How can you justify a 2 grand gaming pc?

Bengaboy

Bengaboy

Bengaboy

Soldato
Joined
1 Sep 2007
Posts
3,902
*** Posted this in the PC games part of the forum and thought i may aswell post it here too ***

Hi lads :D

Right , before i make everyone in this forum an enemy who will want to place horse heads in my bed, let me say this 1st. I do like gaming on the old pc. I play CSS, BF2, BF2142, C&C 3 and a few others.

Ok, here we go :)

I have always wondered why people would bother spending say 2 grand on a gaming pc, which will be old in about 6 months to a year and will have to pay an extra 500 quid ish on upgrades to play the latest games on max gfx.

This seems absolutely stupid to me. Why for example would you buy a 300-600 pound gfx card (e.g 8800gtx/ultra) and then pay the extras such as a cpu for another 600 (top of the range) , when you could just buy an xbox 360/ps3 which would do the job just as good for a fraction of the price.

I know pcs do have the best gfx, but thats like a year after the xbox 360 came out * correct me if im wrong on this :) * and then its only slight.

Is the main issue not being able to use the mouse and keyboard for the xbox360/ps3?

Main reason im saying this is because i just got a xbox live gold membership and i can safely say, that the online mp is much better to pc imho.

Its because if you play a pc multiplayer game , BF2 for example - you will have a major advantage if you have a £2000 pc which runs the game fine, to a bloke who has a 9700pro and a pc spec to go with the card and lags all the time. One of the main factors you win is because you have more money to spend on luxuries such as a top notch pc.

This is where console MP is different. Everyone has the same spec. Everyone is the same. Everyone is at an equal level of chance of winning from the get go - the only determing factor of who is better is he who puts more time, practise and effort in. (not saying uber pc owners dont of course, but hopefully you can see where im coming from!)

Wouldnt you agree, for fair MP gaming in the future it should be the consoles who get the main focus?

Wow, seem to have gone slightly off topic, but it links in a way :D

Now im sure you all have some thoughts and feelings on the matter! lol
 
Bengaboy said:
This seems absolutely stupid to me. Why for example would you buy a 300-600 pound gfx card (e.g 8800gtx/ultra) and then pay the extras such as a cpu for another 600 (top of the range) , when you could just buy an xbox 360/ps3 which would do the job just as good for a fraction of the price.

BF2 for example - you will have a major advantage if you have a £2000 pc which runs the game fine, to a bloke who has a 9700pro and a pc spec to go with the card and lags all the time. l
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Right.

First of a top end PC currently with a 8800GTS, Core2Duo and 2GB Ram is about £600, this will look better than what a console at this time can do.

Secondly that is not really true it does not give a big advantage to the person with the higher spec, some fine but it's not that big a deal.

My PC was £850 and I justify the price because;

- It plays every file format under the sun
- I can do my college work on it
- I can do all my video and audio editing on it
- INTERNETS
- Custom maps
- Mod support for games
- PC games are cheaper
- Heaps of dedicated servers for online games that are new and old
- I can manage my iPod
- Keyboard & Mouse is always good
- The graphics are better, obviously
- I can download music, games, movies, TV shows (Since the UK schedule for my favourite shows is way behind the Americans)

I still have a 360 but if the game is online multi-format I usually opt for the PC version because of the dedicated servers.
Bengaboy said:
Wouldnt you agree, for fair MP gaming in the future it should be the consoles who get the main focus?l
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Erm...no why the hell?

Or they could do what they do currently and have them as seperate formats, which is working fine.

I'd rather have my PC than a console anyday, even if my PC couldn't play any of the latest games I'd rather have my PC, it does miles more and gives me far more entertainment than any of the current consoles ever will.
Bengaboy said:
I know pcs do have the best gfx, but thats like a year after the xbox 360 came out * correct me if im wrong on this :) * and then its only slight.
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Wrong on so many levels, since when did PC versions of 360 games come out a year later? Aside from Gears but that was an exclusive deal IIRC.


Why do people have to compare consoles and PC's all the time? They are in a different league.
 
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I nearly fainted, but I'm gonna agree with Jihad (always a first in life!)

My PC hasn't had a game played on it for nearly 2 years now (other than solitaire or mahjongg).

I've probably got about £1300 of equipment, but NOT for gaming, we're taking 2 500Gb harddrives that were bought when they first came out. Wireless everything (network, keyboard, mouse, headphones) so I can work where I want, "good" speakers because I work from home too so like to have music when I work.

I personally don't see a problem with people spending stacks on a gaming PC, it's either a hobby and small competition or just a way of keeping up to date. Some people buy twice as much as that on mobiles, computer games, cars, drink, fags, so why not let them spend it on something they enjoy.
 
