Forget the console and build a gaming PC! A value comparison

Ivan · Aug 2009

Snarkasm · Aug 2009

That wasn't part of your argument! IT CAN BE DONE.

DocFrazier · Aug 2009

Bah, damn trolls anyway ;)

PC is better, HANDS DOWN oh wait the important part IMO!! :P

The article is true in its statement the THE MARGIN OF DIFFERENCE IS CLOSING between PC and Console. As I read it thats what i understood the point to be. Maybe its not quite as close as depicted, but defiantly close enough that if you were going to by the PS3, you couldn wait till the next paycheck and get a Good PC.

Give it 5 more years and it will probably be cheaper to run a high quality PC game Rig. then to buy a pre-built game console unit. < - Also, all opinion, not factoids.

and i'm done, but continue on, tis interesting watching the conversation

ledbetter · Aug 2009

What fire?

So can my kid's Leapster.

Thrax · Aug 2009

What?

ledbetter · Aug 2009

Koreish said:
Also, just to stoke the fire:

So can the X-bawx 360.

Sorry, forgot the quote! :O

djmeph · Aug 2009

I know that this has been said, but I have always felt that it's consoles that have benefited from PC gaming, and not the other way around. When you get a console, games will often push the limitations of the hardware that's available, but once they reach that limit it's dunzo. In the PC gaming market, it's the players that push the hardware industry. If it weren't for that push, consoles wouldn't be have as good or as cheap as they are today. It used to be that a lot of games came out on the PC before it came out on a console. Obviously that isn't true anymore, but PC gaming is just as popular as it's ever been and continues to drive the gaming market. I guarantee if people lose interest in PC gaming, consoles will suffer.

Cliff_Forster · Aug 2009

djmeph said:
I know that this has been said, but I have always felt that it's consoles that have benefited from PC gaming, and not the other way around. When you get a console, games will often push the limitations of the hardware that's available, but once they reach that limit it's dunzo. In the PC gaming market, it's the players that push the hardware industry. If it weren't for that push, consoles wouldn't be have as good or as cheap as they are today. It used to be that a lot of games came out on the PC before it came out on a console. Obviously that isn't true anymore, but PC gaming is just as popular as it's ever been and continues to drive the gaming market. I guarantee if people lose interest in PC gaming, consoles will suffer.

That is an interesting point. One of these days I would really like to sit down and write a historical retrospective on the innovations in gaming, a time line of sorts. You are right, in many ways the PC drives that innovation in the console market. 3D graphics technology, online play, in game voice, game mods and content expansions, user created content, all things originally driven by the PC market.

djmeph · Aug 2009

Cliff_Forster said:
That is an interesting point. One of these days I would really like to sit down and write a historical retrospective on the innovations in gaming, a time line of sorts. You are right, in many ways the PC drives that innovation in the console market. 3D graphics technology, online play, in game voice, game mods and content expansions, user created content, all things originally driven by the PC market.

Exactly, and that makes the argument of value completely moot. The only reason you get more value from console gaming is because of the geeks who buy two or three $500 video cards every six months. Within a couple years those three video cards will be shrunk down into a gaming console and sold for a fraction of the price. The value in console gaming wouldn't exist if it weren't for the competitive nature of the PC gaming market.

Cliff_Forster · Aug 2009

djmeph said:
Exactly, and that makes the argument of value completely moot. The only reason you get more value from console gaming is because of the geeks who buy two or three $500 video cards every six months. Within a couple years those three video cards will be shrunk down into a gaming console and sold for a fraction of the price. The value in console gaming wouldn't exist if it weren't for the competitive nature of the PC gaming market.

Part of the point I wanted to make is that the $500 video card is no longer necessary to have a good gaming experience on PC. But from a historical perspective, I think you make a great observation. PC gamers that pour that kind of passion into the technology have historically driven the innovation that eventually spills over into the console market.

RyanMM · Aug 2009

This post nicely sums up one of the things that kills me about PC gaming. The video card manufacturers, ATI, and nVidia need to take their marketing departments into the street and shoot them.

