Is it worth PC gaming anymore? Why I think I may be switching to consoles.

[WolfDeville]

I recently got my second 980 and to be honest even I am thinking this lol. I have 2 980's and I can't even run FC4 and ACU completely maxed and get nice performance... Now, people are going to say "stop buying Ubisoft games" and my answer to that is no, I like the games they put out so I will continue to purchase their games if I like them. I am not thinking about becoming a dedicated console gamer because they are just horrible for multiplayer gaming (Seriously, BF4 on console is like a whole different game, a very VERY shit game lol), there really aren't any games coming out that really interest me except for GTAV but I sincerely doubt that it's going to be well optimized and be an enjoyable experience on PC...

[MEC-777]

I recently got my second 980 and to be honest even I am thinking this lol. I have 2 980's and I can't even run FC4 and ACU completely maxed and get nice performance... Now, people are going to say "stop buying Ubisoft games" and my answer to that is no, I like the games they put out so I will continue to purchase their games if I like them. I am not thinking about becoming a dedicated console gamer because they are just horrible for multiplayer gaming (Seriously, BF4 on console is like a whole different game, a very VERY shit game lol), there really aren't any games coming out that really interest me except for GTAV but I sincerely doubt that it's going to be well optimized and be an enjoyable experience on PC...

 

GTAV on PC with first-person view and mouse & KB... I think many will find it very enjoyable, even if it's not well optimized.

[WolfDeville]

@MEC-777 If it isn't stuttering and freezing every 5 seconds then I agree with you, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. I really am hoping it will have a smooth release on PC or even if they fix it with the first 2 patches I'll be happy, I am really looking forward to playing this in first person.

[Shine_Syahr]

Do whatever makes you happy man. Play whatever you want. Have fun! Life is way too short. Generic advice but it's the truth.

Don't get too caught up in the details.

It sounds like you can afford both PC gaming and console gaming. Do both.

Bask in your financial stability!!!

[Dude]

Now personally admit to my upgrade/settings fetish. But you know what? That's an advantage to PC gaming - The fact that you can change settings to improve performance and when performance is too low, you can upgrade.

My friends hate it when I talk about PC gaming. They directly insist that Console gaming is better and consoles have better graphics and other such bullshit. The thing is that at this point I can't actually enjoy console gaming because I can see all the glaring flaws behind console games. But simultaneously I can't really engage in many PC games because I feel as if I have too much power. The last PC games I have TRULY enjoyed are Far Cry 3, Battlefield 3, Garry's Mod and Advanced Warfare.

Don't give up on PC gaming. I have enough PC gaming friends to justify staying on PC. But I need to figure out how to properly enjoy PC gaming again.

[MEC-777]

...I can't really engage in many PC games because I feel as if I have too much power.

 

Forgive me but I don't understand this. I have a similar spec'd PC and being able to run pretty much any game butter-smooth should eliminate any frame rate or visual distractions that would prevent you from not being able to enjoy or immerse yourself into a game. In fact the enhanced visual fidelity helps me become more immersed in a game because it runs with life-like smoothness/sharpness and is just overall more enjoyable. I've never felt that I couldn't enjoy or get into a game because my PC was "too powerful".

 

Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean?

[Dude]

Forgive me but I don't understand this. I have a similar spec'd PC and being able to run pretty much any game butter-smooth should eliminate any frame rate or visual distractions that would prevent you from not being able to enjoy or immerse yourself into a game. In fact the enhanced visual fidelity helps me become more immersed in a game because it runs with life-like smoothness/sharpness and is just overall more enjoyable. I've never felt that I couldn't enjoy or get into a game because my PC was "too powerful".

 

Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean?

It's an oddity trying to describe it. Perhaps I have used the wrong words. I turn up the settings, play at least ten hours of the game and then go back to Gmod or CoD4 or whatever. I am trying to get back into PC gaming basically.

