Happy holidays from the Dakka household! Nothing new and exciting to report on any gaming-related gifts that I received (no new microphone, oh well) but the big news is the PC that I got for JollyChaos:
Case: Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case
CPU: AMD FX-9370 4.4 GHz 8-core processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ motherboard
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3 1866 SDRAM
GPU: HIS IceQ X2 Boost R9 270X 2GB
SSD: Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
PSU: Rosewill ARC 750 Watt PSU
Cooler: Corsair H100i closed-loop liquid CPU cooler
I also threw in a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and wireless networking adapter, as this is his first gaming desktop (he's coming from a dirt-cheap laptop from a few years ago).
I had wanted to record a video of the build process, but it ended up not working out that way. I also didn't have time to worry about pictures.
Most of the build was no big deal. The main issue was installing the radiator for the H100i. The holes drilled into the radiator did not match up with the screw holes at the top of the case, and after much difficulty, I was able to jury-rig it on there. A couple of screws go through the actual screw holes, while the other 2 I was able to get on there go through the vent holes. Still, it's on there and isn't moving, so I'll take it. But be warned if you ever get the H100i.
As for performance, I have not been able to benchmark it, nor overclock it due to time constraints (it's what I get waiting until the last weekend before Christmas). As I understand it the 9370 is not a great overclocker so I'm not holding out high hopes. Also strangely Dawn Of War caused the system to lock up on install.
Anyhow, JollyChaos will be heading to YouTube fairly soon, as he also received a Razr Kraken Pro headset and a Blue Snowball microphone.
Friday, December 26, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
More WoW and Power Rangers
My warrior has reached level 98 and all of my garrison buildings are upgraded to level 2 (Mine, Herb Garden, Fishing Shack, Barracks, Lumber Mill, Storehouse, Gem Boutique). All that remains is getting to level 100 so that I can upgrade my garrison to level 3. I have the resources and gold necessary to do so, it's just a matter of leveling. My wife has reached level 100 with her druid and has upgraded her garrison so she only needs to upgrade her buildings now. Of course, getting the level 3 blueprints isn't as easy as buying the level 2 blueprints...
I am currently questing in Spires of Arak. I could simply move on to Nagrand now that I am level 98 but I like to run the storyline quests and Spires has a lot of them. I think I've wrapped up 5 or 6 of the 9 storyline quests. I think the quest to get the blueprints for the Salvage Yard is in Spires as well so waiting to come across that.
I think Vol'jin's Pride in Talador is my favorite outpost so far. Nothing like having access to a cannon to rain hell on large groups of enemies. The Smuggler's Den in Axefall (Spires) has been underwhelming thus far, while the Lumber Yard at my Gorgrond outpost allows the summoning of a shredder that is a lot of fun.
The other day I found that the remaining episodes of Power Rangers Super Megaforce was on. Specifically I was looking for the finale, "Legendary Battle", which would feature the return of many past Rangers, including Tommy (who will never be rid of this franchise it seems). SPOILERS Unfortunately, there was little point in their presence, as they appeared briefly helping out civilians (unmorphed, of course) in the aftermath of an attack by the Big Bad (which apparently destroyed the Zords at the end of the previous episode). If you weren't sure who they were, the producers helpfully briefly overlaid a transparent helmet on each of them.
Tommy was a bit of a curveball, as he could have (theoretically) shown up as one of 4 of the 5 Rangers he's served as (the Red Turbo Ranger was obviously not possible, having turned that over to TJ partway through that season). He was teased as the White Ranger, making his initial appearance in a white T-shirt, and even carrying Saba. But when he appeared at the end he was morphed into the Green Ranger.
But it still seemed silly. The Big Bad and his armada were taken down by the Red and Sixth Megaforce Rangers. For some reason there was still an army of mooks left, and that's when the Legendary Rangers (as they've been called throughout the season) finally decided to show up.
See, this is the 20th anniversary of the show (well, technically that was last year, but due to some hiccups, I think this was the 20th season), so Saban had to do something big (the 10th anniversary featured the excellent "Forever Red", while the 15th was "Once A Ranger", the only bright spot in a terrible season). They decided to tease the Legendary Rangers by having the Red Ranger have a recurring dream of all previous Ranger teams showing up, and by giving the Megaforce Rangers access to the powers of Rangers from previous years. This meant that once morphed, they could transform into any previous Ranger.
But the actual Legendary Rangers felt wasted. Sure, it was an army of mooks, but Rangers mow these guys down by the hundreds before breakfast. While it was cool to see every previous Ranger team show up (in a bit of a quirk, some teams were appropriately missing the Rangers whose role Tommy had filled, as he can't be the Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger and Black Dino Thunder Ranger at the same time, but both the Turbo and Space Ranger teams were there, even though both teams were mostly composed of the same people and therefore it would have been impossible), only a handful of the original actors appeared. This was likely a money issue, as there are dozens of actors to call back and they would all need to be paid. But the ones that were there barely got any face time. It probably would have been best left as a 2 part episode to try to give each veteran Ranger something to do.
