I remember the first time I gazed into those stary depths. I looked deep into the green abyss only to find it staring back at me. My jaw had dropped, my mouch was dry, and I felt tingly. I was snapped back by a grated and sinister voice, "Pay attention, Mr.Freeman". I watched that whole video with a sense of otherworldy awe. I was with him when he outwitted the combine soldiers and dashed them into the walls. I was with him when he fought along side Barney, fighting for every inch of City 17. I was with him when he danced around a 3 story daddy long-legs. I was once again Gordon Freeman, and I looked drop dead gorgous.
But how good was it going to look on my current video card? I could see my GeForce 4 Ti4200 humming happily away inside my case...but would it be enough. The Prophet who heralded the coming of Half-life 2, Gabe Newell spoke of Cards that would bring out an end to the age of DX8 and birth a new dawn in the eyes of DX9. But there were two paths to take, one which would lead to a halcyon existance of HDR and soft shadows, and anothe which was deciptful and dangerous, which would lead to the land of Lost Frames and Other Cool Stuff.
I searched the lands far and wide. I found followers of the two paths who compared the two. In some instances, the NVIDIA path seemed the wiser choice, it seemed faster in almost everything, yet the Radeon path was cleaner, prettier, and as fast.
The decision came to follow the NVIDIA path when a eBay peddler offered me a Golden Card, the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256Mb for only 300.00 "Too good to be true!" I thought, but I bought it anyways. I had to sell my current card to afford it, but I did just that and used a older card as a place holder. I can still hear his wicked cackle in my mind to this day, his spell of "Damn Good Price" had had its hold on me. So I sent him the funds in for form of a Money Order express mail. I wrote very carefully and large so it could be easily understood, on the top part FROM: in big bold letters, followed by my address, and TO: in big bold letters followed by his address, and gave it to the Man on the Snail , my prayers with it.
The very next day I opened my mail box to discover that the letter I sent with my money was back! I was at first angered by this, for it was delaining my union with the Golden Card, but I quickly went into action. I decided not to wait another day with this Snail Mail, and deposeted it into my bank and called down the Lightning Quick PayPal. He shot my money over to the peddler in an instant, and all was well....or was it?
A week passed and nothing....not even a response from the peddler. I had recived some disturbing mail saying that the man I bought from is being investigated and could be a fraud. I was very distrought by this. I tried to contact him but to no avail. I decided to contact paypal and have them seize my funds, as they had his account number. A week later, they sent a letter saying that the peddler was at fault, but they were unable to recover the funds. At this point I was in a rage. I had saved quite a while for that Golden Card and making fancy esspresso drinks for rich peope doesnt pay that well and I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I FIND THAT BASTARD I'M GOING TO KICK HIS LITTLE ASS SO HARD THEY HAVE TO USE A SPATULA TO REMOVE HIS TEETH FROM THE PAVEMENT. Ahem, excuse me. Where was I? Oh yes....
So I had lost my money and decided that I was going to have to save every penny and call in some favors if I'm going to be able to aford a Golden Card before Half-Life 2, assuming that the Prophet spoke true about it's arrival date. But then, I had an idea! I ran to the bank and asked if they had Online Fraud protection, and they did! All I had to do was write a letter explainign what happened and they would retrieve my funds! In fact they credited it back to me that day! Although its quite possible PayPal will never work for me again because they are the ones who are forced to pay me back, its a small price to pay.
This little 'hickup' gave me time to do more research and conclude that the Radeon was the True Path and the Golden Card so I once again bought it from a eBay peddler named Dealforsure. He was an honest man with thousands of kind remarks to back him, so I bought my new Radeon 9800 Pro and it was in my hands on week later, and in my computer a hearts beat after that. After I got it, The Prophet spoke of a new vision which had revealed the True Path. The NVIDIA path was the one of trechery and lost frames, and the Golden Path was made of the Radeon's divine light. Now I am on the True Path and await the coming of Half-life 2. Had fate not smiled upon me and sent my Money Order back, I would still be pinning away for a Golden Card. It just assures me that this was ment to be.
-PrimalGod
PS Yea, yea, I know, I have too much free time.
But how good was it going to look on my current video card? I could see my GeForce 4 Ti4200 humming happily away inside my case...but would it be enough. The Prophet who heralded the coming of Half-life 2, Gabe Newell spoke of Cards that would bring out an end to the age of DX8 and birth a new dawn in the eyes of DX9. But there were two paths to take, one which would lead to a halcyon existance of HDR and soft shadows, and anothe which was deciptful and dangerous, which would lead to the land of Lost Frames and Other Cool Stuff.
I searched the lands far and wide. I found followers of the two paths who compared the two. In some instances, the NVIDIA path seemed the wiser choice, it seemed faster in almost everything, yet the Radeon path was cleaner, prettier, and as fast.
The decision came to follow the NVIDIA path when a eBay peddler offered me a Golden Card, the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256Mb for only 300.00 "Too good to be true!" I thought, but I bought it anyways. I had to sell my current card to afford it, but I did just that and used a older card as a place holder. I can still hear his wicked cackle in my mind to this day, his spell of "Damn Good Price" had had its hold on me. So I sent him the funds in for form of a Money Order express mail. I wrote very carefully and large so it could be easily understood, on the top part FROM: in big bold letters, followed by my address, and TO: in big bold letters followed by his address, and gave it to the Man on the Snail , my prayers with it.
The very next day I opened my mail box to discover that the letter I sent with my money was back! I was at first angered by this, for it was delaining my union with the Golden Card, but I quickly went into action. I decided not to wait another day with this Snail Mail, and deposeted it into my bank and called down the Lightning Quick PayPal. He shot my money over to the peddler in an instant, and all was well....or was it?
A week passed and nothing....not even a response from the peddler. I had recived some disturbing mail saying that the man I bought from is being investigated and could be a fraud. I was very distrought by this. I tried to contact him but to no avail. I decided to contact paypal and have them seize my funds, as they had his account number. A week later, they sent a letter saying that the peddler was at fault, but they were unable to recover the funds. At this point I was in a rage. I had saved quite a while for that Golden Card and making fancy esspresso drinks for rich peope doesnt pay that well and I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I FIND THAT BASTARD I'M GOING TO KICK HIS LITTLE ASS SO HARD THEY HAVE TO USE A SPATULA TO REMOVE HIS TEETH FROM THE PAVEMENT. Ahem, excuse me. Where was I? Oh yes....
So I had lost my money and decided that I was going to have to save every penny and call in some favors if I'm going to be able to aford a Golden Card before Half-Life 2, assuming that the Prophet spoke true about it's arrival date. But then, I had an idea! I ran to the bank and asked if they had Online Fraud protection, and they did! All I had to do was write a letter explainign what happened and they would retrieve my funds! In fact they credited it back to me that day! Although its quite possible PayPal will never work for me again because they are the ones who are forced to pay me back, its a small price to pay.
This little 'hickup' gave me time to do more research and conclude that the Radeon was the True Path and the Golden Card so I once again bought it from a eBay peddler named Dealforsure. He was an honest man with thousands of kind remarks to back him, so I bought my new Radeon 9800 Pro and it was in my hands on week later, and in my computer a hearts beat after that. After I got it, The Prophet spoke of a new vision which had revealed the True Path. The NVIDIA path was the one of trechery and lost frames, and the Golden Path was made of the Radeon's divine light. Now I am on the True Path and await the coming of Half-life 2. Had fate not smiled upon me and sent my Money Order back, I would still be pinning away for a Golden Card. It just assures me that this was ment to be.
-PrimalGod
PS Yea, yea, I know, I have too much free time.
