PC vs. Console

After playing games like battlefield 3 , COD MW 3 , Far Cry 2 , Crysis Warhead and resident evil 5 on highest setting in HD Monitor on my Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5870 , i never felt like playing game on consoles except exclusive titles like Gears of Wars and Forza Motorsport 4 .
And PC have the advantage of strategy genre which is highly unlikely to be replaceable in any future consoles . PC gaming will only increase in near future as more middle class family will be able to afford PC's in countries like India,brazil,China,Indonesia ....
With mid-range graphics card able to run most of the games in medium settings their will more buyers who will opt to include graphics card as part of their built .

Zepher said:

Well, then GTA 4 runs excellent on a $130 computer. I bought a new case for $130 and already had the $1500+ in other parts already.

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I just got a new flash drive... lets see a console priced under $8.99!

Just to add, if your console's GPU breaks down, theres no chance to play again and you need to get a new one.

RoasterMen said:

Just to add, if your console's GPU breaks down, theres no chance to play again and you need to get a new one.

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Replacement Xbox costs less than my gpu in my pc.

Zepher said:

RoasterMen said:

Just to add, if your console's GPU breaks down, theres no chance to play again and you need to get a new one.

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Replacement Xbox costs less than my gpu in my pc.

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For gaming a lot depends on the base PC. That's been the big cost for me. MB, CPU, PS. If you do that well, you're good for some years, depending on hardware advances. AGP becoming obsolete caused my last upgrade.
This rig is 3 years old, and can do anything thrown at it so far.
I recently noticed the PhysX effects on Borderlands 2 Youtube vids. Hadn't noticed them on my play and found my PhysX drivers weren't good. Either still had the original drivers that came with the EVGA GTS 250 1gb, or the Win 7 drivers. But it had been working fine on everything I played the last 3 years. Just never noticed because this was the first game I played using PhysX.
Installed the latest nVidia driver pack and tried PhysX at max. Low frame rate during effects, about 20fps.
Son had an extra identical GTS 250, so we added that for SLI, with one card handling PhysX. Runs everything at max now. Never drops below 30fps. And the PhysX effects are terrific. If you don't have PhysX you won't notice, but like many things once you try it you don't want to go back.
Without a good base system, you can't do this. So I paid up a bit at the beginning, but still only bought a bit above mid-range for a PC meant to game.
You can get a GTS 250 for 40 bucks or so on eBay. In fact, a while ago I saw a complete PC with identical MB, CPU and graphics to mine go for about $470 on eBay. It had more RAM and a better PS. Almost bought it myself as a spare.
I can't see my PC becoming obsolete in a few years like they did before.
When NOLF came out I had to go to AGP. Even maxing my AGP card wouldn't play Saboteur, so I went to the current rig. Now after 3 years I'm still playing with 3-4 year old graphics cards.
I don't know how often consoles become obsolete.

Graff said:

My grandfather is a legit hardcore solitaire player.

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My dad is the same. Every time I upgraded the OS for him, his first question was 'Does it have Solitaire?'

Zepher said:

Replacement Xbox costs less than my gpu in my pc.

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*

Basically this argument tends to always break into established 'rationales'.

Those who can't afford a PC tend to back the consoles.
Those who've really only played on PC will tend to back PCs.

Those who have both know the pros and cons to each, but ultimately still have a preference. I'm sure if a high-end gaming PC was also an option for some console only users, you would suddenly lose said few console only users.

Cost often plays a big part in these threads 'preferences'



If you didn't already have a PC, it is cheaper for a console 'setup' vs a whole 'new' PC setup. Most people will at least have an existing TV, maybe a surround setup too. For the cost of a GPU, you can buy a console and be up and gaming.

While it is possible to buy console level capable PC's for the same, or even lower price than a console - but buying a 'decent specced' (better quality than an xbox) PC with all that it entails, can often cost more.

And as far as ports go - ports still look much better on a decent PC.

Like I always say in these threads, I have both. I enjoy both. But even if i didn't - at least I'd still get to game one way or the other, which to me is ultimately the point.

Being old I just wish there was a way that I could use a mouse and keyboard (at least a mouse) when playing on the Xbox 360

I don't know what happened as I started playing the original ghost recon on the first Xbox but then I found the game for PC and well... that was all she wrote for me and couldn't get back to the controllers anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do find playing games like Gran Turismo on the PS2 extremely fun but when it comes to having to aim with one button while pushing another to shoot, well, I just can't do it anymore!

Im a huge fan of JRPGs and sadly, the PC is lacking pretty badly in that genre.
Picked up a PS3 to fill that gap, but even it doesn't have a huge library to choose from, but some of its other exclusives make up for it.


Having spent time with both, I must say I do really like the exclusive titles the consoles (PS3 in my case) have, and the convience they offer. You must admit, some PC games take a bit of tweaking, ini alterations, or sometimes mods to gert working well. No issues like that with a console.
Just have a seat on the couch as they are plug and play.

But, PC is so much better visually, performance wise etc.

they certainly both have advantages and disadvantages. And I would agree, for many it really comes down to the cost.
Which is also why I waited so long to get a console. It was console or gaming PC. I built the PC first since it is and always will be my 1st choice for gaming.
But I also enjoy and recognize the advantages of my console as well.
Both is the best option if you can. There are many games on console that never make it to PC and are worth playing.
Especially if like me your into JRPG titles.

