Upgrading & Better Gaming Experience...

Dharok

Dharok

Dharok

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Joined
9 Jul 2007
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512
Location
Ramsgate, Kent
Basically I'm wondering what to do for Christmas, I'm unsure what I'd get a better gaming experience from. If I upgraded my machine or bought an xbox 360. I'm open for debate as to what to go for. I just really want to know which I can receive the better gaming experience from.

Here's my spec:

Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
Sapphire X1650XT 256 PCI-E Graphics Card
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
CoolerMaster 650w Powersupply
Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case
19" Acer Widescreen LCD Monitor

Obviously I have the choice, think how much an xbox 360 would cost, add a cheap 32 inch LCD tv onto that and that's how much I pretty much got to spend upgrading my PC if that's the best option to go.

As currently I have a 28 inch old style TV so it's probably better getting a new TV aswell, unless I buy a 360 and use it on the TV I currently have and use the rest to upgrade my machine.

Hopefully you guys can help me out with this decision, please remember it's all about gaming experience and realism and what would generally be accepted as being "better".

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance.

Dharok
 
Well the cheapest LCD tv on OCuK is £330(inc vat) and xbox on its own is £200(inc vat) so I guess you have about £550 to spend.
So you could upgrade your monitor to a 24'' for £260(inc vat) and have nearly £300 to spend on a PC upgrade. So get some memory, more GeiL? its £33 inc vat. And also get a new graphics card 8800GTX 768mb for £287 and im sure it would be better than a console :)
 
P.C Gaming always beats console gaming so id go for the p.c upgrade :)

Ram is fine, i'd Overclock the cpu to around 2.4-3ghz , replace the graphic card with a 8800GT (£175)

Then grab the best screen u can.
 
Yes, currently the CPU is overclocked to 3.3GHz so I'm safe there.

Wouldn't a GTX be better, after all I will want to play the best games at the best settings really, and isn't a bigger screen than 19" overkill for PC gaming?

Thanks for all the comments so far, they're influencing my decision quite well.

Dharok
 
C'mon guys any more help in this, I don't want this thread reaching page 2 as I know nobody cares about them! I just need to know a few more opinions before reaching my final decision.

Thankyou in advance,

Dharok.
 
What if I go down the route of a 22 inch, such as the LG L226. Would the 8800GT be able to handle this, or should I wait for the new GTS. I do wish to be playing games at high settings to be honest, so I'm wondering the best route to go down here.

And the big question is will it still live up to better overall performance than the 360, because remember it's one or the other!

Thanks again!
 
Aside from the graphics card, there's not really much wrong with your current system.
Drop in a 8800GT, plus another 2gig of RAM while it is so cheap and it will be a very competant gaming rig.

A 3.3ghz Core2, overclocked 8800GT and 4gig PC6400C4 should outperform the XB360.
 
HangTime said:
Aside from the graphics card, there's not really much wrong with your current system.
Drop in a 8800GT, plus another 2gig of RAM while it is so cheap and it will be a very competant gaming rig.

A 3.3ghz Core2, overclocked 8800GT and 4gig PC6400C4 should outperform the XB360.
Click to expand...

About the 8800GT, isn't it better I wait till Christmas time when the new GTS/GTX will be out?
And I presume I need 64bit windows for the os to recognize 4gb, which I don't have.

Do you still think it's worth me upgrading my 19 inch widescreen acer instead of other bits and bobs with the left over money after the GPU?
 
Sorry to be the odd one out, but couldn't you just plug a 360 in to your 19" monitor? If 19" is fine for you when PC gaming then it would be fine for 360 gaming - I did the same with my 20" WS when I had a 360 (till it broke).
 
But if I was to get a 360 I'd get a HD LCD to go with it, after all that would be a better gaming experience than on a 19 inch monitor.
 
Once again guys - Sorry to grave dig but I need this question answered, what's better gaming wise, 360 or PC.
 
Dharok said:
And I presume I need 64bit windows for the os to recognize 4gb, which I don't have.

Do you still think it's worth me upgrading my 19 inch widescreen acer instead of other bits and bobs with the left over money after the GPU?
Click to expand...

You can still use ~3.25gig with 32bit Windows which should be enough for any game in the near future.

I'd be wary of upgrading from a 19" as you really need to go to at least a 24" to make it worthwhile, which needs high-end graphics power to run it in native res in modern games like Crysis.
 
I've avoided consoles like the plague all my life. I just don't like them. However I would have thought the best way to answer your question is to advise you to look at what games are available on both platforms and do you like them or not. If the games are effectively similar then it is just a question of whether you prefer the PC approach to game control or the console approach to game control. If in doubt arm yourself with both :)
 
HangTime said:
You can still use ~3.25gig with 32bit Windows which should be enough for any game in the near future.

I'd be wary of upgrading from a 19" as you really need to go to at least a 24" to make it worthwhile, which needs high-end graphics power to run it in native res in modern games like Crysis.
Click to expand...


Well this is what I'm saying really, should I get an 8800GT with a new 22/24 inch monitor or instead of the monitor get other bits and bobs just to upgrade my system and make it better, for instance Vista and another 2gb of ram.

EffBee: I'm open to both really, graphically do you think the 8800GT's and the new GPU's coming out, are miles ahead of the 360 or are they pretty much the same?

I think I'm having problems getting over what I'm trying to, I need to know graphically which is better. Here I'll try and visualise my thoughts for you ;)

whattododm6.png


Any ideas?
 
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OK...well the first spec gives you a decent gaming pc...although i dont think youd find much performance gain from the extra 2gb of ram and vista 64...infact probably a loss in FPS. Also itd be overkill to spend that much on a system then have a compromise of a screen imo.

So for me atleast the decent screen and 8800gt is the better option.....untill you consider the xbox 360 option.

Now xbox's are really only as good as the people you play on them with imo....i cant just play them non socially like i can on a pc.. but social gaming's funner anyway.
But then games like RTS's are horrible on them.

So they all have there pro's and cons, just depends on what you like to play and how you like to play imo.
 
You have a great system there, all you need is a graphics card to match it. 8800gt probably the best buy at the moment. I don't think you need anything else tbh
 
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