extra $115 it cost me!

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Haha -- the shooting/action elements integrated well for a good part of the game, but when the game went straight up shooter in the last 20% I lost interest pretty damn quick.

Re: The not-so-official PC Gaming Thread - 2010 Edition
 

Fair enough. Sounds like how I felt towards the tail end of the first game. Particularly the second shootout in the monastery (as if the first shootuot in the same location wasn't irritating enough).