New PC or XBox 360?

Very tough question. Right this second, we're in a flux as far as PC's are concerned. Intel's Conroe processor isn't out yet, Vista isn't out yet, and DirectX10 cards aren't either.
If you're wanting to buy something SOON...go with the Xbox360. It's much cheaper, too. However to make it a "true" next-gen experience I'd make sure you have an HDTV to go with it, too.
If you're pairing that with the 360, it's suddently not so cheap. Not to mention a 5.1 audio setup.

For a PC - you'll at least want to hold off for 3 weeks until the Intel Conroe/Core 2 Duo comes out. It's the successor to the P4 and the performance has been reported to be rather amazing. With that system, either get a screaming video card (7950GX2) or a value card (under $250). Why? With DX10 on the horizon...it's not worth buying a middle of the road card you'll still need to replace in a year. Either go big and hope it'll last, or go cheap and save your money.

Which is BETTER? Right this second I'd say the 360...but we're in the middle of the summer slump. Pretty much no system is cranking anything great out. However in the fall and winter both he 360 and PC have great games on the way.

If you want a lousy answer...try and find cheap stuff on Ebay and get both :)
 
Domingo said:
Very tough question. Right this second, we're in a flux as far as PC's are concerned. Intel's Conroe processor isn't out yet, Vista isn't out yet, and DirectX10 cards aren't either.
If you're wanting to buy something SOON...go with the Xbox360. It's much cheaper, too. However to make it a "true" next-gen experience I'd make sure you have an HDTV to go with it, too.
If you're pairing that with the 360, it's suddently not so cheap. Not to mention a 5.1 audio setup.

For a PC - you'll at least want to hold off for 3 weeks until the Intel Conroe/Core 2 Duo comes out. It's the successor to the P4 and the performance has been reported to be rather amazing. With that system, either get a screaming video card (7950GX2) or a value card (under $250). Why? With DX10 on the horizon...it's not worth buying a middle of the road card you'll still need to replace in a year. Either go big and hope it'll last, or go cheap and save your money.

Which is BETTER? Right this second I'd say the 360...but we're in the middle of the summer slump. Pretty much no system is cranking anything great out. However in the fall and winter both he 360 and PC have great games on the way.

If you want a lousy answer...try and find cheap stuff on Ebay and get both :)
Click to expand...


Yeah I have decided to go with the Xbox 360. For the most part I will just be using my 19inch lcd monitor but when my parents aren't using the HDTV i'll use that. I have a Panasonic sc-ht733 5.1 speaker set up that I will use for the xbox 360 as well. So as far as components go im pretty much set.

Once directx 10, and vista have been out for a while I may consider getting a new pc. But right now I have a horrible feeling that if i get a new pc I'll come to regret it when DirectX 10 comes out.
 
There is something to be said about flawlessly looking/playing games that I can have my friends come over and enjoy on the comfort of a couch & a 50" LCD.

i got sick of the PC bullsh!t and the 360 was a breath of fresh air. There is only 1 thing that could possibly make me like my 360 better and that would be a keyboard & mouse for FPS & RTS. Other than that. The finger to the land of the PC.
 
pandora's box said:
Once directx 10, and vista have been out for a while I may consider getting a new pc. But right now I have a horrible feeling that if i get a new pc I'll come to regret it when DirectX 10 comes out.
Click to expand...

I think you'll still be in good shape in every department except the video card. Everything else should still be fine. Too bad a top of the line video card (no matter if you go with Nvidia or ATI) is more expensive that the Xbox 360 is! If you've already got an HD setup, I'd go with the 360 all the way. It won't do all of the other work/fun related PC items, but then again - anything capable of running XP will do that stuff.
 
Greenwit said:
Not a good argument as the same could be said for PC accessories....high end mice, gamepads, joystics, etc. Live subscription is $50/year and is not necessary. I'm on Silver right now and can DL all I want.....but if I want to go with Live it's $50 bucks a year. So what. Extra controller.......not necessary. Charge kit.....again not necessary and if you use an MX100 or MX700 chargeable optical mouse, you are paying for the chargeable aspect of that too. Xbox live arcade. Specious argument. You want the game, you buy it. You want a PC game, you buy it.
Click to expand...

