PC Gaming

[snappahead]

There also seems to be a misconception that you need to play on "max settings" to get a proper PC experience, but that's not really the case. Some games are noticable when you drop things down, but most are going to look just as good with slightly lower settings. Some graphical things eat up a ton of resources, but aren't that huge of a game changer. They're just nice bells and whistles that won't be missed if you dont have them. Its very doable to tweak the settings until you find a good balance of graphical detail and performance.

 

[FQRizzo]

There also seems to be a misconception that you need to play on "max settings" to get a proper PC experience, but that's not really the case. Some games are noticable when you drop things down, but most are going to look just as good with slightly lower settings. Some graphical things eat up a ton of resources, but aren't that huge of a game changer. They're just nice bells and whistles that won't be missed if you dont have them. Its very doable to tweak the settings until you find a good balance of graphical detail and performance.

Agreed.

Also, by playing a game on a console, you do guarantee that the game will work, but the trade off is you almost never play the game on max settings.

 

[SAB]

There also seems to be a misconception that you need to play on "max settings" to get a proper PC experience, but that's not really the case. Some games are noticable when you drop things down, but most are going to look just as good with slightly lower settings. Some graphical things eat up a ton of resources, but aren't that huge of a game changer. They're just nice bells and whistles that won't be missed if you dont have them. Its very doable to tweak the settings until you find a good balance of graphical detail and performance.

True, though one of the nicest things about consoles is that being done for you pre-purchase.

Saying that, I'm buying my first gaming PC in 15 years next year for Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen. Don't care what it costs but everything WILL be in max settings

 

[Natrix]

The Sega Megadrive was awesome! I always wanted to pair it up with a Sega CD or 32 X.

That's a nice Kain avatar, btw. I can't remember when was the last time that I played Soul Reaver.



You don't really need a lot of money to customize a good gaming PC. Even with as little as $400 at your disposal, you can build a fairly powerful gaming desktop that would be more graphically superior in performance than any of the current generation consoles. And with several hundred more, you can probably even build something that would surpass the capabilities of the next-gen consoles (eg. PS4, X-Box 720).

I would like to see what you can put together for $400.

 

[Solidus]

I would like to see what you can put together for $400.

Building something similar to the computer on the link below would be a good start. It's only $199, and comes with all of the components except a graphics card. So, you can put in an extra $200 and buy a graphics card. A build like this would definitely be within a $400 budget, but you'll also need to set aside some money for an operating system. Or, you can go the cheap route, and download "Ubuntu" - which is a free Linux-based OS that plays some Windows-based games.

https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=7750562&sku=B69-0989

 

[Evil_Ash]

Yeah for real. $400 will get you a mobo, a processor and a psu. PC gaming isn't for 'budget'. It's for enthusiasts. Which is why most people tend to veer off against it. Go big or go home. Playing at max settings is the whole point of playing on a PC. The console fan boys will try to argue that. All I can say is, remember E3 this past summer? The majority of the stage demos were done on PC using console controllers. Yup.

 

[Evil_Ash]

I run a 212 evo by Cooler Master with 2 fans. Great cpu cooler for a great price. Solidus, good luck with that gaming rig. You might pull off 360/ps3 performance..

 

[Solidus]

I'm not building that . Just making a point that PC gaming doesn't have to be as expensive as many people make it out to be. You don't even have to be an enthusiast to enjoy it. If you can build a rig that can handle medium to high settings, it'll still look better than most console games. There are lots of examples of budget building on YouTube and other sites. The key is to find deals on as many components as possible and save up for a good graphics card, since the graphical performance of PC games (in general) are more dependent on the GPU than the processor.

 

[snappahead]

Yeah for real. $400 will get you a mobo, a processor and a psu. PC gaming isn't for 'budget'. It's for enthusiasts. Which is why most people tend to veer off against it. Go big or go home. Playing at max settings is the whole point of playing on a PC. The console fan boys will try to argue that. All I can say is, remember E3 this past summer? The majority of the stage demos were done on PC using console controllers. Yup.

