Settings

First, the detail settings are commonly found in the main menu, under options. I'm not sure I can commit on your second question. I'm not sure at what detail level graphics will exceed console graphics. I believe it would vary by game.

Please bare in mind that this is basically entirely new for me as I haven't played games since the Sega Mega Drive days. I now have the XBOX 360 and a fairly decent PC setup on the way. I'm hoping that someone can help me with regard to settings on a PC. The games I have sitting here waiting to be played just mention system requirements but on the forums I always hear people talking about running games on different settings. How do you do that?...Do you specify it on the menu of the game or something?... And if you compare a console game to a PC game, how can you actually do that seeing as the games look so different from the low to maximum settings. And then various PC's performances differ massively. So when people review, comment and compare the games how do they compensate for that. I never see anything about settings when they compare the games. And what would the settings level be on a PC to be equivilent to the XBOX 360 and PS3. And the equivelent PC setup to a PS3 and XBOX 360 for that matter, I'm lost!.leeandziggy

1) Settings are contained in the games' main menu.

2) Comparing PC to console varies by game but most people(that I am aware of) use the PC versions maximum settings of a game when comparing to a console.

3) When reviewing, a competent reviewer will include the system specs of the machine they used and the settings they used. They comment on how the experience was and how it will likely be on differing hardware and settings.

4) For most games on the PC, medium to high settings are console level. There are a few exceptions such as Crysis and Metro 2033 where high is above whata console can do. Keep in mind that even on medium settings the display resolution (how sharp the image is) and the framerate (how smooth the action is) on a decent PC is almost always above what is done on a console.

First, the detail settings are commonly found in the main menu, under options. I'm not sure I can commit on your second question. I'm not sure at what detail level graphics will exceed console graphics. I believe it would vary by game.

IU_Stizzal

It does vary by game but it usually averages out to the consoles being low or medium settings on games with good graphics. Some games will be at a higher setting, but the PC version will almost always offer better lighting, textures, etc. Of course most arcade games (Plants vs. Zombies, World of Goo, etc) are going to be the same whether you play them on console or PC.

Another thing to consider is that a PC is capable of running games in DirectX 11 which offers things like Tesselation and Advanced DoF. Consoles are only capable of running games in the equivelant of DirectX 9. However, most games only run in DirectX 9 or 10, as there are only a handful of titles that use DirectX 11. Take note that you must have Windows 7 or Windows Vista with SP2 and a DirectX 11 capable video card to access these settings. DirectX11 capable GPUs: Nvidia Geforce 400 and 500 series, AMD Radeon 5000 and 6000 series.

[QUOTE="IU_Stizzal"]

First, the detail settings are commonly found in the main menu, under options. I'm not sure I can commit on your second question. I'm not sure at what detail level graphics will exceed console graphics. I believe it would vary by game.

demonic_85

It does vary by game but it usually averages out to the consoles being low or medium settings on games with good graphics. Some games will be at a higher setting, but the PC version will almost always offer better lighting, textures, etc. Of course most arcade games (Plants vs. Zombies, World of Goo, etc) are going to be the same whether you play them on console or PC.

Another thing to consider is that a PC is capable of running games in DirectX 11 which offers things like Tesselation and Advanced DoF. Consoles are only capable of running games in the equivelant of DirectX 9. However, most games only run in DirectX 9 or 10, as there are only a handful of titles that use DirectX 11. Take note that you must have Windows 7 or Windows Vista with SP2 and a DirectX 11 capable video card to access these settings. DirectX11 capable GPUs: Nvidia Geforce 400 and 500 series, AMD Radeon 5000 and 6000 series.

Excellent points.

Thank you, thank you thank you. I just couldn't find the answers to what I thought were simple questions. It was when I hearing that the Xbox 360 didn't even support Directx 10 that started to raise these questions in my mind. I always assumed that PC games must be much better as you always have the ability to upgrade to the most cutting edge technology as it emerges. But then people said that because console games are just ported over to the PC and oftentimes with glitches occouring on the way, that most of the time that you basically need a GPU from a higher tier, usually one up in the GPU heierachy, in order to emulate what you would experience on a console version. Aparently where the games are designed primarily for the consoles, they are able to play more efficently regardless of the lower level technology being used. So then I thought, well hold up, there are settings that people with non reference cards can't use because of the framerate dropping too low. And at the time of reviewing certain games like Crysis which is a 2007 game refence cards of today weren't around, so essentially unless the games for the PC were maxed out, then the comparative review must then be inaccurate?... Aparently because the consoles use DX9, the games are manufactered with that specification in mind, and DX9 and 10 vary greatly in their structure, so at the moment getting DX11 games on the shelf isn't a primary concern, and wont be until about the time the new consoles arrive. Is that all about right?...if so then is there any gaming advantage using in using a high end GPU with the older titles like Assasin's Creed or even something like Psychonauts?... Did we establish what sort of setup would be the equvilent to a Xbox 360?. For example this is my set-up:

Corsair 700D Case

Corsair 650 Watt PSU

AMD Phenom x4 970 Overclocked @ 4.1 Ghz

Arctic Cooling Ceramiqe Thermal Paste

Corsair H70

ASUS M4N82 Deluxe Motherboard

OZ SSD 60GB Vertex Series 2

2TB Western Digital Green HDD

2GB DDR2 ram (Corsair Dominator GT DDR2 1066 RAM (C5))

GTX 460 MSI Talon Attack (soon to be 2/SLI)

Windows 7 64 bit

LG Blu-ray/HD-DVD drive

7 Arctic Cooler F12's (Two on the Corsair H70)

Lian Li GPU Cooler (switched the fans to F12's)

Microsoft USB adapter enabling me to use a 360 gamepad, because I just can't get used to playing on a keyboard with a mouse. The GTX version I'd assume would easily outperform outperform an Xbox 360/PS3?...

Last question do older games perform any better with the new mid to high range graphics cards?. Some of the games I have sitting here ready to be played are quite a few years old, like Psychonaughts. I don't think some of the newer games I have are that demanding GPU wise, like say Assasins Creed and Borderlands, I'm just wondering if they will play better on a higher spec GPU.

Did we establish what sort of setup would be the equvilent to a Xbox 360?.leeandziggy