Were the HD consoles really more powerful than PCs at launch?

People like to talk about how when the 360 came out, that it was more powerful than PCs, but I'm not too sure about that.

I'm sure most people would agree that CoD2 had the best graphics out of the launch titles for the 360, but if memory serves me correctly, my PC version of it that I got before it even came out for the 360 looked and ran better. Maybe I imagined it all and the 720p/30fps 360 version was better than my PC version.

So SWs, am I crazy or did anyone else experience this?

No, there were the nvidia 7900s and ati x1900s, both of which could also be doubled for more performance.

EDIT: Then there was the 8800 GTX around the release of the PS3, obliterating everything before it

that would depend entirely upon what type of computer you had. If you bought the latest and greatest of all hardware than no. R3FURBISHED

wait...wut?

if i inserted an Uncharted 3 or a God Of War 3 on my PS3 on 2006 it would've played it without any problems. the consoles did not grow any power, the PS3 has had the power to run a UC3 or GOW3 since launch.

now, were there a UC3 or a GOW3 game on PC on 2006? nada.

Visually, some console games were on par or even looked slightly better than certain PC games at launch.

But when it comes to power, I doubt that consoles were more powerful than the latest PC hardware avaliable at the time. At least as far as graphics cards go. You'd almost always get better performance on PC back then, if you had the latest and most powerful technology of course.

wait...wut?

if i inserted an Uncharted 3 or a God Of War 3 on my PS3 on 2006 it would've played it without any problems. the consoles did not grow any power, the PS3 has had the power to run a UC3 or GOW3 since launch.

now, were there a UC3 or a GOW3 game on PC on 2006? nada.

rumbalumba

Don't forget how devs back in '06 didn't know enough about PS3 architecture to produce games like that...

Also,8800GTX was released in November 2006,a card much more powerful than PS3,that can play Crysis on high settings with no problems,and can play games decently even today...

The only time I saw that really happen was with the launch of the N64. With all other consoles past and current? Nope. I really liked the water physics in Wave Race 64. I can't remember other consoles and the PC having water physics as good until Far Cry.

Not to mention COD 2 featured 64 players online on PC while 360 only had 8. MFDOOM1983

People like to talk about how when the 360 came out, that it was more powerful than PCs, but I'm not too sure about that.

I'm sure most people would agree that CoD2 had the best graphics out of the launch titles for the 360, but if memory serves me correctly, my PC version of it that I got before it even came out for the 360 looked and ran better. Maybe I imagined it all and the 720p/30fps 360 version was better than my PC version.

So SWs, am I crazy or did anyone else experience this?

arto1223

nope

call of duty 2 on xbox360 8 players watered down textures

call of duty on pc better textures and 64 player support.

In terms of raw power, you could easily build a PC more powerful than a console back when they launched. The 7900 was out for the 360 launch(right, I'm not just making that up am I?) and the 8800GTX came out in November of '06

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

heeeeeeeeeweeee

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

That depends on what exactly you mean by "PC's". If you mean, a similarly priced $400 PC, then yes. If you mean a top of the line, $2000 super rig, then no.

A lot of consoles extra juice come from the extra optimization and incredible ease developers have with the architecture of a console and the fact that the hardware is static. They don't need to account fo anything extra, so they can pump out amazing looking games like they couldn't on PC because of worrying about all the variables.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

heeeeeeeeeweeee

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

SAGE_OF_FIRE

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

A very healthy year for PC gaming was 2005...

LoosingENDs would say yes.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

heeeeeeeeeweeee

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

heeeeeeeeeweeee

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

rasengan2552

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

pdz definitely looked better than that bf2 didnt even parallax maps.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

perfect dark zero had some good textures though even compared to pc games because it was 360 exclusive.

mitu123

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

2005/2006 is when the industry died pretty much no great games after doom3 and half life 2.

[QUOTE="rasengan2552"][QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

n pc had no real big exclusives in 2005.

heeeeeeeeeweeee

pdz definitely looked better than that bf2 didnt even parallax maps.

[QUOTE="rumbalumba"]

wait...wut?

if i inserted an Uncharted 3 or a God Of War 3 on my PS3 on 2006 it would've played it without any problems. the consoles did not grow any power, the PS3 has had the power to run a UC3 or GOW3 since launch.

now, were there a UC3 or a GOW3 game on PC on 2006? nada.

Rocker6

Don't forget how devs back in '06 didn't know enough about PS3 architecture to produce games like that...

Also,8800GTX was released in November 2006,a card much more powerful than PS3,that can play Crysis on high settings with no problems,and can play games decently even today...

the question is that are the HD twins more powerful than PCs in 2006? regardless of dev talent, the same hardware existed back then.

