On a completely different subject....COMPUTER GAMES

Dearest all, sorry for the long delay in posting to the all of THREE people who've probably missed my posts on their Blogspot feed.


Have I been away from gaming and painting?
Yes, I have. I had a motorbike accident on April 21st and just recently re-gained use of my arm (the left one gratefully)
I've also been to PNG for a wedding and to Fremantle in WA to see friends travelling from Italy, and though painful it was good to get away from Melbourne's cold in the early stages of recovery when the cold shivers made my shoulder and collar bone feel like they were being taken to by hordes of Goblins. Nasty ones. Not the funny GW ones...


In this hiatus I have taken an interest in the, for me, unknown realms of desktop gaming. I'd considered buying a console as I'll be off work awhile longer while I do physio in the coming months and hoped that would help with the depression of being home-bound, too.


Then I decided I'd explore a field I know nothing about...ie gaming PCs.
I spent a week online slowly typing my way through YouTube videos, guides, reviews and manufacturer's sites and will soon purchase this little beast.

The Guardian 921RB (Reborn) has a modern, stylish design with a spacious all-black interior that's easy to work on. The unit comes standard with 3 low noise 120mm fans optimally placed for excellent cooling, and temperatures are constantly monitored via the three temperature probes that output to the integrated LCD temp display. E-SATA, HD Audio, Mic and USB2.0 ports are conveniently located at the front of the case. Power supply not included.

Socket 1155, Intel B75 Chipset, 2x DDR3, 3x SATA III 6Gbps, 4x USB 3.0, 1x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot, Gigabit ethernet, 6 channel audio, HDMI, DVI, D-Sub, mATX form factor. Backed by a 3 year warranty.

• 100% All Solid Capacitor Design
• Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1600
• 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slot, Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX, CrossFireX
• PCIE Gigabit LAN
• Supports Intel HD Graphics with Built-in Visuals
• Multi VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI
• Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
• 5.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC662 Audio Codec), Supports THX TruStudio
• Supports ASRock XFast RAM, XFast LAN, XFast USB, OMG, Internet Flash, UEFI System Browser
• Supports Intel Smart Connect, Intel Rapid Start, Intel Small Business Advantage
• Free Bundle: CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite

Intel Core i5 3550 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) Quad Core CPU (Ivy Bridge), LGA1155, 6MB, BX80637I53550. Retail box including fan, heatsink and thermal paste

Enjoy lightning fast performance, providing next-level speed for your graphic-intense games; get faster load times enhancing your gaming experience from boot-up to shut-down and every in-game moment in-between.

• Capacity: 120 GB
• Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s (backward compatible to SATA 3 Gb/s & SATA 1.5 Gb/s)
• Temperature (operating/non-operating): 0˚C to 70˚C / -55˚C to 95C
• Active Power: 0.6W
• Shock Resistant: 1500G @ 0.5 msec
• Vibration (operating/non-operating): 2.17gRMS, 5-700Hz / 3.13gRMS, 5-800Hz

The Samsung S24B300h 24in Widescreen LED Monitor features a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 5ms GTG response time, 170/160 viewing angle, 250 cd/m2 brightness, 16.7M colour support and is equipped with 1x HDMI and 1x D-Sub inputs.

Western Digital Green Power 2TB WD20EARX Caviar, IntelliPower, SATAIII, 3.5", 64MB Cache. Cool, quiet, eco-friendly. WD Caviar Green drives use less power and support quieter, cooler-running desktop PCs and external storage devices. 
Covered by Western Digital's 2 year warranty.

The MSI GeForce GTX 570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition features a core clock of 732MHz, 1280MB of GDDR5 memory at 3800MHz (effective) through a 320bit bus, Twin Frozr dual fan cooler for improved cooling and overclocking headroom, 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI outputs. Backed by a 3 year warranty.

Corsair high performance Vengeance memory module 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz 9-9-9-24, 1.5V for motherboards using Intel dual channel processors including the 2nd Generation Intel Core platform. Vengeance memory modules provide users with outstanding memory performance and stability.

Simple HD 720p video calling! Experience widescreen high definition video calls with most major instant messaging applications and the included Logitech Vid HD software. Your friends and family will see you in life like detail with 3 megapixel photos and you can be heard loud and clear thanks to a built in microphone that reduces background noise.

High-speed internal DVD/CD writer with SATA Interface, Cyberlink OEM software. The Pioneer DVR-220 offers up to 24x writing on DVD-R/+R media and up to 12x writing on DVD-R/+R (DL). It also works with Dual Layer Discs, increasing the capacity of a disc from 4.7 to 8.5 gigabytes, for even more storage space. Backed by a 1 year warranty.

Antec 550W Strictly Power Supply, 120mm fan with Active PFC, Dual +12V rails, 2x PCI-E, 5x SATA, 4x Molex. Backed by a 2 year warranty.

The MK260 Desktop Keyboard and mouse features advanced 2.4 GHz wireless so you can work or play in more places, the long range wireless connection virtually eliminates delays, dropouts and interference. The smart power management means less hassle with a 24 month keyboard battery life and 5 month mouse battery life (Battery life may vary based on user and computing conditions). The keyboard creates a natural typing feel that keeps you comfortable hour after hour and the contoured mouse is designed to fit comfortably in your hand. With plug and play simplicity setup takes seconds. You simply plug the wireless receiver into a USB port on your computer and start using your keyboard and mouse right away without software!

TL-WN781ND Wireless Lite N PCI Express(x1) Adapter provides a wider compatibility, fitting with any standard PCI Express slot, x1, x4, x8 or x16. Compared with standard PCI network cards, it offers increased bandwidth, reliability and more functionality, allowing you to enjoy a fast connection when downloading, making internet calls and video streaming.

I'm sure there are better rigs out there but as I've never been taken with computer games, preferring the vis-a-vis experience of miniature wargaming and the effort of building, customizing and fielding my armies of little minions - err, I mean proud warriors! - I think this is a good starting point in this new field of hobbying.
More to come as the pieces are assembled and the build itself begins.
Unfortunately not much to report on the gaming front at the moment, aside from the excitement of Mantic's KS campaign coming to a thunderingly successful completion, and the excitement connected to the imminent release of Battle for Alabaster by miniature God Mr. McVey and wife.
Also of note is the development of an almost Epic PC turn-based game in the form of the wicked-looking Exodus Wars : Fractured Empire which I'm also very excited about.


This is my first time at building a gaming rig and except for a few extras like headphones and speakers the whole thing came in $1500.
Please comment if you know about PC gaming and have any tips
Thanks for reading
Godspeed and my at least YOUR dice roll high!
S.