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View Full Version : Hopefully for the last time, the XBOX vs PC debate.



Highlite23
06-11-2002, 11:50 PM
I still hear a few scattered rumblings that the XBOX doesn't hold a candle to a PC. Well here are my points...

XBOX

733mhz CPU
233mhz GPU
10 GB Hard Drive
DVD Drive
Dolby Digital 5.1 Compatible
HDTV Compatible
Network Port (Broadband)
Control Pad
4, count 'em...4 Control Ports
ALL OF THIS FOR $200.00!!

PC
Now i'm not saying you CAN'T build a PC more powerfull than the XBOX, but build a PC with all of the above with no annoying glitches for $200.

Keep in mind your gonna need comprable...
CPU
GPU (XBOX is HDTV compatible, keep that in mind)
Hard Drive
DVD Drive
Sound Card (256 voices, and DD 5.1 compatible)
Network Card
Control Pads??? Multi-player on a PC?? Ever tried that?
Oh yeah...Case, Keyboard, & Mouse



Sure, no prob....I can build that for $200 (Dripping w/sarcasim)

COME ON, GIVE ME A BREAK!!! :rolleyes:

Belt Fed
06-12-2002, 12:26 AM
well how much does that high def tv cost? and i play multi player all the time. sometimes over 40 players at once. dont give me the split screen stuff cause that sucks and gives me a headache.

Crazy Joe
06-12-2002, 12:29 AM
Originally posted by Belt Fed
and i play multi player all the time. sometimes over 40 players at once. dont give me the split screen stuff cause that sucks and gives me a headache.

that's true, but some people enjoy real social interaction when playing video games, not just online multiplayer, that's where PC gaming lacks.

NomadLLama
06-12-2002, 12:33 AM
oh the good thing about consoles is that you do not have to upgrade the capabilities of the system to get to play the games. (computer, ahem....) and you always get 100% compatibility with a console. you cannot compare a 200 buck device with a $2,000 thing. comparing a kid to a professional sports player... kinda...

l Maximus l
06-12-2002, 12:40 AM
Either I got jipped or the XBox actually has an 8 gig Hard-drive...

But, other than that, you make a great point. I've always preferred console gaming just for the simple fact that I can sit down on my comfortable couch and play on a television instead of sitting at my desk in my uncomfortable desk chair.

Also, the point about multi-player actually hits close to home for me as I love playing multi-player games with a few buddies while sharing a few frosty beverages :D

Belt Fed
06-12-2002, 12:41 AM
Originally posted by NomadLLama
oh the good thing about consoles is that you do not have to upgrade the capabilities of the system to get to play the games. (computer, ahem....) and you always get 100% compatibility with a console. you cannot compare a 200 buck device with a $2,000 thing. comparing a kid to a professional sports player... kinda...

So what you are saying is that the computer is the best gaming machine. go to pricewatch.com and check out the prices on hardware for cpu and your 2000.00 dollar price tag will be way out in left field.

Crazy Joe
06-12-2002, 12:45 AM
Originally posted by Maximus-XBA
Either I got jipped or the XBox actually has an 8 gig Hard-drive...

But, other than that, you make a great point. I've always preferred console gaming just for the simple fact that I can sit down on my comfortable couch and play on a television instead of sitting at my desk in my uncomfortable desk chair.

Also, the point about multi-player actually hits close to home for me as I love playing multi-player games with a few buddies while sharing a few frosty beverages :D

yup, yup and yup, you are firing on all cylinders tonight Max, i agree with everything you said, especially the frosy beverages! (you meant beer, right?)

Belt Fed
06-12-2002, 12:47 AM
guys do yall ever game on a pc? then if you have and you have a mid range pc you know that the graphics and ease of play and speed and definitly first person shooters is much better than the xbox.plus i have a comfortable chair at my desk:p you also know when you play m/p on the xbox you lose the special effects when you split screen,plus the graphics take a big dive

l Maximus l
06-12-2002, 12:50 AM
Originally posted by Gortholomew


yup, yup and yup, you are firing on all cylinders tonight Max, i agree with everything you said, especially the frosy beverages! (you meant beer, right?)

lol, dude...Definately BEER!! :D

l Maximus l
06-12-2002, 12:54 AM
Originally posted by Belt Fed
guys do yall ever game on a pc? then if you have and you have a mid range pc you know that the graphics and ease of play and speed and definitly first person shooters is much better than the xbox.plus i have a comfortable chair at my desk:p you also know when you play m/p on the xbox you lose the special effects when you split screen,plus the graphics take a big dive

I play on my PC about 5% of the time or so...but, I've always been more of a "console gamer" than a PC gamer. One of the main reasons is that I always prefer inserting a new game into my system and actually having it work! lol

I'm not mocking PC games...not in the least...but, I believe that PCs offer a little more work to get a game to operate properly in comparison to a gaming console.

