Orion: Rationale and Details

Aim true.

This little guy is what I called Orion. This is my parent's computer and my secondary rig. I was wanting something I would be able to hook up to my TV and play a few games on from the comfort of my couch and my parents also needed a new computer. So I built this for them, and for myself. My brother even said "He's just building this so he can play on the TV." That was just the secondary option.

Before I begin, I wanna tell you my parents' previous specs that they got back in 2009. They bought a brand new Gateway from Future Shop. Really decent machine. It had an Intel Core2Quad Q6600 CPU, an ATI Radeon (Yes, ATI, before the times of AMD) HD 4650, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of HDD, and a measly 300W PSU. A year later I upgraded the GPU and PSU to an Nvidia GTX 500Ti and a 500W Cooler Master something, and played some games. And then it started to really get slow last year. The capacitors on the terrible Acer motherboard were starting to pop, so it was dying. So I did what any nerdy child would do and I put my money into buying them a new system. Let's get started.

CPU: AMD A8-6600k @3.9 Ghz
So I was going to use an A10-5700 from my own old Gateway, but sadly, while pulling off the heatsink, the CPU came out of the motherboard and bent a pin. One of the flaws of ZIF sockets. But, I bought an A8-6600k to replace it, which costed less than an A10-5800k. It's a quad core chip, unlocked, so gaming would be decent with it. I disabled the onboard graphics cause I had a GPU I could plop into the build, so the CPU runs fully by itself. It's a good chip for what we use it for, but it won't be doing any intense rendering or anything, not that anyone does that, anyway.

GPU: Club3D R7 265 2GB
I bought this card cause it was on sale and I was going to put it into a Mini-ITX rig, but since this replaced that rig, it went in here. It's a really good card, just slightly less powerful than my R9 270 in my rig, and can even run BF4 on ultra settings at 900p. Better than the PS4 (Yes, I had to jab at the consoles. Sorry.) It's also pretty silent as well, despite only having one fan. It can get loud after 50% fan speed, but if you mind the noise, you can use MSI Afterburner and lock it at less than that. It's a good little card, and really works well with the system.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H
So I got this mobo since I couldn't use any of the previous ones. It was a good mobo that was available at NCIX when I went there to get a mobo, and it was on sale. I was going to get something cheaper, but it's for the parents, so I splurged a little bit. I hear good things about Gigabyte boards, so I figured the durability would be good for them. I don't wanna have to update this in 3 or 4 years. It was on sale, it's got the best chipset on the FM2+ platform, and it looks really cool inside the all black rig.

RAM: 8GB of Kingston whatever
It was in the old Gateway. The crappy this is that it's over 4 DIMMs, so there's not a lot of room for expansion, as it takes up all the slots. I don't think I or my parents need more than 8GB though. Not now, anyway.

HDD: 1TB Seagate
It was also in the old Gateway, so we just used it. Simple, efficient, and surprisingly fast. It boots from a cold start to the desktop in about 30 seconds.

PSU: Cooler Master 500W Something
I don't know the name of this Cooler Master PSU, but it hasn't blown up on us yet. It's not crazy efficient, but I think it's 80+, cause it hasn't caused our electric bill to explode. It's a decent PSU, but couldn't tell you what kind it was without rummaging through a bunch of old boxes.

Case: Cooler Master N200
I really love this case. It's a simple mATX case, but man is it amazing to work in. It has so much room! Oh, and it's cable management options could rival a full size ATX case. There's a ton of space to work with, and the only issue is that routing cables behind the motherboard tray makes the side panel a little hard to close, but doesn't effect anything else. There is ample room in here, and it was really cheap, something like $45. So if you want an mATX build, I really like this case, even over the Core 1000 from Fractal.

So, there you have it. My parents' build, aka Orion. It was really fun building this, and I even got to teach my dad some stuff about computers. Don't think he retained anything, but it was fun.

Thanks for reading, happy gaming.

Destiny Review: Jack of all Trades, Master of None

A lot of promise. 

I love Bungie. I've loved them since I was 12. And that's probably why I'm so let down by Destiny. I got hyped up for this game for a while. And while there are good aspects, the game falls short in just as many. It's a jack of all trades, but a master of none.