[QUOTE="heeeeeeeeeweeee"]

[QUOTE="rasengan2552"] BF2 was the most popular game on any platform in 2005.wis3boi

pdz definitely looked better than that bf2 didnt even parallax maps.

The game still sucked and had **** vehicle physics compared to battlefield modern combat.

the rumored specs of the Wii U places it around the 6770 and TBH I'm not expecting the PS4 or next box to do much more than a 6970.

This current gen will not out do that time's equivelant.

BTW finding out the answer is actually a very simple answer and it isn't an issue of opinion. There was better hardware at the time of the release of those consoles just like there always will be.

kinda like how unreal tournament 2004 had **** vehicle physics compared to unreal 2 xmp multiplayer.

No. In 2005 I had a PC with the 7800 GTX, which was the most powerful GPU at the time. Look up the hardware specs of the consoles...360 GPU = R600 foundation of Radeon HD 2000 series, PS3 GPU = gimped 7800 GTX. Neither a foundation of a GPU nor a gimped one could outperform the top PC GPUs of 2005. Any hardware website (such as Anandtech) would tell you that.topsemag55

Yes the unified is more efficient than split pixel/vertex but the pc still had more pixel pushing power.

At the time you would have needed a really badass PC to keep up with what the 360 could do. When the 8800GTX came is when PC's started having hardware that was definitively more powerful.

No, there were the nvidia 7900s and ati x1900s, both of which could also be doubled for more performance.

EDIT: Then there was the 8800 GTX around the release of the PS3, obliterating everything before it

360 was in no way better, nor did it have better looking games. I had a single-core Pentium with a 6600gt at the time and that could run Gears of War with better graphics, better resolution and better framerate than the 360.

Maybe slightly more powerful, not enough however for it to be visible in games.
This is actually the first generation when consoles games didn't blow PCs away graphically at launch.

I'd definitely say BF2 and FEAR looked better than anything on consoles.

LoosingENDs would say yes.

mitu123

I kind of made this thread for him and reach3.

[QUOTE="mitu123"]

LoosingENDs would say yes.

arto1223

I kind of made this thread for him and reach3.

Only the 360 was.

People like to talk about how when the 360 came out, that it was more powerful than PCs, but I'm not too sure about that.

I'm sure most people would agree that CoD2 had the best graphics out of the launch titles for the 360, but if memory serves me correctly, my PC version of it that I got before it even came out for the 360 looked and ran better. Maybe I imagined it all and the 720p/30fps 360 version was better than my PC version.

So SWs, am I crazy or did anyone else experience this?

arto1223

Xbox 360 yes, had tech that PC got months later, that is why it is doing so much better in current games than 7800GTX that cant even start them

PS3 and Wii not even close, both those used tech that was way before 360 tech, PS3 used the standard 7800 tech

Also the TC logic, comparing the old games on PC and 360 launch, is not correct, because games at first were hardly made for 360 new tech at all or optimized for it, so PC was a bit ahead at first for multipltatforms

Kameo that was exlusive, stll has impressive graphics to this date and destroyed anything on PC for many years though

But today, 360 runs Witcher 2 and Crysis 2 in medium/high setting, 720p and 30fps, while a SLI 7800GTX cant even start the games at all !!!!!

That is because now games are made with 360 next gen tech in mind of course and 7800GTX is an ancient tech comparing

Xbox 360 yes, had tech that PC got months later, that is why it is doing so much better in current games than 7800GTX that cant even start them

PS3 and Wii not even close, both those used tech that was way before 360 tech, PS3 used the standard 7800 tech

Also the TC logic, comparing the old games on PC and 360 launch, is not correct, because games at first were hardly made for 360 new tech at all or optimized for it, so PC was a bit ahead at first for multipltatforms

Kameo that was exlusive, stll has impressive graphics to this date and destroyed anything on PC for many years though

But today, 360 runs Witcher 2 and Crysis 2 in medium/high setting, 720p and 30fps, while a SLI 7800GTX cant even start the games at all !!!!!

That is because now games are made with 360 next gen tech in mind of course and 7800GTX is an ancient tech comparing

loosingENDS

Crysis 2's lowest setting is actually "high setting".

Half Life 2 Lost Coast.

Age of Empire 3 (Nov 2005)

FarCry PC version.

But today, 360 runs Witcher 2 and Crysis 2 in medium/high setting, 720p and 30fps, while a SLI 7800GTX cant even start the games at all !!!!!

loosingENDS

First off, some of the games that those pics are from are not launch titles, which is what this thread was about (360 launch titles vs games on the PC around that time).

