The PC Gaming Thread, no console peasants allowed

Darc_Requiem · December 24, 2023

3 hours ago, Hawkingbird said:

Going for a entry level gaming laptop because I know that's what the oldest will want to do. He will want to play Roblox, Pizza Tower and other games he's into.

It should play light stuff fine. As long as they aren't going to be playing triple AAA stuff. Although, you if you lowered the settings enough, you could probably pull that off with most games.

Darc_Requiem · January 5

So MSI is entering the handheld PC space. Even with their affinity for Intel and aversion to AMD, I'm surprised they went with Intel Meteor Lake for this unit. Meteor Lake is less power efficient and while it shows an edge on the AMDs 780 iGPU in synthetic benchmarks, that doesn't bare out in games. It's kind of like my Arc A770 it gives 70 class GPU performance in synthetic benchmarks but real world performance, with a few exceptions, is more in line with 60 class GPUs. So they are going with a more power hungry SoC with inferior real world performance. Did Lisa Su piss in MSI's Cheerios? 😂

MSI Claw article

https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-claw-gaming-handheld-leaked-features-intel-core-ultra-7-155h-with-arc-graphics-and-32gb-memory

Notebookcheck Meteor Lake Analysis

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Meteor-Lake-Analysis-Core-Ultra-7-155H-only-convinces-with-GPU-performance.783320.0.html

Edited January 6 by Darc_Requiem

Hawkingbird · January 6

Having the intel chip is bad enough but having offset thumbsticks too? That layout is awful for handhelds. The right stick with be touched when using the face buttons given how it's positioned.

Darc_Requiem · January 8

The 40 Super Series was officially announced.

4080 Super $999

4070 Ti Super $799

4070 Super $599

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-launches-geforce-rtx-40-super-series-999-rtx-4080s-799-rtx-4070-tis-and-599-rtx-4070s

AMD continues botch opportunities 7600XT is just a 16GB version of the 7600 with a slight clock speed bump

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-7600-xt-16gb-launches-january-24-at-329-same-core-count-as-non-xt-model

Hawkingbird · January 8

The prices are better but still too high.

Hawkingbird · January 9

I'm a bit annoyed that the newly announced 4K OLED monitors at CES are 32 inches. I want a 27 inch

Darc_Requiem · January 9

Yeah the MSI Claw has the issues i thought it would have. The power profiles are higher. I doesn't even have a 9w mode. The lowest is 15w, mid level is 30w, and the performance mode is 45w. The battery isn't that much larger than Legion Go. I can't imagine what the battery life will be. With it being Meteor Lake, the 15w mode is likely going to be sus.

Darc_Requiem · January 25

So according to the Tekken 8 demo my main rig is more powerful than my laptop and ARC desktop combined. I may mess around and get 4K monitor for this thing.

Hawkingbird · January 30

Over the weekend I bought this laptop

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6535495.p?skuId=6535495

This is overkill for my intended use case. I might actually need to make use of it myself from time to time.

Darc_Requiem · January 30

3 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

Over the weekend I bought this laptop

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6535495.p?skuId=6535495

This is overkill for my intended use case. I might actually need to make use of it myself from time to time.

The 7940HS is a sweet CPU. And the 4060 in your laptop is actually a 4060. It's the same chip. Same CUDA core count, memory etc as the desktop model. If your laptop has the same 115W power limit, it's even the same performance as the Desktop chip too.

Side note: Let me know if you want a 32GB RAM kit. I have a set that you can have. It's basically brand new. When i was trouble shooting the laptop I RMA'd. I ended up with an extra RAM kit. It's a Crucial 32GB DDR5 5600 kit.

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr5/ct2k16g56c46s5

Hawkingbird · January 30

53 minutes ago, Darc_Requiem said:

The 7940HS is a sweet CPU. And the 4060 in your laptop is actually a 4060. It's the same chip. Same CUDA core count, memory etc as the desktop model. If your laptop has the same 115W power limit, it's even the same performance as the Desktop chip too.

Side note: Let me know if you want a 32GB RAM kit. I have a set that you can have. It's basically brand new. When i was trouble shooting the laptop I RMA'd. I ended up with an extra RAM kit. It's a Crucial 32GB DDR5 5600 kit.

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr5/ct2k16g56c46s5

What shocked me about the CPU is that it has 780M graphics built into it. From what I looked up it's as good as a 2050 ti. Integrated graphics have come a long way.

It has a 16GB ram. I don't know why the listing says 8. I did a double take on it when I saw and checked the laptop to make sure. Thanks for offering the ram kit but I won't be able to make use of it. This laptop has the 16GB ram soldered with one DIMM slot for upgrading. I will need a single stick for upgrading.

