Disc07's NES PC Build: Part 1.2b (The Memory)

Today we are taking a look at the memory of my upcoming system. When it comes to memory, pretty much any sticks will do. The motherboard I am planning on using supports up to 32 gigs of ram, but I decided to go with a quarter of that with an 8GB kit; anything more than that would almost be overkill with what I am planning on doing, so in my case, cheaper (and smaller) is better.

About a week ago Newegg was running a sweet deal for 15% off of all memory, so I splurged and got a name-brand set that I knew I could trust: Corsair. I decided on the Corsair Vengeance LP series of memory.

Corsair never ceases to amaze with their excellent packaging! No annoying blister packs here! 

Like many of the newer builds out there, these clock in with DDR3 1600MHz speeds with a latency of 9, and 9-9-9-24 timing. The voltage drawn from these is only 1.5 volts, so as per energy, these things wont be pulling much from the PSU. I chose to go with the LP series of ram simply because space is a hot commodity in my case; the giant "cocks-comb" style heat spreaders that come on the others within the Vengeance series were just to much, and in my honest opinion, only really visually appealing and wont have much to do with the actual heat produced from the memory modules. These do come equipped with heat spreaders, but they are not a ridiculous size like other series' or brands, hence the Low-Profile branding on the modules.

No annoyingly huge heatsink!! But still very stylish! 

So far this build is coming along very well; there is still no motherboard in my hands as of yet, but hopefully one will be here by next week, and we can get the ball rolling on some Diablo III action! Here is what it looks like so far:

Intel i5 3550 ($189.99)

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2x4GB) Memory Module ($42.49)

Total Savings: $27.50 

Total Price: $232.48

If you haven't noticed by now, space is going to be a HARD thing to come by in my build. There is a specific reason for this and hopefully all of my ideas will come to fruition in the end and the product will be spectacular! With this being said, next Monday's post will be about just that: The Case...


Until then, Disc07 Out.

Disc07's NES PC Build: Part 1.1b (The CPU)

Today's installment of my build will cover the heart of the system, the Intel Core i5 Processor. This piece of hardware has defined this generation's gaming processors. It is a perfect mix of speed and integrated graphics. The new i7 models have just been released, so there were plenty of deals going around for last year's i5 models. After reading through piles of reviews of the i5, I decided on going with what I found to be the cheapest model, the i5-3550 with an LGA 1155 socket. I could either grab this model from Newegg with the addition of a free t-shirt, or go with a cheaper price at $189.99 (with rebate) at Circuit City. I chose the latter in hopes that the $20 savings will help me along with the build in the long run.

Pretty pretty box! 

This processor is part of the new line of Quad-Core Ivy Bridge CPU's that have just been released along with the brand new i7 models. It boasts a 3.3GHz speed and a 3.7GHz Turboclocked speed only sucking 77watts of power form the PSU. Included is a fancy, almost "low-profile," heatsink with a 90mm fan. There has been some discussion of the amount of heat put out from this model, so I might have to take some extra precaution when it comes to organizing the airflow in my case, but hopefully all will work out in the end.

Just the stock 90mm fan and heatsink should do with my build. We'll see how it goes.

If I were playing anything less than Diablo III on this build, I would definitely vouch for going without an additional video card (eg: just playing emulators/roms/last gen games etc.), but just for kicks I will be covering all of my bases and getting a video card later down the line (as long as space is an option in my build). 

I would love to go and do some benchmarking on this CPU/GPU, but it is the first part of build that I have received, hence I have nothing to compare it to, or even to start the PC up with. Therefore, I will keep these articles nice and short until I do a full system diagnostic once all of the parts are in and together in the end. 

So far the build is as follows: 

• Intel i5 3550 ($189.99)

Heads up: Friday's installment will be featuring the memory used for the build, the Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB DDR3 Memory Kit. 

Until then, Disc07 Out. 

Welcome Back (Disc07's NES PC Build: Part 1.0b)

So here it is, the time for me to pick up where I left off as writer here on the blog. Some very big things have happened as of late, and I am overly sorry that the quantity of posts has taken a hit while I was away. In the meantime, Spieg89 has been busy at writing and we have been featured on the newest episode of the Assassionista Podcast entitled "All Kinds of Surprises and Craziness!" If you are not already a listener I suggest you head on over there and check these guys out! Anyways, that is enough for the news, now on to the bulk of the announcements:

With the release of Blizzard’s long-coming Diablo III today, I would like to begin a new “PC Building” segment to the blog. It has been about eight years since my last build (in the years of Pentium 4 processors, tube monitors, IDE ribbon cables, and believe it or not, a frequently used floppy disk drive); I have been itching ever since to start up another project. 

" Fool! You have just ensured the doom of this world...Now run! Take the stone and run! "

Over the next month, in a last minute ditch to build a strong enough gaming pc to effectively run the latest installment to the Diablo franchise, I will be posting where my current build is at along with previews and reviews of each piece of hardware that I will be incorporating into the build, finally culminating into a final review of the system, as well as Diablo III (albeit, much later than other sites).  This will work out to be a budget build, with my goal to be less than $600 total. Of course, the classic theme of the blog will be taken in to account with the build and hopefully the results will be more than spectacular (and most likely will not require that 3.5" floppy drive)!

