Friday, July 27, 2012

History of Gaming Consoles

Those days are long gone where Atari,Sega and other consoles used to be the talk among gamers.Do you remember the times when you used cartridges to play a game with pretty horrible graphics?Technology has come a long way since then and we are truly living in a modern age where a console is expected to do a lot more than gaming.A few gaming consoles released in this era have made a mark among gamers.among those consoles are

Nintendo WII:
Nintendo WII White with controller Nintendo's WII was one of the first consoles that introduced motion sensor technology within gaming.They were one of the companies that made this a reality with their superhit WII console.This was followed by Xbox's Kinect and PlayStation's Move.The best part about this console according to me is that it made the other developers also compete with them which inturn turned super beneficial for gamersSony PlayStation 3 Black with controller

Sony PlayStation 3:

Sony has always been close to being the number one if not number one console.The stability of the console,the unique titles,controller everything works exactly the way it is supposed to.Their new innovation 'PlayStation Move' has got mixed reviews in comparison to WII but its good to know that the company's are atleast trying to go to different levels to make gaming as close to reality as possible
Sony PlayStation Vita Black
Sony PlayStation Vita:

Another Sony console makes its way to the list and why not?PlayStation Vita is a handheld device which is somewhat similar to the company's former console named 'PlayStation Portable' or PSP.The unique design and a variety of features make this as one of the best handheld devices.

Xbox 360:
Xbox 360 Original and slim with controller

Xbox 360 is a console i personally own.The beauty of this console is again the stability and rugged look.There are variety of things that you can do with this console like watch movies,Play games browse the internet and so much more and of course there is gears of war and halo which are exclusive titles for Xbox.


So which console do you own or plan to buy?

Top 10 Moments in the Olympics

Blog will be back full-force in September! Until then, enjoy the Olympics and this link highlighting the best Olympic performances of all time!

http://www.careerathletes.com/news1.php

How to build a good budget gaming computer

Alienware Gaming Computer
There are five important components which need to be selected carefully before you build a custom gaming computer.


  • Motherboard
  • Processor
  • Graphics Card
  • PSU
  • RAM 
The difference between an average and an advanced gaming computer is not much.In most cases the difference might be just a few frame rates but the cost difference might be huge.Let me explain more about the important components required for building a custom gaming computer below.

Graphics Card:

Graphics Card

A Graphics Card is a component which brings the display to the monitor.The different kinds of graphics cards available are DDR3,DDR5,1GB,2GB,5GB etc.Dont get confused with the variety of options available in the market.

Set your priorities right.Ask yourself what kind of games you are going to play?

In case if you just want to play games like Farmville,Mafia wars or a few other online games there is no point going for a high range graphics card.In fact since these days motherboards have an integrated graphics that should easily suffice the needs for online gaming.

If however you like playing games such as Black Ops II,Assassin's Creed or Need for speed you can go in for a mid range or high range graphics card.The only reason why i do not say low range is because a low range graphics card will not perform any better than an inbuilt graphics card on a motherboard. 

A few common questions you might have on graphics card are answered below:

Where to fix the graphics card in the motherboard?


Since 2002 all graphics cards are inserted in the  PCI Express or PCIe interface and are fit in a PCIe X16 slot. (Dont confuse this with a PCI slot which is entirely different)

How to find out if the motherboard has a PCIe Slot?


Most of the information will be available through internet itself.So do a google search or alternatively check the manual of the motherboard.If none of the options help you find if your motherboard has a PCIe slot as a last resort check it inside the cabinet physically.

What if the motherboard doesn't have a PCIe slot?



A motherboard with a PCIe Slot is required to insert a PCIe Graphics Card.If you don't find the slot in your motherboard buy a new one.

Will a PCIe 2.0 or 2.1 card work on a motherboard that has PCIe 1.0 ?



yes it will work fine as all PCIe cars until now are backward and forward compatible.

Which slots did the the earlier graphic card use?



Earlier graphics cards were inserted in a AGP Card Slot which is different in comparison to PCIe

My motherboard has DDR2 RAM. Will a graphic card with GDDR3 or GDDR5 memory work?


The RAM/memory on your motherboard is different in comparison to the Graphics card PCIe slot. All that a graphic card needs is a PCIe slot and it will work.As long as you have a PCI'E slot you should be good to go.