Except PC accessories aren't all horribly overpriced. There's no reason to buy high-end anything. You could get a decent mouse and a crappy keyboard for <$40 and you should have no problems competing online with the best of them. Few games actually make use of the joystick/gamepad these days, so buying one really isn't necessary.
 
WuTangClam said:
Except PC accessories aren't all horribly overpriced. There's no reason to buy high-end anything. You could get a decent mouse and a crappy keyboard for <$40 and you should have no problems competing online with the best of them. Few games actually make use of the joystick/gamepad these days, so buying one really isn't necessary.
Click to expand...

I'd actually say a gampad's pretty necessary. Console ports (like GTA: San Andreas), emulators, and sports titles all need one. Sure you COULD keyboard/mouse them, but that's 10X worse than playing an FPS with a gamepad.
With that said - they're still only like $25 for a good one. You could also get a PS2 pad adapter pretty cheap, although you'll need to look around to find one.
Keyboards = $20. They're all pretty much the same thing. Even an expensive lighted one is only $45-50.
Mice vary a little. Don't go out of your way to get anything too wacky. Find something comfy that has enough buttons for you. Getting a gaming mouse isn't going to make you any better. Find something that fits your hand and has at least 4 buttons and a wheel.
 
Domingo said:
Mice vary a little. Don't go out of your way to get anything too wacky. Find something comfy that has enough buttons for you. Getting a gaming mouse isn't going to make you any better. Find something that fits your hand and has at least 4 buttons and a wheel.
Click to expand...

Four buttons and a wheel? I'm fine with two buttons and a wheel...
 
PWMK2 said:
Four buttons and a wheel? I'm fine with two buttons and a wheel...
Click to expand...

That's why they make mice with both :)
I listed 4 just because it's more flexible. With only 2 buttons on your mouse, you're pretty much stuck using certain keyboard layouts just because you need to have those extra buttons somewhere. With 4-6 mouse buttons, you can use WASD, arrows, or even the number pad to do what you want to do. It just gives you more flexibility...but if you're a die hard keyboard user, you could likely still use a 1 button mouse like Apple has. At the same time, it would almost require that you use WASD or some variant.
 
Except if you add a mouse and a keyboard to a 360, what you then have now is a PC.... :p
 
alright i really dont know what to do anymore. ive been reading up on that vga cable for the xbox 360 so i could play games on my lcd monitor. turns out the image ends up being distorted by either being stretched to fit the lcd screen (my lcd doesnt have aspect ratio controls) or it will letterbox it. But in order to letterbox the image the lcd must be able to do this too, mine cant. :(

also ive been reading about how an xbox 360 looks on a regular SDTV. Havent really gotten a solid answer on this one but so far it looks like it sucks. :(. I do have a question about this: Does the xbox 360 when played on a SDTV pretty much look like how a DVD played on a SDTV would look? If so I think I could live with that.

on top of that i just realized that my 5.1 surround sound system doesnt have the inputs the xbox 360 needs in order to do 5.1 surround sound. mines one of those that has an integrated dvd player so ofcourse theres no inputs on the back for one.

*sigh* i really don't know what to do. I was soo looking forward to getting an xbox 360 too. :(
 