Darc_Requiem · January 30

50 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

What shocked me about the CPU is that it has 780M graphics built into it. From what I looked up it's as good as a 2050 ti. Integrated graphics have come a long way.

It has a 16GB ram. I don't know why the listing says 8. I did a double take on it when I saw and checked the laptop to make sure. Thanks for offering the ram kit but I won't be able to make use of it. This laptop has the 16GB ram soldered with one DIMM slot for upgrading. I will need a single stick for upgrading.

Well I do have the single stick of 16GB DDR5 4800 that came with my laptop. So I still got you either way. Unlike Desktop RAM, I can't see a scenario of me using the RAM. The 780M is pretty impressive. It can run current games at 1080p low. It's basically the GPU in all of the latest handheld PCs like the ROG Ally, Legion Go, and the numerous mini-PCs and the like.

Edit: Shit, I need to get the "D" key on my old laptop's keyboard fixed. I promised @Hecatom

Edit 2: My new 4K monitor showed up. It seems solid so far. No dead pixels. Now I have to figure out what to do with the old 1440p Dell I had. I wonder if my best friend can use it.

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-FreeSync-Ultrawide-DisplayPort-Adjustable/dp/B09ZH1Q6TT?th=1

Edited January 30 by Darc_Requiem

Hawkingbird · January 31

29 minutes ago, Darc_Requiem said:

Well I do have the single stick of 16GB DDR5 4800 that came with my laptop. So I still got you either way. Unlike Desktop RAM, I can't see a scenario of me using the RAM. The 780M is pretty impressive. It can run current games at 1080p low. It's basically the GPU in all of the latest handheld PCs like the ROG Ally, Legion Go, and the numerous mini-PCs and the like.

How much do you want for the single stick?

Darc_Requiem · January 31

45 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

How much do you want for the single stick?

$0

Edit: I would send you one my old gen 3 NVME drives as secondary storage but it looks like you only have 1 NVME slot.

Edited January 31 by Darc_Requiem

Hawkingbird · January 31

3 hours ago, Darc_Requiem said:

$0

Edit: I would send you one my old gen 3 NVME drives as secondary storage but it looks like you only have 1 NVME slot.

I will DM you my details for the DIMM stick.

I plan on getting a 4TB for the NVME slot. I don't know why these things ship with storage less than a 1TB.

OPTIMUS124 · February 12

Starting to dive into the PC gaming space. For those that dabble both with consoles and PC, which is your go to if both options are available?

Darc_Requiem · February 12

51 minutes ago, OPTIMUS124 said:

Starting to dive into the PC gaming space. For those that dabble both with consoles and PC, which is your go to if both options are available?

PC. Even day one, you typically can get new releases for cheaper than full price. In the past PC ports were very dodgy. Currently bad PC ports are in the minority. I have all my current fighting games, sans MK1, on PC. NRS is the only developer that can't seem to get their shit together on PC. In fact, that holds true for most major 3rd Party games for me.

Depending on the game, mods are a possibility. Long before Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the original PC release of the Mass Effect games, ME3 in particular, were significantly overhauled on PC. Bioware admitted that the PC modding scene inspired Legendary Edition. The mods took a game I despised, and made it damned enjoyable thanks to mods. Vanilla ME Trilogy on PC is far better than Legendary Edition. The amount of extra content is absurd. The stuff the modders are doing with UMvC3 is flat out amazing as well.

If Final Fantasy Rebirth was day 1 on PC. I'd get it over the PS5 version. I hope Stellar Blade is good because outside of that, I have no clue what I'll be getting for my PS5 after Rebirth. I'm honestly getting tired of 30fps. I have nice 4K/120hz TV that's basically being wasted. With me shifting my fighting games over to PC, I barely played my PS5 last year. I clocked like 140 hours for the whole year and half of that was FF16. I put more hours into SF6 on PC than I did on my PS5 as a whole. Sony is putting more and more of their exclusive games on PC, which is the same thing that lead to me ditching Xbox.

Hawkingbird · February 17

On 2/12/2024 at 11:34 AM, OPTIMUS124 said:

Starting to dive into the PC gaming space. For those that dabble both with consoles and PC, which is your go to if both options are available?

I always go for PC. Like Darc said, PC games are usually cheaper on launch and have sales more often. I don't need to pay for a service to play games online so I'm saving money annually. Most PC games will be 60 FPS at minimum and I don't have to worry about preservation as I have access to multiple generations of games within a single platform.

All I use my PS5 for are console exclusives and games I don't want to play on PC. I will buy the new Prince of Persia game on PS5 because Uplay is trash. Any PC game that requires specific publisher launcher like Uplay, EA App, Rockstar Social Club, etc is a no go for me as they are usually awful.

