Xbox or New video card?

[Steven C \(Doktersteve\)]

I am on a budget for gaming, and i would like to either upgrade my current
system, or get a console to play games on the the next year or two.

My current pc is:
Athlon xp1800+ (1.5ghz)
Geforce 3ti 200 (overclocked to ti500 speeds)
512 megs pc2100 ram

I am looking at getting a saphire radeon 9600pro card. This card runs at
about $239.00 canadian, i can get an xbox refurbished by microsoft for the
exact same price, or i can go with the adrenaline pack and get the xbox,
halo, and amped for about $279 canadian without taxes.
I wouldnt really play amped, but i would play halo.

of course, halo will be out on pc this year.

What is more worth my money? Really, i get alot of games from friends for
the pc. i buy as much as i cant, but cant afford every big release, so i buy
the ones i like, and sort of borrow the ones i dont (please, no flames
because of this, i am still a "poor" student type person).

If i go xbox, i have to consisder software. There is less of it, but its
easy to pop a game in and just play.

If i get the xbox, how outdated will it be by the time the next console
systems come out (in 2006 it seems now)?

If i get the radeon 9600, will i be able to even PLAY games like hl2 and
doom3 properly? or will those games be better out on the xbox for a guy like
me.

If i stay with pc, i will have to keep upgrading the cpu, hdd, and ram. that
gets pricey.

Please, give me some advice.
I play alot of FPS games, but that is because i dont like sports games on
the pc, i do play them occasionally on my gamecube, because i have a proper
controller on that console. I would play mroe sports games if i had an xbox
i imagine, i am thinking of the sega sports titles here.

Are there that many xbox exclusive games out there? what about in the
future?

oh boy, so many questions.
Thanks.
Steven.

 

[joe]

Are you going to get your jollies watching this thread grow and grow?

Figure it out yourself you twat.

 

[Pug Fugley2]

The Xbox is a FAR better deal, considering that card is not much faster than
what you already have and is not the bottleneck in your system. You won't
see a $300 improvement, but the Xbox opens up completely new aveneus for you
and you probably won't bother with your PC after using the Xbox.

 

[Steven C \(Doktersteve\)]

Are you going to get your jollies watching this thread grow and grow?

Nope joe, i hope i will find people that arent going to act like a prick who
can give me their advice based on which direction (console or pc) they have
gone.

Figure it out yourself you twat.

I love usenet. Its full of so many nice peole ;-)

 

[Steven C \(Doktersteve\)]

The Xbox is a FAR better deal, considering that card is not much faster than
what you already have and is not the bottleneck in your system. You won't
see a $300 improvement, but the Xbox opens up completely new aveneus for you
and you probably won't bother with your PC after using the Xbox.

Yeah, i am interested in people's opinions on how much of an improvement i
might see from that card. its a pain in the butt unless you find someone who
went the same route as you and can give you some real life performance
numbers.
The 9600 inst FASTER by much, but it is a dx9 card. Of course, the xbox is
Dx8, but coders seem to get some incredible gfx from it (see the realtime
movie for HALO2 that was shown at e3).

If i plunk down money for the new card, i can get games and demos for free
basically, and dont have to worry about buying junk (i can try and buy), but
i see more and more games at pawnshops for the xbox, so i guess i can always
go that route, and get good games at about $40 canadian, which is a really
great deal if you think of it.
And this way i know I really WANT a game if i plunk cash down for it, as
opposed to demos and crap on the pc.

Thanks for your imput btw.

-Steven.

 

[Joe]

I am on a budget for gaming, and i would like to either upgrade my current
system, or get a console to play games on the the next year or two.

My current pc is:
Athlon xp1800+ (1.5ghz)
Geforce 3ti 200 (overclocked to ti500 speeds)
512 megs pc2100 ram

The 9600 Pro will complement the system nicely. I would go for the card,
grab Halo for PC and pick up an XBox when Halo 2 comes out. If you do
decide to get the XBox check out gamefly.com. They are actually pretty good
and cheap. PC has so many good titles coming out that I would definitely
get the card: Half-Life 2, Doom3, Halo, not to mention classics like BF
1942, Warcraft, Generals, so on and so forth.

-Joe

 

[Rob Berryhill]

I just went through this same dilemma and I bought an Xbox and have not
regretted it at all. I have a AMD 1800+ XP and a GeForce FX 5200 and I can
still play most games that I want on the PC and I can get all those great
games that come out for the XBox as well.

 

[Kroko]

The Xbox is a FAR better deal, considering that card is not much
faster than what you already have and is not the bottleneck in your
system. You won't see a $300 improvement, but the Xbox opens up
completely new aveneus for you and you probably won't bother with your
PC after using the Xbox.

