dual and quad core pc qestion

stryder · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:01

sorry if this is a daft question but would an intel dual core or quad core based pc with a decent amount of memory and a good mb and vid card rival the graphics in games on the sony ps3 ? i haven`t seen a ps3 in action but judging by all the hype they do seem pretty good

Alex UK · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:04

The PS3's GPU is based on the Nvidia 7800 range, and so is actually quite dated now. The current DX10 range of cards are more powerful. However, because developers develop PS3 games for one GPU, they can achieve very good results. If PC games were developed solely for the 8800GTX, then they would look miles better than any PS3 game.

supernova9 · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:05

Indeed, optimisation is the reason. But let's face it, games on the PC aren't THAT far off PS3 levels.

BlackDragon · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:06

PS3 relies on DX9 and has a boring GeForce 7 series card for its graphics. Its strong point is its massively powerful Cell Processor which has 8 cores. Graphics are good on the next gen consoles but the PC will catch up quickly and make them look obsolete when DX10 gets into the mainstream.

stryder · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:10

thanks for that fellas

ginger_pat · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:44

wow i never knew that lol

UEX · 1 Jul 2007 at 17:04

BlackDragon said:
PS3 relies on DX9 and has a boring GeForce 7 series card for its graphics. Its strong point is its massively powerful Cell Processor which has 8 cores. Graphics are good on the next gen consoles but the PC will catch up quickly and make them look obsolete when DX10 gets into the mainstream.

The 7XXX series cards were very powerful and in truth still are when developed for correctly. The CELL processor has never been proven to outmatch desktop equivalents (dont you think you might have seen an x86 variant by now if it was to compete?). As for graphics? you will outmatch a PS3 with a single core PC and a decent graphics card/ram setup, theres no real need for dual core let alone quad core at the moment.

In short PC's have long had the power to beat consoles but not the games, ive yet to see a PC pump out games that look as good as gears of war on 360 , especially when considering that on a HD set at 720p there are some serious resolutions going on.

But it will come.

BlackDragon · 1 Jul 2007 at 17:16

Problem with the CELL Processor is that because it is so complex that no game can be programmed to take full use of it.

As for graphics quality compared to next gen consoles, its down to trying to optimise it for as many hardware configurations as possible which is quite a challenge really.

jammir · 1 Jul 2007 at 17:21

the CELL and the ps3's GPU are designed to work together so you cant really compare it with x86 based system and at certain tasks the CELL can out preform most PC eg "folding"