The game is setup as an open world, breathing shooter adventure game. The exploration is fun, and seeing where you can get to is very interesting. It's got a bit of Borderlands in it, with loot and chests strewn around the worlds. You're given a fun vehicle to whip around the world in, and makes everything faster, but large. The gunplay is good too, with each weapon variant feeling different, even if they're in the same class.

Level 8 looks like this.

Furthermore, you get to create your own character, customizing their facial features to see in cutscenes. It's also good that our characters talk, because if they didn't, what's the point of making the game an open world game? Cutscenes look great and are beautifully rendered, but too much of the story is told through them instead of through gameplay. The main City is really interesting, with different merchants and stuff throughout, but that's about it. You can't talk to the random inhabitants in the world, which makes it seem a little lifeless.

Despite all this, the game falls short in some aspects. Exploration is tethered a bit during story missions, making them feel linear. The only true way to explore the worlds is through patrols, which is a good option. Strike missions don't really add to the story though, other than "weakening" the Darkness and the various forces. Some of the loot is kind of crappy too, with some giving seemingly pointless items. Gold chests give rare items, but they're very hard to find without a guide or wiki.

While gunplay is good, some weapons don't act like you would think. Auto rifles usually bounce far too much making them hard to control and impracticle when you can get a one hit kill on enemies with a handcannon. Sniper rifles don't feel like a good option over fusion rifles because most combat is up close, and sniper rifles do less damage to bosses than fusion rifles do, even from far range. Power ammo, for LMGs and rocket launchers isn't dropped, making you not want to use them unless you absolutely have to.

The multiplayer makes me want to be alone.

And then there's the multiplayer. The Crucible only has 4 permanent modes, with Bungie switching and adding modes later on. But my main gripes with the multiplayer are the netcode and the balancing. The netcode is awful, even worse than Battlefield 4's. Coming from the team that brought us Halo, this shouldn't be forgiven, especially if the multiplayer is going to be competitive.

Furthermore, balancing is a major issue. Putting level 10 players into a game with level 20s is not fair for them, and makes multiplayer frustratingly hard. The guns are also unbalanced, with primary weapons having no chance against fusion rifles and shotguns in the enclosed spaces, and sniper rifles and LMGs outside. Also, jumping is once again a tactic, which just makes me angry. People in Halo 4 don't jump as much as people in Destiny.

So Destiny feels rather disappointing. While it's gameplay can arguably bring you back for more, the multiplayer definitely won't. If you have friends to play with, the game is a lot more fun, but playing alone is fun if you don't care about a story. The game has a lot to offer, but while it tries pleasing everyone, it doesn't really please anyone.

Destiny gets a 7/10.

Destiny: Full Game Impressions

Pretty fly for a tough guy

So, I went to the midnight launch for Destiny. Had it come out on PC, I wouldn't have needed to stand in line for an hour and a half. Don't go to midnight launches for any game, just wait a few more hours and go in the morning, but I digress.

I've spent 2 days playing the game, and it is a lot of fun. I expect nothing less from Bungie, cause they make good games. I'm a huge Halo fan, despite my current PC leanings. So, I started writing down some first impressions while playing my now level 11 Titan.

This isn't a full review. It's a few impressions I've had, and discuss the singleplayer/co-op and The Crucible (PvP).

Pros:
- The exploration is very good, open, and enjoyable.
- Finding chests is awesome.
- The Sparrow feels and sounds amazing, even through TV speakers.
- The guns are hit and mix. Some weapons feel better than others, but that might be based on the classes.
- Characters can look really cool, and customization is relatively deep.
- The cutscenes look beautifully rendered.
- The City is pretty cool.
- The backstory is as epic as it can be without sounding stupid.
- Every story mission makes you feel like you're actually moving toward a goal, even if you can take your sweet time.
- When you get matched up with people of equal level, the multiplayer is pretty fun. Not Halo fun, but pretty fun.

- The game looks really good, even on the Xbox One. 

- The highest rank you can get to is 26.

Cons:

- The only true way to explore is to go on designated patrols.

- Strike missions don't add to the story or even back story; they make you fight through hordes, kill boss, end mission.

