Things are a little different now that I'm using a MacBook Pro as my main computer, but man, nothing used to make me crazier than a broken PC. At my height of PC building and fixing, I knew exactly where to put every piece of the puzzle... but invariably, something would still prevent the machine from actually working until I spent another few hours ripping it apart and putting it back together.

Usually, it was because I was improperly mounting the motherboard inside the case, causing it to ground out and do absolutely nothing when powered up. Because I'm an idiot. But that's still not the root cause. The first time I had to open up a non-functioning PC and attempt to make it go again, it was because the motherboard had basically "blown out." I was probably 19 or 20, pacing back and forth, totally stressing. That's still the image I get in my head when people talk about "Internet addiction."

After going through this process of my motherboard being somehow destroyed, ordering a new one, clumsily attempting to replace it, failing, figuring out what was wrong, fixing that, and using the machine until it all somehow happened again, I eventually figured out that some kind of power conditioner or a better power strip was required. But that's probably the most stressful busted-up PC story I've got.

Things are a little different now that I'm using a MacBook Pro as my main computer, but man, nothing used to make me crazier than a broken PC. At my height of PC building and fixing, I knew exactly where to put every piece of the puzzle... but invariably, something would still prevent the machine from actually working until I spent another few hours ripping it apart and putting it back together.

Usually, it was because I was improperly mounting the motherboard inside the case, causing it to ground out and do absolutely nothing when powered up. Because I'm an idiot. But that's still not the root cause. The first time I had to open up a non-functioning PC and attempt to make it go again, it was because the motherboard had basically "blown out." I was probably 19 or 20, pacing back and forth, totally stressing. That's still the image I get in my head when people talk about "Internet addiction."

After going through this process of my motherboard being somehow destroyed, ordering a new one, clumsily attempting to replace it, failing, figuring out what was wrong, fixing that, and using the machine until it all somehow happened again, I eventually figured out that some kind of power conditioner or a better power strip was required. But that's probably the most stressful busted-up PC story I've got.

haha, cool article Jeff

It's okay Jeff.  I still have Warcraft 3 sitting in a CD wallet somewhere waiting to be played.

Was gonna recommend the GTX280 but ya immediate fixes are better. Hope it was a Core216 GTX 260 atleast :p; Infact my GTX280 that I ordered yesterday from NewEgg should be coming today; gonna setup my old card as a Physx only card, gonna buy a new monitor before I jump into Cryostasis though; wanna play it at 1080p goodness.

And I will wait for a OEM Copy of WIndows7 Professional or Ultimate; not paying for an upgrade. Can't imagine reinstalling Vista everytime I want to reformat to install 7.

nice i like ytou talking about pc's and old stories awesome! but use newegg not bestbuy Jeff and how about some ati loving

yes, try to play crysis! Someday...it will work on the highest setting...

I need a new card that SFIV benchmark runs like shit on my comp even though everything but the card is way over the recommended.   I dunno if it's worth 200+ bucks to play street fighter on my computer, but I'm leaning towards yes because that game is life.

Really good read, never had to deal with anything like that and hopefully never will.

It's not you, i kinda gave up on pc games a pretty long time ago around the post Half-Life 2 era.
My pc is now a media machine for watching movies, playing music, recording music, editing images and chatting with friends. It's so much easier to play games when the only thing you have to think about is "how do i kill this boss" instead of "how do i sneakily change certain graphics options in order to give myself more frame rate to kill this boss"

Crysis is still the high water mark as far as PC exclusive visuals go I'm afraid.  You can thank piracy and the need to multi-plat everything for that.

If you just want to give it a work out, I'd probably recommend World in Conflict or Empire: Total War.  ETW probably isn't your thing, but you might enjoy WiC.

You sound so depressed about upgrading your PC =( This makes me wonder what I'm going to feel like after I upgrade mine in a few months >_< 

Just like another use said, I gave up on most PC gaming after Half Life 2. I've played small stints with CIV IV and Gal Civ in recent years, but my laptop isnt getting any younger and I'm not gonna drop any kind of money on a new computer until I have idea for the specs for starcraft 2 and diablo 3 (the only PC games that could ever bring me back around)

I bought a new computer just to play Diablo II. An awesome game, but any time I'm thinking, "$60... do I really want this?" I remember the $1500 or so I spent for Diablo.

$60! Cheap!

I'm now eagerly awaiting / afraid of Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. Maybe I can just play it at work. Hmmmm.

