PC hardware of today and the console war...

C6ckneyGeezer

C6ckneyGeezer

C6ckneyGeezer

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Now ive been PC gaming for years and I love it. I love what people do with their hardware in terms of pushing limits and trying to build the "ultimate" setup, but I have a question; Why spend out the money on say a Titan graphics card when I can play Metro LL on my 7790 just fine? £100 vs £800 to play the same game...on one component.

Check my sig for my specs, it's nothing special at all yet it plays any game I throw at it, maybe not on ultra settings but it's good enough. What I don't understand is this...

My system plays most games out there on average "high" settings at a smooth FPS. Now why spend 8x what I spent just to play the same game on the Ultra setting? I could understand say a £500 system plays "high" and then a £600 system plays "ultra" but we are talking my £400 system and say sombody spending £2000...big difference in price for click of a mouse to turn it up on ultra. Especialy when a somthing better comes out 6 months later which blows your card out of the water...

Saying that....same thing as sombody having a Ford Focus and sombody haveing a buggatti. The same 70mph speed limit applys to both cars.

Im not after a big debate...I mean if you have the money to spend on a rig, why not? But is this where the industry is loosing the battle against the console? You buy the new PS4 it's going to be the "latest and greatest" in the eyes on a console gamer for what, the next 5 - 6 years? You buy the latest CPU or graphics card and within a year it's old hat! Yes your rig will be playing BF4 at a better detail level but it cost you £2000, yet the console gamer spent £350 to play the same game which still looks amazing!

Thoughts and comments welcome. Oh and be nice!
 
Fair enough.. But some people go for bigger/better and multiple displas, thats where graphics are needed. Eyefinity is a real drain on GPU power..

Another point is longevity.. There rig will/may handle games in 4 years time where as your's will struggle.. Though i know the people who buy titans will also replace them as soon as something new appears..

Take Kaapstad for example, he has a quad TITAN rig, I saw a picture the other day of 4 290X's stacked up on his flooor. :)

PC vs Console is tougher. Though basically consoles are not latest and greatest. They'll run games at 30FPS @1080p where most PC can handle 60FPS (on high/ultra) with no sweat..

Console is the lazy/cheap mans PC (not in a demeaning way..it just is..)
 
For me building my pc, upgrading it, water cooling it, overclocking it and then using it to play games is my hobby so I have no issues spending my money on it. I wouldn't ever consider buying a box that sits under the TV to play games.
 
Aye, high-end PCs are expensive toys that people enjoy for what they are as what they can do in many cases.

Consoles have the advantage that you know you'll be able to play all the new console games until the next console is out - though the difference in appearance is pretty big.

Personally I own no top-end equipment, in computing, cars, sports, etc. I always go for the thing I think offers best value. I just spend loads of time drooling over the nice shiny stuff I haven't bought! Also trying to take my not-so-good kit and beat slightly better kit with it :)
 
Doomedspeed said:
Fair enough.. But some people go for bigger/better and multiple displas, thats where graphics are needed. Eyefinity is a real drain on GPU power..

Another point is longevity.. There rig will/may handle games in 4 years time where as your's will struggle.. Though i know the people who buy titans will also replace them as soon as something new appears..

Take Kaapstad for example, he has a quad TITAN rig, I saw a picture the other day of 4 290X's stacked up on his flooor. :)

PC vs Console is tougher. Though basically consoles are not latest and greatest. They'll run games at 30FPS @1080p where most PC can handle 60FPS (on high/ultra) with no sweat..

Console is the lazy/cheap mans PC (not in a demeaning way..it just is..)
Click to expand...

A console is not a 'lazy/cheap man's PC' in any way, shape or form.

Yes, there may be people who cannot afford a gaming PC, so they get a console, but there's also a lot of people with both, myself included.

There's still a stigma attached to PC gaming where people think it's too difficult to set up and get games running well, as well as people thinking it costs like four times the cost of a console to even buy a gaming rig. This puts people off.

