Game graphics and graphics cards

Hello, i've been playing PC games for a long time now and I'd like to mention that I have never come close to having a rig w/ cutting edge hardware. Yet i've been able to enjoy most of the games I've played, which includes a lot of combat sim games, shooters, 3d rts games (homeworld 1 & 2).

Im just wondering how may of you out there really max out the settings of your games thus requiring you to have the latest and greatest hardware (especially graphics cards). And how many think that you can only enjoy a game if all eye candy is turned on in a game?

As long as i can run/enjoy my games, thats all that matters.

i have my own little system in place...which is probably a bit nuts.

when buying a new system....i go nuts really. this rig was a bit more expensive than usual as i needed a new monitor and sound system...and i got a really nice mouse as a treat :D.

anywho i get pretty much the best hardware out there. when i got this PC (january, see sig) this was pretty much as good as it got. more ram, a seond GTX and an Nforce 680i were pretty much the only possible upgrades but they seemed pointless (my mobo is a 650i but asus, using dark magic, added 680i features to it such as dual X16 sli for PCI express). getting those would go from nuts to just plain silly...and i didnt have the money to go silly :(.

after that...i dont touch it. i play games at 1280X1024 (so at the mo this PC is overkill) and at the mo everything is maxed out. anything i throw at it, it also shrugs off for the time being. basically...as long as this PC can run the latest and greatest at med-high settings with AA and AF turned off at the above res then im happy. i also dont mind turning off character shadows. so i expect this PC will last quite a while. ill probably lob in a second GTX when there dirt cheap but i wont be spending money on trying to keep up with the latest and greatest. when my PC cant meet the above standard, ill rip out everything and go nuts again. by then my mobo will be completly obsolete so ill need a new one. new mobo means new ram, new CPU and..well a new PC basically.

i like to have great visuals, but i don't need to have great visuals

great visuals in a game is like a pretty girl or a beautiful landscape or whatever else you might like to look at, the aesthetics of it make it more pleasant to experience - i don't mean to imply that if something looks better it is better, but if something looks better, and you take pleasure in the quality (and just about everyone does, to some extent) then having better visuals is better than having poorer visuals

i like to keep my pc as close to the high end as common sense affords (i am lucky enough to have a large budget, but never go for the ultra top end stuff, and definitely never at first launch), but it's the quality of gameplay that drives all games as far as i'm concerned

i guess to sum up, i have an 8800 in my pc, but i also actively play games from before '96 - so i enjoy the best of both worlds

it's also worth noting that visuals can to some great extent create or otherwise enhance gameplay - imagine a game very reliant on real time lighting and dynamic shadow, and your pc being barely able - or unable - to handle it... you might still find you're able to play the game, but with shadows off, and static lighting, and suddenly you have a considerably less atmospheric experience - so visuals shouldn't just be considered eye candy - their use really can change the entire feel of a game...

i have my own little system in place...which is probably a bit nuts.

when buying a new system....i go nuts really. this rig was a bit more expensive than usual as i needed a new monitor and sound system...and i got a really nice mouse as a treat :D.

anywho i get pretty much the best hardware out there. when i got this PC (january, see sig) this was pretty much as good as it got. more ram, a seond GTX and an Nforce 680i were pretty much the only possible upgrades but they seemed pointless (my mobo is a 650i but asus, using dark magic, added 680i features to it such as dual X16 sli for PCI express). getting those would go from nuts to just plain silly...and i didnt have the money to go silly :(.

after that...i dont touch it. i play games at 1280X1024 (so at the mo this PC is overkill) and at the mo everything is maxed out. anything i throw at it, it also shrugs off for the time being. basically...as long as this PC can run the latest and greatest at med-high settings with AA and AF turned off at the above res then im happy. i also dont mind turning off character shadows. so i expect this PC will last quite a while. ill probably lob in a second GTX when there dirt cheap but i wont be spending money on trying to keep up with the latest and greatest. when my PC cant meet the above standard, ill rip out everything and go nuts again. by then my mobo will be completly obsolete so ill need a new one. new mobo means new ram, new CPU and..well a new PC basically.

osan0

Can you tell me were did you sell your spare organs?? I still have a spare eye, a spare lung, a spare kidney and a spare testicle...

[QUOTE="osan0"]

i have my own little system in place...which is probably a bit nuts.

when buying a new system....i go nuts really. this rig was a bit more expensive than usual as i needed a new monitor and sound system...and i got a really nice mouse as a treat :D.

anywho i get pretty much the best hardware out there. when i got this PC (january, see sig) this was pretty much as good as it got. more ram, a seond GTX and an Nforce 680i were pretty much the only possible upgrades but they seemed pointless (my mobo is a 650i but asus, using dark magic, added 680i features to it such as dual X16 sli for PCI express). getting those would go from nuts to just plain silly...and i didnt have the money to go silly :(.

after that...i dont touch it. i play games at 1280X1024 (so at the mo this PC is overkill) and at the mo everything is maxed out. anything i throw at it, it also shrugs off for the time being. basically...as long as this PC can run the latest and greatest at med-high settings with AA and AF turned off at the above res then im happy. i also dont mind turning off character shadows. so i expect this PC will last quite a while. ill probably lob in a second GTX when there dirt cheap but i wont be spending money on trying to keep up with the latest and greatest. when my PC cant meet the above standard, ill rip out everything and go nuts again. by then my mobo will be completly obsolete so ill need a new one. new mobo means new ram, new CPU and..well a new PC basically.

Whermacht02

Can you tell me were did you sell your spare organs?? I still have a spare eye, a spare lung, a spare kidney and a spare testicle...

ebay. u can get some great deals there. there also a market there for limbs.....u dont need ure legs do u? keep the eye mind...u need depth perception for alot of game :P

and its now official...ive just grossed myself out :S *trys to run to the toilet before realising the lack of legs*