I think that's more just you. :P

There's a lot to play on PC right now. Trine (demo), Zeno Clash, STALKER series (3rd one is in development), Mirror's Edge (way better with mouse and keyboard controls), Cryostasis, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, FEAR 2, etc. There are others, but those are the ones that have my immediate interest. Also, you even said it in the endurance run: PC is the system to play FPS games on.

Nice upgrade. I wish I could afford to buy all that stuff and build a computer, but I'm broke.

It's not you Jeff.  When consoles went HD and online, the chief advantages of the PC platform disappeared.  The only thing I play on my PC these days is TF2, and I recently decided to round out my console trifecta and buy a PS3 rather than upgrade my aging PC hardware.

" Just like another use said, I gave up on most PC gaming after Half Life 2. I've played small stints with CIV IV and Gal Civ in recent years, but my laptop isnt getting any younger and I'm not gonna drop any kind of money on a new computer until I have idea for the specs for starcraft 2 and diablo 3 (the only PC games that could ever bring me back around) "

I feel like over the past few weeks I've been doing waaay too much PC rapair myself, first my Mom's breaks, then somebody has me restore their old ass 98' laptop and then my own laptop goes bonkers.  Hopefully I'll be done with this sort of thing for a while.

I think my most stress inducing PC related problem was after deciding to clean some of the components inside the case. I stripped out everything I could and gave it a little dusting and as I went to pick up the Hard Drive and put it back in the case it slipped out of my hand. I was worried and plugging it back in proved my worries, it managed to load me to the desktop and after 20 minutes of running it begun to falter. Eventually the entire machine crashed and this occured far too often that it seemed like permanent damage was done.

I stressed a little over what to do, I wanted to backup some important files but couldn't get the drive to stay stable for long enough to let me copy them to a flash drive. After a few phone calls to a friend and using a little of the old chemistry education we wrapped the faulty drive in a hand towel, placed it in a sandwiche bag and sealed it shut before putting it into the freezer for 24 hours. After it had been in there for roughly 24 hours we took it out, plugged it back in and loaded it up for long enough to backup the important files.

Apparently the drive had busted up inside the case after it was dropped, as the drive was used the heat generated caused the metal components inside it to expand (thus the chemistry part) causing it to press against the case of the HDD. Keeping it in the freezer for 24 hours allowed the drive to basically be frozen and chilled enough that it was well below room temprature and stayed cold enough for it to load, copy the files and not heat up to the point it crashed again.

I have never had a more stressing moment in regards to my PC failing than this. I'm just really thankful that a little chemistry managed to actually save my important files.

A GTX 260 is still a top-end card in my opinion. It can run everything om max at 1080p easily. A GTX295 is a waste of money in my opinion because when games start really using that much power there will be 20 newer, better cards out.

This isn't about the state of PC gaming, I think you just aren't into it anymore.

Looking at a stack of PC and coming up with nothing? Not only are there a ton of console games(@ true 1080p, 60fps which trust me looks amazing) you can play but there is Dawn of War 2, Sims 3, Anno 1404, ArmA 2, Street Fighter 4 soon, Battlefield: Heroes, Valve games that aren't fucked by DLC rules, Empire: Total War, and lets not forget games like Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Star Wars: TOR, and plenty of others coming out for it later on.

Seeing as you're way into 360 and will probably choice that over a PC version it might not be as good for you but I really recommend the next PC/360 game to come out(splinter cell, maybe?) try it on both(with a 360 controller if you want). Hook it upto your HDTV even! Games like MW2 will be better on PC too(like all the other CoD games really).

Just like the other systems the PC has a lot of multiplatform games but runs them at a much higher quality setting is what PC is all about. Some games I played on 360 then tried on PC I was amazing at how much better it looks and runs. PC is about a better, higher quality experience with more choice(don't like keyboard? Try one of 50 controllers including the PS3 and 360's!) and freedom(Free DLC, free online, lots of amazing mods) which is why I'm happy to pay the extra bit.

Nice article.

$200 sounds like a pretty cheap price for that model. Especially for retail.

Oggling SFIV Benchmark results, reinstalling Crysis and purchasing ARMA II? Has Jeff found the taste of superior hardware performance?

I think my gaming purchases were always defined, at least as I was growing up, by what my machine could run.  "Oh, that looks cool, but I can't run it."  Like it was in a language I couldn't understand.  Games drove upgrades for us, and we'd do that thing Jeff talks about, going back to older games to see how they run, only in our case, going back to old Windows 95 demos in PC Gamer that we couldn't play before. 