But, this friendly debate is almost pointless since the PC and consoles are so drastically different. Know what I mean?

Belt Fed
06-12-2002, 12:54 AM
also maybe its not all xbox but the games. iam just dissapointed in what i see on my tv. F1 2001 looks like crap, nascar thunder is no match for nascar 2002 on pc. rallisport challenge is to fake. cars dont get damaged to where they slow dow after wrecks and not enough damage. and slip screen looks like crap no dust or rocks fly no rain. 007 hahahahaha need i say anything. Halo is ok could be better.

Crazy Joe
06-12-2002, 01:04 AM
Originally posted by Belt Fed
Halo is ok could be better.

of course it could be better, it is a LAUNCH TITLE, Xbox is capable of so much more, the first year of games for a console is never spectacular, but from where i sit, Xbox is doing pretty damn well.

greggp666
06-12-2002, 01:17 AM
nascar thunder is no match for nascar 2002 on pc

ok first thunder is a EA port so they did very little to to make it look better then the ps2 game. nascar 2002 on the pc is a ***** to run i have a AMD 900 640 mb ram 32 mb ati radon card and it still looked like crap.hmmmm maybe if i had a gf3 or gf4.the two nascar games are so diffrent from each other.like i said one is a EA port so we all know its going to look like crap. and the other is really made for top end pc's.if you put the two next to each other with the same spec's i think they would look about the same.I THINK :confused:

greggp666
06-12-2002, 01:18 AM
HALO only used about 45% of what the xbox can do.

Belt Fed
06-12-2002, 01:22 AM
yes you really need to deep six that video card. you can get a gf3 for under 100 bucks.

l Maximus l
06-12-2002, 01:22 AM
Originally posted by greggp666


ok first thunder is a EA port so they did very little to to make it look better then the ps2 game. nascar 2002 on the pc is a ***** to run i have a AMD 900 640 mb ram 32 mb ati radon card and it still looked like crap.hmmmm maybe if i had a gf3 or gf4.the two nascar games are so diffrent from each other.like i said one is a EA port so we all know its going to look like crap. and the other is really made for top end pc's.if you put the two next to each other with the same spec's i think they would look about the same.I THINK :confused:

Very good point...like I said earlier...it's almost pointless to debate the PC versus consoles...they are so drastically different platforms.

Speaking of EA, though...does anyone find that Triple Play 2002 (it's a Major League Baseball game for those reading this that might not know what the game is off-hand)...isn't it probably the worst MLB game ever? I find that this game makes Kabuki Warriors bad ass!!!

Crazy Joe
06-12-2002, 01:22 AM
Originally posted by greggp666
HALO only used about 45% of what the xbox can do.

i don't know if i believe that number, that is awfully high for a launch title to use, i realize it is being thrown around as common knowledge, but does anyone have a RELIABLE link?

greggp666
06-12-2002, 01:25 AM
this is why i got the xbox so i dont have to update my vidcard every 6 months just to play a game .and last year that card was like top of the line.see what happens in a year haha.

Scarlet Spider
06-12-2002, 01:28 AM
i cant wait till that one doom game that i saw at e3 comes out for the pc, the graphics where so awsome i could have died


and i love your new sig max er um i mean max-xba!!! heh

SpartanSniper
06-12-2002, 02:18 AM
Xbox kicks PC butt.

greggp666
06-12-2002, 02:33 AM
but does anyone have a RELIABLE link?


nope sorry. i was just saying that because thats what i heard from a few people from the board.if its wrong then my bad:(

LynxFX
06-12-2002, 03:27 AM
I like gaming on both since they both have advantages and disadvantages. I've always prefered PC gaming, I never hid that here. :)

Price between the two is negligable though since they are two different beasts. If you really were wanting to compare prices I think that it should be the price of the Xbox vs. a graphics card for the PC since that is the only thing you basically are comparing. But like I said it doesn't matter anyway.

The high points of each:
FPS, RTS on PC
Platform, Fighting games on Xbox (console)

Highlite23
06-12-2002, 08:43 AM
Again let me state, i didn't say you couldn't build a PC that would blow away the XBOX.

As far as price being neglageble, hold the phone...If you say compare only the graphics card i have to dissagree. You can't buy just a graphics card go home and play.

Let's say you built this technological workhorse (cough,cough) for $200, that's all you could spend, would you buy an XBOX or the $200 PC.

I sell & build PC's for a living, and there are some drop jaw awsome systems fopr gaming...not for $200.

