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The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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22. February 2012 @ 20:47 |
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So, Kevin, with the Prime 95 giving you 44 degrees on your new XIGMATEK cooler (are you using two fans on it - probably just the one, right?) how does that compare to the temps you were getting with the coolit?
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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22. February 2012 @ 22:33 |
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Originally posted by Estuansis:
Interestingly my GA-X38-DS4 blew two caps between the VRMs and CPU socket, and I got a re-cap kit for that. They were actually the same caps Gigabyte put on the boards in later revisions, so it's mfg correct too.
How did you know the caps were bad? I never heard of anything like that - I find it quite interesting that you can actually pick up spare parts for a circuit board in terms of a cap kit. Does anybody else besides Jeff have experience with this? (I know, DDP, that you were a hard core board tech, but I mean in terms of your own personal PC equipment.)
Hey Jeff, besides Skyrim, heard about any interesting shooters lately?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22. February 2012 @ 22:34
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ddp
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22. February 2012 @ 22:49 |
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mine is an antec case recovered from a electronic recycling bin. running a gigabyte g41mt-2sp socket 775 with intel dual core 3.01ghz & 4 gigs of ram plus win7 ultimate 64bit. all my desktop computers are clones. my laptop is a dual core sony vaio rescued from a customer who was told the motherboard was duff which it wasn't as had a broken power connector that i replaced.
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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22. February 2012 @ 22:59 |
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When you say "rescued from a customer" is your business still involved with fixing computer equipment, or is it hardware and software like Sam is doing with his thin client software and cloud-based apps running on - what? - mainframes?
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ddp
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22. February 2012 @ 23:35 |
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i work from home for the past 10yrs doing computer repairs & upgrades. computers either come here or i go to it at the customer's home or business.
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AfterDawn Addict
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23. February 2012 @ 00:05 |
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Originally posted by ddp:
i work from home for the past 10yrs doing computer repairs & upgrades. computers either come here or i go to it at the customer's home or business.
NOt me LOL! I tell them I don't make house calls. Bring me your tower, and I'll look at it. :p
Rich, I'd say the temps are roughly the same(the coolit averaged 40 -42C Load). The Coolit was slightly better with load temps. The idle temps are considerably cooler with the Mega killer though. Rather odd. But My voltage isn't high yet either.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 23. February 2012 @ 00:10
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23. February 2012 @ 02:23 |
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Quote:
How did you know the caps were bad? I never heard of anything like that - I find it quite interesting that you can actually pick up spare parts for a circuit board in terms of a cap kit. Does anybody else besides Jeff have experience with this? (I know, DDP, that you were a hard core board tech, but I mean in terms of your own personal PC equipment.)
Well most newer boards use solid state capacitors so the only real way to know is either by burn marks, broken contacts due to overheating, or a digital multimeter. On older boards the caps are simply blown and will usually have a bulged or fully popped top.
Only certain model boards have re-cap kits put together for them based on popularity of the board and demand for the kits as it's all community driven. I had the recap kit for my X38-DS4 put together for me by a more knowledgeable friend. I simply replaced all the caps between the socket and VRMs with caps of identical specs but a higher heat rating.
http://www.thecapking.com/howto.html
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Hey Jeff, besides Skyrim, heard about any interesting shooters lately?
I have been playing a lot of Battlefield 3 and some RTSs. Also have been playing a game called World of Tanks. If you like tanks or WW2, it's probably going to interest you. Really easy to get into, difficult to master. Also, it's free to play with no limits but there is premium membership with an in-game store and currency. Very simplistic though. Tank customization is key. Youtube some gameplay.
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NOt me LOL! I tell them I don't make house calls. Bring me your tower, and I'll look at it. :p
Same for me. I always charge but am really fair as most things brought to me are fairly simple fixes.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 23. February 2012 @ 02:26
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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24. February 2012 @ 04:43 |
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Wow, I'm still amazed at how technically savvy all you guys are - replacing your caps for cryin out loud - and Sam wrestling for a year with that spooky pci-express controller problem before figuring it out - doubtless I'd be scratching my head for years never having gotten to the bottom of that problem.
Or of any bad cap problem.
And it sounds like solid state caps aren't fool-proof, just harder to diagnose - you need special equipment that only Jeff possesses, lol. Well, Jeff and DDP. Probably Sam and Kevin too, now that I think about it, but that's going in too deep for me, lol.
Speaking of too deep, I went to that World of Tanks, Youtube gameplay like you suggested, Jeff.
Man! Actually some pretty good looking Massive Multiplayer Maps. I guess they make money by letting you get so hooked you start buying upgrades, like maybe better armor, or heavier hitting rounds. It sure reminds me of the two RTS games I finally finished - Company of Heroes and World in Conflict.