Consoles are basically a dumbed-down computer. They are cheaper, but graphics tend to suck after a while as consoles are improved much much slower than computer components.

The entire point of a console is cheap entertainment for the masses. The games tend to be dumb on average (shooters, arcade-like in 3D, racing games). And of course they are A LOT more common and used than gaming computers.

Computers are better at everything and have much wider range of less-mass-entertainment titles.
But require you to use your brain and learn some basic concepts to buy/assemble/operate them correctly, not everyone can or wants to do that (especially parents and teenagers). And note that you don't need to dump so much more than a console plus a few games worth of cash to have a good gaming rig with a single screen (especially if you buy used components), those that SLI 4 GTX 690 to play BF3 at a hundred zillion fps on four huge 120Hz screens with 3D glasses are a minority in PC gamers as well.

AstaLaVista said:

Being old I just wish there was a way that I could use a mouse and keyboard (at least a mouse) when playing on the Xbox 360

I don't know what happened as I started playing the original ghost recon on the first Xbox but then I found the game for PC and well... that was all she wrote for me and couldn't get back to the controllers anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do find playing games like Gran Turismo on the PS2 extremely fun but when it comes to having to aim with one button while pushing another to shoot, well, I just can't do it anymore!

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Get a xim3 and a wired controller, then you plug a mouse and keyboard into the xim3 and game with that.
My friend bought one and it works good. I borrowed it from him months ago since he doesn't use it and I used it with black ops since I can't aim worth shit with the thumb sticks.


Edit: they now have a new unit that is cheaper but requires a pc for initial setup.
http://store.xim3.com/XIM3_p_12.html

OUCH!!! ... 90 cheeseburges??? a little steep but perhaps worth the time since it appears that more and more PC games are more console than pc games and if this means I can play with my kids, well... why not!

Thanks zepher... I'll hint this outloud and see if Santa thinks I have been nice this year!

anthorasher said:

what makes pc better than consoles and vice versa?

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directx 11

That is another advantage PC has over Console is the fact that you can purchace a PC to do exactly what you need it for and PCs also have a lot more memory (RAM) and larger HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) than consoles do and can handle more than 1 operating system on a single drive (Dual Boot or Multi Boot configurations) where as a console can only run the os that is designed for it and currently the biggest HDDs consoles have are 320 GB for XBox 360 and 500 GB for PS3 where a pc can have multiple hard drives verying in memory from GBs (Giga-Bytes) - TBs (Tera-Bytes)

Keep in mind the conversions for the GB and TB

1 GB = 1,024 MB
1 TB = 1,024 GB

PCs can also process data at about 2-3 times the speed of a console

And also the factor that a PC can do 10 times more than the console so it is more cost effective to pay the price and buy a pc rather than a console there are also way more games for PC than for Consoles

With a PC, the games will render at 1080P or higher.
They will will run at 60FPS or Higher
They can use lots of AF, which makes distant textures look sharp and clean.
They can use lots of AA. No jagged edges. All the lines are nice and smooth. (Consoles do noty have the power to do this properly)
The games are typically cheaper.

Also, games load faster. Since all the DATA is on a HD or SSD. And those that are on HDs are typically higher performing HDs than consoles use.


Consoles run the game at 30FPS or lower.
Most also render at 720P or lower. (Not talking about upscaling to 1080P after the fact, but the resolution it renders the game at)
Incapable of using effective AntiAliaing and AF.
Games cost more.


Another thing that makes these differences is the VRAM on a PCs GPU. There is of course many different sizes, but the most common currently is between 1-2GB.
So, your already looking at around x4 the memory a console has, and thats JUST FOR TEXTURES, The system itself will commonly have 4-8GB of Memory on top of that.

Now, I may be off a little bit here on the specs, but the PS3 and Xbox have what? 512MB for everything...


Don't get me wrong. I do love my PS3. But, it takes a bit to get used after PC gaming. No where near as smooth or good looking in comparison. For the record, I cant tell much difference between the 360 and PS3 visually.
I mean subtle differences here and there, but nothing like Console vs PC which are leagues apart.


But, the console have one huge benefit. The are truly plug and play. Hook it up to your Tv, sit down and start playing.

Yes, a PC will run smoother, look tons better, and overall be the better gaming experience.
BUT ... they also often require tweaking to get certain games to run well or even at all (if older games) You almost always need to set resolution and basic graphic options at the least.

Secondly, a good gaming PC will cost you far more than a console.
In many cases, a good Graphics card all by itself will cost about the same as the entire console.

I have played both platforms and for the record PC gaming is more exciting and more thrills
you can mod both pc and console games given the right code input etc

anyway i will always look at PC gaming as the Best of the best because there is so much room to grow vs limited growth by consoles they update every 5 years but serious the cost is about the same in the long run

the games at 50 to 60 a piece just buying 8 tittles in a year plus a console could have bought a gaming PC and could bring a world of more detailed gaming and more life like atmosphere

same thing could be said about pc about the expense but at the same time you can burn movies make music email share and do documents etc that a silly ole console can't do Multi purpose products are always better then a one purpose product