Here's the list of old-school Rangers who appeared (unmorphed or helmetless; the stunt workers in costume obviously don't count):
Jason David Frank as Tommy (Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, though teased as White Ranger)
Selwyn Ward as T.J. Johnson (Power Rangers in Space Blue Ranger)
Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie Chan (Power Rangers In Space Pink Ranger)
Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Red Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Reggie Rolle as Damon Henderson (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Green Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Melody Perkins as Karone (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Greyson (Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
Alison MacInnis as Dana Mitchell (Lightspeed Rescue Pink Ranger)
Jason Faunt as Wesley Collins (Time Force Red Ranger)
Hector David Jr as Mike (Power Rangers Samurai Green Ranger)
Brittany Pirtle as Emily (Power Rangers Samurai Yellow Ranger)
Chris Auer as Robo Knight (Megaforce Sixth Ranger from Season 1)
I am currently questing in Spires of Arak. I could simply move on to Nagrand now that I am level 98 but I like to run the storyline quests and Spires has a lot of them. I think I've wrapped up 5 or 6 of the 9 storyline quests. I think the quest to get the blueprints for the Salvage Yard is in Spires as well so waiting to come across that.
I think Vol'jin's Pride in Talador is my favorite outpost so far. Nothing like having access to a cannon to rain hell on large groups of enemies. The Smuggler's Den in Axefall (Spires) has been underwhelming thus far, while the Lumber Yard at my Gorgrond outpost allows the summoning of a shredder that is a lot of fun.
The other day I found that the remaining episodes of Power Rangers Super Megaforce was on. Specifically I was looking for the finale, "Legendary Battle", which would feature the return of many past Rangers, including Tommy (who will never be rid of this franchise it seems). SPOILERS Unfortunately, there was little point in their presence, as they appeared briefly helping out civilians (unmorphed, of course) in the aftermath of an attack by the Big Bad (which apparently destroyed the Zords at the end of the previous episode). If you weren't sure who they were, the producers helpfully briefly overlaid a transparent helmet on each of them.
Tommy was a bit of a curveball, as he could have (theoretically) shown up as one of 4 of the 5 Rangers he's served as (the Red Turbo Ranger was obviously not possible, having turned that over to TJ partway through that season). He was teased as the White Ranger, making his initial appearance in a white T-shirt, and even carrying Saba. But when he appeared at the end he was morphed into the Green Ranger.
But it still seemed silly. The Big Bad and his armada were taken down by the Red and Sixth Megaforce Rangers. For some reason there was still an army of mooks left, and that's when the Legendary Rangers (as they've been called throughout the season) finally decided to show up.
See, this is the 20th anniversary of the show (well, technically that was last year, but due to some hiccups, I think this was the 20th season), so Saban had to do something big (the 10th anniversary featured the excellent "Forever Red", while the 15th was "Once A Ranger", the only bright spot in a terrible season). They decided to tease the Legendary Rangers by having the Red Ranger have a recurring dream of all previous Ranger teams showing up, and by giving the Megaforce Rangers access to the powers of Rangers from previous years. This meant that once morphed, they could transform into any previous Ranger.
But the actual Legendary Rangers felt wasted. Sure, it was an army of mooks, but Rangers mow these guys down by the hundreds before breakfast. While it was cool to see every previous Ranger team show up (in a bit of a quirk, some teams were appropriately missing the Rangers whose role Tommy had filled, as he can't be the Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger and Black Dino Thunder Ranger at the same time, but both the Turbo and Space Ranger teams were there, even though both teams were mostly composed of the same people and therefore it would have been impossible), only a handful of the original actors appeared. This was likely a money issue, as there are dozens of actors to call back and they would all need to be paid. But the ones that were there barely got any face time. It probably would have been best left as a 2 part episode to try to give each veteran Ranger something to do.
Here's the list of old-school Rangers who appeared (unmorphed or helmetless; the stunt workers in costume obviously don't count):
Jason David Frank as Tommy (Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, though teased as White Ranger)
Selwyn Ward as T.J. Johnson (Power Rangers in Space Blue Ranger)
Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie Chan (Power Rangers In Space Pink Ranger)
Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Red Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Reggie Rolle as Damon Henderson (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Green Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Melody Perkins as Karone (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Greyson (Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
Alison MacInnis as Dana Mitchell (Lightspeed Rescue Pink Ranger)
Jason Faunt as Wesley Collins (Time Force Red Ranger)
Hector David Jr as Mike (Power Rangers Samurai Green Ranger)
Brittany Pirtle as Emily (Power Rangers Samurai Yellow Ranger)
Chris Auer as Robo Knight (Megaforce Sixth Ranger from Season 1)
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Steam sales and World of Warcraft
As I mentioned previously, I had $50 on my Steam account to put towards GTA V as soon as Steam lets me preorder it. Then a Steam sale hit last week. I thought for sure I was doomed.