Yeah, no doubt I'd get hooked. I think I'll stay away like I've successfully stayed away from Counter Strike for going on 4-5 years now - but I keep thinking of going back.
I went through some postings on "best fps dozen of all time" etc, and I was able to snag a copy of Las Vegas 2, but while I liked how they let you customize the hero, down to Asian or other ethnic facial models, type of facial hair, or even the opposite sex, the graphics are so sparce. How old is that Clancy game?
But on the opposite side of the graphics situation, I got gifted both Bioshocks, never having played either of them. At first I loaded them on the XP drive, but then also on the Windows 7 drive when I noticed the Direct X 10 option was of course grayed out on the XP version. That made me very curious. I played 5 minutes of it but didn't see an immediate quality difference. I also noticed that the default is turning off "force global lighting." Again, I turned it on, but couldn't see the difference. Is that something that might kill my fps rate?
I have them installed but I won't be playing for another month or so. The Youtube videos tried to show some differences in DX9 to DX10 quality. What do you guys think?
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24. February 2012 @ 04:48 |
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The concept of capacitor replacement 'kits' is new to me too. Normally speaking it is one or two offending capacitors - if more, the whole board is usually suspect. In this case, there are plenty of places you can get replacement capacitors, it's just a question of getting the old ones off and replaced without damaging anything in the process :P
Replacing caps isn't something I personally bother with, apart from being potentially labour-intensive depending on where the problematic component is, I don't see it as a permanent solution. This plus, the vast majority of faulty components I've encountered have not suffered capacitor failure.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (to which I assume you're referring) is from around 2008. It was panned a bit on release for being a direct console port - the PC version did not receive any improved graphics, thus it looks how it does. Good to play, but dated graphics. Fortunately it does not share the original Rainbow Six Vegas' lust for hardware.
Bioshock (certainly the second game, also criticised for having slightly worse graphics than the original), is not the best use of DirectX10. I wouldn't worry about not having it / not seeing the benefit of it :P
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24. February 2012 @ 06:21 |
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Quote:
Replacing caps isn't something I personally bother with, apart from being potentially labour-intensive depending on where the problematic component is, I don't see it as a permanent solution. This plus, the vast majority of faulty components I've encountered have not suffered capacitor failure.
Well the necessity certainly arose in my case. The board was quite high-end and thus worth saving, and it was OOP so a replacement would be second hand anyway. As far as being a permanent solution, it's basic physics. The capacitors near the VRMs on some earlier X38-DS4s were simply not rated for a high enough temperature. I replaced those capacitors with some of identical specs and brand, but a higher heat rating. These also happen to be the caps Gigabyte themselves chose to remedy the board in later revisions, so my repair is technically manufacturer correct. Gigabyte apparently thought it was a permanent solution, would you argue with Gigabyte about build quality on motherboards? lol. I'm fairly confident in my work, and the board has been folding@home nearly 24/7 since I made the repair.
True, on most things it's pretty pointless to replace a part if an overall problem is the cause ie it will keep blowing the same part due to other issues such as quality of build. But I've basically fixed the problem by using parts that won't blow. Simple enough. I CBA to remember model numbers but re-cap kits have been put together for several popular boards with a common problem ie bad caps on an otherwise proven good board. I think you will agree, Sam, that the X38-DS4 was a good board. So should I throw it out due to a problem I can fix easily with a couple spare hours and some patience? No thank you, I work for my hardware.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
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24. February 2012 @ 16:43 |
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Curious, are there any good racing games, VERY similar to Gran Turismo 5 for the PC platform? Something I can enjoy until the PS3 can be emulated in a few days from now :p ROFL!
Disregarding the price of course. I just want a good racing game. Win credits/money doing races, achieve licensing, etc. Essentially a Gran turismo knock off.
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24. February 2012 @ 16:48 |
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I wish there were, I truly do. The only thing that comes close to that caliber is GRiD, which is well worth a look if you haven't played it, but nothing like the Gran Turismo series I'm afraid.
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24. February 2012 @ 18:21 |
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Thanks Sam. I thought as much. I figured if anyone knew, someone in this thread would ;) I don't like giving $ony too much money. So a PS3 is out.
I may just try GRiD.
Wow. 14.99USD ain't bad at all!
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. February 2012 @ 18:21
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AfterDawn Addict
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24. February 2012 @ 18:25 |
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Grid is amazing.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
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24. February 2012 @ 18:26 |
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If that's true, than I think I can afford a measly 15 dollars ;) I look forward to playing it on my friday night :D
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AfterDawn Addict
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25. February 2012 @ 03:41 |
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Thanks a lot guys! You're right Jeff! Grid is a-mazing! Probably the best looking game I've played on the pc yet. I can't imagine it getting better, but I'm sure it does. I now see the likelihood of an SLI down the road. The 570 handles grid like a champ. I didn't see any lag with 4AA. Honestly I didn't see any difference between 2 and 4.
