Even low res games can be improved by anti aliasing and the amount of polygons has nothing to do with the games looking terrible, it's the jaggies.klarax said:
Misconceptions about PC gaming.
- Thread starter Danny Ocean
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Your question speaks directly to what I consider one of the most important strengths of the personal computer: general-purpose utility. (I also think that some players in the industry are trying to take that away, turn the PC into another goddamn black-box appliance that only does what it was designed to do, like a TV set. This is a cryin' shame because the innovative spirit of the "information age" really depends on having broad public access to a general-purpose machine that can easily expand into roles it wasn't originally designed to fulfill.)Jumplion said:
You can do a lot with a PC. It's still the best platform for accessing Internet content. It's practically the only platform for producing Internet content. If you have a big screen and good speakers, it's not bad for watching movies. With the right hardware (a tuner card) you can watch and record TV, too. It's a great tool for creating works in a variety of media, from dead-tree publication to digital video to video games (both for other PCs and consoles).
Now, you're right in thinking that these different features don't all require the exact same hardware. In general, though, most things you could do with a PC don't require much specialized hardware at all. The trade-offs only really come up at the extreme end. If you want a workstation that plugs into four monitors, all showing mostly 2-D content, then the graphics card you would buy to play Crysis wouldn't be the best choice -- though you can cram both into one system if you really want to.
Basic crap like business software will run just fine on a really crazy super-expensive gaming box created by a company like Alienware. Chances are Word will load faster and stutter a bit less thanks to your better processor and RAM. The only real down-side I can think of is that gaming "hot rods" tend to have crazy power supplies (more than they really need -- 425-450 W is more than enough for a performance system as long as you're not sticking multiple video cards in there) and some are a bit noisy.
If you're putting together your own PC, you don't have to be as focused on optimizing it just for gaming as the vendors are. For example, I have a quad-core processor (at only $60 a core, it's not really breaking the bank). I know that most modern games don't really make good use of all four cores, so I could probably get better performance by going with a dual-core processor that has a higher clock speed. But, well, I like parallel applications and I like having the ability to run them efficiently, so I figured I'd rather just get the quad-core chip. I also didn't bother getting super-fast hard drives because lots of storage and money left in my pocket are more important to me than slightly-faster load times on some games.
-- Alex
Jumplion said:
Actually, the more money you spend in a home built, the better your PC experience. With Windows XP discontinued in sales, most likely your next computer purchase will have Windows Vista or even Windows 7. With these new operating systems, higher level of machines will be needed.
That was the issue with Vista,... people tried to run in on P4 machines with 512Mb RAM and integrated GFX chips that were dated for XP standards. That sort of machine would be, in simple terms "HURRRRRK, *dead*".
Simply put, if you like to email whilst listening to music while buffering up a youtube video while working on an excel file and formatting picture in photo shop while syncing your videos to your portable entertainment device... then a multi core processor will only make your day better. The more cores at higher speed, the better. The more RAM you use, the more these files can be accessed in a quicker fashion, and finally, in Vista, the more graphics capabilities you have, the better it will look and the quicker it will run. More so, with CUDA coming from nVidia, some of these processes will no longer be performed by your processor and by nVidia 8 series or higher graphics cards which can turn 2 hour long processes into 10 minutes or less.
There is no way around it, be it for gaming or daily use, the better your PC is, the better the experience will have. Your tone sounds like anger/frustration over something you don't want to understand because you feel you cannot and would rather stake your claim with the simple consoles, both those too will only continue to get more complex. I could resort to snide comments, but all I'm gonna say is that you should really refrain from said outbursts until you do some real research. Being in the mindset you are, you are in proper line to be ripped off by future computer purchases and ending up getting (or continueing to get based on your tone) crappy, junk computers that only further spoil your PC experience.
because not all ps2 games are bad looking. Some are beautiful. But the jaggies make them hard to play. Take shadow of the colossus for example. An absolute gorgeous game made unplayable by edges that look like stairs. The wii suffers from this as well.klarax said:
There are quite a lot of factors in AA and how to push it. Also, while the Wii is closer to PC hardware, the Sony systems have always been "unique" in their architecture.
Do to their cost, as well, sacrifices have to be made to make the games. Grand scale? Little more jaggies... Great visuals in FFX? Not a lot of physics going on there and other effects.
Do to their cost, as well, sacrifices have to be made to make the games. Grand scale? Little more jaggies... Great visuals in FFX? Not a lot of physics going on there and other effects.
Compiz Fusion makes Ubuntu damn pretty and gives my (G92) 8800 GTS something to do -- not much, but something.TheKbob said:
I like it a lot more than Vista's fancy effects because I can actually configure everything, including hotkeys to toggle or tune settings on the fly. A few of the effects are actually useful rather than just glitz, too. For example, one dubbed the "ADD Helper" will gently dim and desaturate everything other than the window currently in focus. I don't have ADD so I don't know if it actually works as advertised, but it's nice for when I'm a bit tired and want the stuff I'm not currently working on to be a bit less flashy and in-my-face (I never thought I would actually want that, but then I tried this little extension and I do really enjoy it).
-- Alex
I'm not to the point of using Ubuntu, just yet. I may try and dual boot my laptop to run it or find an old box to give it a try, but right now my machines are for school... and well gaming, then school, but I dont wanna risk messing something up when I need it most 
The interest is there to try Ubuntu and use, Wine... I think it is, to run games.
The interest is there to try Ubuntu and use, Wine... I think it is, to run games.
