Gaming & Consumer Electronics

[Guynextdoor]

I am a woman. I'm also married to one.



Cooling is easy. Just put in a few case fans, three is sufficient and a CPU cooler. Nothing fancy is needed generally and most high-end or gaming cases come with in-build fans. My Fractal R5 has three built in and great airflow regulation and I added a Noctua CPU cooler on top of that. I heartily recommend checking out Fractal Design if you're building a desktop, though as @Parthu noted you probably don't need one for trading.

Define R5 Black

Above 32gb RAM anything additional is going to offer negligible benefits at best. Really you don't need 64 gigs of RAM. My work computer has 256gbs, and even that doesn't get close to being maxed out and I'm running a multitude of advanced military simulations and design software, usually simultaneously. If you're looking for speed for trading applications then CPU or GPU are better alternatives to poor money into. RAM ensures you can run applications, not always run them faster though. And again, anything above 32gb offers negligible benefits unless you're planning to run an entire suite of processes at once.

Your processor wont need an upgrade for a while that's for sure. Me jealous.

SSD's do run cooler, yes, and overall they're a better, but more expensive versus HDDs. Highly recommended for gaming due to their transfer rates, and good in general for booting an OS.

No SLI? Blashemy.

I'm joking of course, that's a boss GPU. But two is better.

And remember the golden rule of PSUs. 200 watts of overhead minimum. More is better. Calculate the required minimum of power and get a PSU that's rated for 200 watts above that. For my desktop I use an 850 watt PSU.

@Parthu has some good advice though. For your needs that setup isn't really necessary. That's a hardcore gaming rig, or for development/simulation nerd. For a trader though? It's excessive. A nice laptop offers both strength and mobility, at the expense of future proofing as upgrades aren't often an option due to OPM designs.

Civilian PC architecture isn't my strong suit unfortunately and I don't have the liberty to talk defence computing in depth with you guys. I'll try to goad Kat into joining us here, she's a super computer geek and hardcore gamer. PC parts are more her thing.

I'm not surprised. All interesting women turn out gay. It's like god never wanted me to have even a slim chance with them

 

[suryakiran]

Ah, then you simply don't have any need for a high end workstation level PC. For your needs (even for gaming), a laptop should be sufficient. As I said for the games you mentioned, a system of the spec you suggested is an absolute overkill.

I'll suggest you some laptop models with a good GPU tomorrow, going to sleep now it's past 2 am. You might want to do some research in the meantime yourself if you want.

@Bharath @Nordic Wolf
So did a bit of reading today. How does the below sound

1. Alienware laptop. I can wait for the 9900 version to get launched. Hopefully by Jan, this should be out.
2. Graphics Amplifier. Will connect a 2080Ti to this, whenever I play. Else, will use the primary graphics card of the laptop
3. Reason I am taking a Mi 55 screen is that, I want more 'screen space on 1 screen'. Still be able to view it comfortably without straining my eyes.

So, I get a new laptop, which I can carry around. It will support my multiple monitors and some, with room to have more processing power if required. The graphics amplifier kicks in over the weekends, evenings and whenever i play games. So, my laptop remains cool overall without problems.

What say?

 

[Parthu]

@Bharath @Nordic Wolf
So did a bit of reading today. How does the below sound

1. Alienware laptop. I can wait for the 9900 version to get launched. Hopefully by Jan, this should be out.
2. Graphics Amplifier. Will connect a 2080Ti to this, whenever I play. Else, will use the primary graphics card of the laptop
3. Reason I am taking a Mi 55 screen is that, I want more 'screen space on 1 screen'. Still be able to view it comfortably without straining my eyes.

So, I get a new laptop, which I can carry around. It will support my multiple monitors and some, with room to have more processing power if required. The graphics amplifier kicks in over the weekends, evenings and whenever i play games. So, my laptop remains cool overall without problems.

What say?

Sounds fine, although you simply need not wait for the 9900. Existing 8th gen i7 should be more than enough for all your needs. But go ahead for a laptop with 9900U (or whatever they name it) if you so wish.

You can get an Amplifier if you want (again, entirely dependent on how much you're willing to spend), but honestly a strong gaming laptop like MSI's GT63 or GT75 with an internal GTX 1080 itself should be overkill for the type of games you seem to be interested in playing (or most games for that matter).

Sure, go ahead with a 4K TV. But as I said, do pay attention to make sure that the connections (DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4 or 2.0, if 1.4 then how many) are all compatible.