Fortunately, the Official Wife decided that the kids' Christmas gift to me would be $60 for my Steam account. Hooray! I haven't added the money yet but I have time. Meanwhile, it was time to go shopping. Here's what I got:
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles Of Mystara This classic arcade beat 'em up is something I have been pining for, ever since the movie theater that had the game got rid of it (note to movie theaters: arcades are still awesome, get better games). I played it Thanksgiving night with JollyChaos, but he hated it. Guess beat 'em ups aren't his thing.
Scribblenauts Unlimited JollyChaos has Super Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. I messed around with it a bit, it's a fun game. Then it was ruined when I watched TotalBiscuit's video on Scribblenauts Unlimited.
Democracy 3 Another TotalBiscuit video based purchase. Partly because one of the countries he is playing is The Imperium Of Man.
Hammerwatch This is a fun little hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. I haven't spent much time on it but it's a fun time waster. I'll be making a video on this soon I think.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Deluxe Edition Finally replaced Oblivion from my late Xbox 360 (another recent replacement was from EA offering Dragon Age: Origins for free on, well, Origin). Only better as it includes all of the DLC (or at least close to it), which is actually more than I had on my Xbox. Previously I had Knights Of The Nine, Fighter's Stronghold, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, and Thieves' Cave (I think that's what they're all called). This also adds the Shivering Isles expansion and more. It's also highly moddable on the PC.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Yes, I have a thing for classic games. This gem I had purchased years ago (over Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II no less!), and some mixup led to its disappearance. So it's nice to finally replace it. It runs on the very old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset (which I am no longer familiar with; 3rd edition D&D came out in 2000 I think. For comparison, Neverwinter Nights is based on the 3rd Edition rules, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dungeons & Dragons Online run 3.5 Edition, and Neverwinter is based on 4th Edition. 5th Edition has just been released). Good for fans of Dungeons & Dragons or loves deep RPGs.
On to WoW...
Leveling is slow, given my somewhat limited playing time. I am up to level 95 and I also upgraded my rings to ilevel 540 pieces, and made an epic ilevel 650 necklace, made possible by my Warrior being a Jewelcrafter (I made rings for my wife's druid as well). I mainly want to upgrade my garrison to level 3 but that can't happen until I get to level 100. I may also not be able to stick with my guild as their raid schedule seems to be Sunday nights and weeknights which is right before I go to work.
Fortunately, the Official Wife decided that the kids' Christmas gift to me would be $60 for my Steam account. Hooray! I haven't added the money yet but I have time. Meanwhile, it was time to go shopping. Here's what I got:
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles Of Mystara This classic arcade beat 'em up is something I have been pining for, ever since the movie theater that had the game got rid of it (note to movie theaters: arcades are still awesome, get better games). I played it Thanksgiving night with JollyChaos, but he hated it. Guess beat 'em ups aren't his thing.
Scribblenauts Unlimited JollyChaos has Super Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. I messed around with it a bit, it's a fun game. Then it was ruined when I watched TotalBiscuit's video on Scribblenauts Unlimited.
Democracy 3 Another TotalBiscuit video based purchase. Partly because one of the countries he is playing is The Imperium Of Man.
Hammerwatch This is a fun little hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. I haven't spent much time on it but it's a fun time waster. I'll be making a video on this soon I think.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Deluxe Edition Finally replaced Oblivion from my late Xbox 360 (another recent replacement was from EA offering Dragon Age: Origins for free on, well, Origin). Only better as it includes all of the DLC (or at least close to it), which is actually more than I had on my Xbox. Previously I had Knights Of The Nine, Fighter's Stronghold, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, and Thieves' Cave (I think that's what they're all called). This also adds the Shivering Isles expansion and more. It's also highly moddable on the PC.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Yes, I have a thing for classic games. This gem I had purchased years ago (over Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II no less!), and some mixup led to its disappearance. So it's nice to finally replace it. It runs on the very old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset (which I am no longer familiar with; 3rd edition D&D came out in 2000 I think. For comparison, Neverwinter Nights is based on the 3rd Edition rules, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dungeons & Dragons Online run 3.5 Edition, and Neverwinter is based on 4th Edition. 5th Edition has just been released). Good for fans of Dungeons & Dragons or loves deep RPGs.
On to WoW...
Leveling is slow, given my somewhat limited playing time. I am up to level 95 and I also upgraded my rings to ilevel 540 pieces, and made an epic ilevel 650 necklace, made possible by my Warrior being a Jewelcrafter (I made rings for my wife's druid as well). I mainly want to upgrade my garrison to level 3 but that can't happen until I get to level 100. I may also not be able to stick with my guild as their raid schedule seems to be Sunday nights and weeknights which is right before I go to work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)