What makes a PC a better investment?

I haven't treated myself in a while. This holiday season, I'm thinking about finally getting into PC gaming. I want the best investment possible. btw, the bolding is so I see the lines clearly.

I want to know:

1. What makes an investment in a $1000+ PCbetter than buying a $400 plug&play xbox 360?
2. **MAJOR** Why has it been worth it to make the extra investments over the years?
3. How long do top of the line graphics cards take to look dated and how much of an advantage( if any) does that pose over consoles?
4. From your previous experiences, how much do you usually spend on upgrades, etc.... and how long after your original purchase is it required to maintain great visual/processor quality?How much look can you recoop(I'm going to an icy hell for spelling and grammar, I know) from selling parts, and what advantage(monetary/performance) does that give over buying into the new console cycle?
5. Price/Game still worth it after hardware costs?
6. Any other tidbits of info that will steer me into finalizing an Antec900/8800GTS-320/Core2 /2gbRAM order on newegg....

It is a PC.

Personal Computer.

You use your PC all the time, so why not invest a couple of extra hundred to make it a gaming rig.

And always make sure you pay a bit more for the better hardware. Longevity goes through the roof.

People don't buy these gaming pc because

1. Most people here age from 10-20 and live at home with family.

2. Everyone here has a PC and use it for information, design ect ect and could care less about FPS RTS ect ect

3. Alot of games that people like and love don't come out for the PC.

4. You need money, either by having a job (most people here don't and are studying) or having really nice or wealthy parents.

5. Some parents/people will find it stupid to have 2 PC's in the house.

5. If i were to spend a pc that can run crysis then i'd rather live alone, a nagging sister that wants to use MSN is anoying, a mum that wants to listen to 80's music while sweeping the floor is anoying, a dad that wants to see some porn before going to work is anoying.

6. People could buy a pswii60 for the same price.

7. This is System wars, most people here are kids - teens. Hermits try to convince these people but it is their parents that need convincing. Try a site that has a more adult user base.

8. Hermits are the biggest graphic slaves of all.

it isn't a better investment, I've got a friend who has spent over $35,000 in the last 6 months up-grading his PC, and yet it still can't run Doom 1 at a consistent frame rate.XenoNinja

I hope to god that's sarcasm

it isn't a better investment, I've got a friend who has spent over $35,000 in the last 6 months up-grading his PC, and yet it still can't run Doom 1 at a consistent frame rate.XenoNinja

Wow. That is so blatanly false I cannot believe a real person actually typed that.

People don't buy these gaming pc because

1. Most people here age from 10-20 and live at home with family.

2. Everyone here has a PC and use it for information, design ect ect and could care less about FPS RTS ect ect

3. Alot of games that people like and love don't come out for the PC.

4. You need money, either by having a job (most people here don't and are studying) or having really nice or wealthy parents.

5. Some parents/people will find it stupid to have 2 PC's in the house.

5. If i were to spend a pc that can run crysis then i'd rather live alone, a nagging sister that wants to use MSN is anoying, a mum that wants to listen to 80's music while sweeping the floor is anoying, a dad that wants to see some porn before going to work is anoying.

6. People could buy a pswii60 for the same price.

7. This is System wars, most people here are kids - teens. Hermits try to convince these people but it is their parents that need convincing. Try a site that has a more adult user base.

8. Hermits are the biggest graphic slaves of all.

Yongying

You do realize that having a gaming level PC would also improve that machines capabilites in every area you use a PC, correct? Upgrading the RAM and Video card would make any PC run better, its not just for games.

My PC does the following:

1. Playing games in at higher display resolution, texture resolution, graphical settings then console games
2. Let's be download and listen to music
3. Let's me download 720p and 1080p x264 movies and watch them. I can then watch them on the PC. I also have it connected to my 40in LCD and surround sound system.
4. Let's me read/send email. Also let's me use other forms of communciation

ITS NOT JUST A GAMING PLATFORM!

