Now What?

Emerald · Fri 16/05/2008 21:35:23

Well, as you may or may not have noticed, it's my birthday on the 17th, so I decided to get a top-of-the-range computer (for once -- usually I go for the second-cheapest option). It's a bloody mammoth of a thing, with a Quad Core Processor, 4GB of Ram, and a GeForce 8600 series graphics card, together with a 22" flat-screen monitor.

Now, after several hours of wrestling to get it to work, I'm left facing the ultimate question: what the hell do I do with it?

It seemed like, as I lay around dreaming of a computer like this, there were hundreds of things I was missing out on, but now I'm just blanking (hell, all I've done so far is browse AGS, and it's not like I needed this 50-pound, thousand-euro demon just to do that...)

So, any ideas?

monkey0506 · Fri 16/05/2008 21:47:27

~~Porn. Lots and lots of porn. @$$loads of porn. As much porn as your HDD can possibly hold.~~

Well we all know you were thinking it...

I'd say if you put all this money into the system to make it top of the line, best to run some bloody high-res games with it. Then get pissed when you're playing online and some fag is running a lower-end system and causing the game to lag!

And of course the Quad Core just means it's makes everything 4x faster right? So if you may have averaged releasing 1 AGS game a year before, now you can produce 4! And such.

skuttleman · Fri 16/05/2008 21:55:44

will it run Pong?

EldKatt · Fri 16/05/2008 21:57:01

Well, if you can't think of anything to use that quad-core for, there are people who can.

tube · Fri 16/05/2008 21:58:46

With computers (and cars) it's like all the girls think, but daren't say aloud: size matters, not how you use it. You don't actually have to do anything with it. Simply go around telling everybody that yours is bigger and more powerful than theirs. Be sure to measure first (run some benchmarks) so you have something to throw on the table in case someone contests the validity of your assertion.

But seriously, I can't think of anything else than maybe getting all the latest and most graphics-intensive games around, running them at full settings and drooling at the eye candy. That's certainly fun, if not very productive.

Mr Flibble · Fri 16/05/2008 22:07:42

Build it yourself.

It prolongs that feeling of wanting a really awesome computer, and it's very enjoyable.

Emerald · Fri 16/05/2008 22:46:23

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Fri 16/05/2008 21:47:27
~~Porn. Lots and lots of porn. @$$loads of porn. As much porn as your HDD can possibly hold.~~

With a terrabyte hard-drive, plus another 320 GBs on an external one that I had beforehand, I don't think there's enough hours of the day. Plus, my general distaste for other men's penises eliminates a lot of the stuff out there...

Quote from: Mr Flibble on Fri 16/05/2008 22:07:42
Build it yourself.

It prolongs that feeling of wanting a really awesome computer, and it's very enjoyable.

I think you've missed the point.
Anyway, I was thinking about doing that -- I even had all the components picked out -- but then I realised "shit, with my luck with computers, there's no way I'll be able to build this thing without blowing it up or getting electrocuted..."
Hell, I nearly electrocuted myself just trying to plug it in. And I did cut myself with a switch-blade... I also was seconds from removing a panel clearly labelled "Do Not Remove" before my friend pointed it out. And believe me, that was the smoothest setting up of an electronic device I've ever done...

P.S. On the 'birthday list', how come it seems to think I'm turning thirty? I don't remember ever disclosing my age...

evenwolf · Fri 16/05/2008 22:55:59

Video editing... em maybe 3D design?

Well that's what I'd put it to use doing..

jetxl · Fri 16/05/2008 22:59:30

You could play games!
Like Half Life 2, Unreal 3, Crysis, Oblivion and all those other firework show cases. I'm not really into those games, but maybe that's because I lack that monster pc.

You could edit your own movies, too.

Emerald · Fri 16/05/2008 23:14:28

Quote from: jetxl on Fri 16/05/2008 22:59:30
You could play games!
Like Half Life 2, Unreal 3, Crysis, Oblivion and all those other firework show cases. I'm not really into those games, but maybe that's because I lack that monster pc.

Hmm, thing is, most of those I was interested in I got for the 360, and I seem to have trained myself to remain apathetic to everything that doesn't fit a certain criteria (3rd person action with an intensive story)... so the majority of great games that I've missed out on just don't spark anything in me. Maybe I should just get 'em anyway...

Domino · Fri 16/05/2008 23:16:44

Play Global Thermonuclear War. Let us know how it turns out.

skuttleman · Fri 16/05/2008 23:31:38

Quote from: Domino on Fri 16/05/2008 23:16:44
Play Global Thermonuclear War.

Only Matthew Broderick can do that.

Theme · Fri 16/05/2008 23:40:35

Not all programs use four cores, most apps don't even use 2 cores.
If you don't use a professional 3d rendering program, or video editing or particle dinamics and simulation I guess there is no reason to have quad. Last games today use only 2 cores, and they are just a few.
But then, the intel quad6600 is very cheap these days.
One thing that is nice to have is a good 3d card for games.

o/

LimpingFish · Fri 16/05/2008 23:54:58

I bought a Q6600, 4GB, 8800GT, etc, etc, just a while back. 3D work is quicker, and Cubase can take a heavier load without imploding. And I'm running Assassin's Creed with the settings maxed out.

Go me.

A heavy-hitting PC is good for two things; spec-intensive creative work, and games. My old P4 1.8ghz, 1GB, Geforce 2/5/6 (which served me well for over five years) could handle everything else.

Play_Pretend · Sat 17/05/2008 06:41:59

Death ray. With bikini models posing on it. You need that quad core to sync the targeting apparatus with their undulations.

Oliwerko · Sat 17/05/2008 10:22:26

Well, I got myself a Quad and 8800GTX with 2GB ram beast in january.
It was my first "modern" computer so far. And of course, my old 1Ghz athlon was dying. I did not want to go this high, but lower-specs components were not available at the moment, and I wanted to build it during holiday, so I bought what was available at the moment, and it was this beast.

And I enjoy having it. I am not much into high-end games, but at least everything runs at high fps, that is important for me. I can play older games which I could not on my old computer.

Also, movie editing is quite fast, along with audio applications. But I was facing the same question as you. So now what? I have it. And?

I can tell you, I do not regret buying it. I use like 50% of it most of the time, but sometimes I am glad I have it. At least it runs without problems, it is reliable and fast. All you can expect from a computer.

Conclusion: Do not try to force yourself to try everything HW-hard just because you have a fast computer. At least it worked for me.

Buckethead · Sat 17/05/2008 10:39:38

I know, send it to me and I'll make sure it gets put to good use

Stupot · Sat 17/05/2008 12:22:31

Quote from: Emerald on Fri 16/05/2008 22:46:23
Plus, my general distaste for other men's penises eliminates a lot of the stuff out there...

Lesbian porn, my friend... sweet pseudo-homosexual angels.

As far as computers go... I don't even know what a core is... so I guess I'll never need four of them.

EldKatt · Sat 17/05/2008 20:29:28

Quote from: Mr Flibble on Fri 16/05/2008 22:07:42
Build it yourself.

It prolongs that feeling of wanting a really awesome computer, and it's very enjoyable.

Neither building nor buying it is a more efficient way of prolonging that feeling.

InCreator · Sat 17/05/2008 20:37:16

Dude. Crysis. Oblivion. COD4.
Bought 8800GTX OC2 and I don't know a game that couldn't run on maximized graphics on this. Except Rainbow Six Vegas 2, but I don't play games that are SO ugly anyway.

Then again, firepower doesn't make loading times shorter and high graphic settings prolong them even more, so I still usually don't pump maximum out of games...