Pc's or Consoles?

antharr said:

Depends on the budget.

Right now it would be a console because I refuse to sink $1500+ into a computer.

You can build a great gaming computer for about $800 or less.

I spent around that much one mine and here's what I got (the 9400GT has 512MB):

progressia said:

HELL, for reliability, consoles ftw by faaaar! Seriously, the money/effort/time being spent on PC gaming will might as well be spent on the latest console + a great screen + amazing speakers. I know console hardware stays locked in the same old hardware and that means degenerated performance over time, but hell, at least it's reliable, no BSODs or system failures that appear very often like those of a PC, and having to think a billion times before installing/plugging in ANYTHING on the PC or face eternal damnation and having a failed system. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea on how u can always tweak ur system and have it perform better than it should, but it's just too stressful and expensive and it hardly ever works out the way u want it, hell even more hazardous than console gaming.

It's funny to read this and think... Hmmm... Aren't the console makers trying to make their respective consoles into PC's? (hard drives, NIC's, keyboards...) Oh yeah, to successfully navigate through the online portals these consoles offer, don't you need a keyboard? I mean, yeah, voice communication has come a long way in the console arena, but does everybody have a headset? I betcha every PC gamer has a mouse and keyboard though.

Basically, if you bought your computer from Best Buy from a Sunday sales paper, you might have problems running games (the newer ones). If you built your own computer, more than likely, that PC will blow a console out of the water--if it was built for gaming.

BSOD's are because of some sort of incompatibility somewhere--but consoles suffer crashes too!

Product FRED said:

You can build a great gaming computer for about $800 or less.

I guess that opinions on great gaming machines will vary wildly. I think you can put together a decent box for gaming in the $800 area....but it will be far from great....at least by those who consider themselves gamers. I think $1,000 to $1,200 is more inline with what a gamer would invest between a CPU, a GPU, and a cooling system.

pparks1 said:

Product FRED said:

You can build a great gaming computer for about $800 or less.

I guess that opinions on great gaming machines will vary wildly. I think you can put together a decent box for gaming in the $800 area....but it will be far from great....at least by those who consider themselves gamers. I think $1,000 to $1,200 is more inline with what a gamer would invest between a CPU, a GPU, and a cooling system.

I should mention I got the GPU from a card. If I applied the cost of it, it would be around $1,000. So basically, yeah you're right. I also agree with the previous comment that consoles are trying to be more like PCs. Just build a PC...

antharr said:

Product FRED said:

pparks1 said:

I guess that opinions on great gaming machines will vary wildly. I think you can put together a decent box for gaming in the $800 area....but it will be far from great....at least by those who consider themselves gamers. I think $1,000 to $1,200 is more inline with what a gamer would invest between a CPU, a GPU, and a cooling system.

I should mention I got the GPU from a card. If I applied the cost of it, it would be around $1,000. So basically, yeah you're right. I also agree with the previous comment that consoles are trying to be more like PCs. Just build a PC...

I would also include future upgrades in the price as well.

Future upgrades? Consoles are upgraded too and ususally at a higher (initial) cost. You might not need a Radeon 5990 at the $600+ price point, but when Sony, MS, and Nintendo all come out with the new round of consoles, you can bet that Sony and MS's boxes are going to be upwards of $500. That's more than a 5870 and more than the proposed price of the GTX480--matter of fact, that's more than TWO 5770's, which you could crossfire and get very good performance.

So future upgrades favor the PC, imho.

*I got the GPU from a friend.

Sorry, just a stupid typo.

mpcrsc562 said:

antharr said:

Product FRED said:

I should mention I got the GPU from a card. If I applied the cost of it, it would be around $1,000. So basically, yeah you're right. I also agree with the previous comment that consoles are trying to be more like PCs. Just build a PC...

I would also include future upgrades in the price as well.

Future upgrades? Consoles are upgraded too and ususally at a higher (initial) cost. You might not need a Radeon 5990 at the $600+ price point, but when Sony, MS, and Nintendo all come out with the new round of consoles, you can bet that Sony and MS's boxes are going to be upwards of $500. That's more than a 5870 and more than the proposed price of the GTX480--matter of fact, that's more than TWO 5770's, which you could crossfire and get very good performance.

So future upgrades favor the PC, imho.

+1

I usually get a good 5-6 years out of my consoles. My Xbox360 will be 4 years old this summer. I never did own an Xbox...so I wasn't concerned at all with backwards compatibility. I assume as long as my 360 doesn't give out...that will provide me with the ability to play my old games for as long as I would want to. I think my PS2 still works...but I don't play any of those games anymore.

When the 360 first came out, the high end version of the console was $399. So, not a whole heck of a lot more than a decent gaming video card.