And with that being said, i only play PC games about 5% of the time.

I don't know...this time of year i get lots of orders for systems and one of the main questions i ask is "What are you going to use it for?" Gaming being the ususall answer i look for, but more and more the response is "I have a (insert consloe here) to play games"

So my argument is still BANG FOR BUCK.

LynxFX
06-12-2002, 10:23 AM
Ok let me qualify what I said.

The reason I said just compare video cards is because unless it is a game like the Sims (heavy AI or solitare), the graphics card is the biggest deciding factor on how the game will look and run.

If you want to bring everything else into it well that is fine but then you are comparing apples and oranges again since the PC can do a million and one things more than the Xbox. Not just play games. So that makes the total price negligable.

JJaX
06-12-2002, 10:32 AM
I dont know why people are all ways trying to compare a PC to a console system.

When it comes to gaming on either or they both have there advantages and disadvantes.

But if you look what they can do besides gaming the PC is the winner here. You can do almost anything you can think of on a PC. The xbox is restricted to gaming and watching DIVX movies.(which you need a PC to make the Disc anyways)

The PC is so expensive because its not meant to be a gaming device. It just so happens it can do it, And do it well.

So the winner?

Xbox for a good time with friends, 5.1 and comfort.
PC, does everything else..............

Casper
06-12-2002, 10:34 AM
Originally posted by JJaX


But if you look what they can do besides gaming the PC is the winner here. You can do almost anything you can think of on a PC. The xbox is restricted to gaming and watching DIVX movies.(which you need a PC to make the Disc anyways)

The PC is so expensive because its not meant to be a gaming device. It just so happens it can do it, And do it well.

So the winner?

Xbox for a good time with friends, 5.1 and comfort.
PC, does everything else..............


But with the PC, you have one major advantage that they is missing man......PORN :p

JJaX
06-12-2002, 10:37 AM
Originally posted by casper



But with the PC, you have one major advantage that they is missing man......PORN :p

Ya damn right........

NomadLLama
06-12-2002, 11:26 AM
Originally posted by Belt Fed


So what you are saying is that the computer is the best gaming machine. go to pricewatch.com and check out the prices on hardware for cpu and your 2000.00 dollar price tag will be way out in left field.

what im sayin is that you cannot compare computer with an xbox or any other console. i think that the processor and the harddrive of the xbox is just making everyone think that the xbox is a computer. ever heard the phrase "you can't compare an apple with an orange"? compare xbox with other consoles!!

Highlite23
06-12-2002, 04:16 PM
Originally posted by Lynxfx
Ok let me qualify what I said.

The reason I said just compare video cards is because unless it is a game like the Sims (heavy AI or solitare), the graphics card is the biggest deciding factor on how the game will look and run.

If you want to bring everything else into it well that is fine but then you are comparing apples and oranges again since the PC can do a million and one things more than the Xbox. Not just play games. So that makes the total price negligable.

Point taken Lynxfs, i agree with you...it is apples and oranges. My argument is more geared twords the people that argue that the XBOX is basically a PC...well it's not, it's a gaming console.

So if you were to build a PC to compare to the specs of the XBOX to use as a gaming machine, the XBOX is a better value.

Maybe i didn't make my point very clear, i wasn't singleing out your comment.

LynxFX
06-12-2002, 04:36 PM
Originally posted by highlite23

My argument is more geared twords the people that argue that the XBOX is basically a PC...well it's not, it's a gaming console.

Gotcha. You are right. Two different animals with two different purposes that happen to share similar components like ALL consoles of the past and present.

CodeMonkey
06-12-2002, 04:48 PM
Originally posted by Maximus-XBA
Either I got jipped or the XBox actually has an 8 gig Hard-drive...

But, other than that, you make a great point. I've always preferred console gaming just for the simple fact that I can sit down on my comfortable couch and play on a television instead of sitting at my desk in my uncomfortable desk chair.

Also, the point about multi-player actually hits close to home for me as I love playing multi-player games with a few buddies while sharing a few frosty beverages :D

Max, Dont mean to cause u any stress, but some Xbox's did get shiped with 10 GIG drives Due to 8 GIG being in short supply. Know one will over notice they have a 10 gig drive, due to MS partitions, and the only real way to tell would be to open the beast up..

