Christmas: Xbox 360 or Nvida 8800?

[Jimexander the Mighty]

Ok guys I need help. I have a big problem, I do not know what I should ask for a Christmas gift. I want a Xbox 360 but I also want an Nvidia 8800, but I can only get one.
I have wanted an Xbox 360 for a long time because 360 games are awesome and you cant get many of them for the PC. But, then theres the 8800, which is the best graphics card ever and I play alot of PC games. My PC's specs right now are: 3.2 GHZ Pentium D processor, 3 GBs of 800mhz DDR2 ram, and a Nvdia 7600 256mb video card. So my PC s pretty good so its about time for a new Video Card anyways.
So if someone can give me an opinion I would REALLY appreciate it.

Thanks!

[the_mango55]

360 obviously.

You can already pretty much play every game out for PC at medium settings at least.

With the 360 you open up a whole new set of great games to enjoy.

[VALIS]

360.

Better games overrall, cheaper, less technical hassle.

[Kanaric]

360.

Better games overrall, cheaper, less technical hassle.

8800, Better games overall, far more games, more variety, no technical hassle.

The other bioware games were developed on the PC and Xbox simultaniously, they have said several times that they have no plans for developing mass effect for PC.

I seem to recall something....


Oh yes, Bioware has no plans to port Jade Empire to pc...... oh wait.

Get a XBOX360, in terms of proportionality issues between price/performance you'll realize you are buying a machine with several of it's features only found equivalent by the most current processing systems and it's GPU is also mid/high according to nowadays standard, and all this by only a faction of the price a PC with the same capabilities costs.

Hes buying a video card, not a whole computer. Even then I built a computer for $700 to get access to more games and better multiplayer than the 360 offers. You don't need a beast computer as well to play games, and to last. I have been using a 7600 for the longest time playing all games perfectly, lol. My friend still usses a 5950 and he can even play some new games on max settings.

Who cares abour price/performace? Isn't the important thing the games in this conversation? The 360s performance gets you NOTHING, you cannot do anything aside from playing games made FOR it. With a PC the performance matters as you can do non-gaming applications like burning CDs and play games on "higher settings" than the 360 has.

Mass Effect WILL be released on PC, so will Dragon Age, so will Obsidians next game, as well as any other games like Fallout 3, along with free multiplayer in multiple shooters, better controls for those shooters, more mmorpgs (if you like that), plus independent games that don't get released on console. Unless you are a complete invalid and think that a computer crashes and breaks non stop and have paranoid fears that dont amount to anything real the PC is the better gaming platform, especially for the price.

Plus, mods. There are mods even for KOTOR making it the superior game on PC. Discussing performance I guess wouldn't that make the PS3 the better console? I mean seriously, that is just a ridiculous argument. PS2 was the best console of its day and it had mediocre performance.

[numerosdecimus]

Hes buying a video card, not a whole computer. Even then I built a computer for $700 to get access to more games and better multiplayer than the 360 offers. You don't need a beast computer as well to play games, and to last. I have been using a 7600 for the longest time playing all games perfectly, lol. My friend still usses a 5950 and he can even play some new games on max settings.

You're comparing apples with oranges, you cannot start comparing the GPU characteristics and other hardware parts of a custom made device and also with different architecture characteristics in comparison with your standard PC architecture.

Who cares abour price/performace? Isn't the important thing the games in this conversation? The 360s performance gets you NOTHING, you cannot do anything aside from playing games made FOR it. With a PC the performance matters as you can do non-gaming applications like burning CDs and play games on "higher settings" than the 360 has.

I for one care a lot. If you look at certain benchmarks you will see that several hardware aspects of the 360 are only matched by the current high end PC, as for other application all that depends on what you are willing to do. Of course that a PC gets the obvious advantage on allowing a greater number of applications, but this solely depends on wether you are heavily depends on those applications. Aside from that, if you want a more efficient purchase and at the same time in speding less money then my only suggestion is the XBOX360.

Mass Effect WILL be released on PC, so will Dragon Age, so will Obsidians next game, as well as any other games like Fallout 3, along with free multiplayer in multiple shooters, better controls for those shooters, more mmorpgs (if you like that), plus independent games that don't get released on console. Unless you are a complete invalid and think that a computer crashes and breaks non stop and have paranoid fears that dont amount to anything real the PC is the better gaming platform, especially for the price.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age aren't the only games in town, your entire pharagraph is meaningless, it doesn't contribute in anything for supporting your argument. Getting sidetracked much?

Plus, mods. There are mods even for KOTOR making it the superior game on PC.

Completely wrong. With the PS3 for instance you can mod certain games and introduce new maps for instance, if the developers allow it, being UT3 and example of this. Of course that the PC will always have the advantage on this as it's an open development environment, yet you can already do this with consoles. However, the PS3 isn't the 360 and once again it solely depends on how you wish to use your hardware.

Discussing performance I guess wouldn't that make the PS3 the better console? I mean seriously, that is just a ridiculous argument. PS2 was the best console of its day and it had mediocre performance.

