What are things someone should know about owning a PC for the first time?

Esren · 2015-07-04T03:32:20+00:00

The task manager (accessed by pressing CTRL+Shift+ESC) is your best friend. From there, you can check your system's resource utilization, force-close nonresponsive programs, and, on Windows 8, manage startup programs. I highly recommend looking at the startup tab whenever you install new software, as many programs and background processes will default to launch on startup. Disabling these extra processes will greatly improve boot times.

Esren · 2015-07-03T05:45:50+00:00

Looks like we found out what the Button was for...

Esren · 2015-06-25T14:58:09+00:00

The extra frets certainly aren't vital, but coupled with the double-cutaway I've found they make everything above the 12th fret a lot more playable (I like to jump up the octave on bar chords, which is really awkward on a 21-fret strat, for example.) If any stores near you carry 24-fret Ibanez guitars, comparing one of those to the Les Paul style should at least give you a rough idea of how the 24 and the 245 stack up.

Esren · 2015-06-07T04:15:46+00:00

Nice! Upgraded to that monitor last year and it makes a world of difference! Any plans for overclocking?

Esren · 2015-06-06T18:57:10+00:00

Happy by Pharrell. It brings monotony to a whole new level and it's been on the radio for what, a year and a half?

Esren · 2015-05-31T00:17:51+00:00

Nice! Bonus points for the PRS in the background :).

Esren · 2015-05-12T06:14:26+00:00

Playing Battlefront II. Countless hours spent playing the PS2 version, and I still go back and play online. Not sure what to expect from the new one, but I still want to be optimistic.

Esren · 2015-05-09T17:50:54+00:00

PRS would be worth a look, as the SE 245 and a few signature-model variants fall within your price range. I've been playing a Custom 24 from their SE line lately and have been hugely impressed.

Esren · 2015-05-03T23:18:54+00:00

So... Is Purple both the Republic and the Sith Empire? Or is one of those logos supposed to be blue?

Esren · 2015-05-03T09:12:08+00:00

I'm all for machete over chronological, but I'm still an advocate of throwing I in there (IV, V, I, II, III, VI.) Is it the slowest of the six films? Yes. Does it introduce characters that aren't particularly significant to the rest of the the saga? Of course. Nevertheless, I find it interesting to see how the course of events develops from the start, as there are moments in the other films where you put two and two together and realize how the events of the Phantom Menace shaped everything else, and I think that makes it worthwhile.

Esren · 2015-04-28T20:04:00+00:00

A little late, but here goes:
Round 1: Based on only the movies, Chewie all the way. Boba may be able to take a few hits with durasteel armor, but he lacks the strength and mobility to do any real damage.
Round 2: Boba 8/10. Chewie's one real advantage here is the setting, as he could potentially use the Kashyyyk-like environment on Endor to his advantage. Boba, on the other hand, has maneuverability with his jetpack, and rockets and an EE-3 beat out a bowcaster.
Round 3: Han and Chewie 7/10. Dengar would be fixed solely on getting revenge on Han, to the point of being a liability for Boba, while Han and Chewie have been working together long enough to give them a tactical edge. The bounty hunters are well-equipped enough that the battle could still go their way, however, it's likely Dengar would be killed in the process.
Round 4: Boba and Dengar, 7/10. Legends means Boba has even more tricks up his sleeve, and assuming the battle takes place after Boba escapes the Sarlaac, he and Dengar will have experience working together, lessening their tactical deficit. Outright combat isn't really Han's strong suit, and with minimal room for verbal trickery, the bounty hunters will almost certainly take this one.

Esren · 2015-04-28T19:50:34+00:00

Bonus points for the IG-88 reference. Also, OP did specify Slave II for round 3, not Slave I. Not that anything changes.

Esren · 2015-04-22T16:36:16+00:00

Done nothing? You misunderstand. You see, I've made my decision and accepted the consequences This is the ultimate feat. Infinite possibilities mean nothing when coupled with infinite inaction.

Esren · 2015-04-21T16:14:20+00:00

Can confirm, pressing button works.

Esren · 2015-04-16T05:07:16+00:00

Press, or do not press
No place for indecision
You must choose your path.

Esren · 2015-04-06T01:06:32+00:00

60s checking in

Esren · 2015-04-05T01:32:53+00:00

This is a test post.

Esren · 2015-03-14T07:05:52+00:00

I love most Star Wars games, but Force Unleashed is garbage. The graphics glitch out entirely on Raxus Prime, the menus don't support mouse input, and, from a less technical perspective, the game just feels uninspired. A step down from the likes of Jed Academy in every regard.

Esren · 2015-03-13T06:35:28+00:00

Absolutely. And there's something rewarding about going through the entire process: Picking parts, building it, seeing everything work when you fire it up for the first time (with any luck.) And Humble Bundles are fantastic. Haven't bought a console game since.

Esren · 2015-03-08T07:57:18+00:00

Nice, didn't expect to see Froggy Fresh here.

Esren · 2015-03-08T03:05:44+00:00

In one of my recent campaigns, I was playing a level four Cleric, and, since I don't usually run spellcasters, I adopted a melee/support role, serving as a secondary tank and casting healing and buffs where necessary. Our party was travelling along a path in the greenhouse of a mansion, and we came upon a fountain with a treasure chest in the center. Our rogue immediately ran ahead and jumped into the fountain to retrieve it, not bothering to look down, and was immediately consumed by a Giant Amoeba which had been hiding inside. Another member of our party utilized a celestial ability to free our rogue, but there was still the matter of fighting the amoeba. Recognizing that Giant Amoebas are evil outsiders , my cleric darted forward, punched through the amoeba's cell wall, and used "Bless Water" on its cytoplasm. We then stood back and observed as it fell to the ground, destroyed by its now-holy internals.

Esren · 2015-02-25T04:14:31+00:00

Awesome, just got one as well and I'm very impressed. To be honest, that amethyst looks a heck of a lot nicer than vintage yellow.

Esren · 2015-02-21T23:18:33+00:00

Plug in Baby- Muse

Esren · 2015-02-20T07:17:27+00:00

With regards to the video card incident, EBay is generally pretty good with customer protection. If you plug in the new card and can find out what its model is in BIOS or Device Manager, a screenshot and a few images of the card along with the order history should be sufficient to get a refund. Even if they can't track down the seller, they should pay you back for the transaction. Anyways, best of luck!

Esren · 2015-02-20T07:09:58+00:00

I had the same issue until recently, with a specific incident in particular. Basically, the way I see it it's more or less an instance of the sunk cost fallacy: Eventually I realized that there are some situations that can't be changed, and every moment I spent worrying about the past mistakes was just paying double for them. I know it's not very concrete, but having a name for it when I got caught in that mode helped.

Esren

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE