Is the PC closer graphically compared to "Next Gen" this time round than ever before?

I am certain that for previous gens, there was a noticeable difference in favour of the consoles at launch and for a fair while after

I disagree, the PS3 launched in 2007 here yet you could have been sat there on Boxing day the previous year in front of a decent PC (i.e. Q6600/4GB/8800GTX SLI which blows consoles out of the water in hardware terms) and be playing graphically splendiferous games such as modded Oblivion, Company of Heroes etc at say 1920x1200 (higher than possible on console). Then in 2007 Crysis came along which was better than anything the consoles provided.

If you compare against 'average' PCs people bought on the high street or whatever then of course things looked better for consoles, but I think it is a very long time since consoles were better graphically than PCs (never owned XB/PS2 generation so can't comment but that was over 10 years ago now!). I think the question should be worded the other way round i.e. are next gen consoles closing the gap on PC or not?
 
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The whole reason consoles came to by in the first place was to be affordable and accessible to everyone. They've always been behind tech/graphics wise when compared to a PC where money is no limit because the commoner on the street needs to be able to afford it.
 
Consoles are good for kids, they just turn them on and away they go, no faffing around with virus protection or problem games. If my kids were younger they would get one. Thank god they are old enough now to handle PC's.

Not saying consoles = kids, but from a parents point of view they are cheap and easy and that is also a big market.

my 8year old is getting a gaming pc for christmas :D

I'll clone the install on a disconnected hdd though in case he ever gets viruses lol

his mum offered him an xbox one but he said he didn't want one as none of his xbox360 friends said they are getting one so I'll introduce him to REAL pc gaming.
all he's really ever played is old games on his mums laptop (minecraft , spore etc) and the odd game on mine when I used to live with him

he's really looking forward to moding minecraft lol which likely means I'll end up doing it for him! on his mums laptop he only gets about 15-20fps in minecraft even on the lowest settings but he still plays it even though he has it on the 360 because the pc version has more stuff or did (xbox version was always multiple versions behind the pc one)
 
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I think the biggest difference this generation is that the PS4 is targetting native 1080P, which is also the most common PC gaming resolution at this time and for the foreseeable future.

In the previous generation consoles targeted 640P to 720P even though PC's were already in the 1280x1024 to 1600x1200 region, so consoles were already lagging behind PC's at launch.

I think PS4 has closed the gap considerably on PC's but you will still get much better textures and details on PC, Xbox One is sort of half a generation behind PS4 in my view in that it's obviously way more powerful than 360/PS3 but still limited to 720P.
 
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I think the biggest difference this generation is that the PS4 is targetting native 1080P, which is also the most common PC gaming resolution at this time and for the foreseeable future.

In the previous generation consoles targeted 640P to 720P even though PC's were already in the 1280x1024 to 1600x1200 region, so consoles were already lagging behind PC's at launch.

I think PS4 has closed the gap considerably on PC's but you will still get much better textures and details on PC, Xbox One is sort of half a generation behind PS4 in my view in that it's obviously way more powerful than 360/PS3 but still limited to 720P.
It will be interesting in a few years with regards to what happens with the next gen consoles once 4k tv's are the norm.

how long are these next gen consoles supposed to last? please tell me it's not another 8 years or they will hold gaming back again
 
1080p may be a common PC resolution but not all of those are at 60hz, in addition to higher resolutions a lot of [serious] gamers are also going down the 120/144hz route.

That said, resolution wise it is probably the closest it has ever been, as two generations back consoles generally weren't hooked up to HDTVs. Also worth bearing in mind that according to the steam hardware survey last month, of single monitor users less than 40% run at 1080p or above.
 
It will be interesting in a few years with regards to what happens with the next gen consoles once 4k tv's are the norm.

how long are these next gen consoles supposed to last? please tell me it's not another 8 years or they will hold gaming back again

They'll probably just upscale to 4k for gaming.

People on these forums are saying they can't tell the difference between 720P and 1080P so I don't think MS/Sony will be in any hurry to rush new consoles out.

That said, resolution wise it is probably the closest it has ever been, as two generations back consoles generally weren't hooked up to HDTVs. Also worth bearing in mind that according to the steam hardware survey last month, of single monitor users less than 40% run at 1080p or above.

I guess the majority will be even more impressed by PS4 running in 1080P then. :p
 
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They'll probably just upscale to 4k for gaming.

People on these forums are saying they can't tell the difference between 720P and 1080P so I don't think MS/Sony will be in any hurry to rush new consoles out.



