Usage doesn't necessarily denote that heating isn't an issue. Essentially what happens is when your OS detects that you're trying to start a fire and will throttle down your CPU to keep it from bursting into flames. The main thing being that you *would* see high CPU usage after prolonged gaming session because your OS would slow down the works a bunch, but once you relieved the stress it would stop the throttling and usage % would fall, potentially substantially. It's always good to have a clean - I shoot for once a month.

Monitoring software is freely available and it's good to have a peek every once and a while just to make sure everything is in tip top shape - like OHM or CoreTemp or even ol' Speedfan.

There was a case on this forum AGES ago where Crespi was having some pretty intense performance issues and discovered that his manufacturer (MAC) had poured a 1/2 pound of thermal paste onto his CPU, causing massive overheating and shmoo to go all over his MOBO lol.

It could also be a background application doing something really stupid, or malware of some form or another sucking up CPU intermittently.

I couldn't really see that well in the video as your FPS was pretty highly variable and it did dip to ~80 that I could see a bit, but it's also possible that you're on some kind of shared internet connection and it's experiencing intense momentary lag (like when a video buffers), but I didn't notice your ping # jumping up a ton (which it could in such a case) - though if you're on wireless you could get similar hang if somebody nearby used a microwave or a cell phone.

It could also be a heating issue; if your processor or GPU is overheating it'll cause things to slow down. I mean it's stupid to say, but also if your computer hasn't been restarted in days/weeks that could contribute as well.

I think a lot of that was included by default sometimes as well (in that the game would check for a controller being used) I remember seeing it a lot in POV logs when I was asked to look at anti cheat stuff back in 2012/13 whenever it was I was a UGC admin.

Alright since they've not been mentioned:

8-bit: Batman from Sunsoft for the NES - I still hear these tracks sometimes in my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTHHh9EB53A

Classical (I guess people would call it epic now?): Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LHLAcd14b4

The guy who made that OST is now a music professor at Berkley, so that goes pretty well on a resume I imagine.

Modern electronic music: Freespace 2:
https://youtu.be/pK7nEQwmp8g?list=PL-dE3EzobLKdhz02qbwr7SDfbUOzMfMLK&t=4
(that track in particular sticks with me)

Rock: Guilty Gear, basically any Guilty Gear XX and beyond:
https://youtu.be/kUDVm69z2rQ

I was an arrow key user for AGES and that's mainly because when I grew up WASD just wasn't a thing, so every shooter was played with "enter" as a use button, cntrl as manipulation and NUM0 as jump (though sometimes spacebar was still jump). Particularly for MECH-type games the arrow keys served the movement function with the NUM keys serving to manipulate your view or body orientation by default with the NUMenter serving as the catch-all for different firing buttons.

For TF2 however, I converted, mainly because doing the old GPIT RED spawn jump was pretty difficult with arrow keys due to the difficulty that strafing in the air while crouch jumping presented.

700$ will get you a solid machine. Hooli's site there is fairly spot on, and once you get a feel for what you want, just ask the PC builder thread in the hardware section and they'll usually spot anything strange or be able to suggest cheaper alternatives.

Just remember, like all things mechanical or electrical; it's just lego. Once you break it down into tiny lego bits it's not nearly as daunting. If you get really scared just watch a few youtube videos of a few different people installing the part.

Also don't throw your laptop away - you may be able to hawk some of the parts out of it or a knowledgeable enough person might be able to fix it or use the parts out of it, basically no reason to just bin it.

Wait to see the status of my bronchitis. If it's gone, I'm going to get thrashed, likely alone, but if still sick, then I'll pry just watch Mortal Kombat the movie and chill as is my tradition.

I can't really choose between:

https://youtu.be/ENruOrM01CQ
and
https://youtu.be/zVcY6PrdJ5c

Indecency's Bawdy Boys.

not exactly how I would've tried to balance the crossbow....

Marm's not far off it could be a lot of things I'll just run down the list.

Well, OK first things first we start with the simplest problems first.

0. As marm said, Check to make sure your PSU has enough juice for the CPU, and that these stutters aren't in other games/apps too, and that everything is hooked up and working in so far as you can tell.

1. All drivers relatively up to date?

2. Did you check to make sure the RAM and the CPU would play nicely together?

3. Did you make sure the CPU and RAM and MOBO all play nicely together?

4. Have you checked your RAM with windows' memory diagnostic?

5. Have you checked your temperatures for the CPU? It could be that it's not installed correctly or something is funky with your cooling arrangement.

6. Are you using a really old HDD that is having problems? chkdsk will tell you if it's FUBAR or not.

7. It could also be an array of WIN10 issues - like the DVR recording and NVIDIA/Xbox bloatware and etc if you haven't removed it/disabled it already. https://edge.alluremedia.com.au/m/k/2017/09/2017-09-12_094459.jpg

Bronchitis, and 75$.

What can choke some of those older games up pretty badly isn't actually their interactions with the CPU it's their failure to properly utilize modern RAM in sufficient quantities - I know of a few old Paradox games (EU3, Hoi3, etc) that have had mod/patches made for them that allow them to utilize more RAM and dramatically improve performance on modern machines.

I pay 40$ (I got them to come down 10$ recently) for 2.7 mbs down and 0.7 mbs up. It's the realest shit.

The news itself is good - publicity as it were. IM coming back is good too.

I still wish Killing and I could've worked out a deal but that was blocked by some of the powers that be that have since faded into the sunset :/