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    Expansion pack and Steam - am I out of luck here?

    Hey just thought I'd ask the knowledgeable crowd out here: Purchased Sims 3 for my daughter on Steam a while back, and recently picked up one of the expansions (High End Loft) via an Amazon sale. Expansion pack's license key is not recognized by Steam and will not install. Trying to just...
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    Officially cutting the cord tomorrow

    No more Comcast as of tomorrow, thanks to OTA antenna, Roku 2 XS, Plex, and a Netflix subscription. The wife is fully on board after sampling just a portion of both public and private channels on the Roku. Man, the Roku just blew me away. Commercials down at least 95%, brand new web-based...
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    $300 or so: Onkyo HTIB or Standalone Receiver?

    As the title suggests I have in the neighborhood of $300 available currently for a basement sound system to go with a new 55" Panasonic Plasma. The room is approx 25'x25', but the seating around the TV is more like 12'x15'. Still, I imagine viewing will occur from the whole room at times...
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    Just a quick Borderlands question

    Is there always just 1 save game file? It seems to save every time I exit or when I'm near one of those post-thingies, but it always just overwrites the previous save. Being a PC gamer I'm used to have multiple savegames to choose from if I want to go back and do an area or mission...
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    Good character creation games?

    Looking for basically T rated games because my daughters simply love to create characters and play a little, then create another character, etc. They've played the heck out of Oblivion (not "T" but should be). They love all the character mods associated with that game (the appropriate ones, of...
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    Recommendation for a center channel speaker?

    A while back I purchased a variety of home audio/theater equipment based on advice here, which was outstanding. Today I am coming with another request for advice on a center channel speaker. Currently I have: - a nice $300 Onkyo receiver (cannot remember model #) - a pair of AV123 ELT-525...
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    Mass Effect 1 problem (Steam version)

    Started playing ME 1 after purchasing on Steam during the sales. Seems like a great game, just excellent story and voice acting. Here's the problem: I cannot activate the Galaxy Map. After Googling I see tons of pirate types had problems with the Galaxy map, but this is a totally legit Steam...
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    Late-comer to Stalker SOC...this is a great game

    Gave it a try several times in fits and starts. Gave it "one last shot" before uninstalling and something really clicked. I was impressed from the beginning with the atmosphere, but whether it was inventory management, too much foot-travel, or odd quests I couldn't get into it. Until now...
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    USB input for viewing .avi, .mpeg, or other video files on TV?

    A friend of mine has a HTIB system which allows him to plug a USB flash drive into his receiver and play video files from it on his 52" LCD TV. The TV I bought has a USB port on the side, but the manual seems to indicate that its just for viewing photos or playing music. The Samsung BR...
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    HD DVR options?

    What do you use for HD DVR options if any? I'll be a Comcast customer for the first time due to a move. Was surprised that their HD-DVR was something like $25/mo for one and a second for $19/mo or something like that. Coming from DISH Network, I was able to use 1 DVR for 2 TVs (not a HD...
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    Ok, I'm not an audiophile: home theatre $$$ question

    Background: moving into new home with a Family Room and what will be a Man's Land in the finished basement. We're not audiophiles and are making a major upgrade TV-wise coming from a 27" old box TV with TV speakers. Family Room is top priority. Pretty convinced I'll get a 47" LG from...
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    Total Noob to Online Gaming - question

    I'm basically a dinosaur who has only played single player games for many, many years. I know virtually nothing about online gaming. I've got a fellow dinosaur friend who has a game-worthy PC now and I was wondering - is it possible to play alongside him specifically online (I think it is) in...
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    TV as second display - anything to consider for newbie?