Ick.. the only thing good I remember from you is Sim City...

The first installment of this new segment will kick off tomorrow, and should continue each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday thereafter until the build is finally finished. Once again, thanks for all of the support, and we hope that you enjoy what is to come in our future!

Cheers!

~~Disc07

Avengers Assemble!

It's here. The comic book event of the decade. The event that Marvel has been leading up to since Iron Man released in 2008. Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, and Thor teaming up to save the world. The Marvel hype machine has been in full gear and it has been really getting our hope up. And let me tell you. It doesn't disappoint.

So a quick recap. The Avengers are a team of super heroes. First seen in September 1963 as Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The team changes on a fairly regular basis. But Iron Man and Captain America are pretty consistently on the team. Another consistency is the fact that the pseudo- government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. (In the movie universe it stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division). The possibility of an Avengers movie was first mentioned in the after credits scene of Iron Man with Director Nick Fury (Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.) asking Iron Man to join the Avengers Initiative. Next we got the Incredible Hulk with General Ross chasing The Hulk all over the world. After that came Iron Man 2 with quick succession Thor and Captain America in the same year. All of these movies are clearly leading up to something. Something very big. That all culminates in this movie.

 

This movie centers on the tesseract from Captain America: The First Avenger, Loki from Thor, and an alien race known as Chitauri. Marvel fans may know the Chitauri as a common enemy for the Avengers in the comic books. The movie centers largely on the character relationships coupled with incredible and well directed fight sequences. The director for the film is the infamous Joss Whedon. Also to note is the fact that the special effects were done by Industrial Light & Magic as well as Peter Jackson's Weta Digital. One thing to note is that all of the heroes are portrayed by the same actor who played the character in their respective solo movies except for Hulk/Bruce Banner who was recast for this and for another 6 movies is Mark Ruffalo.

One of the best parts about the movie is the fights between the heroes themselves. The fight where Thor and Hulk are going at it in the flight hanger is particularly good.  The movie is being received well and in all honesty it might be one of the best movies I've ever had the privilege to watch. I did see it in 3D, but I don't feel like it really needed the 3D. It is also on IMAX. I am very interested to see where the Marvel movies go next. Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 and slated for release in 2013 but after that Marvel hasn't said yet. A sequel to The Avengers is possible but it hasn't been announced yet and it will be difficult to set up story-wise.

I can't recommend this movie enough. If you are at all interested in comic books you must see this movie. I would also recommend buying The Avengers official movie-tie in comic Avengers: Prelude. Available in collected form via Amazon.com or at your local comic book shop. I recommend it as it ties all the previous movies together and shows you how S.H.I.E.L.D was working behind the scenes the whole time.

So buy the book, watch the movie, tell EVERYONE you know how great it is. And then watch it again. 

And with that I will leave you with a trailer to get you hyped: 

That is all. Carry On!

-Spieg89

Critical Path

Hello readers! Do you have an interest in video games journalism? Have you always wanted to write about video games but you don't know what it takes? Or do you just like reading in general?
Well then I have a book for you.

The book is entitled Critical Path: How to review games for a living. And it was written by a man who spent almost 15 years working as a games journalist. Dan Amrich worked for various different video game publications. I had the chance to send him a few questions via email. 

Spieg89:Tell me a little bit about your background in the games industry and what made you want to write this book?

Dan: I started reviewing games professionally in 1993, sort of as a side path from my music journalism career. That eventually blossomed in 15 years as both a freelancer and a staff member; I worked at GamePro for seven years in the late 90s and early 2000s, helped launch GamesRadar in the US in 2005, and transitioned to OXM for a three-year stint. Through all those jobs, I answered reader mail and was an admin in the web forums, and I kept seeing the same question from readers: "How do I get your job?" It seemed every reader wanted to be a writer; everybody thought it would be the coolest job in the world but had no idea how to actually, you know, get started on doing it as a career option. The answer to "how do I get your job" was not something I could easily answer in one email or even a series of them, so I decided to try to answer it completely in a book. I chipped away at the project in my free time over eight years, and revised it constantly as I learned new things or came into new situations that I thought would be worth discussion.

Spieg89: What are some of the key themes and ideas in the book?

Dan: I tried to cram the book with as much useful advice as I could, but one of the biggest points is realizing that it's not an easy job to get or even an easy job to execute even though the content is fun. There's a lot of hard work both in writing and getting noticed as a writer; you need more than just desire, you need discipline and drive. Other key things are how to improve your core writing skills, and then taking responsibility for what you write, because you will have to defend it to not only your editors, but your audience and the developers themselves. You will meet them face to face; they will remember your review. You need to be a professional about how you conduct yourself both on and off the page.


Spieg89: What are some of your projects outside of the games industry?