Man my internet sucks! At least I had to work while I download it through steam. It was ready when I got home :) I think my brother may just drool about it LOL! Gran Turismo looks good on the PS3, but you know... I think grid just looks incredible on my PC!
A buddy at work recommended I check out skyrim. I guess I have some trailers to check out ;)
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25. February 2012 @ 07:24 |
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GRiD is 4 years old, so it's not surprising it runs fine on a GTX570 at 1920x1200. Even the HD4870s could take it at 2560x1600, but only the 1GB versions :P
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25. February 2012 @ 12:17 |
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4yrs old. That's probably even more amazing. I had to crank my fan up to 65%. I worry when my temps are easily reaching 75C LOL! At 65%, it hovered around 70 - 72C max. I can live with that. 65% is obviously audible. But my stereo can drown it out easily :p
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AfterDawn Addict
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25. February 2012 @ 13:33 |
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Grid is a well well made game no doubt. Yes, very pretty as well :D
I far prefer Grid to the newer Dirt titles but Dirt 1 is still my favorite in the series. Dirt 2 was way too gimmicky but Dirt 3 goes back to the more purist roots of Dirt 1. I suppose they tried to make Dirt 2 more mainstream without realizing racing games are not mainstream, only racing fans will play them for any length of time. So currently Dirt>Grid>Dirt3>Dirt2. Dirt 2 ended up too heavily consolized and that ended up hurting the game. Even then Dirt 2 is fantastic, if the least popular in the series amongst fans.
I've also meant to check out some older series including TOCA Race Driver. I believe the TOCA series is the prequel to Dirt and Grid. I could care less if it's a little older as long as it's fun.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. February 2012 @ 13:46
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AfterDawn Addict
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25. February 2012 @ 13:36 |
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Wow, dirt 3 was released nearly a year ago, and it's still 50USD. I may just wait on that one. I do have multiple games that are itching to be finished LOL!
Thanks again Jeff.
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25. February 2012 @ 13:48 |
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Check my edit.
Yeah I have a huge library of games waiting to be finished as well. Every once in a while there is a dry spell in new games and I'm able to catch up a bit. I still have console games to finish from the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube generation lol.
Also, I got Dirt 3 free on Steam with one of my XFX 6850s. Thanks for yet another amazing thing XFX!
Upon further reading I have found that the TOCA Race Driver series is the prequel to Race Driver Grid while the Colin McRae Rally series is the prequel to Dirt. Quite a long list of games as well. CodeMasters is very prolific :P
It seems that the only two older titles worth looking at are TOCA Race Driver 3 and Colin McRae Rally 2005. Everything else is horribly old and even those seem painfully old to try now. Grid 2 is in development as well, somewhat excited for that :)
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. February 2012 @ 14:10
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25. February 2012 @ 14:16 |
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Fun, is certainly the main factor here ;) I enjoy games from the atari to this day. NES, SNES, I probably will never tire of them :p
Originally posted by Estuansis:
CodeMasters is very prolific
Yes, I'm discovering that LOL!
Grid 2 eh? I'll definitely be into that LOL!
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25. February 2012 @ 16:58 |
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Originally posted by Estuansis:
Grid is a well well made game no doubt. Yes, very pretty as well :D
I far prefer Grid to the newer Dirt titles but Dirt 1 is still my favorite in the series. Dirt 2 was way too gimmicky but Dirt 3 goes back to the more purist roots of Dirt 1. I suppose they tried to make Dirt 2 more mainstream without realizing racing games are not mainstream, only racing fans will play them for any length of time. So currently Dirt>Grid>Dirt3>Dirt2. Dirt 2 ended up too heavily consolized and that ended up hurting the game. Even then Dirt 2 is fantastic, if the least popular in the series amongst fans.
I've also meant to check out some older series including TOCA Race Driver. I believe the TOCA series is the prequel to Dirt and Grid. I could care less if it's a little older as long as it's fun.
I had Race Driver 2 on the PS2. Was fun actually, got some really good enjoyment out of that.
Glad we've got some more retro console enthusiasts here. I don't like partaking in the PC gamer-elitist 'consoles are the enemy' stance per se because of how much enjoyment I got out of the cartridge-based systems, and even the earlier disc consoles.
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26. February 2012 @ 01:29 |
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Yes Sam the older generation of consoles were great, but the newer consoles are trying to become something there not.
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26. February 2012 @ 08:10 |
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The current generation of consoles has only succeeded in stifling game advancement and quality. They were relatively underpowered even when new. In contrast, when the Xbox was released it was somewhat equivalent to a mid-low gaming PC of that generation. When the 360 was released it was equivalent to a mid-low gaming PC 2 generations old.
If you want performance and settings comparisons I can start tearing apart cross platform titles as well.
