PAX East Future of PC Gaming Panel

Putting the Phenom Out to Pasture: Part 3

Having identified the optimal parts, and coming to the conclusion that either build I would consider would run upwards of $800, I looked at the games I would be planning to play for the next year, and hazarded a guess at the hardware needed to run each.

•  Total War: Rome 2
• Wasteland 2
• Project Eternity
• Shadowrun Returns
• Torment: Tides of Numenara
• Crusader Kings 2

Putting the Phenom Out to Pasture: Pt 2

After identifying my ideal desktop build, I identified that I could go with a mITX build from a boutique builder called the Revolution. One of the advantages of mITX is portability. I thought about laptops, and found this set of reviews on Anandtech identifying the best values in recent laptops.

Putting the Phenom Out to Pasture: Pt 1

Intel's next "tick" Haswell is around the bend, and early previews suggest that it's not going to make a significant difference in gaming PCs early on -- the real gains appear to be in the mobile and low-end processors.  My Phenom II system is aging, and between a failed power supply, a long-in-the-tooth Radeon 6800, and limited expansion opportunities, I'm looking at greener pastures.