If i was you i really wouldnt know what to do either. In this last post you talk about how your worried the graphics will suck on a SDTV etc etc. Now go back and read your first post about you playing a n64, which is no where NEAR being close to how good a 360 looks. Also pulled out one obvious quote off your first post.
pandora's box said:
Im usually a graphics whore when it comes to gaming but the crappy graphics didn't seem to bother me as I was more focused on playing the game than staring at the graphics.
Click to expand...
There you said graphics dont matter. Lol i'm lost.
But i'll tell you i had a nice computer when the 360 came out, collected a lot of dust, now the 360 is starting to collect dust. I'm getting the itch again to build another computer, but still have both. Its a vicious cycle, going from being way into a console, then back to PC's, play one for a while, get your fix and get tired of it, then back to the other, rinse, repeat.
But if i were in your shoes, i'd wait a bit on the computer build, snatch up a 360 play the hell out of it, while saving up more money, wait for some newer computer stuff to come out as someone mentioned new cpu's coming, then eventually with time, have the best of both worlds.
I'm trying to hold off as much as possible on building a new computer until some of the new CPU's come out and such, and see what i really want to build for vista/dx10 so i dont waste a bunch of money right now and then have to turn around when vista/dx10 comes along and make another major upgrade. Don't want to pay 550+ dollars for a 7950 card and then something better comes out that suits dx10/vista 10x better and the price of a 7950 drops to 280 in a week, kinda depressing. At least you know the 360 will be 400 dollars for a while and you can get your money back out of it if you decide not to keep it:).
Enough babbling from me, good luck!
 
I just traded my rather high end PC for $300+ 360 Premium with some games and wireless controllers and such. I lost money on the deal, but it was a friend, he wanted a PC, I wanted a 360, so it was a good deal for both.

Like others have said, computing is in a bit of a lull, Conroe is the only interesting thing happening, but I happen to know that most enthusiasts will need to completely build a new system to game on Vista, so, I decided to get what i could now, enjoy the 360 in HD and 5.1 surround with my kids, and build a new PC later after Vista is out and we know what we are dealing with with DX10 and all

but then again, i have a HDTV, without an HDTV the 360 is just nice, with it it's amazing
 
argh screw this! im just going to wait for nintendo to release the Wii. none of this SDTV vs HDTV bullshit. going to grab a nintendo ds lite to hold me over.
 
pandora's box said:
argh screw this! im just going to wait for nintendo to release the Wii. none of this SDTV vs HDTV bullshit. going to grab a nintendo ds lite to hold me over.
Click to expand...

well, if you have a HDTV then you would be much better served by a 360, if not, i would highly recommend getting a HDTV, they're great and worth every dime!
 
pandora's box said:
also ive been reading about how an xbox 360 looks on a regular SDTV. Havent really gotten a solid answer on this one but so far it looks like it sucks. :(. I do have a question about this: Does the xbox 360 when played on a SDTV pretty much look like how a DVD played on a SDTV would look? If so I think I could live with that.
Click to expand...

DON'T worry about the picture quality on SDTV. Really, it's nothing to worry about at all. I've played my Xbox 360 on my SDTV and my HDTV and currently have it hooked up to my SDTV. Really, the difference is subtle. At least compared to the difference between, say, Xbox and Xbox 360. Let's take Oblivion, for example. On SDTV, it looks stunning. It's a really good-looking game. Certainly nothing the original Xbox could push out. On an HDTV, it's a really really good-looking game. Notice the extra "really." And yes, the picture quality would be similar to DVD when in SDTV. It's not a lower resolution or anything. If you can live with DVD picture quality, you can live with Xbox 360 SD picture quality easily.

I think it's funny when you see people load up their new progressive-scan DVDs into their DVD players and go "ooh, aah" at the picture quality and then say Xbox 360's graphics are bad in SD when they are both the same resolution.

Personally, I'm going to get a Wii to set right next to my 360 this fall (love the 360, but also love Nintendo games), but if you're looking for a high-quality gaming experience in either SD or HD, the 360 is highly recommended.
 
My cousin has an SDTV and a 360 and I really can't recommend a 360 on an SDTV. The widespread statements that 360+SDTV=xbox 1 are pretty much true. The differences in IQ between an xbox and a 360 on an SDTV are marginal at best.
 
pandora's box said:
argh screw this! im just going to wait for nintendo to release the Wii. none of this SDTV vs HDTV bullshit. going to grab a nintendo ds lite to hold me over.
Click to expand...

dang, another one lost to the darkside.
 