- Finding chests is great! Finding out what's in them is not; they're rather underwhelming except for the gold chests which are hidden well.

- The Sparrow doesn't have guns, so I can't re-enact the forest scene from Return of the Jedi.

- The guns feel a bit strange some times. 

- You can customize your armour, but you have to find a merchant to do it. The game doesn't inform you of this.

- The Multiplayer has more issues than Battlefield 4. You thought that netcode was bad? Oh, man, Bungie dropped the ball.

- The Matchmaking is more unbalanced than Titanfall, and you get level 6 players going against level 15-20. 

- Jumping is a tactic again. Hurray.

- Playing alone can get boring after a couple hours.

- You can't talk to people outside of your Fireteam, which makes communicating worthless. This is even in the PvP, where you need to communicate to win.

- The highest rank you can get to is 26.

Again, this is not the full review. That will happen next week or the week after. It is an interesting game with a lot to offer, but I feel that the multiplayer not being as good as you would expect from a Bungie game will hamper it a bit. The story is there, the gameplay is like almost every other shooter, but there are annoying things that make the game frustrating. Hopefully Bungie can fix the game in a later patch, and hopefully the single player can keep me occupied until then.

See you guys next week.

Why Trying to Persecute The "Fappening" Hackers Would be an Exercise in Futility

Even me.

For all the regular tech savvie people, you know what I'm going to say. This blog isn't for you, but please feel free to read along with us anyway.

In case you haven't heard, a large amount of celebrity nudes have been leaked onto the internet through 4chan. It has been deemed "The Fappening" by the internet and reddit. This has caused some of the celebrities involved to pursue legal action. I'm here to tell them and the news outlets why that is very stupid and would be the biggest waste of resources, time, and money since the Iraq war (Ooooh, topical!).

I'm gonna walk you through how these hackers got a hold of these images, and explain why tracking them down would be very hard. There's a couple simple reasons as to why this is. Let's go through them.

1. Virtual Private Networks aka VPNs
For those who don't know, a VPN allows someone to route their internet connection through a different IP address somewhere else on the planet. They mask where their information is going so when their Internet Service Provider tries to check on them, all they see is packets of information. They can't see where the user is going, what sites they're on, etc. This is one of the ways you can get American Netflix while in Australia. They're also used for some shifty practices, such as hacking.

The people or person who hacked iCloud's servers could have been using a VPN. That means that if they were to try and trace the original 4chan post back to an IP address, it would end up being traced back to where the user chose to place their IP. This means that the feds would bust down a door in San Jose, California, when really the guy is in Szechuan province, China. There are a few other ways the hacker or 4chan poster could evade persecution, however.

2. Proxy servers
Proxy servers a really hard to use. Essentially, it's a server that sits between you and the website you want to access. In the case of the leaks, the user accessed 4chan. So let's use that. The user has all these leaked photos. He sets up his proxy server, and hops onto 4chan. As he presses enter and loads up 4chan, the proxy server erases his IP address and substitutes it for its own. That means that when the feds go to check the IP address of the 4chan user who posted the pictures, they won't find their actual IP address, just the one the proxy server gave. This essentially stops any searching dead, and puts a wall up between the user and the people wanting to find them.

Proxy servers are usually used by people who want YOUR information, so be weary of any "Open" proxies. Most people know better, but a proxy is usually never abandoned. Just waiting.

However, none of these would actually be very useful without one main factor: Encryption.

Encryption is one of the major weapons hackers and everyday users of the internet should use at all times. It makes sure people can't access your information. A standard 128-bit encryption can take even the most sophisticated programs years to break, with conservative estimates starting at 30,000 years. 256-bit encryption could take millions of years, but it's not as adopted yet. Everything the hacker did would need to be encrypted. From using their VPN, and encrypting their Proxies. This would be very important to make sure they wouldn't get caught, and would increase the trouble for anyone looking to persecute them.

But let us get one thing straight: No one should hack for exploitative purposes. Hacking isn't something to be taken lightly. It is a criminal offense in every country with a computer network, and is a breach of privacy, especially in this manner. The Fappening is a huge breach of privacy and trust if it truly is the doings of a hacker or a group of hackers. Never hack to become popular. Hack because it can change the world for the better. And no, helping people "have fun" at the expense of other people is not a good reason.

