Not sure why you people don’t seem to understand this point.
It will play console ports at comparable quality throughout the lifetime of the console, just like an 8800GTX purchased in 2006 will play Black Ops 2 perfectly fine right now.
I just recently got a 660ti, and I’m very happy with it. Heck, my kids are on a 650ti and hd 5850 and everything modern still runs fine on those with some details turned down at 1080p.
The PS4 isn’t going to get a GPU upgrade partway through the generation though.
Yep, I’m running a 5850 myself. The 5850 is much faster than an 8800GTX. Actually over twice as fast. Runs everything just fine.
I do not expect my 5850 to last much longer, though, since it’s a good bit slower than a 7870.
The PS4 isn’t going to get a GPU upgrade partway through the generation though.
And I can almost confirm that. I ran Black Ops 2 on my 9800GT (purchased in 2007) on High and it ran perfectly well at 40-50 fps. My next computer (scheduled for summer) will be whatever the best $200-ish video card and $400 computer I can get, and I’m sure I’ll be set for the next 4-5 years at the rate things are going now.
The 9800GT is actually a bit slower than an 8800GTX. So, yeah.
It won’t but the games released at launch and the games released later in its lifecycle tend to be separated by graphical improvements. Compare halo 3 vs halo 4, battlefield 2 vs battlefield 3, etc. Maybe because these consoles will be x86 based most developers won’t find that extra hidden power after years of development on the same platform. Or maybe it will be like every single console generation that has ever existed before.
Right now, a PC built when the 360 launched would crush a 360 playing Halo 4 if it were ported, I think.
A pc is a pretty random assortment of parts. How much was this pc you’re describing and what gpu did it use?
edit: also, stusser keeps mentioning the 8800gtx, but that card was $600 in 2006. If you get the equivalent $600 card today for your pc, I probably don’t have any worries about your future proofing, to an extent. But you’re aiming at the $300 level, so there’s adequate reason to think it won’t continue to meet your needs for the entire next generation.
I feel like we don’t need to keep talking about this. Maybe you’re right. I dunno. I don’t think we want the same things out of our gaming computers, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I chose the 8800GTX because it was the closest equivalent to the GPU in the xbox360 upon its release. The 8800GT is actually closer to the xbox360, but it came out a couple months later. The price is not really important, but you would need to have purchased a pretty expensive graphics card to match the xbox360 at release. But if you did, you could be using that same card to play today’s console ports just fine, right now.
The closest equivalent to the GPU in the xbox4 and PS4 is somewhere between the AMD 7850 and 7870. The former costs $165, the latter $230. Not so expensive. I would say the 7870 is a safer choice, because these new consoles have other various optimizations. The 660Ti is roughly equivalent to the 7870.
Good video. I am actually not planning to get an SSD for a little while because of what you mentioned. Memory, well, memory is pretty much a commodity at this point. If I feel like I need more I’ll get more and put the old sticks in something else.
Was thinking the same CPU. I don’t really want to overclock it right away but I’m sure I eventually will. GPUs are what’s really throwing me at this point. I can’t tell if it’s foolish to get a $300 card now rather than just getting a new $175 one every time prices go down or the tech improves. Bleh.
Oh, one more thing (and thanks everyone so much for your advice) - does anyone have experience running a computer in a room with high-ish ambient temps? Any tips other than cable management / better coolers / more fans?
I am bookmarking this reply for later use :)
I’m bookmarking this reply for later use! :)
I’m latering this bookmark for use reply! :)
I am a book called Marked.
Very happy with my 7850 myself (price/performance sweet spot for me). You can get some nice quiet-fan ones for very little extra.
(And older dual-card setups were a pain either side of the divide, to be fair)
But seriously, get a SSD. You don’t need (or indeed want, in any case) the latest and greatest, grab a fairly cheap 128GB one and install windows on it. It makes a HUGE difference.
mashakos - You didn’t install the driver for H.264 acceleration then? (AVIVO/Media Codec)
avivo did not support H.264 video encoded in High Profile L5 and above back in '09/'10
This. the upgrade from a mechanical HD to an SSD for OS/Games is the single-biggest performance upgrade you can do for any PC right now. You have to find an extreme edge case, like 8800GTX to 680 to even come close.