Motherboard:
motherboard


A motherboard is like a phone switchboard.If you have a land line phone the phone company will give you the connection through their main switchboard similarly motherboard provides power to the components inside the cabinet through a PSU and helps them work hand in hand

 

Processor
The central processing unit (CPU, occasionally central processor unit) is the hardware within a computer system which carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s.The form, design, and implementation of CPUs have changed dramatically since the earliest examples, but their fundamental operation remains much the same.In short a processing unit is what determines the speed at which the computer runs



RAM:


Random Access Memory(RAM)

A RAM or Random Access Memory is a temporary storage slot for a computer.RAM comes of different types such as DDR2,DDR3 etc.Depending on the motherboards Capability a RAM can be chosen even though in most cases they are backward compatible.With windows 8 launch expected in the near future its good to have a minimum 2GB ram incase you are using an external graphics card of 3 GB incase you are using an inbuilt graphics card(As the portion of the RAM will be taken by graphics card)




PSU(Power Supply Unit):

Power Supply UnitI have had a best experience of changing the power supply unit thrice since i purchased the computer.The basic thing to know is the power supply is the amount of power that will be pulled out from the electrical socket which is distributed to the components of the computer inside the cabinet.The more the components the more the power will be required.Its always a good idea these days to have a minimum 600 Watts PSU from a good company which should be future proof.Apart from these the Cabinet,monitor,Keyboard and mouse can be any of your liking as they wont effect your gaming to that extent.

Now you know what components are used for.So i will get into how you can get a budget computer.Its always a good idea to do some research either in ebay or newegg and check for deals.If you buy a computer which is company built it is always likely to be expensive but if you build a custom gaming computer it will definitely be lot cheaper.Depending on the deals you are getting you can buy different components from different websites or dealers where you get the best bet and build it or if you are not techie you can ask a professional to do it for you.



My Laptop gave up on me well...Almost

Laptop Overheating
Something freaky happened to me today.When i switched on my laptop for some reason the fan started making loud noises.I know a little more than an average in computer.So i thought the issue might be with the laptop overheating.I downloaded the application called Realtemp and found the temperature was minimum 92 and maximum 102.Sounds Scary doesn't it?Anyways i took this as a challenge and tried searching for what i could do to fix this.Thanks to the internet i came to know about something called as "Thermal Paste" which needs to be applied to keep the temperature in check.Thermal paste looked like a miracle to me as the temperature after applying it on the laptop went to a minimum 42 and a maximum of 75.The Maximum was a bit high but at least neither me of laptop will end up getting fried :).

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Need for speed:The Run not bad at all

Need for Speed The Run Box Cover art
Let me start of by being honest here.I am not a fan of racing games at all.However something made me play need for speed the run and as i played it i loved it and ended up finishing the whole game.what made me play the game??I love games based with a good storyline and need for speed the run just had that portion of it very well included in the game.

The game started off lagging a bit(No wonder as i was trying to play on ultra settings on a mid range graphics card AMD Radeon 6670 HD) but to my surprise the frame rates picked up a little later on as i continued playing on the same settings for and there was no lag whatsoever.

That makes my decision of buying an ATI graphics card rather than an Nvidia one a great buy.Well anyways coming back to the game it has great graphics,lovely storyline and as you keep playing you get more and more involved this is just the way i love it.one downside of this game was that it got over quickly and as i have said earlier since i am not a huge online gaming fan so i had to stop once the story completed but while it lasted it was really great.Need for speed the run brings back my faith in the NFS Series and i cant wait for the next installment of the series.If they do come up with something like this i would not mind taking a few days off work to play this as well as this will be time well spent.While praising the game so much let me get to the negative bit of it in detail.It shooted off my CPU temp to about 80 degrees which is quiet high well i don't have to blame the game entirely for this as it might well be something to do with my PC but still i feel the modern day developers should do something about it by trying to get the same to use less resources.To be honest i am not even sure if that's possible but it would be great if it could be.I am sure guys who still own processors like Pentium 3,4 would love it if they could run the game at least at low/medium settings but as the days are going by you get a graphics card today and it ends up being outdated tomorrow.well i guess we are living in a world of competition and nothing much can be done about it rather than us spending our hard earned money.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Rock Punk'd on 1000th Raw