However, looking at all this I kinda have to ask...why not buy a cheaper non-gaming laptop with a strong 8th gen i5 or i7 processor and use it for your work, and build a separate gaming desktop? You'll get a solid model that will easily last you 3+ years for around 2.5 lacs or so.

Btw, what system are you using now for your trading work? And how is the experience?

 

[Parthu]

Damn, All of you here have some really fancy rigs (wish I had one too, but I doubt i need one). I just have a old desktop hooked up to some recording instruments.

...many here wish they had what you have. (maybe not @Nordic Wolf , she has an impressive arsenal herself).

Gaming equipment, you can just order online if you feel like spending...but we here can't get our hands on AKs and AR-15s no matter how much we are ready to splurge out.

Anyone have a good horror game recommendation? I just got through RE7 and it definitely was creepy early on, but really died off towards the end. Great game for the first 66%. Great atmosphere.

I've played the Stalker series (SoC is the best) and FEAR games. Again, excellent atmosphere and gun play, but not too scary either. Amnesia Dark Descent was nice until you realize the number of enemies or dangers in the game is minimal at best. Dead Space, System Shock 2, Bioshock, Alien: Isolation, Silent Hill, The Evil Within, nothing doing for me. All great games. Tense and creepy. But scary? Wasn't feeling it.

Someone suggest to me a good horror game. Something that'll keep me up at night.

Side note: Anyone else really looking forward to the Resident Evil 2 Remake? I can't wait.

Never played any RE games myself...the horror genre doesn't really appeal to me (although I do love the atmosphere of games like Stalker, Metro series etc.)

As of suggestions...tried the Outlast games? If not then those are a must-play for any horror lover.

Does Prey come under horror? Seems somewhat similar in setting to Alien: Isolation except you get to shoot more stuff:

 

[Bharath]

@Bharath @Nordic Wolf
So did a bit of reading today. How does the below sound

1. Alienware laptop. I can wait for the 9900 version to get launched. Hopefully by Jan, this should be out.
2. Graphics Amplifier. Will connect a 2080Ti to this, whenever I play. Else, will use the primary graphics card of the laptop
3. Reason I am taking a Mi 55 screen is that, I want more 'screen space on 1 screen'. Still be able to view it comfortably without straining my eyes.

So, I get a new laptop, which I can carry around. It will support my multiple monitors and some, with room to have more processing power if required. The graphics amplifier kicks in over the weekends, evenings and whenever i play games. So, my laptop remains cool overall without problems.

What say?

dont expect the alienware laptop to be easy to carry around like a Mac. It is still a laptop and you CAN carry it around. but it will be a beast. If you ever watch the big bang theory - sheldon cooper has the same alienware laptop as I have. Here is the link from where I bought the laptop:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alienw...id-state-drive-silver/5713021.p?skuId=5713021

the Monitor - is a GSYNC - which is considered the best technology as of now (proprietary to Nvidia) to prevent tearing and provide a Variable refresh rate.

the 15 inch laptop currently costs about 1800$ now - dunno how much it costs in India.

 

[Milspec]

Got any demos? What type of music?

Just some acoustic stuff, trying to learn more about home studio recording.
It was budget build with AMD A10 6800 on a Asrock FM2A85X, with 32 gb of ram on a chunky corsair cab, with 750w power.
It's hooked up to a Behringer UMC 202 HD, Rotate between MXL 5000, MXL 990xl, MXL V250 and AKG C214, on Midi there is a Alesis midi controller and Yamaha E453 and a recent AKAI MPC addition.

 

[Milspec]

...many here wish they had what you have. (maybe not @Nordic Wolf , she has an impressive arsenal herself).

Gaming equipment, you can just order online if you feel like spending...but we here can't get our hands on AKs and AR-15s no matter how much we are ready to splurge out.

It's almost an enjoyable curse, i wish I could stop. I have two more receivers sitting and given my wife complained about the 16"b Ar15 as being heavy, a 10.5" is on the cards and a flip up between .458 socom/ 6.5 gren/224 Valk build on the other one. Trump slump has slashed firearms prices like crazy and It becomes quite difficult looking at these ridiculous prices in you email. I have literally run out space in my gun locker.

 

[suryakiran]

Sounds fine, although you simply need not wait for the 9900. Existing 8th gen i7 should be more than enough for all your needs. But go ahead for a laptop with 9900U (or whatever they name it) if you so wish.