    I built a hand-me-down machine for a buddy and now we want to ramp up his overall PC experience. Biggest change is upgrading his vid card to a more HTCP-type arrangement given that his PC shares space in the living room with a 42" 720p plasma HDTV. I've never done this before (hooked up to TV)...
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    Recommended games for a 12 year old, just discovering PC gaming

    Buddy of mine's son saw somebody playing Majesty 2 and thought it was cool. They picked it up. He's got a stock Q6600/8800GT 1680x1050 operation going, so he should be able to play most games reasonably well. I'm sure Majesty 2 is fun but I know they can do better. What games would you...
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    Name 5-10 games you would recommend for new gamer with 7600GT

    As the title says, I have a friend with a Core2Duo setup but he is severely limited in the graphics dept, having just a 7600GT. That said, there are plenty of games I think he could enjoy across genres. He is new to gaming, an older guy like myself, but that doesn't really matter. He's a...
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    Oblivion mod for better Female NPCs?

    Like the title says, I've been playing and am now modding Oblivion. Going great with essential mods like QTP3 and OOO, along with Slof's horses, Clocks, Illumination Within, Enhanced Water, etc. I tried Younger, hotter NPCs but it was kinda weak I thought. Rens Beauty pack was weird too...I...
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    Books related to good PC games - any suggestions?

    As the title suggests I'm looking for any decent books related to games. Already lined up to get The Witcher's inspiration by Andrzej Sapkowski. Does the Dawn of War series have any recommended reading? Any others? Obviously not talking about Harry Potter here:P.
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    What games do you use a gamepad controller for?

    Tech purchases have been few and far between lately, so I splurged on one of these. I'm playing more and more games these days, and thought it may come in handy. I will say that I'm a keyboard/mouse guy basically because I don't even own a console. After I got this thing I fired up the...
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    Lil help on the whole v-sync thing

    After some quick reading on V-sync, what it is, what it does, its perfomance effects (dropped FPS in some cases, elimination of tearing), I'm trying to develop a strategy for determining whether to enable or disable it. Sounds like: 1) If you're not experiencing tearing, keep it disabled 2)...
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    Overclocking a 7900GS

    Sorry if this has been posted before. I was fishing around and I saw this article pertaining to my graphics card, an XFX 7900GS Extreme: http://www.tweaktown.com/revie...king_prince/index.html Looks like it OCs quite nicely. I've OCed my CPU and RAM successfully, but not my graphics card...
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    SLIed 7900GS

    Any idea how much improvement one might get going with another 7900GS in SLI? I have access to a pretty well-priced used one that is identical to my own (XFX 7900GS Extreme). It struggles with DiRT and I'd also like to play SupCom, Bioshock, World In Conflict, etc. eventually. Crysis too, but...
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    680i for $145 AR

    Saw this today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188019 Now I'm asking: What's the catch? Anybody have experience with these boards? I remember a lot of early problems w/680i. My experience w/MSI 650i has been stellar, but 680i at the same (even better) price point...
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    Budget barebones system for kids - need advice

    Hello, Just finished my own build a month or so ago, and passed my old Dell to my kids. Well, that machine is near death and extremely limited (max 512MB RAM, proprietary 180w PSU, low profile vid card, for example), so I'd like to assemble a system that will perform well with today's...
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    Your view on my temps - first OC

    SETUP - 650i mobo with Scythe Ninja Plus Rev B, and nice copper NB/SB heatpipe cooling. Not currently using optional NB fan (its way loud) - Antec P180B, upper HDD cage removed, 2 stock 120mm Tri-Cool case fans in upper chamber, 1 120mm Tri-Cool fan in lower chamber. Fans set to "Medium". -...
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    Do you use system utility software?

    Does anyone out here use system utilitiies that are intended to generally keep things running clean and smooth? I've used System mechanic in the past with success, although I don't need its defrag feature. I do use Diskeeper for that already. Does anyone have any recommendations for a...
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    Incredibly dumb question

    For the life of me, I can't figure out how to post an image (.jpg) in a thread. There is no "attach image" button or anything. Do I have to link to an image hosted on a website or something? Thanks and sorry once again for the ignorance of the thread creator:P.
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    RMA/Replacement mobo: anything a noob should know?

    First build went great except for a few bad DIMM slots on an MSI P6N SLI Platinum. Windows installed beautifully, but can't do dual channel due to DIMM slot issue. RMAed mobo for a replacement (same board). When the replacement arrives, do I have to reinstall Windows from the ground up? Do...