Windows "Console" PC's

[gkarris]

Didn't have a lot of time over last weekend but I did load Titanfall PC on it.

It is pretty impressive. But you have to do the "PC" thing and tweek the video settings (unlike consoles where you just put it in and play). I have to learn what some setting do as some will actually look better and increase the framerate.

What is sort of strange is now playing Titanfall with a keyboard/mouse rather than a gamepad. It is gonna be cool to try out different controllers for it.

I found this guy online that actually makes gaming PC's from old parts (LOL)... sort of interesting for those on an ultra-budget or want to see what these old parts can do:

I guess his builds are more "older gen" console spec builds...

 

[gkarris]

Here's another guy making a console PC from old parts - called a "scrapyard" PC...

 

[gkarris]

Just an update.

I brought back my 2x4Gig RAM kit and got the 2x8Gig kit as they now are in stock again at Microcenter not to mention also on sale so it was only an extra $20. Also gives a lot more room as the 8Gig was really only 6Gig since I am using integrated graphics.

All the Steam games I've tried run great on it at 1080p in medium-high at 50fps+.

I did try the Doom Demo and it did struggle - probably because of the integrated graphics. I had to tone things down to 720p, medium lighting, low everything else to get to 30fps...

Expected though, as online the "console" PC's were being built with a $400 budget (original PS4 price), but now you can get a factory refurbished XBox One for $199...

 

[gkarris]

Well as far as console PC's, here's what I'm finding out.

You may all be aware of this already. This is for those thinking about going into PC gaming.

Surprise - Couch Gaming and Desktop Gaming are two different things.

PC games are mainly made for you looking at a monitor from very close, whereas console games are meant to be looked at a TV from far away. Some of the UI's from the couch are unreadable and some UI's from up close are too big and you have to go into more screens (Titanfall, for example, as it has both PC and console versions).

The PC needs a lot of tweeking based on your hardware and preferences, whereas the console you do not.

But if you are willing to spend time tweaking your game, you can get something that will look much nicer than a console version.

A PC is highly customizable and upgradeable being able to play your old games, whereas the best thing you can do is upgrade your console and leave games behind (but MS is now saying the XBox will be iterations playing all older games).

On the upgrade note, I signed up for the Everspace Beta program, and I love that game.

Tweeking it to what looked good from up close on my 32" 1080p Sharp TV, I liked 1440p at medium (the Sharp is great as it can upscale pretty well and I found out it also downscales, so 1440p downscaled to 1080p gave a sharper picture than a native input of 1080p - go figure).

My framerates suffered so I got an R7 360 (on sale with rebates for $75).

Fooled around with that but still, at 1080p and above you start to get the stuttering lower framerates.

I scored yesterday and got an open box RX 470 OC 4Gig for $175 (was able to still return the R7 since I didn't put in for the rebate yet).

What can I say - the RX is awesome (and lower power consumption since it is the latest)

Everspace is capped right now at 60fps, and I don't get below 60fps until 3840x2160 (4K) at medium setting (then it goes to 40fps, on "epic" is is 24fps).

Many Indie Steam games I play on laptops on "low" I can now play at 4K on Ultra - and the visuals are stunning. (thought I then drop it down to 1080p so that my card doesn't have to work as hard - funny, this card only turns the fans on when it is working and on 1080p the fans don't even switch on... )

So, building a PC is still the best way to go if you want highly customization with the unit and the way the visuals in the game looks. Also, PC games will be cheaper as now, more or less, there's no physical media.

It may be a great alternative as a game-only machine for those that own a Mac laptop.

 

[gkarris]

So, I read a post online that essentially, everyone with a Windows 10 Gaming PC has essentially a Scorpio (with the right GPU) since MS games here on out will also be on Windows 10...

OMG....

My gaming PC is becoming more and more a great value as time go on...

 

[blesscheese]

Very interesting!

This is *probably* a good thing...

Several years ago, it seemed that MS was actively trying to gimp PC games, so that the Xbox 360 games would be very close in performance, at least initially when first released, and they could say that the Xbox experience was just as good as the PC experience (I'm thinking of Skyrim, which when released on the PC was found to have all sorts of issues. I'm referencing their not using SSE code optimization (see http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=356110) which was pretty much either the blunder of the decade, or deliberate oversight).

Now however, they seem to be elevating (?) the Xbox to the PC level. Probably not the extreme, fan-boy, over clocking and whatever level, but I'm a cheapskate, so if I can get 90% of my games to run decently on "just" High settings, I would be a very happy camper. And if I can get that with an inexpensive consoled PC (< $500) with a decent video card (~$250), that would indeed make me very happy.

 

[gkarris]

Very interesting!

This is *probably* a good thing...

Several years ago, it seemed that MS was actively trying to gimp PC games, so that the Xbox 360 games would be very close in performance, at least initially when first released, and they could say that the Xbox experience was just as good as the PC experience (I'm thinking of Skyrim, which when released on the PC was found to have all sorts of issues. I'm referencing their not using SSE code optimization (see http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=356110) which was pretty much either the blunder of the decade, or deliberate oversight).