And all I was doing the whole time was missing DOS.

" I think my most stress inducing PC related problem was after deciding to clean some of the components inside the case. I stripped out everything I could and gave it a little dusting and as I went to pick up the Hard Drive and put it back in the case it slipped out of my hand. I was worried and plugging it back in proved my worries, it managed to load me to the desktop and after 20 minutes of running it begun to falter. Eventually the entire machine crashed and this occured far too often that it seemed like permanent damage was done.I stressed a little over what to do, I wanted to backup some important files but couldn't get the drive to stay stable for long enough to let me copy them to a flash drive. After a few phone calls to a friend and using a little of the old chemistry education we wrapped the faulty drive in a hand towel, placed it in a sandwiche bag and sealed it shut before putting it into the freezer for 24 hours. After it had been in there for roughly 24 hours we took it out, plugged it back in and loaded it up for long enough to backup the important files.Apparently the drive had busted up inside the case after it was dropped, as the drive was used the heat generated caused the metal components inside it to expand (thus the chemistry part) causing it to press against the case of the HDD. Keeping it in the freezer for 24 hours allowed the drive to basically be frozen and chilled enough that it was well below room temprature and stayed cold enough for it to load, copy the files and not heat up to the point it crashed again.I have never had a more stressing moment in regards to my PC failing than this. I'm just really thankful that a little chemistry managed to actually save my important files. "

" It's not you, i kinda gave up on pc games a pretty long time ago around the post Half-Life 2 era.My pc is now a media machine for watching movies, playing music, recording music, editing images and chatting with friends. It's so much easier to play games when the only thing you have to think about is "how do i kill this boss" instead of "how do i sneakily change certain graphics options in order to give myself more frame rate to kill this boss" "

It can be a pain in the ass, but once everything is up and running, its a real joy ride.

I haven't built a new computer since the first Crysis..  Has there been anything with higher spec requirement since then?

I think it does say something about the state of PC gaming but not what one might think. Game publishers are starting to realize that the best and brightest graphics are great, but most people don't have the best cards. So they tone down the graphics or try to optimize the best they can, which means that graphics card update aren't really the night and day they used to be.

My GPU and power supply broke on my PC, I also brought a new barebones one thinking it was the motherboard.

I should probably leave it alone now I've spent £300 fixing it.

Hey Jeff, if it's been a while since the last time you hand assembled a computer, you might be pleasantly surprised. I've only yet had the chance to assemble about 4 computers, but even in that small window of opportunity it has gotten easier in huge steps between each attempt. I would guess my first one was about 10 years ago, with about 2-3 years between each successive attempt. And my last computer is the first one that worked right without my ever having to open the case again after turning it on for the first time. A huge help is that all the front panel little tiny cords are standardized now, as well as front panel USB or fire wire or what have you. So you just plug in the chunk of cords all at once, and it's scored so you can't get it wrong. the next biggest help is never having to see another parallel ATA cord, just stringing little Sata cords and the Sata version of power cables is crazy nice and easy. Oh! and putting your heatsink on your processor, holy crap there have been some innovations in that feild. Plus, the last processor I bought didn't even have any pins to get damaged, the processor has flat little circular gold pads on the bottom, and the socket has the pins but each one is so safely guarded by the socket that there are no worries. So, basically what I'm saying is that PC's are pretty much ready to be assembled by almost anyone now, and I would recommend trying it again someday if you want to save a ton of money at a local warehouse style vendor, or just want to shop around online from a few different sites or vendors.

Oh yeah, almost forgot the most important part, you know how you used to have to know what a part was and where it was supposed to go in the computer? Well not anymore, now they actually come with enough documentation that you could have never seen a computer before and you'd be able to get it right first try.

I have two 9800GTX in SLi and Crysis still runs like shit. It maintains a stable 30fps, but that's hardly good enough these days. Other games run well above that mark. I was thinking of bumping up my gfx for two 295s but then I realized that I can still play games at a decent framerate, and the upgrade would only push it so far.
My next upgrade would only happen when I am ready to jump onto the i7 processor series. At that point, it would be a complete overhaul of what I have right now.

I do most of my gaming on PC (my only home console from this generation is a Wii) with companies like Valve and Crytek making it easy.  I regularly play TF2 and other Steam games of that kind and recently went through Prototype.  I'm working on SPORE: Galactic Adventures right now.