You can get an Amplifier if you want (again, entirely dependent on how much you're willing to spend), but honestly a strong gaming laptop like MSI's GT63 or GT75 with an internal GTX 1080 itself should be overkill for the type of games you seem to be interested in playing (or most games for that matter).

Sure, go ahead with a 4K TV. But as I said, do pay attention to make sure that the connections (DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4 or 2.0, if 1.4 then how many) are all compatible.

However, looking at all this I kinda have to ask...why not buy a cheaper non-gaming laptop with a strong 8th gen i5 or i7 processor and use it for your work, and build a separate gaming desktop? You'll get a solid model that will easily last you 3+ years for around 2.5 lacs or so.

Btw, what system are you using now for your trading work? And how is the experience?

Had visited the Alienware shop today, he said wait till Jan and the 9900 will be available for the same price point as the current i7. I can wait, not in a hurry. Two laptops, are not going to cut it. 1 machine, with 1 backup. That's it. Used to have 2 laptops an MSI and a Lenovo in 2011. Now, I just do not have the patience to manage 2 separate machines.

My current machine is an A10 with 8 GB Ram and Radeon R5 on board and a discrete R6 M435. It has been working well, no complaints. Used to monitor only commodities and a bit of equity. But, now that am monitoring equity realtime it seems to take a bit more time. Am pretty sure, when I start running my background tasks across all the scrips for triggers it will slow down further. Especially, when I try adding indicators on the fly. Not to mention, the additional screens, because I am finding it difficult to keep shifting windows for multiple things. I am expecting this to run out of juice by Jan-Feb for my requirements. Dec 25-Dec 31st is specifically to see, if my current system will take the load of what I will throw at it next year. I think, its going to come short.

While all this is happening, I am also watching Netflix/AmazonPrime, browsing the net and whatsapping on one of the screens, when I get a breather of half hour or something. Not to mention, the actual trade execution software running separately.

The comp is basically my bread and butter. I need it to be the best of whats available and I do not mind spending on it. The amp and the card, I can add later.


Edit : Checked the HDMI thing. It has 3 ports. All 3 support HDMI 2 for HDR and 1 supports HDR Arc

 

[Parthu]

Had visited the Alienware shop today, he said wait till Jan and the 9900 will be available for the same price point as the current i7. I can wait, not in a hurry. Two laptops, are not going to cut it. 1 machine, with 1 backup. That's it. Used to have 2 laptops an MSI and a Lenovo in 2011. Now, I just do not have the patience to manage 2 separate machines.

Great - then go ahead for the 9900 laptop when it comes, more than likely it will have a very good in-built GPU as well (1080Ti or even 20 series) which can easily play all your games without need for an amplifier. When you get the laptop, try out your games, if you're getting above 60 frames per second then there's no need for an amp.

Although, regarding the processor, you can sure go ahead for the i9-9900 if you wish but I must put in a word of advice which can save you quite some amount: an i7-9700 or even i7-8700 (their laptop counterparts I mean) can easily handle the work and either of them are a massive leap in processing power over your A10 (you didn't specify exactly which model/generation, I'm not very familiar with the A10 line but as far as I know, the 6th gen Core i7-6700 already had the latest A10-9700 beat, which came about 2 years ago).

8th or 9th gen i7 should be more than enough for your needs. 9th gen i9? Above and beyond. But as I said, if you can afford it and want the best, go for it, otherwise you can save a buck with either 8th/9th gen i7s.

Edit : Checked the HDMI thing. It has 3 ports. All 3 support HDMI 2 for HDR and 1 supports HDR Arc

Great, if its supports HDR that means its either HDMI 2.0a or 2.0b. So no problems on the TV end, just make sure the same output standards are also provided on the laptop you wish to buy otherwise you won't be able to take advantage of 4K HDR.

Just some acoustic stuff, trying to learn more about home studio recording.
It was budget build with AMD A10 6800 on a Asrock FM2A85X, with 32 gb of ram on a chunky corsair cab, with 750w power.
It's hooked up to a Behringer UMC 202 HD, Rotate between MXL 5000, MXL 990xl, MXL V250 and AKG C214, on Midi there is a Alesis midi controller and Yamaha E453 and a recent AKAI MPC addition.

You seem to be quite the audiophile. So I would definitely put up this question: anything to say about the V-MODA Crossfade LP2 headphones?

