Questions about Steam and PC gaming

Stupid questions for you guys I'm sure, but I'm new to it.

1) How can I play a game, pause it to open an internet screen to see an item location on youtube for example, and then just straight back into the game?

2) Is Steam the best option if I want to use one location?

3) Why do those download sites never carry Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow?

4) How compatible are controllers with pc gaming? 360 control for example.

5) Is a 1gig 8500gt good enough for this gen?

6)

Stupid questions for you guys I'm sure, but I'm new to it.

1) How can I play a game, pause it to open an internet screen to see an item location on youtube for example, and then just straight back into the game?

2) Is Steam the best option if I want to use one location?

3) Why do those download sites never carry Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow?

4) How compatible are controllers with pc gaming? 360 control for example.

5) Is a 1gig 8500gt good enough for this gen?

6)

flexin007

1. Press Alt and Tab at the same time while in game.

2. yes.

3. Don't know but steam has lots of splinter cell games.

4. There are many games that use 360 controllers. You just have to look to see what games are compatible. mostly new games.

5. No, try to get at least a AMD 6850 or Nvidia GTX 560 for current generation games. Those are both good mid-range cards. I have a 8800gts (which is more powerful than your card) and I can barely play Black ops, cant play BC2 at all, can barely play Moh, and i'm not expecting to be able to run any of the games coming out this year on medium/max settings.

Stupid questions for you guys I'm sure, but I'm new to it.

1) How can I play a game, pause it to open an internet screen to see an item location on youtube for example, and then just straight back into the game?

2) Is Steam the best option if I want to use one location?

3) Why do those download sites never carry Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow?

4) How compatible are controllers with pc gaming? 360 control for example.

5) Is a 1gig 8500gt good enough for this gen?

6)

flexin007

1) yes just alt-tab

2) yes, steam is awsome

3) i dont know

4) very good for the most part and if it doesn't support it you can use an 3rd party program

5) no you would want a gtx 460/6850 at minimum

Stupid questions for you guys I'm sure, but I'm new to it.

1) How can I play a game, pause it to open an internet screen to see an item location on youtube for example, and then just straight back into the game?

2) Is Steam the best option if I want to use one location?

3) Why do those download sites never carry Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow?

4) How compatible are controllers with pc gaming? 360 control for example.

5) Is a 1gig 8500gt good enough for this gen?

6)

flexin007

1)If buy the game from steam you can press shift+tab to open up the steam ingame interface and there a web browser for non steam games xfire also has a built in web browser or you can just alt+tab to desktop.

2)I'd say steam is the best if you want jsut one place where all your games are.

3)idk

4)360 controller works with alot of games most games that get ported to console and fall into genre's that tend to play better with a gamepad will support it like 3rd person shooters(These work better with kb/m imo but all the ones i played supported 360 controller),racing games,sport games,Fighthing games,3rd person Action Adventure Games,Platformers, Hack and Slash Games like dark siders. For the genre's that do work better on pc like all strategy games,most rpgs,First person Shooters, MMO,Adventure games, and most indie games just because its on console doesn't mean it will have gamepad support and alot of them don't. But you can use xpadder to map keyboard and mouse buttons to your gamepad.

5)no 8500gt is weak card you want at least a 5670 prefferably a gtx 460 1G

[QUOTE="flexin007"]

Stupid questions for you guys I'm sure, but I'm new to it.

1) How can I play a game, pause it to open an internet screen to see an item location on youtube for example, and then just straight back into the game?

2) Is Steam the best option if I want to use one location?

3) Why do those download sites never carry Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow?

4) How compatible are controllers with pc gaming? 360 control for example.

5) Is a 1gig 8500gt good enough for this gen?

6)

DJ_Headshot

1)If buy the game from steam you can press shift+tab to open up the steam ingame interface and there a web browser for non steam games xfire also has a built in web browser or you can just alt+tab to desktop.

2)I'd say steam is the best if you want jsut one place where all your games are.

3)idk

4)360 controller works with alot of games most games that get ported to console and fall into genre's that tend to play better with a gamepad will support it like 3rd person shooters(These work better with kb/m imo but all the ones i played supported 360 controller),racing games,sport games,Fighthing games,3rd person Action Adventure Games,Platformers, Hack and Slash Games like dark siders. For the genre's that do work better on pc like all strategy games,most rpgs,First person Shooters, MMO,Adventure games, and most indie games just because its on console doesn't mean it will have gamepad support and alot of them don't. But you can use xpadder to map keyboard and mouse buttons to your gamepad.

5)no 8500gt is weak card you want at least a 5670 prefferably a gtx 460 1G

the 8500gt is a bit of a bad start i recommend upgrading to say a gt240 or 4670/5570 if you on a budget.. there not like a lgihtyear of improvement but they will help significantly and min. let you play any console port you want on medium

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

I figured out the Steam window and thanks for tips. Guess I'll need to upgrade. Should I add a second GPU to the existing 8500 or just get rid of the 8500 altogether? Last questions, if I use my 360 controller I imagine it needs to be plugged in using a plug and play? Could I use the 360 mic as well?flexin007

Get rid of a 8500 all together. That card was made for playing Sims and watching movies. It is not a gaming card. 360 controller has built in drivers if you are using windows 7, or else you'd need to find some drivers via google.