I just feel more comfortable doing stuff on my PC, since my music, TV, games, internet browser, etc.  is all in one convienient place (consoles are slowly approaching this though) and I have the hardware to not worry about framerates.  I don't see PC gaming as a dying market, but it's certainly slower than consoles, which is a given as it takes more money, time, and knowledge to get a decent PC than it would just buying a 360 and some games.

As for the whole ATI vs. nVidia thing, when I upgraded last October it was certainly a budget build, the only two things that were over $150 were the processor and video card.  I ended up going with ATI because their HD4850 (at roughly $200) was comperable to the much more expensive nVidia cards, and it's been treating me well.  I was finally able to finish Crysis and Warhead earlier this year, Fallout 3 too.  TF2 runs silky smooth on full servers, all that jazz.  But nVidia definitely has the most expensive powerhouses right now for enthusiests.

Glad you got everything up and running though, interesting read.

I am tempted to get a new PC soon, upgrading is too much for a simpleton like myself - my current one is over 5 years old. However, I'm hpappy to use my 360 for gaming - though the inability of my PC to play Battlefield Heroes is a bit embarrassing!

i read this just after watching the latest endurance run. I totally understand what your saying. Consoles are just more simplified because they were built from the ground up to play games. For me it's been a love/hate relationship with the PC. Guild Wars and Battlefield 2 lasted about 4 years together. I started playing TF2 last year and I'm still playing today. After 5 years of PC gaming, i'm trying to get back in console gaming with the PS3.

I tried to play the "educated guess" PC repair game for over a year. I replaced nearly every single component in my system, one-by-one, until eventually, about three months ago, it got to the point where I replaced the motherboard and the problem was finally solved.

I'm going to say it says more about you.

Good story, I've been following you on twitter.

"New hardware, of course, leads to the giddiness of seeing existing games running better than they did before."

It's so depressing how true that is.

What a great anecdote.

I'm not too worried about PC gaming, because I know companies like Bethesda, Bioware, Blizzard, and Valve will continually pump out PC games and I personally don't need em from any other developer.  I do play my xbox360 for other things but when Dragon Age comes out I'll definitely be getting it for the PC, and who ISN'T looking forward to Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3?  Your graphics card will come in handy when they come out.  While Blizzard is always good at making sure their games run on a wide range of systems, it doesn't mean your beefy graphics card won't be utilized when you ram the games' settings up to max.

I had that exact same problem a few years ago but it was running XP and I've been using that pc for a good few years and suddenly that appeared after I was replacing the RAM. I had the Nvidia 6600GT then and changed it to the Nvidia 7600GS which wasnt a big change...and I had to blow £75 as I was fed up with it already and wanted to get it over and done with..

It was great to read this just after listening to the video card discussion in the 95th episode of the Endurance Run.  Don't buy ArmA II expecting to marvel at the frame-rate, even with a GTX 260.  I've heard it can struggle on even more powerful cards.

Seems like this is a 192 Processor Core version of the GTX 260, but I doubt that will matter to Jeff since he's only playing at 1680 * 1050.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133229

If you were to be off put by Pc retail releases I'd have a gander at the Mod community for games. There's a lot more creativity and a lot to get excited about if you ask me.

Despite the headaches involved in being a PC gamer, it's remained my sole platform over the years, since I have yet to find a good strategy game that works as well or better on a console. I know the Total War, Supreme Commander, Dawn of War, C&C, and Civ franchises aren't exactly your cup of tea, Jeff, but they're still going strong, and strategy does seem to be the one genre in which PC gaming has an edge. If the console manufacturers ever figure out an effective way around that ("ALL UNITS"), that will be an interesting day for us. 

Ah memories.  I've assembled every PC box I've owned since the 286.  My last was circa 2002.  Now I've given that vice up for lent, and it's Mac all the way.  Now that I'm old enough for my time to be worth money using functional computers, I simply don't want to be shopping/fixing hardware and jerking around with drivers.  Using Windows on a Mac is a crap shoot as it is, I'm willing to give up some control and performance if it lets me focus on other things.  If it was really important I could go tower with a Mac Pro.

Advice for your Mac Jeff, and any OSX users:  Install some FAN CONTROL.  Seriously.  I'm getting graphical glitches that are fairly common on iMacs, and they're easily avoided by doubling your default fan speeds (with no increase in noise) which drops your internal temperatures by about 20 degrees C.  Results on my MacBook are even better.  Peace and long life.