There are black hatters and there are white hatters. Maybe we'll talk about them some other time.

Until then, be safe on the internet, and always encrypt. A great way to be safe is to use a VPN, and I recommend Private Internet Access. I use it, and I get American Netflix at really face speeds! Hotspot Shield and OpenVPN are also good recommendations. Have a good one.

Valkyrie: Rationale and Details

A Very Dusty Valkyrie

So, I've had my current build for about 6 months, and have never actually written about it. So, I decided that with all the free time on my hands (I was recently fired), I might as well tell everyone about Valkyrie.

Valkyrie is definitely my idea of a budget computer capable of gaming better than a console. It has a quad-core CPU, An R9 270 GPU, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of HDD, and an Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 Mobo. And when I first built this, a lot of people asked me "Why'd you get this instead of that?" So that is what this post is about. Rationale.

Let's start with the CPU, a basic FX-4300. Why'd I get this instead of an FX-8350 or i5 of some sort? Well, for a few reasons. 1. It was cheap. I got it for $110 bucks after shipping and taxes. That's a really good deal. 2. It is unlocked and easy to overclock and doesn't run as hot as an 8 core AMD. I can slap a Hyper 212 Evo on and get up to 4.5GHz easy. That will come soon. 3. It won't bottleneck or be bottlenecked with other components. The GPU mixed with this is perfect, and neither of them are holding the other back.

Next, the GPU. I got an Asus R9 270 because, like the FX-4300, it was cheap. I bought it back when AMD GPUs were super expensive because of the Bitcoin miners, but you can get R9 270s for as low as $150. It is an amazing card for the price, and I think it will dominate the sub-$200 area for a long time.

I went with 8GB of RAM because that is what was in my previous computer. I just switched it over and saved a few bucks. It's 1333Mhz RAM, so it's nothing stupid fast, but it will allow me to play games well, cause it's 8GB. I still have 2 open DIMM slots, so upgrading in the future won't be a problem.

My Hard drive is also like the RAM, just swapped it out. I will be putting another TB or 2 into the rig later, when I get the money.

I went with an Asus mobo because I know they're reliable. It was about $100, and can really push the overclocking when needed. It doesn't have heatsinks over the MOSFETs or capacitors, but I have enough air going over the mobo to keep them cooled.

A lot of people have asked me what case I use. I'm not a major case snob, so I went with the cheapest ATX case I could find that had what I needed. Front intake, bottom mounted PSU, blue. That's all. This case is from LEPATEK, and I did a review of it when I got it, so check that out here.

My PSU is a Corsair CX500M. It powers the comp perfectly, and still allows me to upgrade because it has 2 6+2 PCIe connectors, so when I upgrade to an R9 280 or something, I'll have the juice.

So that's my current build. Not super powerful, not super weak. It's an insane budget build, and plays almost every game at high settings at 1080p at 50+ FPS. Mainly cause of the graphics card.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon.

Steam Summer Sale: How to Get The Most From It

In GabeN we trust

So, the Steam Summer is inevitably going to happen soon (Maybe even today). So, I have a few tips on how to get the most bang for your buck and still being able to afford food for your gaming marathons.

1. Budget yourself
In my opinion, the easiest way to budget yourself during a Steam sale is to go out and buy a prepaid card. Go to an EBgames, a Gamestop, etc., and buy whatever is the most affordable for you. You can also put money right onto your Steam wallet as well. This way, you never spend money you don't already have, and you have to choose wisely and be patient for games you want. Even $20 can go a long way during the summer sale.

2. Only Buy Games You Want
This one is simple. Don't buy games that don't interest you. You don't need a game just because it's 80% off. You should only buy games that you know you would play, or have been waiting to go on sale for a while. Then buy them.

3. 66% or higher
Another good way to keep yourself on budget is to go after games only when they are 66% off or higher. AAA titles that have been out for a year or two (Bioshock, Tomb Raider, etc.) usually get that high, and Indie titles can go for 80% some times. From my experience, huge games like Call of Duty and such don't go above 25%, so unless you are desperate for the latest Call of Duty, it's not recommended.

