Rebuild box for TW2?

How the computer is and how it runs TW2.

I think I know how the game is

Gotcha. I read your review. Nice work. One of the reasons I'm so keen on this.

Checked that the game starts OK. Updated to v1.1. Defaults to High with this iron. Tried setting it to Ultra, but it crashed on start, so probably not a great idea. Can't see what they'd improve, though, 'cuz it looks mind-bogglingly beautiful. Not much action yet so can't say anything about the framerate, but smooth as glass so far.

Tomorrow, we ride.

Which graphics card did you end up getting?

The 560Ti OC to 900 MHz.

Hit a weird and slightly scary snag updating my Windows, though. Intermittently, Windows seems to think it's pirated; I get that nasty "Unauthorized change to Windows" message. Then it clears up. Happened three times now, with variable consequences. I hope I won't have to start from scratch; it would be a drag. I didn't pay full retail price for Windows Vista Ultimate for this!

My only advice is getting rid of Vista !!!!

IT'S EVIL!

I'm not joking… (Well, I am not entirely serious either though) It is a serious drag on your computer. Everything gets slowed down by it. Upgrade to Win7 or downgrade to XP pronto !!!

I know Vista is evil. It's so evil I resolved not to give Microsoft any more money if I can help it. Which means I'm stuck with it: XP isn't an option with modern hardware (not to mention DX10 and such), and a Win 7 upgrade costs money.

I can't PM you for some reason, but I might be able to get you a copy of Win 7 64bit.
PM me if you're interested.

It's not a pirated copy by the way, for those who are thinking of jumping at me…

If you can hold off, Windows 8 is coming next year.

I think so. That snag seems to have gone away; everything's up to date and the machine checks as activated. Weird thing, though. Control panel not opening, refusing to let me log in via the login screen, but logging me in automatically on boot (only one user and I didn't put in a password, yet), listing the box as "not activated," directing me to a rather unfriendly page about piracy and the evils thereof… I hope it was just a glitch in the update process that's good and cleared up by now.

So all set here. The stock AMD fan is a bit louder than I like, other than that I'm pretty happy with things as they currently stand. Perhaps I'll see if I can fit the hunk of aluminum and copper I had in the old box on it; it looks like it might fit. Gotta get some fresh thermal paste though…

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
So all set here. The stock AMD fan is a bit louder than I like, other than that I'm pretty happy with things as they currently stand. Perhaps I'll see if I can fit the hunk of aluminum and copper I had in the old box on it; it looks like it might fit. Gotta get some fresh thermal paste though…

Is it going the same speed all the time? If so, you probably don't have the "Cool n Quiet" feature enabled.

Do you have anything installed that shows your CPU speed at any given time? Your Phenom 965 should only be @800MHz when idle. Download and install AMD Overdrive.

Oh, it was howling like a banshee before I enabled that. Now it only does it when I'm playing The Witcher 2. Lovin' it so far; just out of the dungeon.

It's not as hard as I expected from the discussion, though; so far the toughest fight was the one with the gatekeeper and that wasn't too tough either once I figured out I was taking the wrong tactical approach.

The machine is lovely for this. The game looks absolutely fantastic, and there are no stutters, slowdowns, or other such worth mentioning.