/THREAD

Because you get mods! If the game doesn't come with a feature, just utter those ever popular words: "It can be modded in later." Hell, PC games can ship half done! Never fear though, it can be modded up later because you and I know PC games ship incomplete anyways.Pro_wrestler

*looks back to the Bioshock widescreen fiasco*

Yea mods certainly did fix it for PC gamers, though according to your logic 360 gamers were stuck with the 'incomplete version'.

Interesting.

edit*

Oh and more irony comming from halo fans: 'Forge is so great because you can fix and modify any game mode'
So Halo 3 multiplayer is 'incomplete' according to your logic - thus warranting Forge, so players can fix faults themselves.

:roll:

I haven't treated myself in a while. This holiday season, I'm thinking about finally getting into PC gaming. I want the best investment possible. btw, the bolding is so I see the lines clearly.

I want to know:

1. What makes an investment in a $1000+ PCbetter than buying a $400 plug&play xbox 360?
2. **MAJOR** Why has it been worth it to make the extra investments over the years?
3. How long do top of the line graphics cards take to look dated and how much of an advantage( if any) does that pose over consoles?
4. From your previous experiences, how much do you usually spend on upgrades, etc.... and how long after your original purchase is it required to maintain great visual/processor quality?How much look can you recoop(I'm going to an icy hell for spelling and grammar, I know) from selling parts, and what advantage(monetary/performance) does that give over buying into the new console cycle?
5. Price/Game still worth it after hardware costs?
6. Any other tidbits of info that will steer me into finalizing an Antec900/8800GTS-320/Core2 /2gbRAM order on newegg....

Speak wise ones......defkt

Obviously you know how to evaluate your options (questions are key, most people cannot come out with questions like yours). I have been wonderng whether getting a new PC or a colsole either, and as a consequence have been doing some reaserch. If you decide for the PC, I suggest you get at least an 8800GTS-640 (better a 8800GTX), otherwise the 400$ plug and play option may turn out to be the best choice.

What do you mean by investement?...I understand a PC being one since it can be used for bussiness but a console :|

/THREAD

Because you get mods! If the game doesn't come with a feature, just utter those ever popular words: "It can be modded in later." Hell, PC games can ship half done! Never fear though, it can be modded up later because you and I know PC games ship incomplete anyways.Pro_wrestler

Thats funny. What is even more funny is that you come on these forums and you talk up a game like Halo 3 and expect to be respected here.

[QUOTE="Pro_wrestler"]Because you get mods! If the game doesn't come with a feature, just utter those ever popular words: "It can be modded in later." Hell, PC games can ship half done! Never fear though, it can be modded up later because you and I know PC games ship incomplete anyways.MadExponent

Thats funny. What is even more funny is that you come on these forums and you talk up a game like Halo 3 and expect to be respected here.

What is wrong with Halo 3 :| People who have been here a lot longer than you and who aren't fanboys have been enjoying the game. If you don't agree that's fine but don't talk about respect when your a noob compared to some people, including the reviewer.

This thread will quickly fill up with hypocrites.Pro_wrestler

new rules.... if you're a cynic with no life and the closest thing to a girlfriend you have is a bottle of jergens and your palm, please omit your attempts at critizing word choice, grammar, etc.... to feel "alpha" in your own special way;) People in my situation need answers to influence our purchases, not you acting out anger about your social life (or lack therof).defkt

From a gaming perspective its choice and opinion!

From an investement point of view its logic that makes a PC a better investement

So this thread/question FAILS tremendlessly.

[QUOTE="defkt"]new rules.... if you're a cynic with no life and the closest thing to a girlfriend you have is a bottle of jergens and your palm, please omit your attempts at critizing word choice, grammar, etc.... to feel "alpha" in your own special way;) People in my situation need answers to influence our purchases, not you acting out anger about your social life (or lack therof).sadikovic

From a gaming perspective its choice and opinion!

From an investement point of view its logic that makes a PC a better investement

So this thread/question FAILS tremendlessly.

Bold enough to admit to this.... " if you're a cynic with no life and the closest thing to a girlfriend you have is a bottle of jergens and your palm...." Great, now everyone knows you play pocket pool professionally. good job!