4. Watch the Flash Sales
You need to look at the flash sales every 8 hours. These games can give you amazing deals, but remember rule 2.

5. Don't waste your entire budget in the first three days
This sale is going to last 12 days. Do not think that a game won't get a greater discount later in the sale.

I hope you guys use these tips and get as much for your money as possible. Steam Sales are crazy times, so hopefully the Valve servers can handle the massive surge of users.

Happy gaming, and happy spending.

Mini ITX Gaming Build $600

Tiny Powerhouse.

Hey guys, today I'm going to bring you what I think is the most affordable mITX build that doesn't compromise anywhere. For those who don't know, mITX is a very small form factor, designed to have as small of a footprint as possible. Mini ITX cases come in many different appearances, but they are all supposed to save as much room as possible without having to remove major components. So let's get to the components and check it out.

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760k
The AMD Athlon line is actually a really affordable line of CPUs. Everyone knows the APU line from them. The Athlon X line is the same CPUs from the APU line, but without the GPU on the dye. This allows the cores to be unlocked and overclockable, which is a really good thing with the mobo and CPU cooler we're using.

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V
The Cooler Master case we're using is designed to be optimally configured with an all in one water cooling loop. So, why not use the loop from the same company? This 120mm heatsink loop will help keep the CPU cool under load and will increase the overclocking ability by reducing the temperatures. With this loop, we should easily be able to get an overclock of around 4.2-4.5GHz per core without much worry.

Mobo: MSI A88XI AC
This MSI mobo comes with all the fixings. It has the best FM2+ chipset available right now, supports 16GB of RAM, onboard WiFi adapter, and a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot for full GPU capability. It is a really good case, and even saves some money since you don't need to buy another wireless adapter or anything for the system. It even supports USB 3.0.

GPU: XFX R9 270 DD
Surprisingly, this small form factor case can hold full length graphics cards, even long ones such as the Radeon 7990 which is one of the biggest cards on the market would fit in this case. So for our build, we're going to use an XFX R9 270 DD (Double Dissipation. Not... you know). I love R9 270s, so you can easily swap the manufacturer around if you wanted, but the XFX card with two fans is just ten dollars more than the Club3D card with one fan. If it costs $10 for better cooling for your graphics card, buy it. You don't see a huge difference between two fan designs, though, so keep that in mind. With this card, you'll be running games at 1080p with no problem on high settings, including Battlefield 4, Titanfall, and Bioshock.

RAM: Team Elite 8GB
We'll go with the cheapest 8GB of RAM we can get. RAM doesn't really change depending on the manufacturer, so one stick of 8GB will allow us to upgrade to 16GB when needed.

HDD/SSD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB and/or Crucial M500 120GB
Since this is a small case, there are two choices; you can put a HDD for storage capacity, or you can put in an SSD for boot speed and faster loading times. If you go with the latter, it's highly recommend that you get an external HDD or go with a cheaper SSD and get an internal HDD as well. SSDs have limited amounts of writes, so saving a lot of files will cause it to die after a year, or possibly sooner. Both are great choices depending on your needs.

PSU: Fractal Design Integra R2 500W
Fractal makes some great stuff, so for this build, we'll use their lower end line of PSUs. This will power your build completely as well as keep quiet. If you want modular, I recommend the CX500M from Corsair. It's in my system and makes cable management a cinch, but the Integra is a great product for this build.

Case: Cooler Master Elite 130
Here's the case that is the main talking point for this build. While there are other cases that have the same functionality from Fractal and Bitfenix, Cooler Master might be ahead of them in terms of one major thing for us budget builders: cost. This case is just $50, which is a major hit to it's biggest rival, the Node 804 from Fractal, which comes in at $89. This is definitely my go-to case for mITX, and it should suit anyone well for a space conscious PC build.


Total cost (PCPP): $619.39

For $620, you get a small form factor build with a full gaming graphics card and simple watercooling. This makes for a perfect console replacement or living room gaming machine, and should be quiet and versatile for it's use.

Happy gaming.