Now however, they seem to be elevating (?) the Xbox to the PC level. Probably not the extreme, fan-boy, over clocking and whatever level, but I'm a cheapskate, so if I can get 90% of my games to run decently on "just" High settings, I would be a very happy camper. And if I can get that with an inexpensive consoled PC (< $500) with a decent video card (~$250), that would indeed make me very happy.

Here's GOW 4 in 4K:

I don't know if it is actually 4K rendering/textures, but it seems that games will have the different settings built-in and if you are running it on a One or Scorpio or different PC GPU, it will scale (or you can set it to your liking in a PC).

Games I'm testing, like Everspace and Dreadnaught, I can choose on my PC, but I just tried Everspace on my XBox One and it just runs in a standard console mode (looks like 1080p/Med-High). I assume that Everspace will be able to run 4K/Med-High when Scorpio is released since the graphics content is already there...
[doublepost=1475514877][/doublepost]btw - interesting vid on 4K on the "mid-next-gen" consoles (PS4 Pro and Scorpio) and PC GPU's:

(vid's conclusion - why not just build a PC? I did.... )

 

[blesscheese]

^ for the amount people are paying for 2 4th gen consoles (either the Xbone 1 and then Scorpio, or the PS4 and then PS4 Pro), they could have just bought a PC with a good video card, and enjoyed a much better experience (and also pick up some games really cheaply).

 

[gkarris]

^ for the amount people are paying for 2 4th gen consoles (either the Xbone 1 and then Scorpio, or the PS4 and then PS4 Pro), they could have just bought a PC with a good video card, and enjoyed a much better experience (and also pick up some games really cheaply).

Depends on "better experience"...

Some (like me) may think, for general games, the better experience is "turn-key plug-n-play" where the game will just work (now, there are patches but everything is automatic). PC's still have "much-to-do" to get it all working and then tweaking the game.

Others, like PC fans, "better experience" means buying a lot more games for the money, using your own controllers/keyboards and screen setups (multiple screens in different arrangements), or a game genre that's mainly on PC's due to it's complexity (for me, Space Sims are mainly on PC's).

 

[blesscheese]

Depends on "better experience"...

Some (like me) may think, for general games, the better experience is "turn-key plug-n-play" where the game will just work (now, there are patches but everything is automatic). PC's still have "much-to-do" to get it all working and then tweaking the game.

Others, like PC fans, "better experience" means buying a lot more games for the money, using your own controllers/keyboards and screen setups (multiple screens in different arrangements), or a game genre that's mainly on PC's due to it's complexity (for me, Space Sims are mainly on PC's).

LOL, yeah, after spending an hour trying to figure out how to turn on the AHCI drivers on my Win7 Mac Pro, and then another hour actually getting it right, I will agree that there is definitely a market for consoles. But on the other hand, once you get it working, then you forget about those "wasted hours."

And it sure isn't like the old days, holy cow, trying to install a new piece of gear in DOS or Win95...no thanks!

 

[gkarris]

Well, it's been a year later.

My "Console PC" was really turned into a "Gaming PC" when I put the GPU card in it...

I guess if you can only afford a Console PC - great, but at least you have the option to upgrade as time goes on (given you plan ahead like I did getting the better Power Supply and room for a full sized GPU Card).

I just upgraded to a super cool case for it as a variety Gaming PC cases are becoming more available this year.

So I guess, now, I have a nice Gaming PC instead...

Before:

After - new Thermaltake P1 plus got the LED fans for the XFX GPU card:

 

[blesscheese]

Well, it's been a year later.

My "Console PC" was really turned into a "Gaming PC" when I put the GPU card in it...

I guess if you can only afford a Console PC - great, but at least you have the option to upgrade as time goes on (given you plan ahead like I did getting the better Power Supply and room for a full sized GPU Card).

I just upgraded to a super cool case for it as a variety Gaming PC cases are becoming more available this year.

So I guess, now, I have a nice Gaming PC instead...

Before:

After - new Thermaltake P1 plus got the LED fans for the XFX GPU card:

Any benchmarks with the new GPU?

 

[gkarris]

Any benchmarks with the new GPU?

Well, on my games, like EVERSPACE, I get around 100fps average at a mixture of High/Epic at 1080p

The Surge Demo I was getting around average of 70fps on High 1080p.

Star Citizen appears to be capped right now at 30fps, I use that on 1080p/Med+

Unreal Tournament on 1080p/Low I get 120fps...

XFX AMD RX 470 4Gig ($175 open box at the time - 1 month after initial release)

 

[blesscheese]

Well, on my games, like EVERSPACE, I get around 100fps average at a mixture of High/Epic at 1080p

The Surge Demo I was getting around average of 70fps on High 1080p.

Star Citizen appears to be capped right now at 30fps, I use that on 1080p/Med+

Unreal Tournament on 1080p/Low I get 120fps...

XFX AMD RX 470 4Gig ($175 open box at the time - 1 month after initial release)

Thanks! Nice...I'm particularly interested in Star Citizen. BTW, have you tried "server hopping" I'm usually up early in the morning, but if i hop on the AUS server after their midnight, I usually get great frame rates (40+), same with the European servers in the evening for me. If I get on with the "Best" server, I usually start out at 22-24 and slowly degrade over time. This is with a 2010 Mac Pro with a 1060, running at Very High.