I haven't treated myself in a while. This holiday season, I'm thinking about finally getting into PC gaming. I want the best investment possible. btw, the bolding is so I see the lines clearly.

I want to know:

1. What makes an investment in a $1000+ PCbetter than buying a $400 plug&play xbox 360?
2. **MAJOR** Why has it been worth it to make the extra investments over the years?
3. How long do top of the line graphics cards take to look dated and how much of an advantage( if any) does that pose over consoles?
4. From your previous experiences, how much do you usually spend on upgrades, etc.... and how long after your original purchase is it required to maintain great visual/processor quality?How much look can you recoop(I'm going to an icy hell for spelling and grammar, I know) from selling parts, and what advantage(monetary/performance) does that give over buying into the new console cycle?
5. Price/Game still worth it after hardware costs?
6. Any other tidbits of info that will steer me into finalizing an Antec900/8800GTS-320/Core2 /2gbRAM order on newegg....

Speak wise ones......defkt

1. Depends really. Do you use your pc for more than just gaming? If so, upgrade your current pc. If Not, Buy a $400 Xbox 360.

2. You mean after the inital $1000? The investments I made to my pc over the years weren't really necessary, but more because I wanted a better overall experience with my pc. So This includes 2 extra hard-drives, a bigger monitor and a 5.1 surround set. I'm very pleased with my purchases.

3. A current high-end card will always be better than a console and will probably last you around 3,5 years. My pc was mid-end 3 years ago and has only recently been showing it's age.

4. Wow, that's actually expensive. To keep running every game on high it requires you to upgrade atleast every year. That would be around $500 each year, but I recommend you learn a bit about tweaking your hardware will last you a lot longer if you do that.

5. yes.

6. Try getting the 8800GTS 640, I believe it's the best bang for buck.

Bold enough to admit to this.... " if you're a cynic with no life and the closest thing to a girlfriend you have is a bottle of jergens and your palm...." Great, now everyone knows you play pocket pool professionally. good job!

defkt

Instead of a flame war, your questions would be better answered on either the PC forum here, or many other PC focused forums around the net.

Not least of which, newegg, which you already mentioned being familiar with. Or call up Tiger Direct.

I would say that you should go for it, I've had an AMD athlon 3500 processor, Nvidia 7600GT and 1 gig of RAM for a good while now, and i can still play pretty much every single game that's been released so far. I may have to upgrade next year if I want to max out everthing though.

But I would say go fro it, you can get a great gaming rig now for $1000, and you should be able to play most games on max settings for the next 2-3 years, but rreally you could keep using that rig for at least 5 years.

Also you can use your pc for pretty much everything and it will run lightning fast for all your apps.

As stated above, the mods available for the games keep the replay value extremely high (been playing games from 2003 actively still becasue of this)

Don't be fooled by those that say you have to ivest $500 or so a year or 2 to keep gaming, statements like this only proves that the individual isn't a pc gamer and has never been, or never wants to.

There are plenty of PC exclusive games, and not to mention 360 games that come later with extra content, which also becomes a fully modable game in the process.

You get a wider number of games you can play, because there are some awsome gems out there from yehars ago that are must plays, and are very cheap. Talk about Backwards compatability lol, don't have to buy a new console each gen, you can keep em all on 1 machine.

I could go on a little more but these are some of the reasons why pc gaming is awsome.

thank you pedro...clear, concise, well mannered... you have earned my vote for class president.
VOTE FOR PEDRO!
defkt

lol, Napoleon Dynamite ftw!

A PC is not an investment.

People don't buy these gaming pc because

1. Most people here age from 10-20 and live at home with family.

2. Everyone here has a PC and use it for information, design ect ect and could care less about FPS RTS ect ect

3. Alot of games that people like and love don't come out for the PC.

4. You need money, either by having a job (most people here don't and are studying) or having really nice or wealthy parents.

