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3 Programs I think will see new use among PC Gamers
Here are three relatively old programs that I think will start to be used more often. The first 2 are to lock refresh rates and the 3rd is an IPX emulator to play older games.
Powerstrip & Reforce -
These are two programs that among other things, lock a monitors refresh rate when you run a full screen application or computer game. Basically a refresh rate is how quickly a monitor refreshes an image. Higher refresh rates cause less eye strain and have a smoother more "realistic" feel in moving images.
CRT monitors (The old big monitors as opposed to flat panel LCD's) Were able to run at 60-200 HZ depending on your video card. However 99% of current generation LCD monitors are locked at 60 hz. That is the only refresh rate they can display. Because of this, some gamers didn't switch from CRTs to LCDs when LCDs were first introduced. Some in fact, still use CRTs for this reason. Recently, with the arrival of 120 HZ LCD computer monitors, gamers will be able to use Powerstrip or Reforce again to lock the refresh rate.
Currently Viewsonic's VX2265wm 22" is the only computer LCD monitor capable of running at 120 HZ. It retails for about $250. However, Samsung and a few other companies will be coming out with 120 HZ monitors soon.
I'm not going to go too in depth on either program, but powerstrip basically has more options then reforce, you can create custom resolutions and performance profiles. But I prefer reforce because it locks refresh rate settings in the registry, and after that there is no need to run the program in the background. (Compared to Powerstrip where you need to be actually running the program for your refresh rates to be locked)
Both programs will run on any version of Windows 7/Vista, despite only listing Windows 2000/XP.
Reforce
http://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/download.html
Powerstrip
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/
Kali -
Kali is a emulator for playing IPX network games over TCP/IP. It enables legacy multiplayer games to work over a modern TCP/IP network such as the Internet. Back in the mid 90s it was a popular way to play to play Warcraft II online.
Windows 7 removes support for the IPX protocol. So if you want to play an older game that uses IPX you have to use Kali. I used it to play Warcraft II on LAN with my brother. I only own one copy of the game, so we couldn't both play using Blizzards' Battle.net service. I think the original Quake requires IPX to play on LAN as well.
Check out Kali here.
http://www.kali.net/
Powerstrip & Reforce -
These are two programs that among other things, lock a monitors refresh rate when you run a full screen application or computer game. Basically a refresh rate is how quickly a monitor refreshes an image. Higher refresh rates cause less eye strain and have a smoother more "realistic" feel in moving images.
CRT monitors (The old big monitors as opposed to flat panel LCD's) Were able to run at 60-200 HZ depending on your video card. However 99% of current generation LCD monitors are locked at 60 hz. That is the only refresh rate they can display. Because of this, some gamers didn't switch from CRTs to LCDs when LCDs were first introduced. Some in fact, still use CRTs for this reason. Recently, with the arrival of 120 HZ LCD computer monitors, gamers will be able to use Powerstrip or Reforce again to lock the refresh rate.
Currently Viewsonic's VX2265wm 22" is the only computer LCD monitor capable of running at 120 HZ. It retails for about $250. However, Samsung and a few other companies will be coming out with 120 HZ monitors soon.
I'm not going to go too in depth on either program, but powerstrip basically has more options then reforce, you can create custom resolutions and performance profiles. But I prefer reforce because it locks refresh rate settings in the registry, and after that there is no need to run the program in the background. (Compared to Powerstrip where you need to be actually running the program for your refresh rates to be locked)
Both programs will run on any version of Windows 7/Vista, despite only listing Windows 2000/XP.
Reforce
http://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/download.html
Powerstrip
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/
Kali -
Kali is a emulator for playing IPX network games over TCP/IP. It enables legacy multiplayer games to work over a modern TCP/IP network such as the Internet. Back in the mid 90s it was a popular way to play to play Warcraft II online.
Windows 7 removes support for the IPX protocol. So if you want to play an older game that uses IPX you have to use Kali. I used it to play Warcraft II on LAN with my brother. I only own one copy of the game, so we couldn't both play using Blizzards' Battle.net service. I think the original Quake requires IPX to play on LAN as well.
Check out Kali here.
http://www.kali.net/
Comment
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Comment by Cooper McKay on December 17, 2009 at 8:08am -
Oh really? I never had any problems with it. Have you tried Reforce? I'm using it on Windows 7 x64 Professional. I think it might.
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Comment by Daniel Ingle on December 8, 2009 at 7:06am -
I used powerstrip for a while and hated it... It locked up almost every time i tried to use it.. eventually just uninstalled and let things be... SyncMaster 2233RZ samsungs (3d monitor) does go to the 120 Hz I think, will that cause more of the old gamers to switch to an LCD type screen??
© 2012 Created by Chris Pirillo.
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