I know people who play on PC because they like the exclusives. Especially the MMOs and RTSs. I also like being able to get higher frame rates and having higher rez options. It's not only about the max settings for everyone.

 

[Drakul]

The Sega Megadrive was awesome! I always wanted to pair it up with a Sega CD or 32 X.

That's a nice Kain avatar, btw. I can't remember when was the last time that I played Soul Reaver.

I actually had the Mega-CD and 32X with my Mega Drive v2

Thanks! I played Blood Omen just a few months ago because I'm working on a project to rip all the dialogue from the games and make a 'complete' OST with the music and dialogue in chronological order. So far I've finished BO and SR is next on my list but not sure when I'll get to that.

 

[Solidus]

I know people who play on PC because they like the exclusives. Especially the MMOs and RTSs. I also like being able to get higher frame rates and having higher rez options. It's not only about the max settings for everyone.

That's true. I have some friends who play Starcraft II, Team Fortress 2, and Skyrim on the PC. A few of them have extremely old laptops from 2009 - I'm surprised that they still manage to use them.

As for me, I think I did okay going for an i5 3570 K and a z77 motherboard. An i7 seemed like overkill at the moment. I'll look into upgrading my graphics card in a few weeks. Hopefully, I can turn my PC into a beast that will be able to handle Crysis 3 on Ultra.

 

[Solidus]

Btw, if any of you are in need of extra fans, Tiger Direct has a 120 mm fan for free with mail-in rebate. You can claim up to three rebates and get three fans for free.

https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5525807

 

[Duck]

Yeah for real. $400 will get you a mobo, a processor and a psu. PC gaming isn't for 'budget'. It's for enthusiasts. Which is why most people tend to veer off against it. Go big or go home. Playing at max settings is the whole point of playing on a PC. The console fan boys will try to argue that. All I can say is, remember E3 this past summer? The majority of the stage demos were done on PC using console controllers. Yup.

And this is why people look down on PC gamers. They think everyone who games on PC has this elitist attitude and want to brag about how awesome their computer is and it is definitely not true. Do I game on PC for max settings? **** no I play because I enjoy the games. Not everyone thinks they have to play max settings to enjoy PC gaming. You can't have a good RTS experience on consoles. The controller just doesn't work for it. Plus the many MMOs that I enjoy. Plus the new Amnesia game is coming out hopefully soon and you can't get that on consoles.

 

[Vader AL]

Anyone play the Arma 2 with the Dayz mod?

https://dayzmod.com/

 

[Solidus]

I actually had the Mega-CD and 32X with my Mega Drive v2

Thanks! I played Blood Omen just a few months ago because I'm working on a project to rip all the dialogue from the games and make a 'complete' OST with the music and dialogue in chronological order. So far I've finished BO and SR is next on my list but not sure when I'll get to that.

Sounds like a pretty cool project. Are you planning to remake the games somehow, or are you just going to listen to the OST? The music score was pretty good, from what I remember.

 

[Duck]

Anyone play the Arma 2 with the Dayz mod?

https://dayzmod.com/

I have been wanting to, but I'm just going to wait for the standalone game.

 

[Vader AL]

I have been wanting to, but I'm just going to wait for the standalone game.

what's the benefit?

 

[darthviper107]

I would wait for the standalone mod, getting the mod to work is a pain, it's very confusing.

 

[FQRizzo]

I would wait for the standalone mod, getting the mod to work is a pain, it's very confusing.

Not anymore. You can mod Arma through Steam now to play DayZ.

 

[Natrix]

Building something similar to the computer on the link below would be a good start. It's only $199, and comes with all of the components except a graphics card. So, you can put in an extra $200 and buy a graphics card. A build like this would definitely be within a $400 budget, but you'll also need to set aside some money for an operating system. Or, you can go the cheap route, and download "Ubuntu" - which is a free Linux-based OS that plays some Windows-based games.

https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=7750562&sku=B69-0989

No hard drive, DVD drive, fans or OS so there is another $200+ before adding a video card.