Viewing Thread:
"The price of PC gaming."

Anyone who can afford to play PC games is priveliged, because the price of gaming on a PC is never worth it. I have GTA3 on my PS2 and I here it is now out for PC the only problem you need a 750Mhz P3 to run it, my laptop could not handle that and for a game that is visually ok, but nothing special that is a lot of spec required. Then there are graphic card updates that you need which can cost as much as a Next Gen console, and the hassle of setting the game up for running on your PC. No I'm affraid my pc days have long gone unless I bought an Xbox I suppose.

Pc hardware reliability is another consideration. I know consoles are not perfect, but in the main I have had loads more pc related hardware fail (hard discs – not nice – hope u have a back up, broken connectors on the back, even a few motherboard chips going pop). Even new pc’s can have problems. I knew someone who bought a nice new pc with internal modem (56k). Got the pc running, but the modem wouldn’t work. Went back for help, they were as helpful as a chocolate fireguard – they were on tv about poor service some time after! Eventually (about 2 weeks later), they told him the modem in this batch of pc’s was slightly different to earlier models and needed a modem driver update to make it work. And the best way to get hold of this software was to go on the internet and download it! That’s a clever trick that one – since the modem doesn’t work. After a bit more waiting around, they sent the driver out on floppy disk – and all was well with the world.

i gonna buy a GC soon as another thing for me to do.... as it doesnt crash as much cos there's no windows!

Re: compact systems are gay. My girlfriend has a technics stereo with all the little bits. Her speakers? 20 watts.

My old system could muster 80 watts RMS. Lots can do 40-60. But my separates go over 100 (all numbers RMS). And yes they can go louder without losing quality, and they are also better at "all round" use. With speech, and low level music, the old system wasn't that clear. But the seps provide a "clean" sound in the same situation, but can still pour on the bass for pop music.

Then there's the expansion options......

Snipe® wrote:
> i agree i love playing online just that it crashes now and
> again....... its windows for god's sake.


You know what, though we hate our PC's for doing it at the time...it wouldn't be a PC without it happening.

i agree i love playing online just that it crashes now and again....... its windows for god's sake.

The thing is, whenever you get a new brand spanking PC which seriously kicks so much you think it's the best thing in the world, it will not always be that.

My PC use to be fast as hell and use to run so smoothly. Now if crashes right left and centre. Many reasons for this and you just got to try your best and overcome them.

The safe way to go about things in running games on your PC's is to update you're PC whenever you feel it is lagging. If that latest game you've just got isn't running fast enough then consider buying more RAM or a upgraded Graphics card in the future. It could even be the processor.

My Playstation 2, Gamecube etc are much friendly then my PC though. I know I'm safe to jsut put a game in and play with controls which were made for the game. On a PC it may not work, the controls may be rubbish and you'll probably spend more time gettign the game to run then actually playing it. Not to meantion some crashes in the middle of your game (grrr annoying)

PC gaming is cool for online games and games in general..if you can run them that is.

Re: The only people who ship XP as standard are shops like "PC world" and "Dixons" - this where a lot of people go to buy their pc's and other bits (scanners, etc). It's fine, but i would use a proper pc shop anyway. We have one a few miles away, and u can pick up systems without all the extra's for a lot less. Great for straightfoward stuff, but big games really would push them to the limit from the word go.

Monitor size beyond 17" is a must with some software, because you get loads of floating palettes. Your work space is the bit in the middle. You can shut down unwanted palettes, but these days there are so many for almost every function, that you need several open all the time.

regular defragmentation of the hard disc - yes i do this at work and on my home pc. No hard disc on the PS2, so not a problem. In any case, having used this sort of stuff for years (Norton, etc) i would say while it DOES make the machine run smother + faster, it's no like changing from say 500Mhz to 800Mhz. And the "minimum requirement" on the software packaging doesn't take any speed gains achieved by defragmentation into account.
processor overclocking - can be handy, as long as you don't go to far. Could cause some overheating. So yes it does have a place, but how many people use this?

Dave RJR wrote:
> Re: Windows 98 is the most demanding piece of software available.
> Almost all pc's ship with Win XP already installed - more demanding
> than Win 98 by some way. Some people could choose to
> "downgrade" to Win 98 from XP, but most would not want to go
> that far.

The only people who ship XP as standard are shops like "PC world" and "Dixons". Win 98 still sells in droves due to its better backwards compatibility with older software. And a PC with XP actually runs FASTER than the same PC with 98.

Think about it.

Dave RJR wrote:
> 384Mb Ram? Try running XP

I have XP and 98...

> (you need 128Mb Ram just to boot XP with all
> the bits installed). Then install the latest versions of PhotoShop,
> Freehand, CorelDraw, illustrator, Word, IE, Quark.

I have Paint Shop Pro, Fireworks, Dreamweaver Microsoft Office XP, outlook, Microsoft Project and many many more.


> email, Acrobat Reader.

Check, check

> Now try running
> a few together. S L O W.

Not at all. Even Dreamweaver used to be a system resource nightmare, but since upgrading to 384MB ram, I haven't had a problem. Dreamweaver, fireworks and Paint shop pro creates a bit of lag, but then, why would I have all three open at once?

>And thats even if you dont get a
> memory warning or whatever.

Never had one.

> Even if you can put up with that hassle,
> when you next upgrade any of that lot, 512Mb would be the only way
> anyway. U bet my ps2 couldn't handle that lot, but at games it's just
> easier.

So your pooint is that my PC would probably have difficulty running 3 or 4 games simultaneously, but yours can handle 1 just fine. I do hope you realise just how incredibly stupid you sound.