Why have controllers on a PC? I built my sweetheart for £240 and she runs like a *****, no port problems or jack... But still, why controllers on a PC? If you wanna use a joypad, buy a bloody Nintendo, PS or Xbox - that's what controllers are made for!! Me and my mates game on some of the shared MS servers and we ALWAYS kick the s*** out of consolers - controllers have too few controls, take too long to menu scroll (take Crysis for example) and offer less character manipulation. Now ain't that ironic?
Damn straight you will!!Jumplion said:
My baby is my recording studio and she handles my video/graphic publications with ease - As far as I know there ain't a console yet that can keep up with that side of stuff... Consoles have a LOT to answer for, they're restrictive, basic and boring - we with the PC's generally get a better end product and much cheaper too!!
OK, we have to wait a bit, but sometimes but just occasionally (Hellgate: London) we get the best shit first - and when we do it always shames the console versions.
Oh... And we also get to choose what our toys look like... I reckon that's better than having someone else sell you their idea of a box with a couple of flashy lights and no personality!
To reply as a whole:
Yes, and your game runs with half the options off and barely makes it beyond the fluid framerate.
One year can make a significant difference, and the numbers presented by HBrutusH are off by one year at the very least.
I've been attached to PC gaming for a hell of a time, trying different sequences of material updates, and a "new GPU every 3-4 years, and/or cpu every 4-5 is" bollocks, unless you invest a shit lot of money on your new hardware, which of course defeats the first point mentionned in the OP. At least as long as you care playing with an acceptable level of confort. Playing with AIs that suck my framerates and diluting textures like if I'd pissed over a Rembrandt after syphoning a dozen beers doesn't equal confortable gaming.
Most of the time I've been striking the middle ground configs, sometimes trying to grab the highest stuff on the middle range - the one that's still below the ridiculous increase of hundredso f dollars just to gain 2 FPS - and they didn't last long anyway. That's not even counting some graphics cards lacking key functions, some bugs appearing in new games because of the age and lack of support for your GPU, and the much crucial update on the RAM as well. Yes, I've also done the four years hardware marathon, and the end was not pretty at all. Of course, things would have been better if I had cracked my super duper black master card.
I only keep my PC for gaming because nothing has defeated the keyboard + mouse combo thus far on FPS and RTS genres. Modding to some extent, not directly being related to gaming, also maintains me on the PC, and that's all.
Yes, and your game runs with half the options off and barely makes it beyond the fluid framerate.
One year can make a significant difference, and the numbers presented by HBrutusH are off by one year at the very least.
I've been attached to PC gaming for a hell of a time, trying different sequences of material updates, and a "new GPU every 3-4 years, and/or cpu every 4-5 is" bollocks, unless you invest a shit lot of money on your new hardware, which of course defeats the first point mentionned in the OP. At least as long as you care playing with an acceptable level of confort. Playing with AIs that suck my framerates and diluting textures like if I'd pissed over a Rembrandt after syphoning a dozen beers doesn't equal confortable gaming.
Most of the time I've been striking the middle ground configs, sometimes trying to grab the highest stuff on the middle range - the one that's still below the ridiculous increase of hundredso f dollars just to gain 2 FPS - and they didn't last long anyway. That's not even counting some graphics cards lacking key functions, some bugs appearing in new games because of the age and lack of support for your GPU, and the much crucial update on the RAM as well. Yes, I've also done the four years hardware marathon, and the end was not pretty at all. Of course, things would have been better if I had cracked my super duper black master card.
I only keep my PC for gaming because nothing has defeated the keyboard + mouse combo thus far on FPS and RTS genres. Modding to some extent, not directly being related to gaming, also maintains me on the PC, and that's all.
The main reason I prefer gaming on a PC over gaming on a console is that it's easier to tweak stuff in PC games. When the basic style of a game doesn't do it for me, I like being able to load some mods or fire up the "cheat" console to turn it into an experience I'll like more.
That's basically the only reason I prefer PC games, though.
-- Alex
That's basically the only reason I prefer PC games, though.
-- Alex
As I've said, that's just my experience. I've changed the OP already to reflect buying cheaper hardware at the onset.Arbre said:
@Jumplion's Q.
No, if you make your PC more powerful, everything you do on it will be done faster. That includes all the basic stuff like word, and listeneing to music, as well as games. Although your rig can only help with your web connection to a point, because you can only load the page as fast as you are recieving it.
Would you say I should buy cheap parts and build a cheap rig first? So that I get used to building one, or should I jump in the deep end? Obviously after doing research though.
If you want to practise building one, you can always take your current one apart and put it back together again, just be very careful and read the manual (If you have one).
Our current one is our family one though, that's the only computer we have(apart from my laptop)so that's a big no no lol
I did.
No innuendo intended.
Also, the way to insert some bits may not be immediately apparent.HBrutusH said:
No innuendo intended.
For picking the parts, it's usually enough just to read a guide on the web somewhere -- Ars Technica, Tom's Hardware, or some other site like that. I see it as more-or-less a three-step process: first you figure out what you need in a general sense, then you figure out what goes together (e.g. picking a board with the right socket for the processor you want), then you adjust a bit for price. If you ask around, people can probably come up with a decent list of everything you need to take into consideration.WlknCntrdiction said:
Putting a computer together mostly involves attaching things to the motherboard. Any decent motherboard you buy in a retail box(*) will have a nice booklet telling you how to do all that.
The main thing is that you're occasionally going to need to be creative with how to connect something. Sometimes you'll put stuff in there and then a cable won't quite reach and you'll need to rearrange the components a bit or extend the cable somehow to make it work. For me, this was mostly an issue with fan controllers. It pays to at least open your current box and take a thorough look inside to see how stuff fits together.
-- Alex
* -- Some websites also sell cheaper "OEM" versions of many computer parts; these are basically the same part without all the packaging and extras. Unless you absolutely know you don't need the extras, though, you should just get the retail box.