[Vedge]

You can also just skip one upgrade and buy a console to see how you like it. Worst case scenario, you'll have a machine just for the exclusives that you can't get on a PC (Bloodborne anyone? or The Last of Us)

[mathijs727]

It's an oddity trying to describe it. Perhaps I have used the wrong words. I turn up the settings, play at least ten hours of the game and then go back to Gmod or CoD4 or whatever. I am trying to get back into PC gaming basically.

Well look at it this way: Gmod is PC only and cod4 is only good on pc (dedicated servers, mods and stuff)...

[ThatOtherGuy95]

What's the big deal about it? It seems like a P2W game.

you cant win in star citizen tho, its a massive open world exploration game where you can do what ever you like, and the graphics actaully push a pc to its very limits, something we really havent seen since crysis 1

[That Norwegian Guy]

Ubisoft games shouldn't be bought regardless of platform.

 

That said, Steam/ GOG/ Humble Sales are more than enough to make PC Gaming worth it, by about 22000%.

 

Take the time you spend tinkering with your PC and dedicate half of it to staying informed about upcoming games (so you don't have to buy Ubisoft or EA crap) - especially indie games - and use the other 50% of it to enjoying said games. Hardware knowledge is subject to pattern recognition and becomes second nature before you know it.

 

And never, EVER pre-order. People who pre-order are the reason crappy AAA games exist in the first place.

[Grrizz]

I don't understand how you can feel frustrated by a PC and be totally fine with a console, at the very worst set the games to medium/high on your PC and enjoy a constant 60+ fps (or more likely in a lot of games 120+ with a GTX780) at 1080p, its still one hell of a lot better then what a console has to offer even if you aren't getting the most out of the PC you have. Then there's the fact you have an Nvidia card, just let the Geforce experience to pick your settings if you don't want to deal with it, it couldn't be easier, there's no reason to settle for low details at 900p and 30fps in this day and age IMO, 1600x1200 was common even in the late 90s, even an entry level PC can hit 1080p smoothly.

Also note Ubisofts games are poorly optimised across the board, its not just a PC thing.

[MEC-777]

Ubisoft games shouldn't be bought regardless of platform.

 

That said, Steam/ GOG/ Humble Sales are more than enough to make PC Gaming worth it, by about 22000%.

 

Take the time you spend tinkering with your PC and dedicate half of it to staying informed about upcoming games (so you don't have to buy Ubisoft or EA crap) - especially indie games - and use the other 50% of it to enjoying said games. Hardware knowledge is subject to pattern recognition and becomes second nature before you know it.

 

And never, EVER pre-order. People who pre-order are the reason crappy AAA games exist in the first place.

 

 

All excellent advice.

 

Just yesterday I saw Thief was $9 on GMG. NINE DOLLARS!!! This game was released less than a year ago (Feb 25, 2014). You never see any games less than a year old on consoles go on sale that low. Never.

 

Lords of the Fallen, a brand new game, is already on sale for 25-30% off, depending on where you look. This usually happens with most new games within the first month or so of it's release and is one of the main reasons why I don't pre-order games.

[ROYSTURRR]

If you have a wife and little kids, you won't have much time to game anyway. So switching to console--spending $400 for a new machine, $60 for a game, $50/year for online--and then not being able to play as much isn't a great idea. I would run your current rig until it dies first and then think about switching. Two pennies

[Subcola]

Assuming you spend the same amount on games in 3 years it equals(based on games that I bought this year):

PS4: 400€

Games: 670*3

Total of: 2410€

PC: 1250€

Games: 400*3

Total of: 2450€

It is all about the experience that you wan

PS4 just about the games

PC much less limitation on funcionality

[leelaa14]

I was a console gamer all my life from the age of 4 up until this year (i'm 24) I sold my ps4 and use the money towards a pc and i can honestly say i feel better off. So that itself answers it for me.

Plus i also get the benafit of console gaming. Last night me and the Mrs streamed mario kart wii from my beasty pc to the crappy laptop in bed with 2 xbox controllers.

consoles are limited pc is not.

