The Win8 activation itself should have the capability to verify a legitimate copy that wasn't already installed. It doesn't have to be on the hard drive.

Yeah, I've gamed on it. Didn't exactly have to jump through hoops.

Notice I said "hope." And considering Valve intends to sell hardware running Linux, I'd imagine they're going to be pushing pretty hard to make titles available on Linux.

As I understand it, you are entitled to use upgrade media if you own a legitimate copy of an earlier windows version that can legally be installed on that computer. Whether you choose to wipe the drive and do a clean install is irrelevant.

It's a registry hack to do what should happen to begin with. Look back at the same issue with Win7 upgrade discs, and you'll find the "official" MS response is not this method.

Another round of hacking a legitimate OS install to get it to "activate" correctly. I really hope this Linux gaming revolution takes off soon.

Not to start an AMD/Intel war here, but there's no reason whatsoever to avoid AMD for everyday use, and for image processing an FX 8xxx will at least match, if not beat an i5 (depending on how heavily multi-threaded things are).

HabitRPG https://habitrpg.com/splash.html is another you could check out.

Yes, exclusive games are a terrible reason to buy a platform. I only wish others would agree so we could stop having platforms that survive solely because they have valuable exclusive IP associated with them. If people didn't buy into the "I must buy X platform to play Z game" mentality, we wouldn't have exclusive…

Console exclusives aren't a valid reason to buy a console, they're a marketing ploy by MS/Sony/Nintendo to sell their system. Notice I haven't tried to argue that you should get a PC for PC exclusives (e.g. any decent MMO). At least that would be somewhat reasonable since MMO developers aren't being paid by PC…

What are the benefits of a console again?

Still missing the point. Don't buy a console in the first place (hypothetically speaking).

You missed the point. You don't use your $300 PC for gaming, you save $250 by not buying a console and use that money to build a $550 PC.

Apparently we have different definitions of "budget system." $2K isn't a budget system to me, it's a dream.

Do you know anyone with a $200-250 console who doesn't also own a $300+ computer as well? Ditch the console, and spend a bit more on the computer. The total cost is the same, and your gaming experience is far better.

Yeah, perhaps if you're going for an $800 budget build saving every dime you can by watching prices is a good plan. If I drop $2K on a build though I don't want it to be a year old the day I put it together.

Pick any cross platform game, it will look far better on pretty much any $500-600 PC than console. I qualify that with "pretty much" simply because some people manage to do unbelievably retarded things to their PCs from time to time. If you can avoid that, you're golden.

Parceling out purchases over time is different from saving how? Sorry, but buying pieces of your build over time isn't even a good idea for a high end PC, let alone the best part.

Probably? You're being quite generous.

I suppose it may seem that way because much of it is an explanation of personal experience, but if you approach it hoping to learn something about networking I think you'll find it can be quite informative. When people hear the "it's who you know" line they generally assume they need to be some famous person's…