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=2133

Snarkasm · Aug 2009

And it's exactly why many people just give up and buy consoles.

gotsmurb · Oct 2009

Basic PC approximately $400
Xbox 360 Pro â€“ Includes console, controller, headset, hard drive. â€“ $300
Xbox Live 2 Years â€“ $100
Total: $800 just to have all the hardware you need to equal the required functionality of the gaming PC.

something wrong with this math? he added basic PC with Pro xbox and live to get 800. but he is saying its 800 JUST for the xbox stuff. he's 400 over.

Cliff_Forster · Oct 2009

gotsmurb said:
Basic PC approximately $400
Xbox 360 Pro â€“ Includes console, controller, headset, hard drive. â€“ $300
Xbox Live 2 Years â€“ $100
Total: $800 just to have all the hardware you need to equal the required functionality of the gaming PC.

something wrong with this math? he added basic PC with Pro xbox and live to get 800. but he is saying its 800 JUST for the xbox stuff. he's 400 over.

No, it takes into account that everyone requires a PC, the console does not replace the functionality of a basic personal computer.

Snarkasm · Oct 2009

And we've already been over that everybody doesn't need a PC.

/thread

Louis · Oct 2009

Was mispelling intentional? lol

Snarkasm · Oct 2009

Is "mispelling" your version of irony, or did somebody actually misspell misspelling somewhere?

Would you care to point it out for the editors? :)

Louis · Oct 2009

funny isn t it? PRICE of persia

primesuspect · Oct 2009

Thanks for pointing that out. Fixed. -ed.

djmeph · Oct 2009

If people are giving up on PCs for gaming consoles, Idiocracy is near.

Winfrey · Oct 2009

I like money.

Koreish · Oct 2009

I thought this horse had been beaten dead a long time ago. Yet here it is getting kicked some more. Some one call animal abuse and/or PETA.

ardichoke · Oct 2009

Don't call PETA, they'll shut us down and then firebomb the building.

blake · Oct 2009

PS3 and 360 are barely HD. I dont know of any games that run natively at 1080p. they run at 720p or lower. Halo3 was 640p (awfully close to 480p wii), and CoD4 was 600p. the consoles just upscale the images. like when your dvd player upscales standard def onto an HDTV.

if you already own a desktop (nearly all american households do), all you need is a video card. the radeon 4670 and 4650 are more powerful gpus than those on both the 360 or PS3. both consoles use gpus that are 2-3 generations old. both the 4670 and 4650 cards are under $70, and require no external power supply. they also will run games easily at 720p, up to 1680x1050. 360 and ps3 cant run games truly at 1080p, they just upscale 720p, or lower.
If you really want any basic desktop pc to destroy and console, you can spend 150 for a GTX 260, or 130 for an HD4870, and $50 for a decent power supply, and you are set. Then 1080p is legitimately yours.

So, to summarize, if you already have a desktop that is less than 3 years old, PC gaming is ridiculously cheaper, and more powerful.
Only if you have a laptop (which arent upgradeable), or no computer is the question even worth asking.

I recently helped my friend get a Dell 2.4Ghz Core2Duo, with 3 GB ram, and a 320 GB hard drive, with a Radeon 4670, for under $500. It is far more powerful graphically than either "HD" console, and is also a computer, on top of it.

and just so that no one can say i am a pc fanboy, i have every console and handheld this generation along with my gaming pc.

blake · Oct 2009

console gaming certainly is less of a headache, and you dont need to know anything about hardware. though console games do have many bugs, they are fewer and generally fixed more quickly than on the pc.
that said, the article brings up the value of pc gaming vs consoles.
of that, i think there is no question the pc wins, unless you dont care about resolution beyond 720p, dont care about jaggy lines and dont care about crappy textures in your games.

its true that you dont need a pc, but if you are part of the over %80 of american households that already has a pc, you dont just pretend it doesnt exist, and go buy a rip-off alienware. upgrading the pc you already have vs buying a new console has a serious price differential.

primesuspect · Oct 2009

blake said:
PS3 and 360 are barely HD. I dont know of any games that run natively at 1080p.

Pixeljunk Monsters runs at 1080p, I'm pretty sure.

I love that game :D

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