I'm planning to buy a pair real soon to replace my HyperX Cloud Stinger. I'd bought it about an year ago for gaming (it has a pretty good mic & 50mm drivers for something I got for around Rs. 6k back then). There's nothing wrong with them right now per se, but I don't really do much online gaming with friends nowadays so I'm starting to see the utility of a 'Gaming' headphones fade away. What is creeping in however, is my appreciation for good music so I'm looking to up my listening experience with a pair of true music headphones.

I've initially had the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro in mind (the 80ohm version) but then I realized I'm not much of a critical listener and have no interest in professional music, and do listen to rock & heavy metal quite a bit so I want a good bit of bass in the headphones, something the DT 770 is not exactly designed for (its focus being to deliver original sound).

So now I have my sights set on the Crossfade LP2, its going for about 14k online and seems worth it given my listening habits. It has 50mm drivers, detachable cables (which DT 770 didn't have) and lower impedence of maybe 32-35 ohms, so no need for an AMP/DAC, seems like a good buy. Any advice?

 

[Bharath]

Had visited the Alienware shop today, he said wait till Jan and the 9900 will be available for the same price point as the current i7. I can wait, not in a hurry. Two laptops, are not going to cut it. 1 machine, with 1 backup. That's it. Used to have 2 laptops an MSI and a Lenovo in 2011. Now, I just do not have the patience to manage 2 separate machines.

My current machine is an A10 with 8 GB Ram and Radeon R5 on board and a discrete R6 M435. It has been working well, no complaints. Used to monitor only commodities and a bit of equity. But, now that am monitoring equity realtime it seems to take a bit more time. Am pretty sure, when I start running my background tasks across all the scrips for triggers it will slow down further. Especially, when I try adding indicators on the fly. Not to mention, the additional screens, because I am finding it difficult to keep shifting windows for multiple things. I am expecting this to run out of juice by Jan-Feb for my requirements. Dec 25-Dec 31st is specifically to see, if my current system will take the load of what I will throw at it next year. I think, its going to come short.

While all this is happening, I am also watching Netflix/AmazonPrime, browsing the net and whatsapping on one of the screens, when I get a breather of half hour or something. Not to mention, the actual trade execution software running separately.

The comp is basically my bread and butter. I need it to be the best of whats available and I do not mind spending on it. The amp and the card, I can add later.


Edit : Checked the HDMI thing. It has 3 ports. All 3 support HDMI 2 for HDR and 1 supports HDR Arc

how much is it in India? the current machine cost and the new machine cost?

 

[Arpit]

...many here wish they had what you have. (maybe not @Nordic Wolf , she has an impressive arsenal herself).

Gaming equipment, you can just order online if you feel like spending...but we here can't get our hands on AKs and AR-15s no matter how much we are ready to splurge out.



Never played any RE games myself...the horror genre doesn't really appeal to me (although I do love the atmosphere of games like Stalker, Metro series etc.)

As of suggestions...tried the Outlast games? If not then those are a must-play for any horror lover.

Does Prey come under horror? Seems somewhat similar in setting to Alien: Isolation except you get to shoot more stuff:

Prey is just a toned down version of BioShock, meaning if you played BioShock it looks pathetic, otherwise its fine. But for me it's pathetic.

Is Prey the BioShock successor we've been waiting for? | PC Gamer

If you like horror games, SOMA is my favorite one(ending of SOMA is just classic) followed by Alan Wake. And in old one System Shock, waiting for its reboot.

 

[Parthu]

Been using my new V-MODA Crossfade LP2 headphones for a couple weeks now...truly enjoyable experience, although I do recommend the XL Memory Cushion pads for anyone looking to buy this...oh and btw, I had a Mass Effect N7 logo custom laser-engraved on it:

 

[Valkyrja]

Just for fun some screenshots of DX:MD's Garm Facility on my PC. High settings and 1980X1080 resolution, but with both Motion Blur and Depth of Field disabled. I hate both options. Great game, BTW. Not as transcendent as Human Revolution or the original DX: GOTY, but it's fantastic in its own right and downright beautiful.

Just Garm since that's were I am right now during my play-through, but I might do some of the Palisade Bank and Prague once I return to the hub. Might do some for FFXV too, to see how they stack up.

BTW, that's a MSI GTX1060 Gaming X 6GB (retail price 3100 kr), so not even the most impressive GPU out there right now. But for a mid-tier PC it offers great performance and graphics. Most impressive is how quiet it's dual fans are. You wont even notice they're on.

