Overclocking

Back in the day it used to be that overclocking meant that you changed the mhz in th bios and you could squeeze 10% more out of your computer system. Okay I bought Oblivion and I installed it on my home pc and it crawled. DAMN! I was jonsing to play.

Okay my home pc wasn't all that, hell I still had an AGP card in it! GASP the horror of it all. I started to take a look at my system in more detail and I realized I was only able to clock the CPU to 1.25 GHZ. What the hell? I began to fiddle with my BIOS settings and nothing I did was able to get the processor over that 1.25 GHZ speed. I thought I had a 2.8 GHZ processor.

The next day I took the machine apart and disassembled the fan and the cpu. The CPU had a corner of it chipped off. UGH. I thought I'd replace it, but the Socket A CPUs are pretty much a thing of the past and all I could find was a 2.2 GHZ. This would simply not do. How could I play Oblivion on such a slow CPU.

So I upgraded my system, not by choice, but it had to be done. I got a DC 3.8 AMD SLI system. I could only afford one video card right now, but here are the specs for those who care:

A8N SLI Asus mb
3800 AMD X2 (Duel core)
2 gigs ram
7800 GT video card
250 Sata 300/mbs hd

Not a bad system and with the new psu, it runs very quiet. But trying to get some speed out it has been a pain in the ass. I'm not able to clock it very fast as it freaks out and stops working. I think I'm at about 2.3 GHZ about a 5% gain from stock.

What frustrates me is that not only do you have to worry about pure numbers. HTT, FSP, Multipler and memory speeds, but you also have to worry about voltage on each of the three main systems. Since I haven't done much hard overclocking over the years it has been a bit of a relearning process. So I'm left with two thoughts. Either my airflow inside my computer sucks (thinking of using a sideways cooler ) or I don't know what I'm doing - which means I can't comphrend overclocking issues.


Still the game looks beautiful with this system as is. I have most of the settings turned up and I run from 30-60 fps depending on the circumstances. Fights are smooth and beautiful.

One thing I will add about getting Oblivion for the xbox360 vs teh computer. From what I've been reading, getting mods for the xbox has been an issue while I have about 10 mods installed. Modding this game is the way to go, check out the forums for some great addons and textures. There are mods I think should be required to make the game more enjoyable to play.

One final point, playing Oblivion. With the chances I've had to play I've really taken on the whole roleplaying aspect of it rather than hurry up to win the game. I've taken the approach to savor all the possibilities the game has to offer. I've created two characters a knight and a assassin and plan on going down two separate paths of decisions with them.

cya laterz

Oblivion!

I tried to resist buying this PC/XBox360 game. I bought it for the PC instead of the 360 and I'm in love with it. I'm at work and I'm jonesing (do people still use that word) to play it now. The graphics are so amazing.

Let me give you some background about Elder Scrolls. Oblivion is the fourth installment of this series. The first Elder Scrolls game was the first RPG (role-playing game) that allowed players to follow which ever storyline they wanted, but actions have consquences. They continued to develop the series with the same goals in mind. I did buy Morrowind, but it just didn't have the same romance with me. I think games like Everquest got me thinking about how other things can be done and I wasn't able to really get into it.

Oblivion has reinvented itself in some ways. You begin the game creating the race and look of your character. You can control every aspect of how the character looks (I'm not sure how to add a beard/mustache). The game does start you in a cell and drives the plotlines along, but only for a bit. You are then left to explore and learn the game before the game requires you to choose your birthsign and class. You can even create your own custom class! I enjoy the fact you have many races and classes to choose from. I hate having only four or five of each to decide from.

When you exit the sewers, you begin the game. Like previous versions you are able to explore the world at your own pace. I've only begun, but one word of warning, be very careful of picking things up that don't belong to you unless you plan on going into that line of work. And you can!
You can choose to be good or bad, nice or naughty and follow the line of quests or not. In one scenero I'm doing the story line and another I'm going to live the life of crime.

The graphics are amazing. My computer at home cannot handle the game at full resolution. I need to upgrade my video card. I brought it to work to see how it would look on my newer pc and it looks beautiful! Check out the screenies!

Okay need to do some work so I can screw around in that world again. I really wish this is what MMRPG should be like!!

cya laterz

Lost

I wish it was about the TV show, but I have to admit even as much hype as it has gotten, I haven't watched a single episode. In fact in the past few months I've sort of wondered away from about everything. Nothing excites me anymore. Any creative spark has long since vanished. Much like my posting on this thing. I'm not sure why.

I've thought about producing a couple of video -casts. They are much like the podcasts you can download off of iTunes, but of course they are video. The problem is that I'm having a hard time coming up with a unique subject that isn't getting talked about to death. Funny how when I was a kid or young adult, all this geeky stuff was unique to a few people. Now everyone is a geek or a nerd and they like it. *sigh* Topics that I'm interested in are swarthed in honey and I'm not going to rehash the same shit as everyone is doing.

Which makes me wonder what I can do. Ponder... I'd do naked women and such, but that's too close to pron. Although that would be a great topic. Heh.
Oh well I'll figure something out.

cya laterz