After playing Crysis (my first FPS) at GeForce LAN 4 last November, I was hooked on the game and, frankly, the gaming experience in general.  But when I tried to play Crysis on an ancient desktop with an Athlon 64, the game took 10 minutes to load and stuttered with every step and shot I took.  I decided it was time to join ranks with my fellow NVIDIANs and build my own SLI system.

I've upgraded graphics cards, audio cards, and power supplies before, but had never built a system from the ground up.  My first step was to watch Phil and Tony's awesome How-To Guide on SLI Zone to learn the basics and know exactly what components I needed.  Here's what I started with after about five different trips to Fry's:

- 2 GeForce 8800 GT graphics cards in SLI
- nForce 680i motherboard
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Quad 6600
- Zalman CNPS8000 CPU fan
- 2 GB SLI-ready Corsair XMS DDR2 memory
- 500 GB SATA Maxtor HD
- Thermaltake 700W PSU
- 22" Samsung WXVGA flat panel monitor
- Logitech gaming G15 keyboard and G5 mouse
- Yamaha speakers and sub-woofer
- Antec Nine Hundred case

I cleared the kitchen table, booted up the old PC so I could continuously watch the SLI video, and referenced several manuals at once – motherboard, chassis, HD, and CPU cooler.  (In all, the CPU fan took me almost 2 hours by itself, but in the end, an instructional Flash video on the Zalman site really helped me out.) 

I decided to build my rig without SLI on the first go-round, just to make sure that everything else was working properly.  24 hours, one false start, a fitful night's sleep (dreaming about whether if I connected everything properly), several calls to Phil and Sam, and a few beers later, I heard the whirl of the fans and watched the BIOS appear on screen.

Looking back through the history of video games, the PC has been the gaming platform driving new ideas and change in the gaming industry. From the introduction of new game types like real-time strategy games and first-person shooters, to the development of 3D technologies, and advances in online multiplayer gaming, the PC has always been the platform pushing gaming into new uncharted territories.

A very recent example of this is EA’s announcement of Battlefield Heroes, a cartoon-styled addition to Dice’s very successful Battlefield gaming series that will introduce a new “Play 4 Free” revenue model to the mainstream gaming industry. The game will be free for everyone to download and will be supported by in-game advertisements and in-game microtransactions. That boils down to seeing a relevant ad banner as you log on to a game server and paying a few bucks to EA for the ability to customize your character’s in-game appearance.

Because there will be no cost to play and the game will be easy to pick up for even the most casual gamer, I think Battlefield Heroes has a great chance of drastically changing the gaming landscape and exponentially growing PC gaming. Let’s face it, my mom plays hours and hours of Hearts each day on her PC because it’s free, un-intimidating, and easy to play. Now imagine if after a simple download, she’s able to load up Battlefield Heroes, get into a server with other novice players, and frag-out to her heart’s content. That to me sounds like a big change in the gaming industry.

You have to see this! Take a look at Ton’s mod, a rig themed after Team Fortress 2 by Valve called Sentry Turret Case Mod.

Ton K. (a Club SLI® Member by the way) has literally built this system from the ground up. It’s 40” tall, complete with dual, 6-barrel Gatling turrets, ammo belts, and powered by our very own SLI technologies.

"The case mod has jumped from the OC / Case Modding forum, over the gaming community.  The Gamers LOVE the case mod.  Of course, the case mod is powered by NVIDIA mobo and GPU :)" - Ton K. from California

So far, every game that I’ve purchased I bought at a store. I like collecting the boxes, stacking them on shelves like books, and every once in a while letting friends borrow them. But I know that once a box ends up on the shelf, it is likely to stay there for a very long time, gathering dust; so I’ve promised myself to start purchasing more games online.

Additionally, I’ve read a report that mentioned three quarters of the games purchased by the average PC gamer are bought in physical format at stores and that this number is slowly decreasing.

What is stopping you from buying online?

Attention all GeForce users: we are offering everyone that has a GeForce GPU installed in their rig a complimentary copy of Portal™: First Slice a special version of the award-winning new game from our friends at Valve.

This is an exclusive gift for all GeForce users; for more information click here.

With so many choices in hardware products and endless ways to upgrade your PC, I wonder if overclocking is really needed today. After all, you can usually find an off-the-shelf GPU that will give you the performance you need. I have few friends that have overclocked their systems and are very proud about their performance, and yet I question its purpose.

I remember in the mid 90s people overclocked their CPUs to extend their lifespan and more importantly to avoid having to buy a brand new CPU. Heat became an issue, however, and many dollars were spent on auxiliary cooling systems, negating a lot of the savings.

I am just curious…Why do you overclock your rig? Is it for gaming? Or is it just because you can?

Just in case you missed it, a little while ago 3D Realms posted a teaser trailer for their highly anticipated and long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever PC game. I, along with thousands of hardcore PC gamers, have been looking forward to this game since beating Duke Nukem 3D in the mid 90s.

With this latest teaser, you can tell that 3D Realms is finally getting close to release (even though the game’s official release date is “when it’s done”) and I am hoping that we’ll see the game on store shelves sometime in 2008.

Fully rendered in 3D, Duke looks more badass than ever. And I can’t help but be giddy with excitement after seeing the in-game shots of the mutant-pig cops and alien invaders Duke is going to slay. I just hope we get some more in-game footage soon; this teaser leaves me hungry for more!

I enjoy award shows in the gaming industry and since its inception in 2004, the Spike Video Game Awards is slowly becoming one of my favorites. Especially this year, since (in my opinion) every nominee and winner really deserved to be there. I agreed with every selection they made and was very happy to see Bioshock take home the best game of the year award. Moreover, all of my top picks of the year were nominated and won their respective categories, including Crysis, The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Portal.

Perhaps one day we (the gaming industry) will have our own “Academy” to thank; what do you think?

While most people spent their holidays with friends and family, went shopping at the malls, sipped eggnog by the fireplace and unwrapped gifts by the Christmas tree; I loaded my M14 Rifle, unlocked the ACOG scope and packed a couple of Claymore mines while taking on hundreds of Spetsnaz and S.A.S. Units across the fields of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

I spent about 70 hours playing online this holiday break, got to level 47 (Major General) and can’t wait to play some more this weekend, I’m so close in topping the rankings. Thank you Activision and Infinity Ward for making such an awesome online multiplayer mode.

Which video game did you play over the holidays?