PWMK2 said:
DON'T worry about the picture quality on SDTV. Really, it's nothing to worry about at all. I've played my Xbox 360 on my SDTV and my HDTV and currently have it hooked up to my SDTV. Really, the difference is subtle. At least compared to the difference between, say, Xbox and Xbox 360. Let's take Oblivion, for example. On SDTV, it looks stunning. It's a really good-looking game. Certainly nothing the original Xbox could push out. On an HDTV, it's a really really good-looking game. Notice the extra "really." And yes, the picture quality would be similar to DVD when in SDTV. It's not a lower resolution or anything. If you can live with DVD picture quality, you can live with Xbox 360 SD picture quality easily.

I think it's funny when you see people load up their new progressive-scan DVDs into their DVD players and go "ooh, aah" at the picture quality and then say Xbox 360's graphics are bad in SD when they are both the same resolution.

Personally, I'm going to get a Wii to set right next to my 360 this fall (love the 360, but also love Nintendo games), but if you're looking for a high-quality gaming experience in either SD or HD, the 360 is highly recommended.
Click to expand...

+

Monkey_feces said:
My cousin has an SDTV and a 360 and I really can't recommend a 360 on an SDTV. The widespread statements that 360+SDTV=xbox 1 are pretty much true. The differences in IQ between an xbox and a 360 on an SDTV are marginal at best.
Click to expand...

=


:confused:
 
If you'd l ike, I'll take pictures of my 360 running on a 13" or so Sony SDTV (flat-screen). I currently have it on my 65" Sony HDTV...and boy, does it look amazing ;)

Note: I was planning a Conroe build and decided to go with the 360. PC upgrading costs far too much money on top of what you already spent, and the 360 has a good mix of titles out, with plenty more to come.
 
Like I mentioned, the difference in IQ between 360 on SDTV and xbox is marginal at best. I played perfect dark zero and its graphics were comparable to halo 2's.
 
TheOmniscientCreator said:
If you'd l ike, I'll take pictures of my 360 running on a 13" or so Sony SDTV (flat-screen). I currently have it on my 65" Sony HDTV...and boy, does it look amazing ;)

Note: I was planning a Conroe build and decided to go with the 360. PC upgrading costs far too much money on top of what you already spent, and the 360 has a good mix of titles out, with plenty more to come.
Click to expand...


pictures of games running on the sdtv with the 360 would be great. if you have pgr3 and/or oblivion even better. thanks ;)
 
Monkey_feces said:
Like I mentioned, the difference in IQ between 360 on SDTV and xbox is marginal at best. I played perfect dark zero and its graphics were comparable to halo 2's.
Click to expand...

Actually that game doesn't look much better on an HD set either. They "cheat" to boost the framerate by turning off vsync, so it tears like crazy.
In general I'd say it's just a rushed game and not impressive looking no matter what kind of setup you have.
 
Pandora's Box, I'll try to put up a picture of Oblivion on my SDTV tomorrow. Trust me, it looks amazing. Monkey feces doesn't know what he's talking about, I'm sorry. Either that or he's trolling. SDTV Xbox 360 does not = Xbox-quality graphics. That's just absurd.

And Perfect Dark Zero, no matter what setup you have, will always look better than Halo 2. No exception. If you can't remember what Halo 2 looks like, load it up again to see. I mean, are we playing the same games here? Yes, compared to other Xbox 360 titles the graphics aren't quite as good, but on the same level as Halo 2? Umm... maybe I'll put up a pic of PDZ tomorrow too and we'll see the "Halo 2" graphics, LOL.
 
I agree that certain parts of PDZ could certainly use some extra polish, and that the game on the whole could have used a bit more time in development, but there's no doubt that it's a 'next-gen' game. Given that it was rushed to release, I think they did an amazing job, and it's the main game that keeps me glued to my 360.

I'm not expecting anyone to have the same appreciation for it that I do, but going so far as to claim that it could be remotely done on the original Xbox seems pretty foolish. :confused:
 
sdtv...isnt that the new amazing type of tv coming out in 2007 or something?...

im debating on whether to tell my parents to get a 60inch pioneer hd screen (plasma) or wait for sdtv...what should i do?
 
