that's confusing to me, if you wanna know the truth. You don't know HOW often I come home and just wanna unwind but get caught up arguing on the internet. This is a BIG reason I like consoles more than PC, it simplifies a LOT, you don't mix business with pleasure. what crossplatforms? way better? fps' (Halo, Gears etc)? yes of coarse. 3ps' (Kane and Lynch, Dead Rising, RE)? maybe, It always feels unnatural though. Adventure (PoP, Borderlands and so on)? not likely. Console? well their are none cuz it'd obviously be a much better experience on console... RPG (Final Fantasy, Oblivion, Fallout)? mods the biggest console advantage is the controller/ couch experience. The best PC can do is mods, and what mods are really fun? If they are, like TF, CS, Portal, they end up costing $$. your just regurgitating a console design. This is no point for pc. You can also play mods on consoles (especially now with XBLA) and you can plop your pc in front of a couch with controller in hand! At some point you just have to make the call as to where one feels NATURAL at. I will say OLD emulated games with instant saves is AWESOME. PC gaming is AWESOME, but it's just not more enjoyable when your not playing as the developer first designed. all old pc games are compatible?? Um not even gonna comment on that one. Sounds like some 'half-truth' a big exec would say >.> I'm not following... both games would have the SAME msrp... pc games typically get slashed at the store first though.... and digital downloads save you a penny. I don't see how judging the s/w costs really affects anything extensively either way.
So you are paying for CS mods? The couch and controller, comon... For sure a good comment, in 1999 maybe. BUt nowadays its nothing special or rare to have your pc hooked to your hdtv. Same for the controller. The better experience, on pc you would get the best graphics/framerates in most cases, and the ability to download free mods. On consoles this comes in a form of DLC, which mostly is not free. Ofcourse theres mods and emulation for the consoles, but ivent seen any PS2 or Wii emulator on them yet. Maybe in your country, but here pc games tend to sell for 45 euro's, while PS3/360 games go for atleast 59,95. Aswel see that indeed pc games get cheaper in a shorter time.
thanks for clearing up the pricing thing. Yes, other than downloadable games like plants vs. zombies costing 2x as much on xbox than it does on pc, gears of war and such high teired games cost the same on either platform in the US. My point with the couch/ tv experience is, it doesn't CHANGE ANYTHING if the PC can do it too! It's all about how natural one feels in that environment. The PC is not/ should not (or your wasting money) be made as a GAMES ONLY machine! How 'natural' would one feel typing up an essay on a couch?? PCs are MADE for productivity! Sure they can play games too, they can even play them (marginaly) better! That doesn't change the fact that a pc is a PRODUCTIVITY device not a GAME SYSTEM. In the same respect buying SUCH a beefy videocard for a PC in the typical household (unless you've got money to burn... or your just plain stupid) is totally overkill! Should developers buy it? perhaps, but enthusiasts are just wasting money/ energy/ noise pollution on this sucker.
Lol, since when is a full fledged Alienware system being made for anything except gaming? For productivity, you dont need a Quad SLI enabled system, nor a Physics card or an high-end XFI sound card. Offcourse, you can use it for other things aswel, but such a system is mainly build for gaming purposes.
I've written a lot of my dissertation from my couch on my PC and plasma TV. Wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, and a tray seem to do the trick, and I can listen to music through my stereo system or listen to news in the background via my browser. Works for me.
Alienware systems aren't made for gaming, their made for utter annihilation and uber stats. You don't game with them you rape and pillage. No you DON'T need SLI, Physics card or a GTX590 (just to stay on topic :x) to game. such are the tools for the insane! AKS your insane! but seriously I'd fall asleep on the couch I wouldn't write a dissertation lol.
They're made to rip off people who don't know how to build their own PCs. I can build something better for half or a third of the price.
I've been reading reviews of these monster $700 cards and have been wondering if two 6970s in CF might make more sense, as that would come out to about the same price but should outperform either the 6990 or 590 and wouldn't be such a pain to fit into a case. The 6990 is a foot long.
Depends on the case. Something big like a Corsair 800D should be able to handle a 6990 just fine. You'll also want a monster power supply. I would go with a Corsair AX 1200. Corsair 800D: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&Tpk=corsair%20800D Corsair AX 1200: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=corsair%20ax%201200
I don't think I'd be willing to spend $300 for a case, but I'm sure there are plenty of alternative large cases for less that I could consider.
Will the monster power supplies draw much more at idle than typical power supplies? Or just when I'm using the juice to power something power hungry like a 6990?
They only draw what they need, so no, they wouldn't use any more power than a lower wattage power supply. In fact, the monster power supplies are usually 80 plus gold certified, meaning they're very efficient. If anything, they would use less power while idling than cheaper power supplies.
not really... see the difference between an 80+silver 600w unit and an 80+gold 1200w unit is just an illusion. see 1% of 1200 is 2x as much as 1% of 600 so it's MUCH more important (and probably easier) to be 80+ gold at 1200 watts than at 600 watts, twice as much so. what I'm saying is 20% of 500watts is only 100 whereas 10% of 1000 is 100. so they waste the same amount, yet the bigger one is 2x as efficient right??