Second, The Witcher 2 is not out yet on the 360, please stop citing it as if it is and that we have the chance to play it and not just look at photos and compressed video footage. Crysis 2 on 360 runs at what 'high' is on the PC, which happens to be the lowest possible settings, and it barely runs at a stable 30fps (is Crysis 2 on consoles actually 720 or is it upscaled?).

[QUOTE="loosingENDS"]

But today, 360 runs Witcher 2 and Crysis 2 in medium/high setting, 720p and 30fps, while a SLI 7800GTX cant even start the games at all !!!!!

arto1223

First off, some of the games that those pics are from are not launch titles, which is what this thread was about (360 launch titles vs games on the PC around that time).

Second, The Witcher 2 is not out yet on the 360, please stop citing it as if it is and that we have the chance to play it and not just look at photos and compressed video footage. Crysis 2 on 360 runs at what 'high' is on the PC, which happens to be the lowest possible settings, and it barely runs at a stable 30fps (is Crysis 2 on consoles actually 720 or is it upscaled?).

We have an actual video of Withcer 2 on 360 and looks beyond spectacular there, i agree will look even better in reality, the video is bad quality

It is called "high" because the difference to the next setting is near zero

So, it is not low, because Crysis 2 does not have a low, "high" is already good enough to almost match the highest mode, that is well known

That is why it is called "high" in the first place, high is high, it is the lowest on PC indeed, but is high settings, what it says

We have an actual video of Withcer 2 on 360 and looks beyond spectacular there, i agree will look even better in reality, the video is bad quality

It is called "high" because the difference to the next setting is near zero

So, it is not low, because Crysis 2 does not have a low, "high" is already good enough to almost match the highest mode, that is well known

That is why it is called "high" in the first place, high is high, it is the lowest on PC indeed, but is high settings, what it says

loosingENDS

crysis-2-xbox-360-vs-pc-comparison

With Crysis 2, Xbox 360 = PC's lowest settings i.e. high.

We'll bring further analysis on Crysis 2's graphics options in a later article, but from these screenshots we've noticed that the Xbox 360 version of the game has dramatically poorer texture quality, fewer light sources and no advanced light effects, such as bloom and HDR. There are also fewer objects in the Xbox 360 version, evidenced by the trees and clutter that are visible on the PC screens, but not Xbox 360 ones.

maybe

[QUOTE="loosingENDS"]

We have an actual video of Withcer 2 on 360 and looks beyond spectacular there, i agree will look even better in reality, the video is bad quality

It is called "high" because the difference to the next setting is near zero

So, it is not low, because Crysis 2 does not have a low, "high" is already good enough to almost match the highest mode, that is well known

That is why it is called "high" in the first place, high is high, it is the lowest on PC indeed, but is high settings, what it says

ronvalencia

crysis-2-xbox-360-vs-pc-comparison

With Crysis 2, Xbox 360 = PC's lowest settings i.e. high.

We'll bring further analysis on Crysis 2's graphics options in a later article, but from these screenshots we've noticed that the Xbox 360 version of the game has dramatically poorer texture quality, fewer light sources and no advanced light effects, such as bloom and HDR. There are also fewer objects in the Xbox 360 version, evidenced by the trees and clutter that are visible on the PC screens, but not Xbox 360 ones.

Crysis 2 does not have HDR on 360 ?

Who wrote this article exactly ?

I cant write anymore, i cant stop laughing, sorry

EDIT: Ok, stopped laughing

360 has HDR of course and the textures look about same, there is nothing dramatically lower about them TBH

[QUOTE="ronvalencia"]

[QUOTE="loosingENDS"]

We have an actual video of Withcer 2 on 360 and looks beyond spectacular there, i agree will look even better in reality, the video is bad quality

It is called "high" because the difference to the next setting is near zero

So, it is not low, because Crysis 2 does not have a low, "high" is already good enough to almost match the highest mode, that is well known

That is why it is called "high" in the first place, high is high, it is the lowest on PC indeed, but is high settings, what it says

loosingENDS

crysis-2-xbox-360-vs-pc-comparison

With Crysis 2, Xbox 360 = PC's lowest settings i.e. high.

We'll bring further analysis on Crysis 2's graphics options in a later article, but from these screenshots we've noticed that the Xbox 360 version of the game has dramatically poorer texture quality, fewer light sources and no advanced light effects, such as bloom and HDR. There are also fewer objects in the Xbox 360 version, evidenced by the trees and clutter that are visible on the PC screens, but not Xbox 360 ones.

Crysis 2 does not have HDR on 360 ?

Who wrote this article exactly ?

I cant write anymore, i cant stop laughing, sorry

Xbox 360 version is missing some HDR...

PC's low settings. Notice Xbox 360 version doesn't have HDR effect on fountain structures.