PC gaming THE COST

[Arina Love]

i have pretty big experience living with HDTVs hooked up to PC. I use my HDTV as monitor and console stuff for about 4 years now. With new HDTV you don't even need to search for setups they already have PC mode. How you switch it is different for every manufacturer. it usually in engages when you assign name to your HDMI channel (like game movie, TV or PC) then adjust settings to fit your eyes (optional) and remember tvs have much more extensive visual settings than monitors and so it can take time to get it just as you want.
It's really not that hard.

Yeah, all modern TVs offer some sort of 'game mode', but, well, the thing is that - according to my experience - the manufacturers still cheat. All of them. ALL of them. If you want the fastest raw image of your console thrown on screen, the way the developers intended, you absolutely need to check and disable all picture processing settings... just off the top of my head, any 'Modes' as well as Black Tone, Dynamic Contrast, Shadow Detail, Edge Enhancement, etc. etc. have a negative impact on image display quality and speed. Those settings above - and more - usually get NOT ALL disabled by choosing game mode, even though they should be. Bear in mind that every manufacturer might call some of the more complicated bits of crippling image processing differently.

It's always both great fun and sad to see people rediscover their games. It's like finding out your toothbrush works better when you use the brush part in your mouth, instead of rubbing the bare plastic against your gums and teeth.

Yeh its' a game picture enchanting mode, my HDTV looks bad with it too, my Samsung HDTV and LG both have PC mode (not picture enchanting modes but one that really puts it in to PC monitor like state and unlocks further gradation of sharpness option) also it disables all of processioning so i quite happy with that! But i doubt any TV will have that mode working properly. You should try and see if your have it too, way you put Samsung and LG into pc mode is in HDMI source menu (where all you devices connected are shown) you can name devices that is plugged in (usually from the list) and if you select PC name on HDMI that will put it in to PC mode. I accidentally discovered this feature by pocking around on my other TV (LG) and was able to reproduce it on Samsung tv too!

 

[DarkhoIlow]

That's quite a deal you got yourself there, it has almost same specs as my own PC that I bought 2 years ago and payed 1000euros for it.

These are the specs of the PC I bought back then, it's still going strong:

CPU: Intel® Core? i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz

Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Memory: 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1633Mhz Dual Channel

Storage: HDD Western Digital 500GB

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk 1GB DDR5 256bit

Peripherals: Logitech G35 Keyboard, Steelseries Diablo III Edition Mouse, SteelSeries 5HV2 Headset

Case Cooler Master 922 HAF Black

 

[Windcaler]

Welcome to PC gaming. I hope you enjoy the much wider variety of games you can get as well as the near infinite customization options you have for your machine.

Ive upgraded my PC a couple times so theres been some additional costs but 2 years ago I built a new one on a $1000 budget. A lot of that was just replacing my old Box style (not flat screen) monitor that had burned out after several years. Besides a few other parts I replaced my graphics card with a Titan last month which was $900 I think and Im pretty happy with that purchase. Im also thinking of going from fans to a water cooling system but I havnt gone shopping to see what that will cost me

Ive never given it a name, I just call it my PC or my computer

Also for your digital distribution, I recommend GoG.com over all others. DRM on every other service gets in the way of gaming in some way. Also, if youre going to buy an indie game check out the actual site of the developer first. If you can get it for the same price from them (sometimes its cheaper) do it so they get all your money instead of STEAM taking 30%

 

[amuasyeas]

I sincerely suggest that you try out many free games first. Try out Sid Meier's Pirates too. It's a great game.

 

[GAunderrated]

Welcome though, enjoy your stay, and remember, Steam is one manipulative ************.

Thanks!
Really? Steam seems like a good guy to me :s his sales are nice and everyone I've talked to sings its praises.

You should visit Steam's non-blood relative GreenManGaming, for some reason GMG is becoming one sexy beast with better sales than steam most times (while still using steam on most games).

 

[Baneat]

a 6670, deathtrap PSU, pot metal case, 1333MHz RAM and a bottom-rung motherboard should cost about what you paid for it yes.

 

[Rinshan Kaihou]

Well you are welcome to figure out how much I spent because I don't want to think about it.


ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen 3
Intel Core i5 2500k
CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ Evo
24GB Mushkin Redline DDR3-1866
Fractal Design Define R3 Case
XFX Pro Modular 650W PSU
XFX Radeon HD 7850 Double Dissipation 2GB
256GB Crucial m4 SSD
WD 640GB Blue HDD/WD Green 1TB HDD
Samsung BD-ROM/DVD Writer
ASUS Xonar DGX

Dell S2740L IPS 27" Monitor
LG IPS236V IPS monitor
CoolerMaster CMStorm Trigger
Razer Deathadder
Windows 7 x64 Professional
Steelseries Siberia v2 Headset

 

[mohit9206]

I built mine for roughly $400 six months back.
Intel Sandy Bridge G630
8GB DDR3 RAM
AMD Radeon 7750 1gb gddr5
its a very entry level build but plays all my latest AAA games at good settings and frame rates.

 

[VladG]

Welcome though, enjoy your stay, and remember, Steam is one manipulative ************.

Thanks!
Really? Steam seems like a good guy to me :s his sales are nice and everyone I've talked to sings its praises.

Oh, we'll talk when you find yourself broke after a few good Steam Sales.



Jokes aside, Steam is the largest online distribution platform for a very good reason. It's actually pretty great, and as long as you don't want your games on launch, you can get NEW games for very low prices.

 

[InfernalPaladin]

Always consult the Falcon Guide [http://www.logicalincrements.com/] when buying/building a PC.

Based off this my rig comes in at the midpoint between Extremist and Monstrous. I'll be just ticking into the $2900 mark when i get a proper monitor (not a TV haha). I feel justified however, as it's made a really good bragging point meant I won't have to upgrade in the next 4 or so years.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I bought an alienware laptop about 4 years ago for $1200. I don't have space for a big tower and I needed something I could move around. I will probably get or build a decent desktop when I move out. My specs are a little embarrassing by today's standards. But I bought it at a time when the processors upgrades were still expensive. It was worth it though. Alienware computers typically have integrated graphics cards and faster hard drive speeds which can make all the difference. I can run most games at the highest settings if I use 1280x720 which looks good on my HD tv

As for you computer, it seems pretty legit. I hate it when people act like you can't get a good deal on a pre-built computer. That over clocked AMD processor should definitely be helpful

 

[Oltsu]

My current system was around $5000. However I'm somewhat of a hardware enthusiast and spend a lot of my time doing extreme overclocking with sub-zero cooling methods so it's more than a gaming PC.

I also probably have hardware for a dozen other rigs lying around. Including around 15 high end GPUs <.<

 

[SwimmingRock]

Welcome though, enjoy your stay, and remember, Steam is one manipulative ************.

Thanks!
Really? Steam seems like a good guy to me :s his sales are nice and everyone I've talked to sings its praises.

Yeah, but if you ask a bunch of crack addicts if crack is any good, they'll tell you it's the only reason worth living. Look, I really like Steam. Use it daily. Buy most of my games there. If any games distributor is gonna have a monopoly, Valve would be our best option. Objectively, though, it will suck the money out of you and make you love it more in return.

Yeah, I read your other posts about being poor. Doesn't matter. A few games you want will be on sale. You'll see the discount and think:"Blimey, better get it now." Next thing you know, the Summer sale's over and you spent 200 euro. It all adds up, man, and you won't even see it happen.

Fortunately, I'm still riding the high of finding obscure titles for dirt cheap. Just bought Nikopol: Secret of the Immortals for a song. It's on sale this week. Behold, I have myself become its messenger.

OT: Spent exactly 1k euro on my rig in december when it was on sale for holidays. Don't remember the exact specs, but I can laugh boisterously as I crank all settings in brand new games to max or watch auto-detect and benchmarks praise the glory of my beast (not a euphemism for my penis). Considering I would need to buy a new tv for the next console generation, I probably made out cheaper than a new console, all things considered.

 

[barbzilla]

I have been thinking about the state of console gaming recently, and I'm not liking what I see and hear. I've never like paying for xbox live it always seemed like a massive waste, there are other things I could slag the xbox off for but suffice to say its not perfect. And sadly the future of consoles seems equally as bleak, as its depressing present.

The PC gaming scene has always held a certain allure for me. I have never been one of those people who get a raging boner for hd graphics and the performance of a machine, those things seem utterly shallow and pointless to me. Its the extensive library of games, the MODS, and the comparative cheapness of games. Also the amazing Steam sales (I saw the Witcher2 for £6 the other day, on Xbox the minimum would be around £15).

So I finally relented and bought a PC which I am waiting for at the moment, I also need to buy a monitor, wifi card, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and a headset. Now onto the threads actual point... IT COST and is still going to cost A LOT OF MONEY. I got the pc for £325, the wifi card will be around £15 and the monitor will cost £97, and the other things I have budgeted to get individually for under £5 each.

