Daiyus

Thanks for the giveaway.

Awesome. Cheers for competition guys!

Thanks for the opportunity.

2 and 3 I could do fairly quickly and easily. Number 1 is outside my capability. Unfortunately I won't be near my modding computer until next week.

It's odd, but in the hundreds of hours I've played this game I have never been killed by touching a car. Maybe it's got something to do with the physics engine going wonky above 60Fps. Since I know about it I just use Vsync to lock it at 60.

I was hoping somebody here might be able to retexture the Assault Gas Mask's hood to match the Gunner Guard Outfit: http://67.media.tumblr.com/c8a57d939f08b9440f16f66ca6a3b392/tumblr_o41p4kqb5L1v87yzdo1_1280.jpg I think the two would look really cool together, especially with some other armour layered up. It just annoys me that the Assault Gas Mask' texture doesn't seem to match any outfits in this game as it's so cool! Many thanks for reading. More thanks if you're considering doing this.

I'll be waiting for the GTX 1080 Ti and AMD Vega next year before upgrading. I want to go 4K on my single GPU mITX gaming HTPC. My gut just tells me that getting a GTX 1070/80 right now would be a mistake. I'm looking forward to seeing them put through their paces just to see the minimum of what I will be getting into next year, but like hell am I wasting the money to find out first hand at this point in time. My HD 7870 and 720p screen will last another 12 months yet. Not to mention I just don't have £1000+ sat around for a screen/GPU combo right now.

Thanks for all the tips. I'm feeling a bit calmer now. I've discussed Mt feelings with my friends and family and arranged to start a martial arts class, alongside digging my guitar out. I think I just needed to reconnect with things that I wanted to do instead of what is expected of me. I'm still not feeling particularly great, but I do feel like things are getting better instead of worse.

I don't normally do things like this, but I'm almost at crisis point and I'm hoping writing something down might help me. I've always struggled to fit into the world. I've never like humanity, never wanted to engage with the majority of people. I have a few close friends, even have a wife and child, but ultimately I find myself just wanting to left alone most of the time. I find myself doing things for the sake of doing them rather than for any element of enjoyment even when I am left alone. Games used to provide a distraction from life but now I can't even bring myself to do that. I sit at my computer and wonder "what's the point?". I've been through three types of counselling. I've been on and off medication (got an appointment to go back on soon). My marriage is broken; I just feel trapped by my responsibilities. My work doesn't get done because I just can't be bothered. If it weren't for my daughter I'd have probably done something drastic by now like moving or travelling but I can't. I can't do anything. My ex-wife has two severe mental illnesses meaning she cannot cope with being a single parent or even being left alone. I have to be there, and she won't let me take my daughter by myself either. I feel like I'm forever trapped. I can't just decide to go for drinks with friends. I can't start any hobbies because it's a month long debate to get the time. What the hell do I do? I'm just so fed up with my life, but I don't want my daughter to grow up without me.

You certainly have. Your guidance has been invaluable. I know I've made some decisions you wouldn't necessarily go with yourself but with your help we've come up with a system I'm extremely happy with. You've definitely pushed me to change a lot for the better. I'm definitely going to drop the small SSD and go with an external backup drive solution. Many thanks.

Having slept on it I've decided to not buy fans at the outset. I'll run the stock fans and see what they're like. If I need to add or change fans I'll do them all at once once the build is complete. Your recommendations here are definitely hitting home. It's so easy to focus on CFM's and while I know static pressure is needed on radiators and air flow for unrestricted inflow it's a more complicated beast than I first imagined. Still so much to learn... Regarding hard drives I've also decided to pare the selection back. I'll re-use my current 3.5" 1TB drive for mass transfer and unmodded game backups; I think you're right with going for an external caddy (my current external hasn't been bad in any way except size and shared usage). I was planning on buying a 2TB mirror RAID solution from a colleague for general storage that's accessible from anywhere in the house. I can store any music, photos or videos I want on that. The only thing stored locally will be games. Now I'll just have the 120GB SSD boot drive, the 500GB SSD for modern games and a 750GB WD Black Series for legacy games. I've always seen it advised to have two separate SSD's for this kind of use to reduce wear on each drive. Having recently tested Fallout 4 on both my HDD and SSD the load times are worth it even if the actual performance doesn't change. Given that you're very sure that the thing is a fad though I may drop the small one and just buy the 500GB. After all, a Windows 10 installation is pretty small. Boot speed does mean a lot to me. I don't get much time to play (young father) so when I do every second counts. I've also opted to swap the case for a Phanteks Enthoo Pro. The reviews on it are glowing and it's understated design suits me to the ground. I know it has a bottom mounted PSU but I can't ignore the near 100% flawless reviews it's getting. It's also completely modular so I can remove as much as possible; probably completely removing the stock HDD cages and using the 5.25" bay that was going to be for a hot-swap bay for the two hard drives I'm proposing. Maybe a different power supply could alleviate the dust flow problems; the air flow should be good with the case so are there any decent fanless PSU's at that level? By the way, I just want to say a huge "Thank You" for all this help. I'm learning a lot and the system is looking better and better thanks to you.

