vs. PC (please no trolls)

[game4ever]

my bad. I meant his current cpu and motherboard.

Regarding the x58 boards vs the p55's there is very little difference at stock speeds. Of course in turbo mode the Lynnfield owns a Bloomfield. And overclocked it depends on the skill of the overclocker.

[game4ever]

and how would he be not? because the pci-ex lane isnt integrated into the processor like the non-enthusiast 1156 lynnfields? and the the limited dual channel memory bus of the 1156... or would he go for a lesser amd setup? (sorry to amd fanboys, but the 890gx looks promising )
the x58 chipset is still at the top of the chain, your logic is flawed.

I made a mistake, I had meant to say his GF285 is a fine video card but that his current cpu/mobo might be holding back the 285's potential. To have inserted socket 1366 was my mistake.

But to think socket 1366 is superior to socket 1156 is YOUR mistake:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/defau...=47&p2=108&c=1

[JSLEnterprises]

I made a mistake, I had meant to say his GF285 is a fine video card but that his current cpu/mobo might be holding back the 285's potential. To have inserted socket 1366 was my mistake.

But to think socket 1366 is superior to socket 1156 is YOUR mistake:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/defau...=47&p2=108&c=1

a better comparison would be the 940 to the 870
your 2.66 to a 2.8 comparison is flawed. the obvious winner would be the 2.8. (even then, its just barely)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/defau...=46&p2=107&c=1
they're more on par with one another even with the slower stock bus speed of the bloomfield (1066MHz compared to 1333MHz native).
but with the 1366 based product he'll be able to upgrade to a 6 core gulftown later down the road.... meanwhile with the p55 he's stuck. I know this, because I have a p55 setup.

[JSLEnterprises]

my bad. I meant his current cpu and motherboard.

Regarding the x58 boards vs the p55's there is very little difference at stock speeds. Of course in turbo mode the Lynnfield owns a Bloomfield. And overclocked it depends on the skill of the overclocker.

oc'ing a lynnfield you shut off the speed step and the turbo mode (which is dependant on speedstep) otherwise you will crash over, and over, and over no matter what voltage you give it.
I've overclocked both systems, and my 860 is oc'd to a stable 4.01GHz (4.21GHz is unstable, unless you also turn off HT, and way too hot - idles at 45 deg C, spikes to 70's doing simple tasks). I've gotten slightly better results with a 920 (but it was my friends comp, so I couldnt keep it).

[zetachi]

I've been a PC gamer for a long time and own both the PS3 and just recently the Wii. Being from the old school KB/m I have a really hard time with the PS3 controller for anything other then Lego Games that I play with my kids. Now I'm not saying that with practice I could get better but there is nothing IMHO better for FPS then old school.

That being said the PS3 is an awesome BlueRay player so if one of those is in your future you kill 2 birds.

[Phopojijo]

But fast forwarding to modern times - we've had a Wii for a few years now and an Xbox 360 about a year. The main advantages to consoles IMO are easy play from the couch on a big screen, big surround sound (if you are so equipped) and fun family next-to-each-other multiplayer (especially on the Wii).

Then plug your PC into your TV and surround sound... and play on the couch. You can even use gamepads most of the time.

Splitscreen is rare, but not extinct on the PC... and it's getting rare on the consoles too... because they already maxed out the consoles and can't render a second camera... too little RAM. PCs could do it no problem if HTPCs take off and customers demand splitscreen.

Heck, eyefinity and nVidia Surround allow for multimonitor multiplayer.

[PerfectShot]

Wow, thank you for all the replies!

I'm actually thinking of getting a PS3 for someone else. For Tekken 6.

Being able to use it for Blu-ray would be neat as well... I'd probably get the older version for the Linux compatibility...


What kind of money would I have to spend on upgrading my PC?

If the BFbc2 beta had issues with dual cores (C2D, Pentium D) that might be fixed in the retail release... I'll find out when it arrives next week...


I'd be looking at a low-end iSeries from Intel. I lost track of how many "i" variants there are now (i5, i7, i9?). What would be the best bang for the buck without breaking the bank? A decent mobo and 4 GB of RAM would be nice. Would my PSU (that can barely handle the GTX285) need to be replaced?

I could probably sell the case with my old parts... Hmm.

I'd really like to see BFbc2 on a console, and yes, I've tried console FPS and failed. I've seen players treat it like a mouse though...

[JSLEnterprises]

avg upgrade for your system, looking at about $600-$700
a nice upgrade to something highly upgradeable in the future $1000
(im speaking canadian funds, and the inclusion of a nicer case )

[game4ever]

Wow, thank you for all the replies!


What kind of money would I have to spend on upgrading my PC?


I'd be looking at a low-end iSeries from Intel. I lost track of how many "i" variants there are now (i5, i7, i9?). What would be the best bang for the buck without breaking the bank? A decent mobo and 4 GB of RAM would be nice. Would my PSU (that can barely handle the GTX285) need to be replaced?

.

The cheapest route I know of to upgrade to an Intel "I"series motherboard/cpu combo is ---> "Fry's".

If you live near one, that is. They often have the i5 750 or i7 860 combined with a p55 motherboard for $280 or less.