Dan: I taught myself to juggle in high school and quickly moved on to doing dangerous stuff for fun; fire is my specialty. But even when I juggle fire, I find it very relaxing. Also, I've been playing guitar and making music for years, and after a five-year stint singing in an 80s cover band, I am now making videogame parody songs with a friend under the name Palette-Swap Ninja; all our tracks are free downloads at paletteswapninja.com. Also, I'm a big Ghostbusters nerd so my wife and I built a full proton pack out of plywood some years ago; I am sometimes seen skulking around comic cons wearing that.
 
Spieg89: What are you doing now in the industry?

Dan: My current position is as Social Media Manager for Activision, which is really a fancy way of saying "blogger." I talk about Activision stuff on oneofswords.com, and chat with gamers on Twitter and Facebook. Basically, Activision saw what a good job Major Nelson was doing as the community guy for Xbox, and they said "Would you want to do that for us?" So after a few months of interviews and a lot of consideration, I joined Activision in January 2010 and they let me set up my own site. I decided to join up because they let me keep my editorial autonomy -- I am proud to say that nobody approves my tweets, blog posts, or podcast before I post. I am trusted to just sort of do my thing and get the information I would get if I were still a member of the media.


Alright so are you interested? Cause I am!


Dan's book is available on Amazon, Kindle, iBooks, Nook, Google's ebooks store, and directly from Dan's website: http://criticalpathbook.com/buy-it/


For more information please go to http://criticalpathbook.com/


Dan has also said he will be at PAX East next week wondering around on behalf of Activision and to help promote his book.


That is all. Carry On!


-Spieg89

City Under the Moon

Hello Gamers!
Sorry about the prolonged leave of absence, but relocating and settling across the country is a bit challenging and time consuming. But my personal life is not why we are here.
A fellow gamer of mine, Hugh Sterbakov is in the process of writing a novel that is shaping up to be great. For those of you who are die-hard Robot Chicken fans you may recognize Hugh. He bought most of the toys the show used, and was a writer most notably on two of the Star Wars specials. He is also the writer of the critically acclaimed comic book Freshmen. He is now finishing up his first novel City Under the Moon. 

 

The story is the a werewolf infection has struck New York city. And the story follows a few of the survivors. It has a very World War Z kind of vibe with werewolves instead of zombies. But don't take my word for it. Hugh has posted a brief preview that you can read for yourself: http://cityunderthemoon.com/sample/. Go check it out and read for yourself. 

Hugh is a good guy and he deserves your support. If nothing else you should read the preview and decide for yourselves. 

That is all. Carry On!

-Spieg89

Gears of War 3

The fall onslaught is truly in full swing now with one of the most anticipated releases of the year. It has been 3 years since we last played a new Gears game, and this one does not disappoint.

This campaign is the best Gears story yet. And it feels good to have a lancer and chainsaw enemies in half just like it always has. This campaign picks up a few years after the events of Gears 2. With all of the human cities destroyed and the COG dissolved, this game is personal. And it strikes hard and fast, with twists and turns starting from the get go to the last cut scene. And it delivers. It is possibly one of the most satisfying conclusions to any trilogy that I have seen. And  a first for Gears, there is 4-player co-op.  There is also a new Arcade mode which encourages friendly competition within the campaign.

As far as the multiplayer is concerned, there are 3 different options. The first is the classic Gears multiplayer with Team Deathmatch, Capture the Leader, and King of the Hill. This is the backbone of the multiplayer experience in Gears. For those of you who played the Gears 3 multiplayer beta, you know what to expect, especially if you have played the previous Gears games. It is classic online multiplayer at its best. The maps are geared towards close quarters combat. There are also dozens of weapon skins that are available to unlock and purchase. The skins are available in various packs as well as individually for each weapon. If you want all of the skins, they are available for $45 or 3600 Microsoft points. There is also available for purchase on Marketplace, the Season Pass, which will give you all of the upcoming DLC which will be coming out for a 33% discount.

The Marcus Fenix statue that is included with the Epic Edition of the game.

In addition to the traditional multiplayer, there is also Gears' fabled Horde mode but in a re-imagined way, combing the traditional endless waves of enemies with a tower defense element. In addition to Horde 2.0 as it is called by Epic Games, there is also Beast mode. Beast mode gives players the opposite position, playing not as the Gears, but as the Locust. As the players earn more COG kills, they earn more money which will allow them to buy bigger and better Locust. And with each progressive wave, more and more Gears are added to the fray. And it is great.

In addition to the standard copy of the game, there are 2 special editions, a controller, and a limited-edition Xbox 360 bundle. The Gears console includes 2 wireless controllers, the game and special sound effects for the opening of the disc tray and power off & on of the console. The wireless controllers is one of the new Xbox controllers, with the new analog sticks and and transforming D-Pad.  All of these are available at your favorite retailer.

Gears of War 3 Console Bundle

Gears of War 3 Epic Edition

Gears of War 3 is the best Gears game to-date. And it is also the pinnacle of what it means to be an Xbox 360 game. With a fantastic campaign, great multiplayer and unique modes it is a compact and full package. I can not recommend this game enough and everyone who is a shooter fan and an Xbox 360 owner should have this game.

"Let's Finish This"

That is all. Carry On!

-Spieg89