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

flexin007

You mean 8500? I have a weak version of the 8800GT and it runs Bad Company 2 just fine on low.

You need something like this to play some Bad Company 2. That one is cheapest one I'd recommend. If you wanna crank up all the settings in BC2 and have a great card for other games as well, then this would be a massive upgrade. Best card you can get for the price. Plus you even get a free copy of Shogun 2 (That you could give to me if you don't want it :P )

PC builds are just that much better or what?flexin007

You mean custom builds/DIY instead of buying something from Best Buy? Yes, by far.

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

flexin007

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

flexin007

Stupid questions for you guys I'm sure, but I'm new to it.

1) How can I play a game, pause it to open an internet screen to see an item location on youtube for example, and then just straight back into the game?

Alt + Tab and open up your choice of browser or Shift + Tab and use the built in Steam browser.

2) Is Steam the best option if I want to use one location?

Yes, other great places are gamersgate and gog.

3) Why do those download sites never carry Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow?

It's up to the dev, some companies didn't support certain DD sites when the game released.

4) How compatible are controllers with pc gaming? 360 control for example.

Almost all modern games instantly support the 360 pad when plugged in, even if it's not supported you can force it with programs like Xpadder. You can also use motionjoy to get a Ps3 controller to work.

5) Is a 1gig 8500gt good enough for this gen?

Very weak, you can buy a used 5770 for cheap off ebay or probably should go with something like a 460 or higher this late into the gen.

6)

flexin007

Pandora Tomorrow literally doesn't work with any recently made PC in my experience. Have you tried to play it lately?KHAndAnime

Yes it does...i have it installed on my pc...it runs flawless...with some tweaks...

Ived played Pandora Tomorrow on a AMD Athlon X2 with a 8600 GT...ived played Pandora Tomorrow on a Q9550 with a 285 GTX...ived played it on a Q9550 with a HD 5870...and iam playing it right now on the same Q9550 with a 570 GTX...

1. Don't watch youtube while playing a game.

2. Yes!

3. its a bad game played only by a naughtly little boy! the game was also banned everywhere except Mexico! You need to get it across the border senoir

4. They're not

5. No. Don't even think about it mister!

6. Yes! All your bases belong to us!

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

flexin007

8800GT runs BC 2 just fine, I had one till last year, maxed it out without HBAO with 2xAA at 1680x1050 on DX 10, BC 2 is more of a CPU hog than GPU and 8500 is not a gaming card, it's a multimedia card, good for HD movies and casual gaming. GTX 460 would be a great card at a decent price.DanielDust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efJiDNKg74A

better yet, black ops at ps3 settings but with a higher res!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhpxHpuf-As&feature=related

console games are truly unoptimized I gotta say, probably because their cpus blow chunks.

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

flexin007

The 8500gt is not at all comparable to any 8800 card. Within the GeForce 8 range, the 8500 is an entry-level gaming card, and the 8800 is a high end card, which can manage games like BC2 with ease.

In any case, the PS3's GPU is actually comparable to a 7950, not a 7600... Which an 8800 is better than, and an 8500 isn't.

[QUOTE="flexin007"]

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

broken_bass_bin

The 8500gt is not at all comparable to any 8800 card. Within the GeForce 8 range, the 8500 is an entry-level gaming card, and the 8800 is a high end card, which can manage games like BC2 with ease.

In any case, the PS3's GPU is actually comparable to a 7950, not a 7600... Which an 8800 is better than, and an 8500 isn't.

correct but if im not mistaken the ps3 has amd graphic chips isnt that correct? making it more like an x1950

correct but if im not mistaken the ps3 has amd graphic chips isnt that correct? making it more like an x1950

ionusX

No the PS3 uses an Nvidia GPU roughly about the same power as a 7800GTX. The Xbox 360 uses an ATI GPU which is roughly around the power of an X1900XT.

Either way it doesn't change the fact that the 8500gt wasn't all that good when it was released and it certainly hasn't improved with age. It is also considerably weaker than the GPU's found in the PS3/Xbox.

[QUOTE="broken_bass_bin"]

[QUOTE="flexin007"]

That's what I don't get about pc gaming. The 8800 doesn't run BC2 well yet the weakling PS3 does and it's GPU is only comparable to a 7600gt or something like that? I thought when I bought my 8500gt that I'd be crushing console graphics. Luckily it didn't cost me much and I've learned to ask about that which I don't know. In pc land, that's a lot!

ionusX

The 8500gt is not at all comparable to any 8800 card. Within the GeForce 8 range, the 8500 is an entry-level gaming card, and the 8800 is a high end card, which can manage games like BC2 with ease.

In any case, the PS3's GPU is actually comparable to a 7950, not a 7600... Which an 8800 is better than, and an 8500 isn't.

correct but if im not mistaken the ps3 has amd graphic chips isnt that correct? making it more like an x1950

I'm pretty sure the PS3 uses an Nvidia-based GPU, and the Xbox 360 uses an ATI-based one.

Although I could be wrong.