Been using my new V-MODA Crossfade LP2 headphones for a couple weeks now...truly enjoyable experience, although I do recommend the XL Memory Cushion pads for anyone looking to buy this...oh and btw, I had a Mass Effect N7 logo custom laser-engraved on it:

View attachment 3799
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Gorgeous! How's the quality compared to non-gaming headphones though? I've never used dedicated gaming headphones, but have an older, and falling apart, pair of Bose QC15s (for when I really don't feel like being bothered) and they're fantastic, but again, falling apart so I need something new.

Worth the investment to get a pair of gaming headphones like those beauties you're rocking?

 

[Valkyrja]

A couple more screenshots from around GARM and Prague at night. I like to take photos of small, seemingly insignificant things because that's were detail truly ships. Cityscapes are nice, yeah, but it's the small items that make the world more vibrant.

 

[Parthu]

Just for fun some screenshots of DX:MD's Garm Facility on my PC. High settings and 1980X1080 resolution, but with both Motion Blur and Depth of Field disabled. I hate both options. Great game, BTW. Not as transcendent as Human Revolution or the original DX: GOTY, but it's fantastic in its own right and downright beautiful.

View attachment 3809

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I had completed DX:HR for the first time about 2 months ago and easily it's among my Top 10 best games of all time. I tried MD straight away but for some reason I just couldn't get used to the gameplay (strange because it happens to be pretty similar to HR gameplay which I loved). Maybe it was because I was coming to this immediately after HR and the subtle ways the gameplay differs may have thrown me off.

I'll have to get back to MD for sure after a gap.

Gorgeous! How's the quality compared to non-gaming headphones though? I've never used dedicated gaming headphones, but have an older, and falling apart, pair of Bose QC15s (for when I really don't feel like being bothered) and they're fantastic, but again, falling apart so I need something new.

Worth the investment to get a pair of gaming headphones like those beauties you're rocking?

These aren't gaming headphones at all - they're purely for the music aficionado. I actually had a 'gaming' pair (HyperX Cloud Stinger) before I switched to these. I had used the HyperX was about an year but recently their pads started getting worn off so I decided I'll get a good Music-focused pair (as I wasn't really doing much online gaming with friends these days).

Coming from a pair of Gaming headphones (which already had 50mm drivers same as the V-MODA), I can't say there's much change in the game sound experience...hearing footsteps and everything was already there. The real change was in the music (whether in-game or plain music)...the audio fidelity & bass I used to get with my old HyperX at 75% volume, I'm getting with this one at just around 40% or under. The bass is strong with this one

I can hear/distinguish tunes I previously couldn't say I did (although I'm not really much of a critical listener). I would definitely recommend V-MODA if you're looking to buy it...great product all around. But considering the fact you're coming from the QC15 (which is already a higher-end product if I'm right), I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll make. Or if it'll be better at all or not.

It depends on your need though...if you want headphones for gaming, I'd say going with brands like Corsair, HyperX or Steelseries is the best value. On the other hand if you're a critical listener, then AudioTechnica or Beyerdynamic it is for you. But these aren't bass-focused headphones, for that you might want maybe something in Skullcandy or Sennheiser product range (if you care for music & bass but don't care for gaming that much).

Nowadays I think a higher-end pair of gaming headphones are pretty excellent jack-of-all-trades and should get you covered in all bases pretty well.

A couple more screenshots from around GARM and Prague at night. I like to take photos of small, seemingly insignificant things because that's were detail truly ships. Cityscapes are nice, yeah, but it's the small items that make the world more vibrant.

Ah, I thought I was the only one mad enough to do this. I won't give you much except, remember I had about 75 hours in on the Steam playthough of Witcher 3? Well this is what it says in the folder where the screenshots of that game are saved:

 

[Arpit]

I had completed DX:HR for the first time about 2 months ago and easily it's among my Top 10 best games of all time. I tried MD straight away but for some reason I just couldn't get used to the gameplay (strange because it happens to be pretty similar to HR gameplay which I loved). Maybe it was because I was coming to this immediately after HR and the subtle ways the gameplay differs may have thrown me off.

I'll have to get back to MD for sure after a gap.