Curiosity answers: 1) 120GB SSD as a boot drive with all programs except games. 500GB SSD for modern open world games. 1TB HDD for general storage; older games, music, photo's, etc. The 2TB HDD is for backups and mass movement. I always keep unmodded copies of any game I edit so that I can restore a broken game without waiting for days to re-download the whole thing. I've been using a 500GB external HDD but my wife has filled it with her photo's so I need another solution. I also play games at work on breaks, but naturally my management don't want me downloading 20GB of games every other week when I feel like playing something different. 2) Fans are to replace the stock ones. Most reviews state that the stock fans for most AIO coolers and cases are quite loud. The hope was to drop some decibels out of the system as it'll be in a bedroom. Random answers: 1) It's the only case I could find for less than £100 that would take the 280mm radiator on top with space for a 120mm radiator at the top back. Out of interest, why is the layout bad? It's not so different from most other cases; PSU at the bottom, HDD mounts coming up from the bottom. The 2.5" bays can be removed to give better airflow (something I planned doing). 2) Thanks! 3) Thanks for the tips regarding the Nyko. I've read many reviews for loads of third party kits but they always seem to fall short. I'll certainly do some more research. Notes: I've consolidated the lists into the first six purchase orders and deleted the seventh.

So here's what I've decided to do. I've broken down the purchases into seven chunks to spread out the cost. In total the parts I need to buy for the Gaming Rig are these, and for the HTPC, these. The first stage will be to get those slot loading disc drives and the adapter for the gaming rig (these three in one style adapters are getting hard to get!) plus the network adapter for the HTPC as an upgrade to my current system as I've been meaning to do that for ages anyway and will help even before re-casing. P.O.1. The second stage will be the monitor for the Gaming Rig. This will get me set up in the new location with the Xbox One so I can play out of the way with something at least. P.O.2 The third stage will be to buy everything left to get the HTPC running at full capacity. I'll be using my current 128GB Samsung 840 Pro as the sole drive to give it a good boot speed as that is important for my family. This will temporarily put my PC gaming out of action but I've got the Xbox One to tie me over and getting the living room sorted for my family is priority one. P.O.3 The fourth stage is the big one; getting all the core components for the new Gaming Rig. I've splashed out a bit in some areas that are entirely unnecessary, but they're things I want regardless. I've decided I don't do this often and I'm going to build something I am genuinely happy with, not just OK with. This will re-use the Radeon HD7870 I'm currently using as a stop-gap, as well as a 320GB 2.5" Samsung HDD I recovered from an old laptop as a boot drive, plus my current WD 1TB drive for storage. These will be temporary also. P.O.4 The fifth stage will be minor upgrades; quieter fans for the whole system, a new cheap KB/M that will be set up on a board that can be stored out of the way when not in use. This will give me required inputs, but don't need to be high quality as most of my gaming is done with a controller. P.O.5 Sixth stage is the GPU upgrade. P.O.6 The seventh and last stage is hard-drive upgrades. P.O.7 An there we have it. Overall it'll cost just shy of two grand to do everything, but I think it'll be worth it overall.

Once again, thank you for the advice. I think I will re-purpose my current rig as the HTPC; the Radeon HD5450 seems like an excellent choice, and a bargain too to get the system up and running. I'm still toying around with components for my new build gaming rig, but your advice and support has definitely led me on a cheaper, more refined route. While I still disagree with you regarding blu-ray (although I do agree I'm completely against the tide here) the simple fact that I have a blu-ray movie collection and want to watch them without cluttering up the media unit with yet another peripheral that I'd have to teach my wife how to use (painful) it needs to be done through the HTPC. Once I've got both lists together I'll post them up.