Newegg is pricier on combos but they have small discounts on cpu/mobo combo's.

The i5 750 is probably the best bang for your buck, the i7 860 just has hyper threading over it,

4 gig dual channel kits run about $110-$120 for decent ram. GSKILL Ripjaws is great stuff for the price.

You won't need a fantastic psu to run either an i5 750 or i7 860, unless you plan on overclocking it 24/7. If you psu handles the E6600 and gf285 ok you are good to go.

[Lenny]

I'd really like to see BFbc2 on a console, and yes, I've tried console FPS and failed. I've seen players treat it like a mouse though...

We downloaded the BC2 demo for XBox 360. Looks very good IMO on my 61" TV.

[bonso]

It depends on how and what you play.
Since you mention a FPS game I'll say this, for me playing shooters on the 360 is an exercise in frustration. Apparently you can use a mouse/kb on the PS3 but I dont know if that works with all games.

If you enjoy FPS RTS MMORPG or like to play mods my advice is to stick with the PC.

BF:BC2 certainly looks nice on the 360 but the actual game is um not very good, especially compared to the first one.

[madhatter256]

I'm not a person that wants to sufficate eating just one type of meal, buy the same car, live in the same house, same town and play on just one gaming platform.... I play all consoles... mostly PC games for now.

Just recently played through FF9 on my PSX. Good times

[kbohip]

I'm done with pc gaming and I for the most part detest console gaming because of the crappy controls, at least for FPS's. What ruined pc gaming for me is the way too high cost of games now coupled with the fact that I'm no longer able to sell them on Ebay when I'm done with them after 10 hours of play. F you DRM! Sorry, but $60 for maybe 10 hours of entertainment (sometimes only 5) is impractical for me and I can't justify spending that much with all of my other expenses. I'm looking at you COD:MW2. I'd wager a lot of other people are coming to realize this as well. PC gaming as we've been blessed to know it is officially dead.

I think back to all of the great titles I've played over the years on the pc and the lack of DRM on them that made them such a breeze to install. Now we're in the era of 2 hour installs with one hoop to jump through after another. I don't want to be forced to activate my game I just overpaid for. I don't want to have to have an internet connection just to install. I don't want to install Steam or register for a Windows Live account or whatever other bs they come up with. I just want to play a game for God's sake! The almost complete lack of gaming over the past year has definitely saved me hundreds of dollars in the cost of games and hardware upgrades. My current system is the oldest one I've ever owned and I still have no need to upgrade anything on it other than the hdd which can wait at least another year.

As for consoles? They are great for racing games and any other game that doesn't work much better with a mouse/keyboard setup. In other words all FPS's. If they would just come out with a decent setup for mouse/keyboard that would work on ALL FPS's for consoles! At least with a console game you can still sell it after you play it...as far as I know anyway.

[Sinful Malice]

I'm done with pc gaming and I for the most part detest console gaming because of the crappy controls, at least for FPS's. What ruined pc gaming for me is the way too high cost of games now coupled with the fact that I'm no longer able to sell them on Ebay when I'm done with them after 10 hours of play. F you DRM! Sorry, but $60 for maybe 10 hours of entertainment (sometimes only 5) is impractical for me and I can't justify spending that much with all of my other expenses. I'm looking at you COD:MW2. I'd wager a lot of other people are coming to realize this as well. PC gaming as we've been blessed to know it is officially dead.

I think back to all of the great titles I've played over the years on the pc and the lack of DRM on them that made them such a breeze to install. Now we're in the era of 2 hour installs with one hoop to jump through after another. I don't want to be forced to activate my game I just overpaid for. I don't want to have to have an internet connection just to install. I don't want to install Steam or register for a Windows Live account or whatever other bs they come up with. I just want to play a game for God's sake! The almost complete lack of gaming over the past year has definitely saved me hundreds of dollars in the cost of games and hardware upgrades. My current system is the oldest one I've ever owned and I still have no need to upgrade anything on it other than the hdd which can wait at least another year.

As for consoles? They are great for racing games and any other game that doesn't work much better with a mouse/keyboard setup. In other words all FPS's. If they would just come out with a decent setup for mouse/keyboard that would work on ALL FPS's for consoles! At least with a console game you can still sell it after you play it...as far as I know anyway.

First off, MW2 was pretty much a multiplayer game, a pretty bad one at that, imo.

2 hour installs? Are you still using an old IDE hard drive? o.o On a regular SATA drive they take no more than 15 minutes.

And as for the consoles being crap for FPS's, that's entirely personal preference. Bringing out a mouse/keyboard setup for console kind of defeats the purpose. The controller is easier for most people to use, than the many keys on a keyboard for gaming.

With the new thing EA has got going on, it's going to be harder for you to sell your console games, or so it may seem.

[96s10]

To me the only good reason to get a console is to be able to play console exclusive games.

But if you're playing FPS or RTS I wouldn't consider it.

This would be the sole reason I own a PS3/360 oh and the PS3 for a blue ray player. Another thing to note is it's completely possible to build a gaming PC for close to the price of a console. I paid right around $400 for the one in my sig.