These aren't gaming headphones at all - they're purely for the music aficionado. I actually had a 'gaming' pair (HyperX Cloud Stinger) before I switched to these. I had used the HyperX was about an year but recently their pads started getting worn off so I decided I'll get a good Music-focused pair (as I wasn't really doing much online gaming with friends these days).

Coming from a pair of Gaming headphones (which already had 50mm drivers same as the V-MODA), I can't say there's much change in the game sound experience...hearing footsteps and everything was already there. The real change was in the music (whether in-game or plain music)...the audio fidelity & bass I used to get with my old HyperX at 75% volume, I'm getting with this one at just around 40% or under. The bass is strong with this one

I can hear/distinguish tunes I previously couldn't say I did (although I'm not really much of a critical listener). I would definitely recommend V-MODA if you're looking to buy it...great product all around. But considering the fact you're coming from the QC15 (which is already a higher-end product if I'm right), I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll make. Or if it'll be better at all or not.

It depends on your need though...if you want headphones for gaming, I'd say going with brands like Corsair, HyperX or Steelseries is the best value. On the other hand if you're a critical listener, then AudioTechnica or Beyerdynamic it is for you. But these aren't bass-focused headphones, for that you might want maybe something in Skullcandy or Sennheiser product range (if you care for music & bass but don't care for gaming that much).

Nowadays I think a higher-end pair of gaming headphones are pretty excellent jack-of-all-trades and should get you covered in all bases pretty well.



Ah, I thought I was the only one mad enough to do this. I won't give you much except, remember I had about 75 hours in on the Steam playthough of Witcher 3? Well this is what it says in the folder where the screenshots of that game are saved:

View attachment 3822

I played Human Revolution 5 years ago, and I still not started Mankind Divided. They just destroyed Dues Ex series.

 

[Valkyrja]

I had completed DX:HR for the first time about 2 months ago and easily it's among my Top 10 best games of all time. I tried MD straight away but for some reason I just couldn't get used to the gameplay (strange because it happens to be pretty similar to HR gameplay which I loved). Maybe it was because I was coming to this immediately after HR and the subtle ways the gameplay differs may have thrown me off.

I'll have to get back to MD for sure after a gap.

I'll admit to having the same reaction, strangely enough. It'd been a few years since I played DX:HR, but the control scheme of DX:MD still threw me off. Especially the "snap to cover" controls. But it's well worth it. 50 hours for the first play through for me.

Definitely give it another go. The first area, Dubai, is an outlier. The rest of the game is amazing.

Coming from a pair of Gaming headphones (which already had 50mm drivers same as the V-MODA), I can't say there's much change in the game sound experience...hearing footsteps and everything was already there. The real change was in the music (whether in-game or plain music)...the audio fidelity & bass I used to get with my old HyperX at 75% volume, I'm getting with this one at just around 40% or under. The bass is strong with this one

I can hear/distinguish tunes I previously couldn't say I did (although I'm not really much of a critical listener). I would definitely recommend V-MODA if you're looking to buy it...great product all around. But considering the fact you're coming from the QC15 (which is already a higher-end product if I'm right), I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll make. Or if it'll be better at all or not.

99% of my headphone usage is for music, so something with great clarity on that from is a must. And by music I mean this:

I've had my QC15s for at least 5 years and they're, well...

Still work, but the sound quality is declining and they're not exactly in the best condition at this point either. And for the type of music I listen to, mostly metal and electronic/industrial and folk, any suggestions for a pair of headphones (I'm not limited by budget). I like the Bose brand and the others you mentioned are all well-known to me too, but I'm kind of a novice with commercial hardware.

What are you listening too that requires good bass?

And yes, my PC case is very dusty. I don't really like cleaning.

Ah, I thought I was the only one mad enough to do this. I won't give you much except, remember I had about 75 hours in on the Steam playthough of Witcher 3? Well this is what it says in the folder where the screenshots of that game are saved:

View attachment 3822

Wow. 1254 screenshots for just 75 hours. Ever considered photography as a profession? It's an expensive profession to get into, but I've can give you plenty of pointers, tips and recommendations.

And why not even a taste of your screenshot mastery? To be fair half mine were probably pictures of Shani anyway. She's the best of Geralt's lady-friends. But come on, surely you have some great pics of the beauty of The Witcher 3 that you can share.

I had completed DX:HR for the first time about 2 months ago and easily it's among my Top 10 best games of all time.