In response to the OP, i'm kind of similar to you where I certainly would never pay £800 for a GPU, but I have spent £300. That £300 is gonna last me, I reckon, until at least 2018 give or take. My GTX 770 maxes every game I play (at least for the moment) but I don't mind turning settings down if necessary.

Then there are many people who run multiple screens though, and those that encode etc; they need high-end stuff.
 
riskyfrisky said:
A console is not a 'lazy/cheap man's PC' in any way, shape or form.
Click to expand...

You know what i mean (and i think your post backed me up)

If you can't afford a gaming PC or Can't bring yourself to build one, you get a console.. Saves energy ('lazy') and saves money ('cheap')..

I could have been more delicate with my wording but i got my point across. :)
 
I agree its a hobby as much as anything else, like people who modify cars, silly money can be spent but its a personal thing. I think lots of people make their rig last a long time without upgrading or getting a new one they just turn down the settings. My last one lasted 5 years with a £100 card upgrade 2 years ago, just got a new one but only £800 and it will last a while.

I personally wouldn't buy a console but can see why lots of people do, like I say its entirely personal. I never feel my car is 'mine' until I have modified it even if its just a little thing it means its personal to me.

If gaming and computers aren't personal to you buy a console......
 
Doomedspeed said:
You know what i mean (and i think your post backed me up)

If you can't afford a gaming PC or Can't bring yourself to build one, you get a console.. Saves energy ('lazy') and saves money ('cheap')..

I could have been more delicate with my wording but i got my point across. :)
Click to expand...

Maybe this is just me on a bad day then! But your post comes across as really obnoxious.

Yes, it is cheaper but it is not 'cheap'. And it isn't 'lazy' either. Over £300 for a console I wouldn't consider to be a cheap man's PC, considering a gaming rig could be made for not a massive amount more. And just because I say in my post that there are those who can't afford a gaming PC so they buy a console doesn't fully cement your opinion as fact. There are many people who buy multiple consoles and haven't got a gaming rig, are they cheap/lazy?

Of course, there are people who can only buy what they can afford (I only had a console until a few years ago), but I think it's a little shortsighted to consider consoles in such an inferior way.

BTW i'm not trying to flame, I just genuinely have a different point-of-view to Doomedspeed.
 
I like people who have different opinions to me. :)

Ill use an analogy to explain the way i see it...

You want to buy a Race Car (as car racing is your new hobby)..

You have two options:

1) A kit car (chasis, suspension.. other gubbins)(if you're mad/skilled enough you can even build the chasis youself) and you have to go out to find your own engine, brakes..ect..

THe process takes time, you need to carefully select your bits, spend time assembling them and tweaking them.. And making it individual if you want..

This process cost more but the satisfaction (and overall result is supieror/ more tailored to you)

2) Go out And buy an off the shelf Car (whcch will be cheaper) and go racing straight away, as its already setup and ready to go.

That's how i see it. :D
 
Doomedspeed said:
If you can't afford a gaming PC or Can't bring yourself to build one, you get a console.. Saves energy ('lazy') and saves money ('cheap')..
Click to expand...

I do think you are oversimplifying the the issue.

I would not call console games lazy just because they do not want to build their own gaming PCs. They could quite easily buy a ready built gaming PC to save them some of the problems of building one.

I think it is more dependent on what the individual gamer wants to get out of experience. If they want to come home after a day at work/school etc and relax on the sofa playing FIFA/COD etc with friends (both splitscreen and online) whist not being too fussed over the graphics quality then a console would meet their needs. You get in, turn it on, load the game and it works with minimal fuss.

Cost wise by the time you add in a few accessories, games and online subscriptions then the next-gen consoles are not much cheaper than a mid spec gaming PC.
 
Doomedspeed said:
I like people who have different opinions to me. :)

Ill use an analogy to explain the way i see it...

You want to buy a Race Car (as car racing is your new hobby)..

You have two options:

1) A kit car (chasis, suspension.. other gubbins)(if you're mad/skilled enough you can even build the chasis youself) and you have to go out to find your own engine, brakes..ect..

THe process takes time, you need to carefully select your bits, spend time assembling them and tweaking them.. And making it individual if you want..