Mayhs said:
sdtv...isnt that the new amazing type of tv coming out in 2007 or something?...

im debating on whether to tell my parents to get a 60inch pioneer hd screen (plasma) or wait for sdtv...what should i do?
Click to expand...
This post is a joke, correct? If not, SDTV is standard TV, aka "your grandma's TV". And eh...can your parents get me a 60" Pioneer plasma too? :p
 
He might be talking about SED...which is a DOA technology.


The cost of the Next Generation consoles is what got me to upgrade my PC. I will wait till Sony and Microsoft get into a price war and take advantage of the AMD/Intel price war this year.
 
animasaki said:
I agree that certain parts of PDZ could certainly use some extra polish, and that the game on the whole could have used a bit more time in development, but there's no doubt that it's a 'next-gen' game. Given that it was rushed to release, I think they did an amazing job, and it's the main game that keeps me glued to my 360.

I'm not expecting anyone to have the same appreciation for it that I do, but going so far as to claim that it could be remotely done on the original Xbox seems pretty foolish. :confused:
Click to expand...

QFT.

Anyway, here's Oblivion on my SDTV (which stands for Standard Definition TV, Mayhs). Sorry for my crappy pic, but I'm not a photographer. :(

obsdtv.jpg


Notice the detail on the grass, as well as the HDR-style light gleaming off of the sword. Next-gen detail IS viewable on SDTV, just not with an ultra-high resolutiion. Again, sorry for my pic, it doesn't really give this game absolute justice, but compare this pic with something from, say, Morrowind (which is an XBOX game) and you'll see that Xbox 360, even on SDTV, is more than a worthwhile investment.
 
Ask you're self what you want out of the system. The PC will of course cost more, but it will have better graphics, higher resolution, blah, blah, blah. Especailly if you wait a little bit for the Conroe and R600/G80.


I don't like how console games, especially on the Xbox tend to try to do games that are much better on the PC (FPS for example). If I were to buy a console, I'd buy one that tried to be a console, not a PC with crappy controls. I wouldn't buy a PC to play action/adventure/arcade racing and I wouldn't buy a console to play FPS's and RTSs. RPG's are ok on consoles control wise, I hear, but you don't get mods, which is a pretty big hit to an RPG. If I were you I'd by a PC with a good screen when the Conroe comes out, a cheap video card (X1800XT or even a X1600XT) and then upgrade with VISTA and DX 10. I'd also get a Nintendo Revolution when it comes out, because you will have more games and most of them will be better suited to a console.


PWMK2 said:
DON'T worry about the picture quality on SDTV. Really, it's nothing to worry about at all. I've played my Xbox 360 on my SDTV and my HDTV and currently have it hooked up to my SDTV. Really, the difference is subtle. At least compared to the difference between, say, Xbox and Xbox 360. Let's take Oblivion, for example. On SDTV, it looks stunning. It's a really good-looking game. Certainly nothing the original Xbox could push out. On an HDTV, it's a really really good-looking game. Notice the extra "really." And yes, the picture quality would be similar to DVD when in SDTV. It's not a lower resolution or anything. If you can live with DVD picture quality, you can live with Xbox 360 SD picture quality easily.
Click to expand...


Just because you can't appreciate greater detail doesn't mean it's not there or that other people can't. My screen has over 8.5 times the detail of an SD TV screen I can see that and it's not subtle. I probably can't fully appreciate the difference between a 500 dollar HT setup and a 5000$ audiophile setup, but that doesn't mean it's not there. Don't just assume that every one else will see it the same way you will.
 
PWMK2 said:
QFT.