Now I'm curious as to the other 9 best games of all time on the Parthu list. For me its:

1. Skyrim - AKA, Norway the game. Seriously Skyrim was the first game I ever fell in love with and I'm kind of embarrassed to show a pic of how many hours I've spent playing it.
2. The Witcher 3 - It's just amazing. But then you already know that. Can't wait for Red to drop Cyberpunk 2077
3. DX:HR - I've played through it at least 4 times, probably more and I can never get enough.
4. Fallout New Vegas - Another game I've played a lot of. Never thought I'd enjoy running around a desert.
5. Pokemon - Ask me what my favorite Pokemon is and I'll tell you "Eevee". Ask me what my favorite Pokemon game is and I'll tell you "yes".
6. Civ 6 - It has Norway as a playable Civ. That is all.
7. Bastion - This game gave me the feels in a bad way. And I loved every minute of it.
8. Dishonored - It took everything I loved about the Thief series (yes, all of them. Deadly Shadows and the Reboot included) and made them even better.
9. STALKER SoC - I'm a sucker for Soviet-style architecture and machinery and paranormal happenings and firearms. Shadow of Chernobyl was just plain amazing. UNPOPULAR OPINION!!! Call of Pripjat was butt and Clear Sky isn't as bad as people claim.
10. Star Wars Battlefront II - Not the one that was released a few years ago, but the "classic". Only multiplayer game I enjoyed playing with people I don't know. Plus I love Star Wars and am a huge nerd.

Of course that's not by any means an exhaustive list of games I like or enjoy or would recommend. Just my all-time favorites.

 

[Parthu]

99% of my headphone usage is for music, so something with great clarity on that from is a must. And by music I mean this:

Hmmm...if you prefer the 'clarity' of music over the sheer 'feel', then AudioTechnica or Beyerdynamic might just be the way to go. These are the types they use in mixing studios. @Arpit and @Milspec might offer some insight as I know them to be bigger audiophiles than me.

I've had my QC15s for at least 5 years and they're, well...

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You didn't tell me you used them as a prop for training your attack dog.

What are you listening too that requires good bass?

Other than WWE entrance songs, something like these:

( btw, that guitar starting at around 2:30 gets me every time )

Speaking of folk, I did acquire a taste for those Eastern European songs (again thanks to Witcher 3 for introducing me to these), the soundtrack of Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a gem in my honest opinion, especially these 3 tracks:

I'll stop now before my actions lead to the branching off of a separate music thread.

And yes, my PC case is very dusty. I don't really like cleaning.

You call THAT dust? Ha.

Wow. 1254 screenshots for just 75 hours. Ever considered photography as a profession? It's an expensive profession to get into, but I've can give you plenty of pointers, tips and recommendations.

And why not even a taste of your screenshot mastery? To be fair half mine were probably pictures of Shani anyway. She's the best of Geralt's lady-friends. But come on, surely you have some great pics of the beauty of The Witcher 3 that you can share.

For me the favourites were the random whores in that brothel in Flotsam (in the 2nd game)

Screenshots, well...it's gonna be hard to choose a select few from the 1200+ but I'll give you some that show what the essence of my F12 spamming is about: I'm about getting that perfect shot from cutscenes (not always but more often than not), to that end I'm guilty of keeping my finger on the trigger when I'm anticipating something (helps when you're playing through the game for the 3rd time), does it take away from the sit-back-and-enjoy cutscene experience? Yes, but it does sometimes give me some wallpaper-worthy shots like these:

^^ That last one was my wallpaper for several months. The left portion provided ample dark background for icons, and the colors & lighting were great overall. At any other time of day, it probably wouldn't have been as good.

Sometimes, it makes me wonder...the way the cameras are positioned in these cutscenes (with the action happening in the right three quarters of the screen more often than not), it's almost as if CDPR wanted the players to take screenshots and use them as wallpapers. As of shots during gameplay, its pretty much a simple matter of being in the right place at the right time of day and panning the view in the right angle...

10 image limit...watch out for Part 2.

 

[Parthu]

...here's the rest of them.

^^ Sometimes things look best when there's not much to look at. By the time I'm done with the base story and the 2 DLCs, I'm probably looking at over 3-4000 images Can't wait to snap pics of the Tor Gval'cha tower in Skellige...still 2 books to go before I touch the game again though.

