Controllers (Gamepads) Are…

Jack of all trades, but master of none

Controllers are designed for versatility and approachability. Consider that the same controller is intended to simply work across all genres: it’ll work whether you’re playing first-person shooter, racing, fighting, or other games.

Serious gamers know that more specialized hardware exists. They deliberately build their gaming setups around their interests, often sinking real money into controller mods and higher-end controllers.

FPS? Mouse.

Racing? Wheel and pedals.

Fighting? Arcade-style fighting sticks.

Just as no serious flight simulator enthusiast plays with a keyboard and mouse, no serious FPS enthusiast should play with a controller. More of them should be casting their gaze towards the familiar mouse.

JTScrub

JTScrub (YouTube, JTRod8 on Twitch) dropped by my stream and commented:

hey there we played against you in trials on saturday (jtscrub, fugu face) saw the game in your past videos. gg you’re a great player!

anyways you seemed like a nice, relaxed player from your video so though I’d say hi and gg. maybe i’ll see you around the crucible in the future

Thank you again for dropping by JTScrub – GG to you as well 🙂

TombstoneTV’s “Siege Engine” Build

TombstoneTV wanted to build a gaming rig primarily for Rainbow Six Siege. This was TombstoneTV’s first build: he received significant input from Rainbow Six Siege gamers on the /r/Rainbow6 Discord server.

He initially approached me with a build list totaling $921.21, inclusive of a Logitech G303 Daedalus Apex (Amazon.com)

I offered my feedback for his consideration, details of which accompany the final parts list provided below:

Final Parts List

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600

Intel’s Core i5-7600 (Amazon.com) is a Kaby Lake processor built on the 14nm manufacturing process. This part was retained from initial parts list to final build.

Motherboard: MSI B250 PC MATE

The MSI B250 PC MATE (Amazon.com) made it from initial parts selection to final build. I considered cutting it for a cheaper board if needed. Note that the Intel B250 chipset is designed for Kaby Lake processors

RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury Black DDR4-2133

Initially, TombstoneTV’s build was specced for 16GB (2*8GB) Team Dark DDR4-2400 with timings of 14-16-16-31 (TDGED416G2400HC14DC01, Newegg.com).

I advised TombstoneTV to right-size his build. I suggested 8GB (2*4GB) of DDR4-2133 with tight timings, and found a suitable kit from Kingston (HX421C14FBK2/8, Amazon.com, Datasheet).

He ultimately selected a single 8GB module (HX421C14FB/8, Amazon.com), losing the benefits of running dual-channel 🙁 Live and learn, I suppose…

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM HDD

TombstoneTV’s build sheet initially featured a PNY CS1311 120GB SSD (Amazon.com) in addition to a Seagate FireCuda 1TB 7200RPM Hybrid HDD (ST1000DX002, Amazon.com). I knew that he would be better-served by a higher-capacity SSD. The only question was finding the room to upgrade the SSD given budgetary constraints, and I eyed the Seagate FireCuda for the chopping block. I asked whether the FireCuda could go, given that TombstoneTV wasn’t intending to use the rig for media storage (he streams most of his content).

Fortunately, TombstoneTV told me that he already had a 2TB external drive hooked up to his Xbox One, and that he could pull the drive for use in his build. He was certain that his external drive was an SSD (I thought it highly implausible).

His rig is running on spinning disks only at this point, but so be it. An SSD and a clean OS installation can always come later.

Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Not much to say on this one – the PNY GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (VCGGTX10606PB, Amazon.com) came recommended to TombstoneTV, and I left it alone. If I were selecting a graphics card for personal use, I’d research more deeply into which GTX 1060 6GB were best – at this time, I don’t know how PNY’s GTX 1060 6GB compares against the field.

Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case

TombstoneTV picked out the Deepcool TESSERACT BF (Amazon.com) in his initial parts listing. I’ve never used Deepcool in the past, but it looked alright from the pictures, so I didn’t push him towards any of the established players. I personally feel that a solid computer case is worth investing in, because it can always be recycled for a future build.

PSU: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular

The SeaSonic G 550W (SSR-550RM, Amazon.com) power supply made it to the final parts list. Given that the build is going into a mid-tower case, I didn’t push for a fully-modular PSU.

Post-Build

TombstoneTV reported, “I’m genuinely happy. This runs Siege in 100fps on high”

The machine is outputting to an ASUS VG248QE 24″ 1080p 144Hz monitor (Amazon.com).

I asked that TombstoneTV run 3DMark – he came back with 3DMark Time Spy results:

3DMark Time Spy Results

Graphics Test 1: 33.45 FPS
Graphics Test 2: 30.43 FPS
Graphics Score: 4027

CPU Test: 22.10 FPS
CPU Score: 3951

Reminder to Self

I wanted to be a streamer’s streamer – the SayWallahBruh to GernaderJake

I’ve got to show them how to do the things that they do regularly, so that the fitness of all streamers increases

That means that I need to work with weaker members of my fireteam and gently shape their in-game behavior, helping them to break their habits

Need to break my own in-game habits in order to keep developing as a player