Anyway, here's Oblivion on my SDTV (which stands for Standard Definition TV, Mayhs). Sorry for my crappy pic, but I'm not a photographer. :(

obsdtv.jpg


Notice the detail on the grass, as well as the HDR-style light gleaming off of the sword. Next-gen detail IS viewable on SDTV, just not with an ultra-high resolutiion. Again, sorry for my pic, it doesn't really give this game absolute justice, but compare this pic with something from, say, Morrowind (which is an XBOX game) and you'll see that Xbox 360, even on SDTV, is more than a worthwhile investment.
Click to expand...


thanks a bunch for that pic mate! looks perfectly fine to me. thats what i thought it would look like to be honest. just like how a dvd looks like on a sdtv.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
Just because you can't appreciate greater detail doesn't mean it's not there or that other people can't. My screen has over 8.5 times the detail of an SD TV screen I can see that and it's not subtle. I probably can't fully appreciate the difference between a 500 dollar HT setup and a 5000$ audiophile setup, but that doesn't mean it's not there. Don't just assume that every one else will see it the same way you will.
Click to expand...

I can appreciate it. Trust me. I do. All I was trying to communicate is that hope is not lost if you're running on SDTV and it's still very good in terms of quality even if at a lower resolution. I'd like to play on HDTV, but I've got a Samsung DLP and they have a pretty bad video delay which makes some games unplayable.

Here's the deal: if you have the money to spend on an HDTV, get one. It's worth it. However, if you don't have one or don't have the money to spend on one, Xbox 360 and other next-gen consoles will be more than fine without one. It's like this: Xbox 360 in HD is an improvement. Xbox 360 in SD is not a detriment.

pandora's box said:
thanks a bunch for that pic mate! looks perfectly fine to me. thats what i thought it would look like to be honest. just like how a dvd looks like on a sdtv.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. :)
 
The graphics overall are just as good on SDTV as they are in HD. It's just that with HD, it's all presented in a higher resolution, which makes it look all that much truer to life.
 
Monkey_feces said:
My cousin has an SDTV and a 360 and I really can't recommend a 360 on an SDTV. The widespread statements that 360+SDTV=xbox 1 are pretty much true. The differences in IQ between an xbox and a 360 on an SDTV are marginal at best.
Click to expand...


WTF, tell me, do you even have a 360 before you can come up with that pile of shite ?

meh thinks not.... :rolleyes:

Granted the aerial that comes with the 360 is crap for sdtv, but buy a rgb scart instead of using the component aerial you get with the 360, which MS and a whole load of other places sell, and the difference is startling.

I dont have a HD tv, as basically the UK has no real need for them at this precise moment, but comparing my ps2 and my 360 both off which are connected via a rgb scart socket which you have to buy seperatly, there is no comparison between the ps2 and the 360, and the original xbox wasnt any different from the ps2 graphic wise.

I bought a HD vga cable for my montior for the 360, and to be honest, I would rather use the rgb scart with my tv rather than using the hd vga cable for my widescreen monitor....
 
I don't get where this nonsense has come from.

All of the sudden, people can't tell the difference between consoles in SDTV anymore?

The NES and SNES were SDTV; I could tell the difference. The SNES and PS1/Saturn/N64 were SDTV; I could tell the difference. The PS1/Saturn/N64 and Dreamcast were SDTV; I sure as Hell could tell the difference there.

If you can't tell the difference between the Xbox 360 and all other concoles, you're either literally blind or blinded by f anboy goggles from another system.
 
Alrighty then, I'll go snap a shot of the PGR3 Demo and we can decide how it looks.

EDIT:
DSCF0319.jpg

The screen shot really does not do the game justice at all, but it's the best I can do. As you can see, the car model is superior the the original Xbox, and the enviroment is in another league alone.
 
that screencapture looks great! definately going to be grabbing an xbox360 now. also found my dads old dolby 5.1 receiver that i would be able to connect my speakers to. :)
 
pandora's box said:
that screencapture looks great! definately going to be grabbing an xbox360 now. also found my dads old dolby 5.1 receiver that i would be able to connect my speakers to. :)
Click to expand...
And, the funny part is, I have to put it on an SDTV upstairs now. The family didn't enjoy GRAW at full volume ;) I will get an HDTV and a 5.1 HTIB system later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top