Oblivion is a good example of how games can be nerfed due to consolitis. The engine basically went to waste on the Xbox and was severely hindered on the PC. It took till Fallout 3 to have the engine up to graphical and performance snuff and by then it was average looking at best, due once again to the console contraints. Skyrim seems to have escaped the worst of it, but is still marred by a few low res textures remaining from the porting process, spoiling the rest of the game which is amazingly high fidelity. Basically, in an effort to make games run under the strict hardware constraints of a console, all versions of it are nuked as a matter of convenience.
A few other noteworthy games would be Mass Effect 1 which had amazing technology and graphics, but had its textures and loading technology borked to make the textures work on the 360. And Dragon Age Origins, a natively PC developed game with badly nerfed controls and graphics on the consoles(PC thankfully got the superior controls). It also had the curse of average graphics for its generation, due to the overarching console constraints.
Last but not least I'll mention Crysis 2. Crysis 1 was PC only while Crysis 2 was multiplatform. Consequently, Crysis 2 is a bunch of enclosed corridors, has less graphical effects than Crysis, worse textures than Crysis, and extremely watered down gameplay. Basically even Crytek themselves agree that Crysis and Warhead were better games, with better design, technology, and graphics. Every single good thing about Crysis was destroyed by consoles. Compared to Crysis 1, Crysis 2 is a joke. I've seen the tech demos and what CryEngine 3 is capable of and let me tell you it didn't have to be nerfed. Their initial engine test was loading the entirety of Crysis 1 into CryEngine 3. Crysis 2 was literally nerfed for the consoles and nothing else. Cevat Yerli has personally expressed his regret about the impact on quality the multiplatform dev process has. Essentially, Crytek admitted that the PC was the better platform to develop for, and it allowed them to focus on quality, and not the console fanboi Xbox Live crap. Crysis 2 ended up being heavily stripped down from its original design as well, because Crytek's initial plans pushed the Xbox to overheating problems. In the end CryEngine 3 turned out to be CryEngine 2 with things REMOVED to make it run n consoles.
I can keep naming games and specific instances where consoles affected their quality directly :)
So if you want to get really nitpicky, yes I do have a major problem with consoles. The Xbox 360 is a cancer that needs to be eradicated. The PS3 isn't so bad but right on its heels.
A fortunate trend that seems to be returning as of late, at least with reputable devs, is developing for the PC and porting to consoles. Mass Effect 2, Dirt 3, Battlefield 3, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Skyrim are all extremely noteworthy titles that received their own exclusive dev time on PC, and the quality shows it. Even multiplatform releases like Mass Effect 2 can be just fine, if they develop the game for PC first(which they did). It's always been traditional to strip the game for consoles, not vice versa.
3D engines like Unreal 3 reveal the worst of the consolitis but they also reveal the very best. Mass Effect 2 is an excellent example of this. It is an extremely pretty and high resolution game. It does NOT have consolitis AT ALL, not in the menus, the graphics, the gameplay, or the controls. It is one of the most pleasurable experiences I have ever had with a 3D game.
On the opposite end of the spectrum you have watered-down sh*t like Bioshock 1 and 2, Medal of Honor Airborne and Singularity, with their sluggish KB/M controls, bland graphics, boring, repetitive gameplay and limited video settings. Yes, both Bioshock games sucked, had sub-par graphics, and were boring and repetitive. Also, yes I do have a right to judge them having played both to completion. Kind of funny how console gamers praised Bioshock for graphical quality while PC gamers were basically underwhelmed. We'd already had BETTER graphics for years.
Now, all these games are on Unreal 3, so what's the difference? Mass Effect 2 had a version devved specifically for PC, and all of those other games were devved only for consoles then ported to the PC like a lazy bastard.
I am very anti-console. Not because I think consoles are bad, but because the general public is too stupid to handle them without ruining everything else. The Xbox 360 created a generation where any 12 year old with mommy's credit card tries to call himself a hardcore gamer. Seriously, I'm often sickened by commercialism and gimmicks, and the current generation of consoles has both in spades.
If you want a good example of why consoles suck, take a good look at FEAR. Released in late 2005 as a PC exclusive, it is still higher resolution and more beautiful than the large majority of console games being produced, and it's as old as the consoles... I know FEAR had a console release later on, but if you've ever played the two side by side you'll know there is no comparison. FEAR looks like a PS2 game on the 360.
Also look at CoD2, another game the same age as FEAR that surpasses most new releases in graphics and quality. Graphics have fundamentally changed very little since the release of the Xbox 360. From Call of Duty 2 all the way to Modern Warfare 3 there have been no major changes to the engine. Texture resolution has barely even increased and in Black Ops it even went down. Black Ops, a fairly new game, is by sheer technicality worse looking than CoD2, a game 5 or 6 years its senior. Console gamers are braindead.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26. February 2012 @ 09:19
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