Its gonna cost around £500 all together... (apologies to any Americans reading this but its costing me around $760) and if its as good as you PC gamer guys say I won't regret it at all. If anyone is interested in the PC here is a link to it http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200886653771?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648

So how much did you guys pay for your rigs? that is what you call them yes?
Also please don't make any PC gaming master race comments, they churn my stomach and make PC gamers seem terrible.

It looks like you have a fairly solid machine, the important part is to not upgrade too often. This is where PC gaming can get expensive. I started out in the "OMG its new I have to have it" crowd, then finally realized that I can use (typically) 4-8 year old parts (top of the line) and still play modern games at max. In fact I just upgraded my PC this year (for a couple of indy games no less) and I haven't had to upgrade my parts since 2006.

As for how much I spent on my rig, at this point a little over 2k USD, but that is cummulitive. I have actually had enough parts to build 3 machines from that 2 grand. My girlfriend is currently using my hand me down parts, and she still plays most modern games at near max (the new Tomb Raider runs on her rig at High, Ultimate gives a little stutter, and Ultra is unplayable). With just the parts in the machine currently about 500 USD, but I also get a discount since I own a computer store and have a business account with Newegg (so I guess retail about 600 or so).

I do call my machine a rig, but I don't subscribe to the PC gaming master race. Every machine has its place, and as such I also own 2 of the current consoles (360 and Wii-U). I prefer my Wii as a sort of Media player, though I do have my 360 setup as a media extender for my PC as well, and I use my 360 for fighting games and couch side multiplayer with my girlfriend (and occasionally my brother when he can drag his ass over here).

I'm glad that you have gotten into PC gaming, I highly doubt that you will be dissatisfied. In fact I think this is the second best time to be a PC gamer period (the first time being when PC gaming first took off). With the new consoles using x84 architecture, I believe we will be seeing more of the AAA games making their way on my PC. Eventually all consoles will have a unified architecture, and the consoles/PCs will have to survive based on their own merit instead of what games they have signed as exclusives.

Captcha: wash whites separately
I think our captcha has forgotten that it isn't the 50s anymore.

 

[Colt47]

My current system was around $5000. However I'm somewhat of a hardware enthusiast and spend a lot of my time doing extreme overclocking with sub-zero cooling methods so it's more than a gaming PC.

I also probably have hardware for a dozen other rigs lying around. Including around 15 high end GPUs <.<

I fear that is the direction I'm eventually going to be treading once I actually get out of being a poor university student. Right now I'm happy I'm upgrading to a radeon 7970 from a 6950, especially with the free games deal going with Bioshock Infinite. Don't care much for Crisis 3, though.

 

[zidine100]

altogether mine was about £500, but it was a bare bones package so i had to buy quite a few parts myself.

that and some of the maintenance costs id say its up to about £650. Damn it hard drives constantly break on me. (mostly my fault, broken fan once) broken ram and me being the lazy idiot i am sometime, never got round to taking the offending stick out, making the computer crash often killing my hard drive. And then there was the time i bought a used hard drive, which was handed to me in bubble wrap instead of a anti static bag.

in hindsight ive gone oftopic, but its been about £650 £700 soo far due to my own stupidity, and will increase when it breaks again, like my dvd drive, which is being temperamental.

 

[nexus]

Nearly every major release is on PC now, so you hardly miss anything. It's always cheaper, typically looks better, and you always have the possibility of mods depending on the game. Plus you can do just plain "more" on a PC game.

I honestly consider the past 2 years a "golden age" for PC gaming. It is certainly on the up.

 

[Petromir]

Personally though you should try for this setup in terms of hard drive management.

1. One hard drive for Operating system/Storage.
2.One hard drive for games
3. One hard drive for dedicated storage.

You CAN combine the OS hard drive and the game hard drive into one but personally I'd say it is better to just give the OS a standard hard drive and use it for some storage while getting an SSD(assuming the extreme here) for games you currently play. Any games you aren't playing are probably better just uninstalled.

I'd recommend a small SSD as a system drive, not a place for bottle necks and windows works a lot better with one. Unless your packing a lot of software that you also install there a 60GB SSD for the System drive will improve boot times and prevent it becoming a performance bottle neck. Hell it improves performance of games not on it in many cases, if its the system drive.

Ssds does not improve performance in games.

They shorten the load times. Nothing else.

Depends on the game, but there are a number of games out there that load on the fly and hard drive speeds can be a bottleneck here.