[applesuxD]

Hello,

First off, this is more of a rant than anything. Sometimes, I think these forums are for things like this because my friends, and especially my wife, cannot stand when I talk about technology, upgrading and gaming lol. I would also like to state that I am a PC gamer, and I have been for a while. This is not to bash PC gaming, at all. I know many may see this as that, but it is not. It really just a stream of consciousnesses that I want to get out and share. And, perhaps, some of you may have the same experience or thoughts that I am having. Please, feel free to respond in any case.

I have been going through a bit of an internal struggle lately. Should I upgrade this or that? Will my rig run this at the highest settings possible? What are the frame rates going to be? Is there going to be screen tearing or micro-stuttering? What do I have to to make my gaming experience smooth and graphically amazing? There are more questions that I have asked myself in my head, here in the forums and other forums around the web.

I think that I may have an obsession with constantly upgrading my rig and constantly wanting to tweak the settings to get the best possible experience that I can have. It has gotten to the point where I actually spend so much time doing this that I have been totally missing the point of gaming, which of course is to take a little break from reality and have fun.

With the latest batch of games that just came out, mainly from Ubisoft, it made me stop and think to myself, "Is it worth it anymore?". I mean, some of these developers are not optimizing games to run on the PC that well, so you have to have a pretty beefy rig to run them, but even then many with beefy rigs still have issues. I have a pretty nice set-up, with an i7 3770K, Gigabyte Windforce 780 GHz Ed, 8GB RAM..., but I have noticed that some games are still riddled with stuttering, screen tearing, low FPS drops and just not being able to run where I would expect games to run. Perhaps, though, that is just my fault for expecting too much, or falling into the graphics hype machine that is game marketing.

I just think that I am at a point in my life where I have to prioritize and ask if it is worth my sanity and my cash to keep chasing the PC gaming dream. Someone once said, "A computer is never finished, you just run out of money." I have a family now, with a wife, a daughter and a boy on the way in January. So, time and money are hard to come by and it seems that those things may not be coming back anytime soon lol.

I took a break from PC gaming a little while ago because I became way to, let's say, involved with upgrading, graphic and performance. I picked up a PS4 and finished Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Infamous Second Son, Battlefield 4, Madden 15 and some others. I don't mind saying that it was quite an enjoyable experience. I popped in the disc, grabbed the controller and gamed right on my couch. Simple and easy. And, to my surprise, the graphics were not that bad. I didn't have to press pause and go into the settings and tweak them. I didn't have to monitor my temperatures. I didn't have to worry if my GPU was good enough to run the game. I didn't have to worry about the noise of running a big rig.

I know, graphically, the PC is superior. However, when you are actually immersed in the game, do you really notice half of the stuff we jack up our graphics for? Is there that big of a noticeable difference between the current generation of consoles and PC's to warrant all of the stuff that I personally get uptight about? Is worth the price of building and upgrading a PC gaming rig? I don't know...these are just some of the things that I have been thinking about lately.

As I stated in the beginning of the post, this is not to bash any type of gaming and I certainly do not want to start a flame war. This is just simply more or less of a rant and some thoughts that I have been having lately that, I guess, I needed to get out of my head and off of my chest. Whether you agree with me or not, or share some similar thoughts and experience, I welcome all conversation.

I know this was a long read, and if you made it to this point without losing interest and falling asleep, I applaud and thank you.

Just don't tweak

Its probably u being enthusiastic abt the PC

Ntn wrong wif Dat its human nature

Anyways

Jus like was shadowcaptain said

Don't bother abt the tweaks and all

I mean why leave that beast there untouched

In fact u can play on both

Its up to u

happy gaming

[Sona]

I have a idea for you. STOP messing with your PC and play some damn games lol. Stop spending your money and keep it the way it is for a couple years. The games dont need to be the highest settings. If you care about settings which im guessing you do why would you go to console ??