Ok, so I'm putting together my computer tonight...

[Shockeye]

And I need recommendations on what games I should be playing to fully stress this system.

Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0 GHz) 90nm "Venice" Processor
MSI Neo4-F nForce4 Motherboard
2 x 1gb OCZ Premier Value DDR400 Memory
7200.7 160gb Seagate SATA+NCQ Hard Drive
ATI Radeon X800 XL 256mb
Codegen 6097 Case w/400W PSU

I plan on pushing the processor up to at least 2.2GHz maybe further if I can.

I'm looking for all the wonderful games I've missed in the past year due to having a shitty computer and a old video card.

Thrill me, please.

[Rasix]

And I need recommendations on what games I should be playing to fully stress this system.

Thrill me, please.

SWG, graphics set to max or some righteous Doom 3 action.

Yah, I'm a jerk. 

[Shockeye]

And I need recommendations on what games I should be playing to fully stress this system.

Thrill me, please.

SWG, graphics set to max or some righteous Doom 3 action.

Yah, I'm a jerk. 

DOOM 3 with the new expansion will probably get a view. Is Far Cry worth it? I completely passed by it when it came out due to having a small e-peen at the time.

[WayAbvPar]

HL2
Vampire: Bloodlines
EQ2 (if you want to stress yourself at the same time as the computer)

[sidereal]

Zork!

[Shockeye]

HL2
Vampire: Bloodlines
EQ2 (if you want to stress yourself at the same time as the computer)

HL2 I have and I intend to play again. Bloodlines probably won't get a replay due to not having the time.

I may very well give EQ2 a try.

[Nija]

Wow, what kind downforce do those front and rear spoilers produce? IT'S LIKE THE CASE IS TEARING ASS AROUND THE BACKYARD. But it's standing still. Still waters run deep.

[schild]

Just Half Life 2 with everything on max. Then the Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Demo. Everything is a erhm, waste of hard drive spinning.

[Shockeye]

Just Half Life 2 with everything on max. Then the Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Demo. Everything is a erhm, waste of hard drive spinning.

Can't I play Chaos Theory on the Xbox? Why dirty this computer with console ports?

[El Gallo]

<3

[Morfiend]

HL2
Vampire: Bloodlines
EQ2 (if you want to stress yourself at the same time as the computer)

HL2 for SURE! Best graphics of any game to date. Be wary of Vampire, lest it eat your new computer. Also, it doesnt look that good. Still a fun game though.

[schild]

Just Half Life 2 with everything on max. Then the Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Demo. Everything is a erhm, waste of hard drive spinning.

Can't I play Chaos Theory on the Xbox? Why dirty this computer with console ports?

THE D-E-M-O.

[Trippy]

Some of the programs not mentioned yet that I use to test/benchmark new graphics cards:

3DMark05
AquaMark3
Final Fantasy XI Bench 3
Unreal Tournament 2003 HardOCP Benchmark Utility
Unreal Tournament 2004 benchmarking instructions

Most of the benchmarking programs/tools above can be set to loop which is great for testing the stability of your system. E.g. you can have one of them run overnight and if things haven't crashed and is not displaying any graphical glitches by the time you wake up you know your system will be stable for extended game playing.

If you happen to have a SOE All-Station pass you may want to give PlanetSide a try as well. There isn't much "eye candy" in the game, however the sheer number of polygons that have to be processed during a large-scale base siege will bring many systems to their knees (I had to unsubscribe after a month or so of trying to play cause my machine turned into a slideshow projector during these battles).

[Paelos]

I heard good things about the newest Deus Ex, right? Check that one out.

[Ironwood]

I liked Far Cry.

[Furiously]

Prime95

[kaid]

I am surprised nobody mentioned it hehe either that or I am blind.

eq2 with graphics turned up all the way. This thing will probably help test crush your system far more than even doom3.


kaid

[Stormwaltz]

Wow, what kind downforce do those front and rear spoilers produce? IT'S LIKE THE CASE IS TEARING ASS AROUND THE BACKYARD.

*collapses in laughter*

You are my hero for the day.

[schild]

Wow, I hadn't seen a link to that case. It's like someone with a touch of blindness attempted to knockoff the G% case. Oh well, at the very least it does have easy access and the internals are well laid out. Unfortunately double bagging it doesn't seem to be an option. Tis got an ugly fuckin grill.

[Shockeye]

This dude totally puts my computer to shame.

[Strazos]

Well, at least we found someone who gets less action than me...

[Shockeye]

According to UPS, tomorrow I get my Razer Diamondback Plasma mouse.

[Paelos]

That computer wins on so many levels. All of them not relating to females.

[schild]

According to me, I'll be two out of three games from my holy trifecta of rare shit tomorrow. Picking up Intelligent Qube from one of 4 (FOUR!) stores around here that has it. Hopefully one will have a case.

Then I have to find a reasonably perfect copy of Rez.

Then I can die happy.

I'll never miss a good rare game again. Ever.

[Yegolev]

FarCry is my favorite FPS.  I don't play with other people, though.  I hear that Doom 3 is demanding.  I played a bit but never got to the part where someone gave me a gun.

I seem to remember performance problems with SimCity 4, might want to give that one a whirl.

I don't know how stressful it could be (on your system, that is... it scares the shit out of me), but Thief III should look very nice.  You don't mention speakers, though, so hold off with T3 unless you have at least 4-speaker positional.

[Shockeye]

FarCry is my favorite FPS.  I don't play with other people, though.  I hear that Doom 3 is demanding.  I played a bit but never got to the part where someone gave me a gun.

I seem to remember performance problems with SimCity 4, might want to give that one a whirl.

I don't know how stressful it could be (on your system, that is... it scares the shit out of me), but Thief III should look very nice.  You don't mention speakers, though, so hold off with T3 unless you have at least 4-speaker positional.

I've got a decent Altec Lansing 4.1 speaker system, but I usually use headphones since I game after people are asleep.

[Yegolev]

I've got a decent Altec Lansing 4.1 speaker system, but I usually use headphones since I game after people are asleep.

If the headphones give positional, you're good to go.  You will want to be able to hear subtle sounds, so headphones are probably the way to go for you.  Fancy effects are nice but not necessary.  What is necessary is knowing where that Hammerite (or worse) is.  I have played Thief I + II quite a lot, and some FMs for each, and still Thief III can make me jump.  Particularly Shalebridge Cradle.  Oh.  My.  God.  I get tingly thinking about it.

Don't mind me, I'm a Thief fanboi.

[Shockeye]

I've got a decent Altec Lansing 4.1 speaker system, but I usually use headphones since I game after people are asleep.

If the headphones give positional, you're good to go.  You will want to be able to hear subtle sounds, so headphones are probably the way to go for you.  Fancy effects are nice but not necessary.  What is necessary is knowing where that Hammerite (or worse) is.  I have played Thief I + II quite a lot, and some FMs for each, and still Thief III can make me jump.  Particularly Shalebridge Cradle.  Oh.  My.  God.  I get tingly thinking about it.

Don't mind me, I'm a Thief fanboi.

I've been meaning to re-install Thief 2 and play through it again. One of these days...

[Yegolev]

I've been meaning to re-install Thief 2 and play through it again. One of these days...

Play "The Inverted Manse", a Thief 2 Fan Mission.  The guy who made that FM was hired to work on T3.
http://www.thiefmissions.com/

If you have never tried a Thief Fan Mission, read this:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48202

The editor for T3 has been released but no FMs yet.  I also see that T2X: Shadows of the Metal Age is finally released after five years of work.  I might have to drop some Doctor Who torrents and nab it.