CM Punk giving GTS to The Rock
1000th raw was awesome right from the start of the show until the endbut i am a bit disappointed as stone cold did not make appearance.However the good news is it looks like rock is getting a title shot at royal rumble wonder how the story line goes from here on in.Aj said i don't instead of i do during her wedding to Daniel Bryan and Vince has confirmed she is the  General manager for raw i mean really???that is whacked up lord knows what she will be up to now but curiosity is what will make us continue to see what happens next on wwe raw.My most favorite moment of the show was Brock Lesnar's entrance during the triple H Segment it was awesome the intensity brock brings to the show has always been great.D generation X during the start didn't seem to as good as i expected it to be as it looked asif they have lost the touch to an extent.A few surprises here and there where Lita faced heath slater..yes you read that right it was Lita(wwe Diva) who faced heath slater and undertakers return which were great.all and all it was a good show but looking at CM Punk vs john cena for a title shot during the end was a little confusing Big shows interference causes John Cena to loose the match.Rock comes to John Cena's rescue and just when he is about to perform the most electrifying move in sports entertainment on the big show he gets a clothesline from CM Punk.Does that mean Punk turns heel??what is the future of rock in the wwe???does he come back to raw permanently now or he will be making guest appearances guess we will have to stick on to find out more 



WWE Raw 1000th Episode Results
Sheamus,Rey Mysterio,Sin Cara defeated Alberto Del Rio,Chris Jericho,Dolph Ziggler
Brodus Clay(Funkasaurus) defeated Jack Swagger
The Miz defeated Christian to become the new WWE Intercontinental champion
Lita defeated Heath Slater
John Cena defeated CM Punk via disqualification

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Poor Batting performance by India makes it easy for Sri Lanka

Thisara PereraJust finished watching the 2nd ODI India vs Sri Lanka held on 24/07/2012 had huge expectations from the indian cricket team ended in total disappointment :(.Wonder why Sehwag always has to throw his wicket away.It always starts with sehwag and everyone else follows.I really feel the Indians got lucky in their 1st ODI.Things would have been totally different if sri lanka did not drop those catches during the first one day international.Gautam Gambhir held up one end very well but didn't get any support from anyone which is kind of sad as that showed wicket was not unplayable.Virat kohli also couldn't hep despite the fact that in the past he has done his job really well.Rohit Sharma's technique looked shaky and it has been for quite sometime now.Raina/dhoni cant be blamed as they are better off it there are 15-20 overs left rather than more than half the game left.Everyone knows Ashwin has great potential with the bat but threw his wicket away.After a target of 138 was set for sri lankans at their home ground Indians never looked to threaten with the ball and the Sri Lankan's cruised with the bat towards a well earned victory.

Scorecard:




India innings (50 overs maximum) DismissalR M B 4s 6s SR
G Gambhir c †Sangakkara b Malinga 65158964067.7
V Sehwag c & b Perera 15211520100
V Kohli c †Sangakkara b Perera 1650020
RG Sharma b Mathews 055000
SK Raina b Perera 1650020
MS Dhoni*† c †Sangakkara b Mathews 1126162068.75
IK Pathan c Perera b Malinga 628190031.57
R Ashwin run out (Udana/†Sangakkara) 21191530140
Z Khan lbw b Herath 2640050
PP Ojha c †Sangakkara b Mathews 527180027.77
UT Yadav not out 053000
Extras (b 2, lb 4, w 5) 11












Total (all out; 33.3 overs; 158 mins) 138(4.11 runs per over)



















Bowling O M R W Econ Extras
SL Malinga 7.303624.8

I Udana 604207(5w)
NLTC Perera 831932.37

AD Mathews 721432

HMRKB Herath 502114.2









Sri Lanka innings (target: 139 runs from 50 overs) DismissalR M B 4s 6s SR
WU Tharanga not out 5985608098.33
TM Dilshan c †Dhoni b Ashwin 50724950102.04
LD Chandimal not out 612101060
Extras (lb 10, w 14) 24












Total (1 wicket; 19.5 overs; 85 mins) 139(7.00 runs per over)



























Bowling O M R W Econ Extras
Z Khan 603906.5(6w)
IK Pathan 402706.75(4w)
UT Yadav 403809.5

R Ashwin 511813.6(1w)
PP Ojha 0.50708.4




photo credit:Muabdulla