Re: PCIe graphics cards

[Rus-Evo]

What resolution is your screen.

[Dave]

1920x1080. Why?

[Rus-Evo]

Nice. I havent heard of a 5670 before

[Dave]

It's just been released apparently. Kinda budget gaming card.

[Rus-Evo]

1920x1080. Why?

Just wondering. Its easier for a card to drive the lower resolutions....easier for it to run smoother (because you were mentioning smoothity). But your one is driving full HD nice enough.

[Rus-Evo]

Ive just seen some comparison tables. The 5670 seems to be in the same ballpark as the 9600 GT. But it has the advantage of being newer (for Direct X etc), but is a little more expensive.

As long as your processor is half decent, you should be able to buy any game without having to worry about whether you can run it or not.

Thats one of the main things huh?

[WebHead]

LAN with my mates PCs? No. Can your PC do split-screen multiplayer?

Isn't this dependant on the game? Ive seen a few games that have this feature on the PC.
I think Rus's point is that a PC can do everything that the console can do and more, whereas, you still need to have a PC in addition to a console. I guess it makes no sense for Rus since he already has a more than decent PC. But people who have a weak PC might look to get a console instead of upgrading the PC.

I just think Rus is really missing out at the moment. I'm trying to help him out here. He can have the greatest PC in the world and still miss out on so many games that are console exclusive.

Finally consoles are affordable now. Upgrading a processor plus motherboard and DD3 ram would cost the same right now as buying a PS3. You're juggling a whole new medium of gaming experience versus the chance to run PC games with smoother framerate. I really think you'd be better off going with the console.

But Rus has heard this all before and still he disagrees.

[Dave]

The problem with consoles (for me anyway) is that, whilst I love FPS games, I also love pure strategy games too and the PC is still King of those.

[Rus-Evo]

But Rus has heard this all before and still he disagrees.

Lol. Phenom CPU $200, Mobo, $160, RAM $100? GPU $250. Yeah thats in range of a PS3 pricing I guess. Would be hard to make the shift (mentally).

By the way. I dont find finding good framerates to be a big problem and never have. So thats one problem not faced by me.

The trouble with debating is that people can become more entrenched in their opinions and less willing to listen to the evidence to be swayed......is that me right now? I hope Im better than that lols.

[WebHead]

To be honest Rus, it's a case of necessity and means.

For example, Dave is 100% right about strategy games. Steer clear of consoles for those, you're home is on a PC.

Also, I'd be willing to bet that Rus probably doesn't have a huge amount of free time, and doesn't spend all of it playing games. So the library of games available on PC is sufficient. Even I find I simply don't have enough time to play every game I want/have, so why do I need anymore hardware?

And almost no one likes spending money when it is in limited supply. In a perfect world you would buy a Wii, a 360, a PS3, and upgrade your PC every year. But that's a bit unreasonable for most.

Rus, I struggle with graphics on PC all the time because I want to run the game on the highest graphics settings that I can pull off. Which usually means compromising on wherever the framerate becomes playable. So the temptation to constantly upgrade is near overwhelming.

But yeh, I find there are must play games on every platform, and it really sucks missing out on any of them. For now, nothing I can do about Wii. At least 90% of 360 games come out on PC as well (Mass Effect is great example, or even Halo if you wait long enough). PS3 though has a few games you won't find anywhere else.

Anyway, you know what you are doing.

[Dave]

The upgrading issue isn't quite as dramatic as it used to be. Take my rig for example. It's 3 years old. The sound card is pretty cheap and no great shakes to me if I don't have the latest one. The graphics card was always a bit poo but it only cost me the equivalent of 75GBP to get a decent upgrade. But the games are actually now only catching up with my quad core processor. 8 years ago the games were making processors out of date as soon as you bought them!

[WebHead]

Yeh, I know. My machine is three years old, but I only have a crummy athlon x2. So I'd have to upgrade to an i5 or something, that will cost me for the processor, motherboard, and compatible ram. Which is the cost of an Xbox360. So I could get a second console, or upgrade the PC.

I have chosen to do nothing. I'll wait a another year or more and build a brand new fresh machine. Four years is a long time in PC world. Plus I deserve it!

[Rus-Evo]

If you had AMD your Mobo wouldnt be dog tucker!!!

Also, the cost of me doubling hardware to get a PS3 would seriously hurt my ability to buy games (I dont buy enough as it is!!).

[WebHead]

Nah, my mobo is too old, it doesn't support the current phenom. I'm a bit stuck unfortunately. Phenom II and now III didn't exist when I bought my motherboard. So I may as well switch to the superior intel.

But I don't like crossing hardware generations like that. So I'll wait. That's why I have the PS3 anyway, so I don't want the PC to be mint right now.

Has anyone played Tropico 3?

[Rus-Evo]

Never heard of it you subject changing subject changer!!!!!

[Dave]

My new card also comes with onboard HD sound which, even though I still have to connect using a jack from the 'out' on the monitor, is still better than my old soundblaster card which I have now disabled.

Only negative note is that I get stuttering sound and interference with the mouse now if I play youtube movies on full screen. I guess this will be sorted out as new drivers come out.

[aussieracer]

I have a Radeon 4850. It performs quite impressively. Don't know if they sell them anymore though. I'm looking at getting the new Radeon 5850 soon. It's almost twice as powerful I believe.

Or you could go for th Radeon 5970. It's only $1,200 But it's the most powerful GPU on the market.