Past Prime Gamers

PC Gaming – Update!

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I’ve been slacking on updates. Mostly because I am still playing Project: Gorgon and not much else. There are a couple exciting upcoming games to keep your eyes on:

Anthem – This is a Destiny-esque Action RPG multiplayer shooter with exo suits, jet packs, and fancy future weapons from Bioware. You’ll find it on Origin. There is a VIP Demo on January 25nd with a release date of February 22nd. Check out the trailer: https://youtu.be/yJo19lIZWJY

The Division 2 – Also an Action RPG multiplayer shooter, but this one is third person and has modern day type weapons. This game is developed by Massive Entertainment and can be found on Uplay. Beta opens in early February with a release date of March 15. Check out the trailer: https://youtu.be/ktNvh63KkQQ

Other News – In case you haven’t heard, Atlas was a bust, and it looks like the Artifact player base is severely dwindling as well.

I’ve installed three games lately that I intend to dabble in once my Project: Gorgon addiction dies down: Subnautica (was free on Epic), They Are Billions (currently included in Origin Premium), and Borderlands The Pre-Sequel (dirt cheap during the winter Steam sale). Looking forward to trying them out and getting some reviews up!

PC Gaming – Steam Refunds… am I abusing the system?

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In case you didn’t know, Steam has a very liberal refund policy.  The gist of it is that refunds are auto-approved as long as the purchase is within two weeks and the played time is under 2 hours.  For me, this system makes me feel like an abuser.

I love seeing new games pop up while browsing Steam.  I want to try them all!  Well now I can!  I took a look at my last month’s purchases on Steam totaling 8 purchases.  I refunded 6 of them…

PC Gaming Steam Refunds

It is awesome knowing that if a game is early access, or just isn’t what you expected, you have the ability to refund them with no question’s asked.  Some games (like Circle Empires) are really good games, but I just couldn’t see myself playing for any more time than I did.  I felt like I played the entire game and the rest was just unlocking more and more of the same.  Some games are great concepts, but are still early in development or just not fluid when using the interface (like MMA Team Manager).  I can see myself putting some time into this game, but not in it’s current state.  Now I can give it some time to develop, and maybe catch it on a Steam Sale somewhere down the line.

On one hand I do feel bad for the developers, but I do love having a system that benefits my gaming desires.  It does feel like borderline abuse (like when Gamestop would let you return/exchange used games within a week, on a never-ending cycle), but I am going to take advantage as long as I can!

What Have I Been Playing? PC Gaming update!

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I am slacking on reviews, but mostly because I haven’t been playing many new games lately.  Here is an update on what I am currently playing for PC Gaming:

Fifa 19

I have been dabbling in some Fifa 19 on PC.  Overall it is a good experience.  Looks nice, plays well, and feels like a good iteration of Fifa.  This is also my first time playing this series on PC, instead of PS4.  My biggest issue is a weird video glitch that causes my game to alt+tab, and apparently that causes you to auto forfeit if you are playing online.  Not cool at all.  I took a break to wait for some updated video card drivers, and game updates.  I fully plan to hop back into Fifa mode soon.  Also, the super-lame misses are still there: https://youtu.be/y2jm-X7q1M0

Rocket League

I still play a ton of Rocket League.  It’s been my go-to game for quite some time.  Nowadays I usually only play when I have some friends to group up with, but I’ll sneak in a solo game every now and then.  Here are a couple highlights from recent matches:

Great pass by me, great save by them (but we still scored!): https://youtu.be/djsZ0FJ_Neg

Nice wall intercept that actually ended up scoring (calculated!): https://youtu.be/b3npB_3BUMc

And one solo effort showing off some style: https://youtu.be/lXVpC3hcc4E

Grim Dawn

Still playing and grinding out levels.  My character looks way cooler though!  You can read more about Grim Dawn through my review.

PC Gaming Grim Dawn Character Sheet



My (dirty) PC gaming rig. What’s in your build?

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People love to talk about the specs on their PC gaming rig, myself included!  Sorry in advance for dirty case!

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Case: Corsair Crystal 570X – Tempered glass looks nice until it gets dusty.  It would also be super worrisome if I were lugging it around to a LAN party.  I love everything else about it.  Great air-flow and the included fans are quiet.  I don’t care much for the RBG so I found a nice boring neutral white to leave on.

Motherboard: ASRock x370 Taichi – Overclocking looks to be very simple with this motherboard.  I don’t need to push any hardware yet but I am confident it will handle more speed down the road.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 1800x – This seems like a bit overkill for someone that just games.  Everything sure runs snappy though!  I am running a cheap aftermarket air cooler from Deepcool with no issues.  Currently not overclocking because there is really no need at this point.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000mhz – 16GB of this stuff does the trick.  No issues, but also not overclocking.

GPU: MSI Radeon Vega 56 – I snatched one of these as an upgrade from an older 290x.  It runs everything at ultra/high settings on 1440p with 60+ fps.  That was my goal when I got it, and it delivers.

Storage: Western Digital M.2 SSDs – I am running two of these drives.  They seemed like a good value choice.  Windows definitely loads fast and all the applications are instantaneous.

PSU: Corsair CX750m – It handles my Vega card and hasn’t caught on fire, so I consider this one solid.

Monitor: HP Omen 32″ – This is my primary monitor for gaming.  It is huge, almost too huge for something that sits a couple feet in front of your face.  I picked this monitor because it has a slightly higher refresh rate (75hz), 1440p and Freesync for my AMD video card.  It is a great value with all those features.

Mouse & Keyboard: Logitech G710+ and Logitech G502 – I’ve tried Razor and other brands but I always go back to Logitech.  Their products last.

Headset: HyperX Cloud Revolver – I splurged a bit on this set because I use primarily use headphones over speakers.  I like the features and the quality.  The one downside for me is that because they are a built more heavy-duty than some of the other Cloud models, they do feel a bit heavier.  This can wear on you during long gaming sessions.

PC_Gaming_Custom

 

Overall I have been very pleased with the AMD performance even though it goes against the typical Intel/Nvidia grain.  This system should be good to go for several years.  The only item I would consider upcoming in the semi near future would be another monitor that has a higher refresh rate (I heard that is all the rage right now).  Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions!

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