Thats why this place is called Overclockers, very few actually buy the "top of the league", they actually buy one or two steps down (saving 50% of your budget in the process) and they still manage to get 90% of the performance if not more.

The only thing I would say that is a major cost, which is difficult to scrimp on is the monitor (unfortunately no way to overclock this :) and get a few more inches for free) saying that even a decent 24" hi res screen is £300 or so which is an absolute steal compared to 6-12 months ago.

Consoles and PC gaming will always be different, why not just sit back and enjoy both for what they are instead of comparing them?
 
it really depends on the game.

personally i far prefer a fps on the pc but driving on my 360

you can do a lot more with a pc than just game
I like fiddling with my pc - upgrading/modding is part of the fun for me

they each have their own place

the other point is that why have an expensive pc is a very common argument when you are comparing to newish consoles. give it another 6 months to a year and graphically the gap becomes larger and it is more obvious which way you need to go if you want the best gaming experience (assuming you care about gfx)
 
Bengaboy said:
Its because if you play a pc multiplayer game , BF2 for example - you will have a major advantage if you have a £2000 pc which runs the game fine, to a bloke who has a 9700pro and a pc spec to go with the card and lags all the time. One of the main factors you win is because you have more money to spend on luxuries such as a top notch pc.
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Tosh. I have played BF2 on varying systems since day of release & all have been lower specs than most. Even now i am still using an AGP rig. Nobody has an advantage over me & i am always one of the first on a server after a map change.
It is not your system specs it is the balance between your system & the settings you play with.
 
Upgrades to my PC to top of the range stuff are only about £800. My XBox 360, a few games and an HDTV came to well over £1000.

So, op, I disagree with you on so many levels.
 
I don't think this is trolling, he has a opinion. Last gen I was on the PC side of the fence purely because the games I wanted to play were mainly on the PC or really shoddy ports. Now most AAA games come out on all formats. So yes I can build a PC that far outperforms the 360 or PS3, but I can't justify the cost to play games. I still play games on it, but as my system is pre-PCI-Express the costs compared to simply buying it on the 360 are hard to swallow.

Both sides of the coin have their benefit, it's just this gen I feel the 360 has more to offer me than the PC.

(Cross posting hurts my head, here we can see the benefits and problems of spliting PC + VG subforums).
 
load up a game on PC on HDTV with 8800gtx and FSAA etc.

load up said game on PS3/XBOX360.

from the graphics and effects you would have to take the PC each time...XBOX and PS3 already behind the graphics pace of PC's and the gap is not going to tighten.

On the other hand, consoles have better pads? and less configuration issues....

But does less configuration issues = more dunce yankee's in my game?
 
BengaBoy - I think you've either got an enthusiasm for performance computers or you haven't. I don't think there's a great deal more to it than that.

I've always found building a v-high-end PC to be a really satisfying experience and they generally last me a while. That's why I do it every few years. Works for me.

Like ScarySquirrel I have spent a lot on a decent HDTV, consoles, peripherals and games recently and yet when I build my next PC it will serve not only as a game platform but somewhere to work from, write software, etc.
 
Nickg said:
On the other hand, consoles have better pads? and less configuration issues....
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and even this is getting better now with Games for Windows.

Certainly the last few games I've tried, have picked up my wired XBOX360 controller, and needed no configging at all.

Of course, there was the mins or so it takes to set your screen res etc, but at the end of the day, it's definitely getting easier.

V1N.
 
I am a fan of both but the main problem with the pc at the moment is a lack of games imo. There just isnt much on there that appeals to me any more the console has a much more varied set of games on it. While Id say that obviously rts will remain a PC thing, the console has a masses of originality that you just dont find on pc much anymore.

Then there is the comfort / social side of consoles that you dont get with PC's. They both have their place but I think its quite telling that PC fanatics that hate consoles concentrate arguments on graphics and FPS controls.
 
I would say a lot of people own both a gaming PC and console and use each for different purposes. I use my PC for flight and racing sims and get great use out of the associated peripherals (trackIR, wheel logitech G25 and joystick Saitek X52) It's also great for RTS titles such as Medieval etc. I use the 360 for a quick blast of gears or table tennis or whatever and it really suits 'social' gaming with a few mates around.
 
Jihad said:
Massive amounts of current and old games and a great line up for this year.

What's the problem?
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maybe i should have phrased differently, a lack of games that interest me. Whenever i go on the pc section of gamespot I see the same top games. The release schedule doesn seem to be as varied as the consoles. It just always seems with the consoles we are forever waiting for the next big graphics FPS to show off / justify our graphics cards. You must admit there is a lack of innovation, for some reason most PC game makers think everyone is obsessed with war.
 
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