5. Some parents/people will find it stupid to have 2 PC's in the house.

5. If i were to spend a pc that can run crysis then i'd rather live alone, a nagging sister that wants to use MSN is anoying, a mum that wants to listen to 80's music while sweeping the floor is anoying, a dad that wants to see some porn before going to work is anoying.

6. People could buy a pswii60 for the same price.

7. This is System wars, most people here are kids - teens. Hermits try to convince these people but it is their parents that need convincing. Try a site that has a more adult user base.

8. Hermits are the biggest graphic slaves of all.

Yongying

All of this basically boils down to "I hate PC gaming because my parents said so".

A PC is not an investment.

thinicer

grrrr cynics....

ummmmmm....yea, we established that through a flame war. nice try though

if you get top of the line pc now you probably wont need to update it for like next 4-5 years (i might be wrong) so if pc has games you like then go for it or if you enjoy to sit back and relax on the sofa and play then go for console + console are alot cheaper then top of the line pc's, if you like racing games and games like Assassins Creed or any other third person game then i dont think keyboard and mouse are suited for them but if you are just FPSfan then pc has the most and the best but tbh its all about getting used to controls, after playing FPS on pc then going to xbox 360 i quickly got used to the controller and now for me playing FPS on console and pc is pretty easy for me

[QUOTE="thinicer"]

A PC is not an investment.

defkt

grrrr cynics....

ummmmmm....yea, we established that through a flame war. nice try though

I don't waste my time sifting through flame war related stuff. I just comment on the original post.

A PC is not an investment.

thinicer

The failure of most PC bash threads revolve around misunderstanding the notion of "Maxing out" your game. Considering PC's get better every year, developers also add these new features into their games. However, even though this envelope is being pushed every year, the PC you bough will still be seeing improvements with every new game that is released for it -- simply due to better optimization practices and driver improvements.

However, one with a SM2.0 compatible card shouldn't expect to utilize SM3.0. Or expecting a game that is utilizing the full potential of a 8800gtx, to be playable just as well on a 7 series. You arn't losing anything in this process, you simply arn't gaining as big of a jump. Understanding this concept is the first step in becoming a PC gamer.

[QUOTE="thinicer"]

A PC is not an investment.

Vandalvideo

A PC is a depreciable asset. It is not an investment and you get no direct return from it. You can get a return indirectly on business you use the PC for, like a major project that you complete that makes you a lot of money, but doing so does not add value to the PC. You could make millions of dollars using your PC for business, and when you sell the PC you're still doing it for much less that what you bought it for. It is a tool, nothing more.

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="thinicer"]

A PC is not an investment.

thinicer

A PC is a depreciable asset. It is not an investment and you get no direct return from it. You can get a return indirectly on business you use the PC for, like a major project that you complete that makes you a lot of money, but doing so does not add value to the PC. You could make millions of dollars using your PC for business, and when you sell the PC you're still doing it for much less that what you bought it for. It is a tool, nothing more.

well since i and many ppl buy a new pc every 3-5 years the cost of upgrading that pc to a gaming pc is just as much if not less than the cost of today's consoles. the games cost less right off the bat and they drop in price Much faster as well. Online is free and all the popular games had modding communities to keep things going. Heck you don't even have to buy a new sports game every year because you can download new rosters (unless the new one has actual new features).

btw, gaming is not an investment unless you're a collector. for most of us it's a money and time sink.

[QUOTE="thinicer"][QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="thinicer"]

A PC is not an investment.

Vandalvideo

A PC is a depreciable asset. It is not an investment and you get no direct return from it. You can get a return indirectly on business you use the PC for, like a major project that you complete that makes you a lot of money, but doing so does not add value to the PC. You could make millions of dollars using your PC for business, and when you sell the PC you're still doing it for much less that what you bought it for. It is a tool, nothing more.

That cash flow or the savings you get from games, while indirect, are still a source of savings/revenue that can't easily be discredited. its an investment, end of story.Vandalvideo

I'm sorry, how exactly are you receiving cash flow or savings from playing games?

Sounds like your interpretation of an "investment" is totally different than my own, and that's why we're butting heads on this. End of story.