I think you're getting sidetracked with your statements, that does the PS2 have to do with all this? , and yes, if you want a more powerfull system with an even lower price proportionally speaking then go for the PS3 (not to mention free multiplayer), however, that's not the topic at hand, and we're only talking about the 360 and the a PC GPU.

And third, the PS2 had the greatest benchmark numbers in terms of raw CPU performance, it's only bottleneck was it's GPU.

In terms of performance/price issues the 360 would be your best buy, however, this entirely depends on the applications you're most dependant on, you could update your current system and enjoy the features the PC offers or you can buy an entirely new system that despite having less features, in terms of performance concerning it's CPU for instance is only matched by the most high end PC CPU system and the entire system is only for a fraction of the total price of a PC and probably slightly higher to that of the GPU in mind.

It's not an easy choise, however, depending on what you are willing to spend my suggestion is the 360.

[the_mango55]

Discussing performance I guess wouldn't that make the PS3 the better console? I mean seriously, that is just a ridiculous argument. PS2 was the best console of its day and it had mediocre performance.

I think you just killed your whole argument right there.

He already has a video card that will play every PC game out, and if performance doesn't matter, why upgrade?

[Feliks]

You already have a good graphics card, you could probably hold off for a year on an update.

[mrmouth]

That card isnt going to last a year by any means. I have the ATI equivalent of that card, actually its just a bit better, but even then its on its last legs. Ive put off upgrading it for almost 2 years, but there are just now games coming out recommending it as the minimum, by early next year I suspect I will need to finally upgrade.

I want a 360 badly, but I guess what keeps me from actually going through with it are the prices of the games and the fact I would have to pay to play online. That just rubs me the wrong way.

If you search hard enough I can usually find the PC games I want for 39.99. Places like Best Buy and Circuit City often offer new games at the 39.99 price. With a little more searching you can usually find a coupon of some kind. I got COD4 for 29.99 earlier in the week.

[Ummagumma]

Oh dear. Asking for a present is a 'big problem'? Why don't you forfeit your gift and let your parents go to the theatre or some such? And offer to help cleaning the dishes after Christmas Dinner?

Psychic Umma says it won't happen.....

[Angmar_nite]

Wait. Wait for the Gefore 9x series. Then pounce! With that you'll cream anything a 360 has to offer. Not that you would even need one in the first place seeing as all their games come to the PC anyways... And look better on the PC. And have good mods on the pc...

[the_mango55]

Not that you would even need one in the first place seeing as all their games come to the PC anyways.

The PC will likely never get Mass Effect, and the Halo series is like 2 years behind for PC.

[Captain Blackadder]

The PC will likely never get Mass Effect, and the Halo series is like 2 years behind for PC.

I am sorry but that is funny as if Mass Effect will be on PC by next year sometime look how quick Gears came all other bioware games came to PC so why should Mass Effect be any different.

Jim get a good graphics card you get all the games that the 360 has plus you get PC exclusives such as Cyrsis and all you games will be 10 bucks cheaper and you will have mods which are unlikely on 360 since it is a closed platform.

[the_mango55]

I am sorry but that is funny as if Mass Effect will be on PC by next year sometime look how quick Gears came all other bioware games came to PC so why should Mass Effect be any different.

Jim get a good graphics card you get all the games that the 360 has plus you get PC exclusives such as Cyrsis and all you games will be 10 bucks cheaper and you will have mods which are unlikely on 360 since it is a closed platform.

1. Gears took over a year to come to PC, that's a pretty long time.

2. The other bioware games were developed on the PC and Xbox simultaniously, they have said several times that they have no plans for developing mass effect for PC.

[numerosdecimus]

Get a XBOX360, in terms of proportionality issues between price/performance you'll realize you are buying a machine with several of it's features only found equivalent by the most current processing systems and it's GPU is also mid/high according to nowadays standard, and all this by only a faction of the price a PC with the same capabilities costs.

Go for the XBOX360.

[Leo4444]

360 but be careful though mine over heated and stooped working 4 days after getting it, so getting a cooler along with it is a good idea. Your pc is pretty good now so you can always get a upgrade later.

[Giorgos]

360 all the way. Bear in mind, that this comes from a long time pc fan.

[Doono]

Go with a 360, as great as the 8800's are they are on there way out and I believe you will get sub par performance with that pentium D bottle necking it.

[Freddie]

Go with the 360. You pay a premium for console games (anywhere between £15-£25 more in fact) but given your situation a console would be better right now. Also the 8800's are due to be replaced soon, so if you are thinking about a video card for the PC wait until the next generation of video cards come out.

[Shaun]

The 360 obviously - there is no point in having a pentium and an 8800!

[Serious Spamurai]

Your Graphics card is good enough to play most current PC games on high graphics settings. You shouldn't really bother upgrading it until Nvidia 8 series cards are (1) cheaper (2) necessary to play games on highish settings. I'd say get a 360 now, and an 8800 next Christmas.