I do wish Witcher 3 had an in-game Photo Editor feature like Batman: Arkham Knight (where you can pause the game and use a freely moving camera, various filters and effects *still regret me putting that B:AK logo though* to create shots), then I would have been in a position to create some true masterpieces (at least in my book) like these:

Sometimes, use of the Batsuit's Zoom-in tool gives some good photo opportunities:

Now I'm curious as to the other 9 best games of all time on the Parthu list. For me its:

1. Skyrim - AKA, Norway the game. Seriously Skyrim was the first game I ever fell in love with and I'm kind of embarrassed to show a pic of how many hours I've spent playing it.
2. The Witcher 3 - It's just amazing. But then you already know that. Can't wait for Red to drop Cyberpunk 2077
3. DX:HR - I've played through it at least 4 times, probably more and I can never get enough.
4. Fallout New Vegas - Another game I've played a lot of. Never thought I'd enjoy running around a desert.
5. Pokemon - Ask me what my favorite Pokemon is and I'll tell you "Eevee". Ask me what my favorite Pokemon game is and I'll tell you "yes".
6. Civ 6 - It has Norway as a playable Civ. That is all.
7. Bastion - This game gave me the feels in a bad way. And I loved every minute of it.
8. Dishonored - It took everything I loved about the Thief series (yes, all of them. Deadly Shadows and the Reboot included) and made them even better.
9. STALKER SoC - I'm a sucker for Soviet-style architecture and machinery and paranormal happenings and firearms. Shadow of Chernobyl was just plain amazing. UNPOPULAR OPINION!!! Call of Pripjat was butt and Clear Sky isn't as bad as people claim.
10. Star Wars Battlefront II - Not the one that was released a few years ago, but the "classic". Only multiplayer game I enjoyed playing with people I don't know. Plus I love Star Wars and am a huge nerd.

Of course that's not by any means an exhaustive list of games I like or enjoy or would recommend. Just my all-time favorites.

You will excuse me for being incapable of putting the games I'm about to list in any particular order, for some of them it would be a sin to put a number on them.

Mass Effect series - Easily my all-time favourite. Most will agree, the original trilogy was a true classic, I even like the new Andromeda which many don't. The sci-fi, the Reapers, the characters and their stories, the universe & lore it built...everything was top-notch.

Witcher series (2 & 3) - Best RPG ever, nothing comes close. W3 is sitting high & mighty in my choice for Game of The Decade if I was asked to pick just one game and not a series as a whole.

Crysis series - Again a much-loved trilogy. All the good games come in threes it seems (if you discount Crysis: Warhead as an expansion pack for the first game). I'm a huge lover of games that build a good lore around aliens & sci-fi. Too bad I couldn't get into this franchise as soon as it came out though (back then my rig couldn't run it...many still can't, as the legend goes).

Half Life series - When I was younger, this game (especially HL2) was pretty much responsible for fueling the fires of my imagination. It gave the basis which franchises like Mass Effect later took over when it comes to being in the forefront of what I think of when someone says "good games".

DX:HR - The story, environment, colors, art style...just a superb game all around. 56 hours on my first and only playthrough (yeah, just like in W3, when I really like the environment, I walk...as slow as possible). I used keep this song on repeat around the same time I was playing HR and just like that, the two became intrinsically tied...to the point where listening to it now invokes memory of the game, and vice versa:

Counter-Strike series - Spent considerable time in all of them. 1.6, Condition Zero, CZ: Deleted Scenes, Source, Global Offensive. Been a long while since I touched it though. Probably the first time I got a taste of competitive online gaming.

Battlefield 3 - These are good games (not a fan of Hardline though), but not good enough that I can put in the whole series. But BF3 deserves mention for reinventing the way I looked at what video game graphics were capable of (note that I played BF3 before I heard about Crysis).

Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 - The one game in the entire CoD franchise where I must say I truly loved the story.

Delta Force series - Deserves credit because the first game in this series was the first video game I ever played on my first PC. I was in 5th grade. Ahhh...the memories. The flair of some of the latter games in this series (like Black Hawk Down) still holds up to this day for people who love certain classics.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) - Another childhood addiction. Each Police chase used to last an hour easily, again loved the washed-out yellow/dusk lighting themes of Rockport City. Unfortunately this game didn't age well, at least to me.

 

[Milspec]

You seem to be quite the audiophile. So I would definitely put up this question: anything to say about the V-MODA Crossfade LP2 headphones?

Sorry mate, Don;t know much about high end headphones and stuff, I have a set of Audiotechnica ATH-M50x and AKG K240 for recording feedback, both are budget headphones.