What is a PC gamer to do?

Published on May 1, 2006 By Island Dog In Personal Computing

I am a PC gamer. I admit it. I play Battlefield 2 and right now there is no game better than this. I built my computer about 2 years ago, and at that time it could handle any game you put at it. I put a Radeon 9800 pro graphics card, which was the best at the time, and it does a good job at Battlefield 2 which is very demanding. I have a 2.8ghz Intel CPU and about a gig of RAM.

I downloaded the new demo for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. http://www.ghostrecon.com/us/

I could only run it on a low setting to play, and the graphics at that setting are a disappointment to what the game is capable of. There are many new PC games coming out this year that I am excited about, but I just hate the thought of upgrading again. I have been looking into the "midrange" gaming cards, but their reviews show performance less than my card performs at now. I really wanted to use the money to buy another Mac to replace my desktop as my primary machine, but I think my gaming might get in the way of that.

Now I have been playing with the idea of buying an Xbox 360, or waiting until the PS3 comes out. Although I will probably end up buying both systems, I don't think either one can replace games on the PC. So back to the original question.....what is a PC gamer to do?

Comments (Page 1)

Zoomba

on May 01, 2006

A PC gamer does what a PC gamer has always done. Upgrade hardware as they can afford it. Right now, the 360 may out-perform midrange gaming PCs. But in a year, the average PC will have moved ahead again. The original XBox blew the socks off computers at the time, with a 733MHz proc and a blazingly fast GeForce 3. Then what happened a year or so later? The GeForce 4s, then the FX line, then the 6 line and now the 7s. Halo was the cats meow for about 20min, then Unreal Tournament 2003 came out.

It's a back-and-forth, one year the consoles are winning, the next the PCs are. My preference stays with the PC because I prefer the control scheme over the console (I hate thumbsticks) and you have more options overall on the PC. It allows indie games, which take risks on gameplay and do interesting things devs can't afford on console titles that cost umpteenbajillion dollars to complete.

Fuzzy Logic

on May 01, 2006

I've had mine 2 1/2 years, P4 2.66, 768Mb RAM, GeForce FX-5900. It does ok (UT2004 goes at 70-100 fps depending on the map), but not with the latest games.

So this Friday, I'll be toying with my new Athlon 4400+, 2Gb RAM, 2x GeForce 7600GT in Sli. That should play the new stuff quite well...

blackcat77

on May 01, 2006

Every major upgrade I've done has been inspired by a game I wanted to play on my computer from GPL in 1997 to GTR a year or so ago. This last time, the game I wanted was $40 but the new components for the computer were about $600.

Island Dog

on May 01, 2006

I have lost track of what graphic cards are "in" now.

Jafo

on May 01, 2006

Every major upgrade I've done has been inspired by a game I wanted to play on my computer from GPL in 1997 to GTR a year or so ago.

Much the same for me....though it was GP3 and GP4 ....and by the time GTR came along I could handle that one quite well [which is good because it has to be one of the best driving sims ever]...

Fuzzy Logic

on May 02, 2006

I have lost track of what graphic cards are "in" now.

That would be GeForce 7900GTX and Radeon X1900XTX, both will make a huge dent in your wallet From what I've seen, in some games, even with a FX-60, both these cards can be processor bound. That's why I went for the 7600GT which is currently the best midrange card by a long way. Put two 7600GTs together and (at 1280x1024) they out-strip any single card on most games for about £100 less.

George Rogers Jr

on May 02, 2006

ID, I'm not the greatest PC game geek in the world but I'd stick with Nvidia - they seem to have got a jump on ATI this time around & even checking cus. comments at sites like Newegg the AGP cards (for example the 7800GS') which are still available are getting rave reviews with cpu's like your present one!! I can't imagine what the newer SLI/PCI-E ones are like!!! This might be a better "stopgap" alternative than replacing MB/Ram/VidCard/CPU....good luck!

thomassen

on May 02, 2006

I read an article recently, (can't remember where. sorry) that there wasn't much difference between $300 cards and $500 cards.

Island Dog

on May 02, 2006

The other problem is my board is AGP, and most of the newer cards are PCI express. I don't know if I should just find an AGP card, or update the mobo too.

sTonEbLuE

on May 02, 2006

I don't know if I should just find an AGP card, or update the mobo too.

Awww....go for it! You know you want to!

Fuzzy Logic

on May 02, 2006

Here's a good article http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=6085&head=0 It shows the 7600GT SLi outperforming a 7800GTX - interesting

Zoomba

on May 02, 2006

For those stuck on an AGP board (like myself), the best vid card you can manage right now is the nVidia 7800GS. I got one myself for Oblivion and it's a great card! Not a bad price either for the power it gives ya.

But now I have an aging P4 3GHz (the proc is about 3 years old now) and a slower MB. So the choice was either about $350 for the new card, or about $1400 for a new system with PCIe. Card was a no-brainer. Maybe next year I'll get a new box.

Robbie_Boy

on May 02, 2006

Much the same for me....though it was GP3 and GP4

this was the same for me too. GP4 (with the new 2005 cars and tracks upgrade) and fifa 06.

but now i'm so fed up with having to upgrade all the time i've just got my self an XBOX last week to play games i will only play GP4 on the computer cos i've got a FF wheel and it great (the best game ever)

Jafo

on May 02, 2006

i will only play GP4 on the computer cos i've got a FF wheel and it great (the best game ever)

Do yourself a favour.....try GTR...the 'addon' scope is almost limitless.

From an F1 around Bathurst to a V8 Supercar around Monaco.....even an Aston DBR9 around Isle Of Man....limitless...

Robbie_Boy

on May 02, 2006

Do yourself a favour.....try GTR...the 'addon' scope is almost limitless.
From an F1 around Bathurst to a V8 Supercar around Monaco.....even an Aston DBR9 around Isle Of Man....limitless...

Will Do Jafo.

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