Thanks for all the advice obobski. You certainly make a lot of sense in many areas. Regarding Blu-Ray, it's a technology I want to support. Coming from a background where decent internet is non-existent, and even now downloading a whole game is an overnight affair, physical media has a huge place in my life; I'd really like to see developers distribute PC games on Blu-Ray, just as they do for Xbox One and PS4 thus avoiding problems as shown by MGSV and Fallout 4 where only a fraction, if any of the game actually comes on the physical medium. I've been using Blu-Ray to play movies on my current rig for years without too much hassle. Once I get a half decent bit of software that'll run on Windows 10 I'll carry on doing the same. Your points on futureproofing are extremely insightful. Still being a relative rookie when it comes to building PC's I really can see what you're saying here. I guess I'll always have to accept that no matter what I do I'm never going to be ahead of the game. Given the kind of pricing I'm looking at for this build I'm actually tempted to abandon it and build a HTPC for my living room instead; that'll give me the QOL improvement I'm looking for by moving the gaming rig out of the living room and give my family what they need. Once that's done I can save £1000 and build a new gaming rig with whatever is best at that time for the money; I don't have the cash lying around now and will need to build in stages, meaning my first components will be out of date by the time I get the last ones. Of course I'll take your advice on the RAM when the time comes to research the new build. Regarding the closed loop cooling systems; I've actually got one in my current build. They're pricey, sure, but the beauty of them is the don't need maintenance, unlike a custom loop. If I build a custom loop and fry my rig through a mistake it's on me; if a closed loop goes bang within the warranty then I'm covered. While I agree that air-cooling would likely be sufficient in the kind of builds I'm looking at it again comes down to a QOL choice. The liquid cooled systems are quieter, plus they will extend the lifetime of the parts. I'm well known for wanting to upgrade early, but I always find other uses for my old parts (I've done this plenty in other areas of my life). # Once again, thank you for the tips. I think I'm definitely going to hold off on the upgrade until I have some real cash in hand and the next generation is here. Seems daft to spend so much on technology that's coming to the end of it's supported lifespan.

Great tips again mark5916, thank you. I guess I've just got a bit complacent with my luck on the first build. I picked up a cheap (£50) PSU without really thinking about it the first time round and it's served me well. I've always had people tell me to not buy cheap cases either (again, something I ignored last time). While I love the idea of having everything bleeding edge I'm sure you can tell I've tried to save money is as many areas as possible (emphasis on "tried", this is still ludicrously expensive). For that reason I cannot warrant spending an extra £60 for the Corsair Platinum. The EVGA looks like an excellent bit of kit though; thank you for recommending it.

I've never been brave enough to try Linux. I've only ever got one complete rig running at a time, and it's used by my whole family; mostly so my wife and daughter can watch TV (we don't have a license so just use catchup). If it goes down it's a hit to everyone. As someone who is primarily a casual user and gamer the hassle it takes to get Linux up and running has always been a major turn-off. I love the idea of being more in control of my PC and supporting open-source software, but when I've got hundreds of games that are designed for Windows, and the rest of what I do is in an internet browser it seems somewhat unproductive to push into Linux. It doesn't even seem to be worth dual booting. As a long time user of Linux would you see any point in me trying to use Linux? There's always that "because I can" factor, and that's wasted me plenty of time in the past; but is there any real reason to jump over in my situation?

Thanks for the tips guys. I've decided that I'll probably buy new hard-drives as well. My current rig is sat in the family living room acting as a media centre. I'm planning on moving my gaming rig up to the bedroom so I can be out of the way when I want to play. That means my wife can entertain or use the large TV to watch what she wants while I'm gaming. Due to this I'll be leaving my current rig where it is with a few minor adjustments to turn it into a full time HTPC. My wife isn't very tech savvy, or patient with tech, so I think I'm going to have to leave the SSD in there just so she doesn't get wound up turning the thing on now she's so used to the boot up speeds. I think I will opt for the GTX980Ti. While £200 more expensive than getting a GTX970 and liquid cooling it myself, I'll save that money by not having to drop another £300+ in two years. The whole rig, including a new 27" monitor for the bedroom is coming in at around £1700 on E-Buyer (although I'll shop around when it comes to actually purchasing). Given that's not a small amount of money I think realistically I will have to break it down into phases and build over a period of time just so I don't freak my wife out (she's going to hate the fact I want to do this anyway; "Your current computer works! Why do you want a new one?!", "We can't afford it!", blah, blah, snore): [Phase 1] 27" Monitor, and accessories. This allows me to actually move my gaming out the way while we use the laptop to drive the TV when needed temporarily. [Phase 2] Case, power supply, case fans, hard-drives and optical drive. All the the big things that need to be put in before mounting the motherboard. [Phase 3] Motherboard, processor, CPU cooler, and RAM. Everything I need to get the system running. I'll dump my old Radeon HD7870 in to get gaming up to speed, and then modify my old rig and reinstall it back into the living room (probably using an old GTS450 that I scavenged a while back for my PC at work, that'll give an HDMI output). [Phase 4] Drop over half a grand on that glorious GPU! Hopefully by the time I get to this point in the build process it'll come down in price a little. So there we have it; my new gaming rig. I know I said I was happy with most of the other components, but if anyone has any advice I'd definitely welcome it.

