£400 graphics card vs £20 mouse/keyboard?

[555BUK]

Which device do you think will do the best job at keeping PC gaming alive, when compared to games consoles, and the near future release of PS4's and XBOX720's that promise true Full HD gaming and all of the modern graphical effects?

Will it be AMD/NVidia's current crop of (overpriced) Graphics Cards, or the humble mouse/keyboard?

 

[cmndr_andi]

I think the mouse and keyboard is a big pull for PC gaming and really helps make it as good as it is (due to input devices with a lot of precision and options).

IMHO, the high-end graphics cards don't really win people over to PC gaming, but these high-end cards allow for the development of the cheaper, less powerful cards that are affordable to most people and give them a great gaming experience (like the HD 6850 which is currently ~£95).

However, the one thing which is really driving PC gaming at the moment and will likely still lead in after the next-gen console releases is Digital distribution of games. Services like steam, gamefly/direct2drive, gamersgate, Good old Games and origin offer PC gamers a massive choice of games they can download and play - plus the pricing (especially in the regular offers) is usually rather good.

 

[rowedogg]

definatly the mouse and keyboard, but need to be a bit more than a £20 set !

 

[kilohawk]

has to be the mouse and keyboard, but the mouse has be accurate!
i cannot play FPS' on the PS3 anymore, there is just not enough precision in the PS controller to aim at anything.
But the graphics also plays a massive part in it for me too .eg. F1 2011 console vs PC is night and day.

 

[Cleeecooo]

I think that the main reason people buy consoles is because to get a PC which is quiet and can run the top games, you do need to spend a fair but more. Mouse and keyboard will be te biggest deal breaker for most.

I like to think of pcs like drugs (I'm not in any way encouraging drugs, it is merely an analogy. Also, I am in no way shape or form saying that OcUK deals drugs!)

You have something which is mediocre, basically a supped up office PC. this is sniffing glue.

You then get your first "custom built" computer, often a dell as they're so widely known. You have the stepping stone for the harder stuff, do your new XPS is cannabis.

Then you get an addiction and you want more power so you stray into building your own, or getting a proper custom built, extacy. This also puts you I touch with the dealers (OcUK)

Finally, you realise how much power you can have and you decide to go completely OTT and get a ridiculously over powered computer which ruins your social life, cripples you mentally and physically and makes you whire yourself out to strangers (many many ways to do this) in order to fund exquisite motherboard cooling.

You are now on PC cocaine.

Sorry, I think I may have gone slightly off topic, but the general point is people start of with a game they get for free on PC and I think form then on they gradually progress up the PC drug hierarchy until they start hating consoles, and it all starts of with simethig like TF2

 

[ThunderLicker]

Even the trusty mouse and keyboard is becoming a problem now though when we get some of these sloppy console ports that force mouse acceleration and you end up having to mess about in configs trying to correct something that shouldn't be an issue in the first place.

FPS' that support mouse and keyboard properly tho are in a different league compared to playing on a pad but I also think graphics play a major role too. I don't think I could go back to single screen gaming now after using eyefinity.

Neither will be what keeps pc gaming alive. Ultimately what will keep it going is us idiots that continue to put up with all the crap knowing that the experiece we get on the pc is beyond what the consoles can offer us once we eventually get it all working properly

 

[TheMorningStar]

It's the KB and mouse which is most important. I have wanted to upgrade my GFX for about a year, not happy with pricing so I'm still pottering away on my 5 generation old HD3870, and you know what it does the job to about 95% in the games I play CS:S, TF2, UT3. I was going to get a 7 series card and branch out into BF3 and other pretty newer games but the pricing just isn't worth it. I'll probably just keep this card until it dies and then replace it with something second hand for half it's original cost and twice it's performance or rather beyond.

 

[eyetrip]

I would rather play with controller than mouse & keyboard, but prefer the better graphics and frame rate on PC.

Will often get game on console simply if the PC version does not offer game pad support - looking at you Mass Effect series!

Yes, can play just fine with M&K, but find game pad more relaxing somehow, probably because my work day is spent on M&K

 

[Borsch]

For me the best incentive to keep gaming on PC is TrackIR Because I love dogfighting games like ROF and Il2. Nothing even close is available on consoles.

But othersise - yes, for FPS keyboard/mouse combo beats joypads any time. (I have cheapest "library" keyboard and mouse. Well, I have an £80 trackball Slimblade, but its not much use for gaming For gaming I have my trusty £5 Dell mouse)

 

[Gregster]

I think that the main reason people buy consoles is because to get a PC which is quiet and can run the top games, you do need to spend a fair but more. Mouse and keyboard will be te biggest deal breaker for most.

I like to think of pcs like drugs (I'm not in any way encouraging drugs, it is merely an analogy. Also, I am in no way shape or form saying that OcUK deals drugs!)

You have something which is mediocre, basically a supped up office PC. this is sniffing glue.

You then get your first "custom built" computer, often a dell as they're so widely known. You have the stepping stone for the harder stuff, do your new XPS is cannabis.

Then you get an addiction and you want more power so you stray into building your own, or getting a proper custom built, extacy. This also puts you I touch with the dealers (OcUK)

Finally, you realise how much power you can have and you decide to go completely OTT and get a ridiculously over powered computer which ruins your social life, cripples you mentally and physically and makes you whire yourself out to strangers (many many ways to do this) in order to fund exquisite motherboard cooling.

You are now on PC cocaine.

Sorry, I think I may have gone slightly off topic, but the general point is people start of with a game they get for free on PC and I think form then on they gradually progress up the PC drug hierarchy until they start hating consoles, and it all starts of with simethig like TF2

lol Clee.

A strange analogy however I do agree with you. I feel the need to upgrade often but don't need to upgrade if that makes sense? As an enthusiast I do it and I suppose it can also be considered a Hobby.

 

[Wucked]

Mouse and keyboard. If the next generation of consoles have unrestricted support for 3rd party mice and keyboards, both in and out of game, then I'll happily stop using my PC as a games machine. PC graphics cards don't exactly help the case for the PC. A graphics card alone can cost more than an entire console, and will usually have a much shorter life span.

What's actually likely to happen is more of the same though. New consoles, controllers only, and monumentally bad general peripherals, such as the 360 headsets and God awful WLAN add-in cards.

 

[=XDC=FluphyBunny]

As Wucked above posts a next gen console with full mouse and keyboard support would be a very interesting prospect particularly for FPS addicts like myself

 

[MichaelM]

You can't play a first person shooter online without a mouse and keyboard, especially at 25-30fps.

Sure, people do try with auto aim assistance but it really is just ****ing into the wind.

 

[kmax86]

mouse /keyboard for me. If those keyb/mouse converters properly worked for consoles I would have been a console player.

also +1 to cleeco's analogy
it is VERY satisfying tinkering with computers specially new components
most of the time its WANT, WANT, WANT rather than needs

 

[will1b]

Obviously mouse and keyboard, the latest batch of graphics cards disappoints me. The Tahiti high-end is overpriced for what it is, and the GTX 660 I was planning on getting has been promoted to GTX 680 and has another £100 lopped on top of the price.

But if you do want gamepad on a PC, try out Xpadder. It's awesome for when a game doesn't support gamepad and you think it'll be good with it on. Use it to simulate keystrokes I'm looking at you, eyetrip!