This process cost more but the satisfaction (and overall result is supieror/ more tailored to you)

2) Go out And buy an off the shelf Car (whcch will be cheaper) and go racing straight away, as its already setup and ready to go.

That's how i see it. :D
Click to expand...

And though I don't agree with your opinion, big respect all the same lol.

I get where you're coming from; the 'PC passion' as a hobby is very rewarding. I couldn't ever imagine buying an off-the-shelf PC and not put my own together. But the simple fact is there are people who don't share that passion. They could certainly afford a gaming PC, yet they choose not to have one, they choose consoles.

I guess how I see it is that they are equal. PC gaming definitely offers benefits over consoles, but it also works the other way round.
 
"Fine" changes depending on the person. Some people see no difference in a game running at 30fps vs. 120fps, so they don't care. Others may be particularly sensitive to screen tearing or colour reproduction.

The best part about PCs is that you can focus on what's important to you. Personally I find dipping below ~90fps or so jarring, so I wouldn't find playing Metro on your setup very good. With consoles you just have to suck it up, with a PC you can change things.
 
riskyfrisky said:
A console is not a 'lazy/cheap man's PC' in any way, shape or form.

Yes, there may be people who cannot afford a gaming PC, so they get a console, but there's also a lot of people with both, myself included.

There's still a stigma attached to PC gaming where people think it's too difficult to set up and get games running well, as well as people thinking it costs like four times the cost of a console to even buy a gaming rig. This puts people off.
Click to expand...

There's also the price of games to consider. PCs cost more in terms of initial outlay, but once you've got them the games are cheaper and if you're willing to wait a little while the sale prices are even better.

Then, you don't have to worry about backwards compatibility with PCs. PS4 won't run PS2 games, I'm told, but if I want to go back and play some 90s classics on my PC I can.
 
I agree that a console is a cheap mans lazy mans approach however I would like to point out a few things ive noticed and correct me if im wrong -

People who make gaming PC's and game on the PC 99% of the time, tend to spend more time on their PC than on the TV (Meaning they use their PC to watch stuff etc and dont really sit infront of a TV as opposed to a PC monitor)
 
I agree. I have a GTX580. I have a 27 " 144 Hz monitor with 1920 x 1080 resolution. I have yet to play a game where I need to lower the graphics settings. I think if you buy a GTX 780 now it willbe about 2 - 3 years before games push it limits. I am talking about single monitor set ups.
 
i think its changing a lot
things like twitch make it cooler to be pc gaming, can even make a little money
i think also a lot of people buy the consoles just to own them and dont really use them that much, makes their sales look better :p
 
Console gamer here, used to be a PC gamer but kind of grew out of it.

I have a average PC for work at home, but the lack of the social side of PC gaming is what forced me away, Im older now, gaming is more of a social thing for me now, I want to play in the living room on the TV, where I can sit and speak to my wife, or play together.

This is what is lacking from PC gaming, now this gen I will probably return to PC gaming with more and more games coming to PC aswell as consoles and the support for controllers compared to back in 2005.

If the steam controller makes it possible to be slightly competitive in mouse centric games then I think it will be a huge step forward for those of us that dont want to generally sit at a desk and play.
 
I have both a PC and Xbox, much prefer fps on the PC as I'm old enough to have played Doom at launch whereas racing games are better with a console and a controller.

Console games are more expensive and while the are acceptable you can get a much better PC game experience. With BF3, 64 player maps are PC only. haven't bought BF4 yet as I can't spare the time!

The beauty of a PC is you can spend as much or as little as you like depending on the games you play and the visual quality you find acceptable. Compared to the original Doom, BF3 on integrated graphics is still visually amazing if not all that playable due to game pacing.

You can have a really good PC gaming experience on a modestly priced PC then the sky is the limit. If it's your hobby and you push the boundaries you can spend serious cash but then you recoup a good percentage as you tend to sell old components while they still have a good chunk of value. It's a bit like a new car, very expensive the first time, but less expensive keep replacing if you look after it an change regularly while the value is still there.

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