It's been a long time since I built my last rig. It was the first one I'd ever built. It was done on a budget as and when I could source parts, and thus was actually built over the course of two years. It's got some relatively nice kit in it; a 128GB Samsung Pro SSD as a boot drive, a 4Ghz Bulldozer AMD processor, 8GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM and a Ghz Edition Radeon HD7870 (albeit with a mere 2GB VRAM). However the old girl is starting to show her age. Fallout 4 runs at Medium settings, as did GTAV. Whilst far from being unplayable I've decided to at least research a new build. The idea is that if I can get enough money together I could actually build a proper rig in one hit. One that's powerful, but not over the top, but still with a bit of flash for e-gloating with my mates. So here goes: Processor: Intel Core i7 4790K 4GHz Socket 1150 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor [fastest Intel processor I can find. I'd pair this with a Corsair closed loop liquid cooler] Motherboard: Asus Z97-A Socket 1150 VGA DVI HDMI DisplayPort 8-ch audio ATX Motherboard [well praised motherboard, good feature set, but not overly expensive] Graphics Card: EVGA GTX 980 Ti Hybrid GAMING 6GB GDDR5 DVI-I HDMI 3x DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card [this is where the expensive for "cool factor" comes in. I just love these closed loop systems. Plus the GTX 980 Ti is fairly future proof with 6GB VRAM] I'd also pick up some new Corsair Vengeance RAM at 2400Hz; Two sticks of 8GB. That leaves two lanes open for the same again if I need to go up to 32GB (which I highly doubt). There's also power supply, a new blu-ray drive, new case and cooling solutions to worry about, but I'm pretty happy with those selections on a price/quality standpoint. I'd re-use the SSD from my current as the boot drive and re-use my current 1TB 7200RPM spinning platter for storage; at least until the larger SSD's come down in price a lot. Of course there's also the option to pick up an MSI GTX 970 with 4GB VRAM and use something like this; but even 4GB VRAM these days is starting to come up short. While slightly expensive in areas (notably the graphics card) I think this system should keep me viable for gaming at 1080p for a good 4-5 years especially with the liquid cooling extending the lifetime of the parts. Any thoughts?

Click on the yellow power armour station, scroll to the broken piece, select repair (if you have the materials). Then you can use transfer to put it or your armour frame.

I'm really enjoying the game. It has flaws, sure, but it's not going to stop me playing the hell out of this game for a long time yet. This is the most fun I've had in a game for a long time.

I'm playing with an old GTS 450 1GB and an equivalent aged i3 on my work computer (got a proper gaming setup at home). I'm running at minimum settings and it's still playable. Sometimes the frames dip below 20, but they're mostly at 30-35. I come from a console background so it's not world shatteringly unplayable. Gets me my fix in my breaks before going home and seeing it in all of its glory.

Yeah, I'm between minimum and recommended. My CPU exceeds minimum (just) but I'm running the minimum graphics card. I'll be able to play, but it's going to be a few years before the components that are worth upgrading to are cheap enough for me to get it running at ultra. I'm going to need to do a complete rebuild with a new motherboard, CPU, and GPU in one hit which is going to be £600+. I just don't have that kind of cash available at the moment because I'm saving up for a motorbike.

I'd be interested in thoughts on Forza - I know that's totally OT. :ninja: WRT Halo Combat Evolved, the MCC edition is absolutely perfect if you just want to go plod around in it on XB1 - the Cartographer levels look better than ever, and so do all of the levels on Covenant Ships. But if you're after the complete 1P play-through experience, it fall shorts imho. Also worth pointing out that MCC has all levels/campaigns in all four games unlocked from the beginning (at least for me it did), so if there's a section you really despise (or just want to get straight into) you can jump right to it. Very nice for "quick play" too. Another good "remake" for Xbox One is the Metro Redux collection - haven't gotten into the sequel yet, but the original looks and plays fantastically. I haven't actually played any Metro games yet; I'd imagine I'd grab the PC versions though if I were to go that route. MCC is certainly a good package, I've only played Pillar of Autumn so far but it looked really good, and the smooth 60FPS definitely helps. I've only done one mission on MCC because I've been completely addicted to Forza. If you're into open world racers and don't mind simcade handling it is quite simply the best racing game on the planet right now. Customisation options up the wazoo, with tuning on top of that to fine-tune your cars. Excellently crafted world; seriously, it makes me want to buy a sports car and get down to the Mediterranean (not too hard for me, I'm in the UK). If you're in any doubt about buying you can always try the demo though.

Thanks for the tips guys. Finally got the Xbox One last Friday (£150 from a colleague, what a steal!) and I'm enjoying having a console again. I've tried the streaming and got it working, although my Wi-Fi is pretty bad (still on a 2.4Ghz Single Band Router) so I'll need to hard-wire everything at some point to get it running well. obobski; thank you for the hands-on guide for the MCC. It'll be interesting to try myself. I do have the PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved at least so if it is as bad as you say I've got that fall back. I'm glad to see the other titles that aren't available on PC (the ones I really got the console for) run well enough. I'll be trading in my old 360 and stack of games this afternoon; fingers crossed they have a copy of Halo: MCC and Forza Horizon 2 in stock.