I guess the majority will be even more impressed by PS4 running in 1080P then. :p
well if your using loads of AA anyway the difference isn't that big imo at least for a lot of games
 
Yes they have.

They really have not. Compare Gears of War on the 360 to the PC or Oblivion, big difference between the versions, very big. Compare the console footage of Watchdogs to the PC, identical. You'll see, for the next 12-18 months the graphics are going to be identical. The reason for that is simply because consoles apparently get you more profits thus nobody has the creativity to take advantage of the significantly more powerful PC hardware. The 360 vs a Nvidia 6600? Not much in it. The PS4 vs the 780ti or r290x? 20% the power on a good day. Previous generations have been close split decision victories for PC, this time around it's knocked the consoles heads off their shoulders 2v1 in the first 10 seconds.
 
the graphics aren't even that close compared to some of the exclusive pc games that actually make an effort.
the biggest jump is textures and AA everything else like the shadows and lighting doesn't look anything special and the FPS is not great from the limiting viewing of my stepson playing ryse at his mothers.

pc games at least the ones that make an effort look about the same if not slightly better overall and most of us are running them double the fps these console games are running at.



8 slow cores sure I'd love to see how they handle the cpu intensive games with tons of AI and stuff going on in the background that some pc games have whilst still maintaining the same graphics and a good fps

in my eyes they are barely next gen the jump in technology considering the 8 year gap between the xbox360 and xbox one is not exactly huge

GPGPU there's plenty of it. (In one of the consoles at least.)
 
I think the biggest difference this generation is that the PS4 is targetting native 1080P, which is also the most common PC gaming resolution at this time and for the foreseeable future.

In the previous generation consoles targeted 640P to 720P even though PC's were already in the 1280x1024 to 1600x1200 region, so consoles were already lagging behind PC's at launch.

I think PS4 has closed the gap considerably on PC's but you will still get much better textures and details on PC, Xbox One is sort of half a generation behind PS4 in my view in that it's obviously way more powerful than 360/PS3 but still limited to 720P.

But the PS4 cant even run BF4 at a native 1080p ( it is being upscaled from 900p) so even the PS4 is already pretty underpowered compared with a good PC with midrange cards in sli/xfire or a single 780/290.
 
PS4 is new so I doubt many games are optimised for the hardware and just shoddy ports.

Look at what Naughty dog have achieved on PS3 compared to what was out at launch. Things will get better for the new consoles but they will always be behind PC's in terms of raw power but this does not always lead to better games. My best gaming moments of the previous generation was on console even though the PC is my main gaming device.
 
But the PS4 cant even run BF4 at a native 1080p ( it is being upscaled from 900p) so even the PS4 is already pretty underpowered compared with a good PC with midrange cards in sli/xfire or a single 780/290.

I wouldn't hold BF4 as any sort of benchmark, even the PC version is a mess. 900P is still 50% more pixels than 720P though.
 
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I'm probably wrong, in which case I'm not particularly fussed as it wouldn't affect wether I use one over the other

But I've had a feeling the last several years when it comes to pc technology and capability its been deliberatly suppressed merely for the purpose of making cross-overs and multiplatform releases easier for developers to accomplish

In the same breath the hardware makers more or less dictate the pace at which the technology is available to maximize profits, since like software its generally a "one time only" purchase for motherboard, viddy cards and cpus in particular

I mean without drifting horribly off topic, theres plenty of examples around of suppressed technology elsewhere in other areas (energy), so its definatly a possibility

While the new consoles might be close on launch based on what the typical pc user has available to them... if the likes of xbox 360 and ps3 are anything to go by at worst your looking at a 5 year product lifecycle because the hype train leaves the station for the "next big thing"... a years a long time, let alone 5

Personally I don't have nowt against consoles, I see them as an alternative for those that just want something to game on without all the other wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff so to speak, where as pcs more suited for folks that want to do a bit of everything and then some (plus its nice being able to fully customize something)
 
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consoles makers can't dictate the hardware pace as they do not make it.

microsoft on the other hand can hold pc gaming back as much as they like seeing as they control directx.

not putting stuff in the newer directx that would make consoles graphics look embarrassing etc

think of all the jumps we had with directx back before microsoft did consoles ;)
 
I think its the market maturing to be honest. People are busier nowadays and do not wish to spend time antisocially in front of a pc.

Personally for most of my gaming life,you'd have found me in front of a lovely pc playing counter strike and various other games.

Truth be told, I probably still would but for the fact my priorities have changed. I'd rather play with my brothers now having a merry old time. LAN isn't really viable vs an xbox360/ps3 split screen.
 
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