I believe that the Xbox has taken the best from the PC and the gaming console and merged both to make an @ss kicking machine. Every Xbox has the same equipment inside so there no problem with compatibility issues, like there are with a pc. Also developers can push the Xbox to its peak, which the cant do with a pc, due to the fact they cant assume everyone has a top of the range graphics card


Anyways that MO
:D

dave_m123
06-12-2002, 05:48 PM
I think the big difference between the PC and the Xbox aint the hardware but the software and how it accesses the hardware. with everything stripped out that would normally be being used in a PC when the operating system is running it can access the hardware much faster.

an0nym0u5
06-13-2002, 12:54 AM
Originally posted by greggp666
HALO only used about 45% of what the xbox can do.

And is that why FPS rates slow down drastically in the last 5 minutes of the game?

an0nym0u5
06-13-2002, 12:57 AM
Originally posted by JJaX


Ya damn right........

Is that a real squirrel? That's just disturbing to see.

greggp666
06-13-2002, 07:03 PM
And is that why FPS rates slow down drastically in the last 5 minutes of the game?

to tell the truth i have no clue.maybe its something with the programing? the statement that was made of 45%OF THE XBOX WAS USED IN HALO has been kicking around the forum for a long time.

maybe MAX can help out with this one???

wweomaniac
06-13-2002, 07:12 PM
yes very true... but u gotta consider the price and quality of the television you are using also.

But as for the bang for your buck in video gaming.. I would give it to XBOX.

However a PC can totally outperform an XBOX anyday.

If you've ever seen games on PC compared to... Halo, you would see a TREMENDOUS difference on how much better PC graphics can be then XBOX.

I still think that gaming on pc is for nerds... and xbox (and ps) arent for nerds (unless you play too much)

wweomaniac
06-13-2002, 07:16 PM
Halo does not only use 45% of XBOX full capacity. That is a TOTAL understatement. Considering it only runs at 30 fps and there is major slowdown in xbox parties. What do you guys really think its full capacity is?? XBOX couldn't run the PC version of morrowind well at all let alone the slimmed down xbox version.

Let me assure you all that Halo will proabbly always be one of the most advanced xbox games in terms of graphics.

CodeMonkey
06-13-2002, 07:40 PM
Originally posted by wweomaniac
Halo does not only use 45% of XBOX full capacity. That is a TOTAL understatement. Considering it only runs at 30 fps and there is major slowdown in xbox parties. What do you guys really think its full capacity is?? XBOX couldn't run the PC version of morrowind well at all let alone the slimmed down xbox version.

Let me assure you all that Halo will proabbly always be one of the most advanced xbox games in terms of graphics.

The reason the system slows down depends greatly on how well the game has been programmed……….and what optimisation that code uses.

Also wait till CG starts (if you have not heard about it go to nvidia web site, it’s a good read) getting used from Nvidia, which will make the graphics and programming better and easier
:)

dave_m123
06-13-2002, 08:42 PM
actually according to bungie they announced during a conference that halo used only 15 percent of the xboxs capabilities

hook-worm J
06-13-2002, 11:23 PM
Originally posted by an0nym0u5


And is that why FPS rates slow down drastically in the last 5 minutes of the game?

Got this from another discussion...... here you go ;)

"Oh my, no no power isn't rated this way.

You could write Kabuki Wariors to make Xbox stuter and slow down yet you wouln't use Xbox potential at all.

The GPU is always running at full blast, 233 Mhz. It's the efficiency of your code that make use of the power available.

So the more effficient your code is the more power you get from Xbox."

greggp666
06-13-2002, 11:29 PM
ok guys my bad.

i guess i messed up the 45% thing with Halo. opps:o

Bigwig
06-14-2002, 12:18 PM
to me it's obvious the Xbox has better hardware for your buck, but the problem with the Xbox was that they never went after PC classics. They should have ported all those Blackisle/Bioware games and other PC games like Total War etc etc. When IWD 2, and Total War Medevial come out I'll be at the PC shen if Xbox was smart I should be at the Xbox. Also the Xbox could trump up the graphics of a game like IWD2 and make it an action game. Not like BGDA is an action game but like Shenmue is.

Hugh_Jass
06-14-2002, 04:49 PM
MS has enough trouble fighting off the "just another PC" image. Porting old PC games would not have helped that battle.

Bigwig
06-18-2002, 05:04 PM
^^ The only people who think the Xbox is just a PC in disguise are people who wont buy an Xbox anyway. I'm not saying they should not go after trumped up console games that are unique to the Xbox. They should, but lets be real most fans with a brain in their head are attracted to the best sh*t. Porting leading PC titles could only help the Xbox. Plus they would be unique to the Xbox. It's trying to fight off that image that has hurt the Xbox so far. When polled on what type of games the fans wanted for the Xbox BG and Diablo were always in the top ten. I know both of those games dont rep the Xbox's abilities well but that when you step in and make a new version of BG with just as much rollplaying and better graohics. BGDA han neither.