Why is console gaming even a thing?

[SMURG]

 

1. They are not. Not here in the UK anyway.                                       xbox 360 £120, ps3 £140...........equivalent gaming PC £500 when you buy everything you need

2. True enough.

3. Not true. PC has the whole indie circuit.                                          so does xbox and PS3

4. Not true, same can be said for PC really. Xbox 360 red ring of death anybody?                             so you never had endless bsod's and programs just stopping on you on PC. and windows failing to boot???? more can go wrong and often does

5. True enough.

6. True to an extent, though the new generation takes away from this a bit.

7. Steam Big Picture.

8. True to an extent. Online play is hardly 'difficult' on PC though...

 

Ofc the last generation are cheaper lol, they're outdated hardware. I was talking about the current/next-generation. Xbox and PS3 does not have the same indie circuit PC has. At all.

[Vitalius]

That was July 2012. A $400 PC could easily compete with a PS4 now lol.

Quit talking out of your bum. :|

There is no way you can get a 7870 with 7GB of VRAM's (along with all required components with it) worth of performance out of $400 (or equivalent in british pounds) when building a PC. ... Unless you, ya know, buy a PS4. Then you got that much performance out of that much money.

That's not even considering optimizations for consoles (which is why the Last of Us looks so amazing on the PS3's hardware, it means a LOT).

[SMURG]

Quit being a troll. I don't buy those prices. At all.

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/AMD+%28Richland%29+A10-6800K+4.10GHz+%284.40GHz+Turbo%29+Socket+FM2+Quad-Core+Unlocked+Processor+?productId=55739

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/AMD+Radeon/Radeon+HD+6670/ARIAnet+Radeon+HD+6670+2048MB+GDDR3+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=50957

Those are the two main components, pretty close to my approximate prices amirite? If you want me to go fetch the others I will...

[grayperview]

Ofc the last generation are cheaper lol, they're outdated hardware. I was talking about the current/next-generation. Xbox and PS3 does not have the same indie circuit PC has. At all.

not relevant as it is not out yet...........and i think you are going to be in for a huge shock when you see how good the new consoles are, there optimization will make them run and look a lot nicer than you think they are going to........to get something that runs as nice as a ps4 or xboner you are going to need to spend well over £1000........that is why consoles will always be relevant.

[TechTheWorld]

Because people dont want to have to build a pc(or buy and set up a pc). They want easy. They want simple.

[SMURG]

Quit talking out of your bum. :|

There is no way you can get a 7870 with 7GB of VRAM's (along with all required components with it) worth of performance out of $400 (or equivalent in british pounds) when building a PC. ... Unless you, ya know, buy a PS4. Then you got that much performance out of that much money.

That's not even considering optimizations for consoles (which is why the Last of Us looks so amazing on the PS3's hardware, it means a LOT).

The PS4 does not really have "7GB of VRAM's". It has 8GB shared memory, so 4GB for the CPU and 4 GB for the GPU. Given that games at 1080p use less than 2GB of "VRAM's", all you really need is a 7870 with 2GB of "VRAM's".

I'm highlighting the "VRAM's" since this demonstrates your obviously-lacking knowledge of the subject, which imo demonstrates the answer to the title of this thread...

[Kerplex]

Convenience

 

/thread

 

Really guys? Going to go on and on about this topic again?

[Vitalius]

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/AMD+%28Richland%29+A10-6800K+4.10GHz+%284.40GHz+Turbo%29+Socket+FM2+Quad-Core+Unlocked+Processor+?productId=55739

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/AMD+Radeon/Radeon+HD+6670/ARIAnet+Radeon+HD+6670+2048MB+GDDR3+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=50957

Those are the two main components, pretty close to my approximate prices amirite? If you want me to go fetch the others I will...

Two things that doesn't help:

1. That's a 6670 and an APU that will inevitably be forced to use DDR3 RAM. Not equivalent to a 7870. Especially not with 7GB of VRAM.

2. Shipping.

[SMURG]

Two things that doesn't help:

1. That's a 6670 and an APU that will inevitably be forced to use DDR3 RAM. Not equivalent to a 7870. Especially not with 7GB of VRAM.

2. Shipping.

Yeah, I forgot how the next-gen consoles are exempt from shipping. If you buy all your parts from the same place you only pay shipping once, and only for the largest thing (here at least).

As for the DDR3 thing... You clearly know nothing about memory. The PS4 does not have 7GB of VRAM or a 7870...

[Vitalius]

The PS4 does not really have "7GB of VRAM's". It has 8GB shared memory, so 4GB for the CPU and 4 GB for the GPU. Given that games at 1080p use less than 2GB of "VRAM's", all you really need is a 7870 with 2GB of "VRAM's".

I'm highlighting the "VRAM's" since this demonstrates your obviously-lacking knowledge of the subject, which imo demonstrates the answer to the title of this thread...

Yes, it does. VRAM is GDDR5 memory, or "video RAM" which is what VRAM stands for.

The memory is shared, but that doesn't mean equally. It means both the CPU and GPU parts of the APU use it at the same time. The OS for the PS4 apparently uses 1GB of RAM according to what I've read (anandtech). 

You see all those particle effects, flames, and massive draw distances in the Killzone trailer? That's where all that VRAM is going. 