Edited February 17 by Hawkingbird

Darc_Requiem · February 17

21 hours ago, Hawkingbird said:

All I use my PS5 for are console exclusives and games I don't want to play on PC. I will buy the new Prince of Persia game on PS5 because Uplay is trash. Any PC game that requires specific publisher launcher like Uplay, EA App, Rockstar Social Club, etc is a no go for me as they are usually awful.

This something I'm going to have to start being more observant of. I'm stuck with the EA App (got it when it was Origin) because of the time EA decided they didn't want to put games on Steam and I just don't do Dragon Age games on console. I refuse to use Epic. GOG is awesome though. It's up there with Steam for me. As for the rest, Uplay and the 2K launcher absolute trash. They save your graphics settings to the launcher not your PC. I had no idea Midnight Suns came with its own launcher despite it being a Steam game for me 😑

Hawkingbird · February 17

3 minutes ago, Darc_Requiem said:

This something I'm going to have to start being more observant of. I'm stuck with the EA App (got it when it was Origin) because of the time EA decided they didn't want to put games on Steam and I just don't do Dragon Age games on console. I refuse to use Epic. GOG is awesome though. It's up there with Steam for me. As for the rest, Uplay and the 2K launcher absolute trash. They save your graphics settings to the launcher not your PC. I had no idea Midnight Suns came with its own launcher despite it being a Steam game for me 😑

The GoG launcher is great. I bought Cyberpunk on GoG and had zero issues with it.

When did 2K get a launcher? I have Midnight Suns as well but I didn't start it yet. I guess I will have to put 2K on the not on PC list.

Darc_Requiem · February 18

Just now, Hawkingbird said:

The GoG launcher is great. I bought Cyberpunk on GoG and had zero issues with it.

When did 2K get a launcher? I have Midnight Suns as well but I didn't start it yet. I guess I will have to put 2K on the not on PC list.

No clue, I own one 2K game on PC which is Midnight Suns.

Hawkingbird · February 18

3 minutes ago, Darc_Requiem said:

No clue, I own one 2K game on PC which is Midnight Suns.

I own a few 2K games on steam and I never needed a launcher for them. Borderland 3 didn't need one.

Darc_Requiem · February 18

2 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

I own a few 2K games on steam and I never needed a launcher for them. Borderland 3 didn't need one.

Shit, I forgot own the Borderlands games on PC. Don't revoke my gamer card 😅

Hawkingbird · February 18

I love the borderlands games. It's the only series that actually does looter shooter right

Darc_Requiem · March 27

The MSI Claw is just a bad product. It seems the lower end model performs the same as the high end one. I hope Intel cut MSI a nice check because using them in a handheld PC is just not a smart choice. I find it hard to believe, even with MSI's meh relationship with AMD, that they''d choose Intel for this sort of product. Seems like not even bothering with the Claw would have been the best choice. From what I've seen it has lags behind all of its competitors even the Steam Deck with old Zen 2/RDNA2 APU.

https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-claw-with-core-ultra-5-135h-matches-155h-version-in-gaming

Edited March 27 by Darc_Requiem

Hawkingbird · March 30

Going Intel was a way for MSI to stand out from the competition but it blew up in their face. Making use of arc was a bad move. Intel is still ironing out the kinks for desktop use.

Darc_Requiem · March 30

19 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

Going Intel was a way for MSI to stand out from the competition but it blew up in their face. Making use of arc was a bad move. Intel is still ironing out the kinks for desktop use.

It was just bad all around. Intel CPUs are less efficient they burn through more power. So to put that architecture into power constrained environment was pure folly.

Darc_Requiem · April 16

I know I have been crapping all over the MSI Claw but I couldn't not post the Gamer's Nexus review of it. It's honestly worst than I thought.

Hawkingbird · Monday at 02:00 PM

MSI should use AMD for the next one. Apparently, they have up to 4 follow up devices in the pipeline. They need to switch gears if any one of them have Intel CPUs

Darc_Requiem · Monday at 02:32 PM

29 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

MSI should use AMD for the next one. Apparently, they have up to 4 follow up devices in the pipeline. They need to switch gears if any one of them have Intel CPUs

MSI and AMD don't seem to have the best relationship. MSI versions of AMD cards are typically half assed. They just slap the cooler engineered for their GeForce cares on their Radeon cards. I remember thinking in spite of this that there would be no way they'd use Intel fo the Claw. A guys commenting on the MSI Claw announcement article on Videocardz.com said they'd use Intel he was dead on. I have to assume Intel giving MSI some sort of deal and at least I hope they are.