We don't need to insult each other here. But I honestly don't think you've read up on this very much.

[Artorias]

Convenience

 

/thread

 

Really guys? Going to go on and on about this topic again?

Haha... So long as someone is posting on this thread. This will keep going on and on.

[SMURG]

Yes, it does. VRAM is GDDR5 memory, or "video RAM" which is what VRAM stands for.

The memory is shared, but that doesn't mean equally. It means both the CPU and GPU parts of the APU use it at the same time. The OS for the PS4 apparently uses 1GB of RAM according to what I've read (anandtech). 

You see all those particle effects, flames, and massive draw distances in the Killzone trailer? That's where all that VRAM is going. 

We don't need to insult each other here. But I honestly don't think you've read up on this very much.

If the CPU only has 1GB of RAM to use, that's going to translate to poor performance in any CPU-intensive games. Obviously the exact sharing ratio will vary game by game, but the point is that it is shared, and the CPU is going to need at least 2GB for most current GPU-bound games.

Just because the OS uses 1GB of RAM does not mean that there is 7GB of VRAM available for the the GPU. That means there is 7GB left to share between the GPU and the CPU (both of which play an important role in gaming performance).

[Artorias]

Obviously you have no clue about consoles at all, also their not priced 499 dollars oke xbox one maybe but no one wants it anyway.

 

ps3 is 399 dollars for example nintendo wii U is 285 dollars heck 200€ in europe.

 

For those prices you maybe buy gpu but you can't game with just gpu you need complete system.

*PS4 is 399 dollars... :P

[Lyons]

Wow, I can't even believe this is a thread. How blind are you PC fanboys? How do you not understand consoles? Do you have no social lives or families?

[SMURG]

Obviously you have no clue about consoles at all, also their not priced 499 dollars oke xbox one maybe but no one wants it anyway.

 

ps3 is 399 dollars for example nintendo wii U is 285 dollars heck 200€ in europe.

 

For those prices you maybe buy gpu but you can't game with just gpu you need complete system.

Idk about the Wii U, but the PS4 and Xbone are priced at £400+ each here, when you can build a comparable PC system for the same price, then get cheaper games and escape the monthly subscription charges.

It really is a no-brainer from an economic standpoint.

[grayperview]

No it doesn't, PS4 will not have a memory hogging system running in the background like a windows PC does. The OS will be extremely light on memory....BTW even in windows games don't exactly use much more than 1GB anyway.

 

7GB will be ample memory to ensure there is no bottleneck between the CPU and GPU.

[SMURG]

Wow, I can't even believe this is a thread. How blind are you PC fanboys? How do you not understand consoles? Do you have no social lives or families?

I have both, and the three seem to be completely compatible. If anything, my PC gaming actually helps me get along with my family since I don't need the television, and my platform of choice can actually be used for lots of other things which they find useful :)

[SMURG]

No it doesn't, PS4 will not have a memory hogging system running in the background like a windows PC does. The OS will be extremely light on memory....BTW even in windows games don't exactly use much more than 1GB anyway.

 

7GB will be ample memory to ensure there is no bottleneck between the CPU and GPU.

Who said there was a bottleneck? 7GB will indeed be enough for that APU. It just won't be superior to a system with 4-8GB of DDR3 for the CPU and 2GB of GDDR5 for the GPU.

[LapX]

Because it's cheaper and easier.

[grayperview]

Idk about the Wii U, but the PS4 and Xbone are priced at £400+ each here, when you can build a comparable PC system for the same price, then get cheaper games and escape the monthly subscription charges.

It really is a no-brainer from an economic standpoint.

FFS you can not build a PC for £400 that will run any where near as good as a PS4

 

1. CPU £150

2. MB £100

3. Ram £60

4. GPU £250

5. HDD £100

6. OD £20

7, Case £80

9. Monitor £100

10. Keyboard and mouse £40

 

and some other stuff i have forgot......get your facts right before you spout shite....

[ajoy39]

Better question: Why do these threads exist? 

 

[Artorias]

I'll just post this so this debate just keeps going on and on...

[SMURG]

FFS you can not build a PC for £400 that will run any where near as good as a PS4

 

1. CPU £150

2. MB £100

3. Ram £60

4. GPU £250

5. HDD £100

6. OD £20

7, Case £80

9. Monitor £100

10. Keyboard and mouse £40

 

and some other stuff i have forgot......get your facts right before you spout shite....

You're just wrong. None of those things are that expensive. I can link you to my previous comments in this thread:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/26061-why-is-console-gaming-even-a-thing/?p=331380

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/26061-why-is-console-gaming-even-a-thing/?p=331380

[ajoy39]

You're just wrong. None of those things are that expensive. I can link you to my previous comments in this thread:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/26061-why-is-console-gaming-even-a-thing/?p=331380

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/26061-why-is-console-gaming-even-a-thing/?p=331380

an A-10 6800k is not the CPU used in the PS4. PS4 is a custom 8 core chip, it's more powerful than a 6800k. Additionally, you can't even BUY 8 GB of GDDR5 ram and if you could it would be about $150 at the cheapest. 

[Dudenstein]

It's things like this where I'm ashamed of having a gaming pc. If someone likes consoles let them. They have a right to like consoles just as much as you have a right to drool over a graphics card. PC elitists are just as bad if not worse than console fanboys...