My 9600pro perfoms a lot better then my TI200 oc too TI500 and it can be
overclocked too but it can not play xbox-games. When you buy an Xbox you'll
get much more chips but you can't play PC-games. I like my PC.

 

[Joe]

If i get the xbox, how outdated will it be by the time the next
console systems come out (in 2006 it seems now)?

consoles have never been about technology. The best systems always have
the best games. In your situation I would only consider what kind of
gaming environment I would want.

I have an Xbox but it only gets pulled out when buddies come over. NHL
with 3 friends is alot of fun. When i'm alone I only play on the internet
with my computer.
Halo is a great game and has plenty of replayability, but IMHO it is no
Half-Life and only on par with Doom or Doom2. It's multiplayer is pretty
sad unless your only mulitplayer experience is with 007 on the N64.

 

[J Peterman]

Is your PC *that* slow when playing games? I have a P4 2.4GHz machine with a
GeForce 2 MX 32 (!) in it....and I can play everything I want to
perfectly....

I used to have an AMD TBird 1.2Ghz in it, and could still play
everything....maybe not at huge resolutions....but never got discouraged
from playing a game....

That said, I would pick up an XBox if I were in your position. It is a pain
to have to buy games. But, I've found ebay is a good source for half price
games.

Gaming just feels better on a console to me. You know you're on an even
playing field. Everyone has the same system, same controller.....If you
suck, you know it's you and not your framerate keeping you down. Plus XBox
games look the best out of all the consoles and as good if not better than
their PC counterparts. I prefer XBox graphics....PC monitors show too much
detail, and then I start getting picky.....

 

[Phil]

I am on a budget for gaming, and i would like to either upgrade my current
system, or get a console to play games on the the next year or two.

My current pc is:
Athlon xp1800+ (1.5ghz)
Geforce 3ti 200 (overclocked to ti500 speeds)
512 megs pc2100 ram

I am looking at getting a saphire radeon 9600pro card. This card runs at
about $239.00 canadian, i can get an xbox refurbished by microsoft for the
exact same price, or i can go with the adrenaline pack and get the xbox,
halo, and amped for about $279 canadian without taxes.
I wouldnt really play amped, but i would play halo.

of course, halo will be out on pc this year.

What is more worth my money? Really, i get alot of games from friends for
the pc. i buy as much as i cant, but cant afford every big release, so i buy
the ones i like, and sort of borrow the ones i dont (please, no flames
because of this, i am still a "poor" student type person).

If i go xbox, i have to consisder software. There is less of it, but its
easy to pop a game in and just play.

If i get the xbox, how outdated will it be by the time the next console
systems come out (in 2006 it seems now)?

If i get the radeon 9600, will i be able to even PLAY games like hl2 and
doom3 properly? or will those games be better out on the xbox for a guy like
me.

If i stay with pc, i will have to keep upgrading the cpu, hdd, and ram. that
gets pricey.

Please, give me some advice.
I play alot of FPS games, but that is because i dont like sports games on
the pc, i do play them occasionally on my gamecube, because i have a proper
controller on that console. I would play mroe sports games if i had an xbox
i imagine, i am thinking of the sega sports titles here.

Are there that many xbox exclusive games out there? what about in the
future?

oh boy, so many questions.
Thanks.
Steven.

I'd say get a PS2 and get more bang for your buck but if the Xbox is
the console of choice for you I'd defeinitly advise going w/ it over a
video card especially condiering it'll drop in price faster tha the
console will. By the way late 2005 is when we'll see the next gen
consoles, mark my words.

 

[Pheare]

or i can go with the adrenaline pack and get
the xbox, halo, and amped for about $279 canadian without taxes.
I wouldnt really play amped, but i would play halo.

Toy R Us here in Calgary is selling the Adrenaline pack for $268.

 

[Terence]

I am on a budget for gaming, and i would like to either upgrade my current
system, or get a console to play games on the the next year or two.

My current pc is:
Athlon xp1800+ (1.5ghz)
Geforce 3ti 200 (overclocked to ti500 speeds)
512 megs pc2100 ram

I am looking at getting a saphire radeon 9600pro card. This card runs at
about $239.00 canadian, i can get an xbox refurbished by microsoft for the
exact same price, or i can go with the adrenaline pack and get the xbox,
halo, and amped for about $279 canadian without taxes.
I wouldnt really play amped, but i would play halo.

of course, halo will be out on pc this year.

What is more worth my money? Really, i get alot of games from friends for
the pc. i buy as much as i cant, but cant afford every big release, so i buy
the ones i like, and sort of borrow the ones i dont (please, no flames
because of this, i am still a "poor" student type person).

[snip]

Given your financial predicament, I would go with the Xbox route, even
though from a personal standpoint, I'm 90% a pc gamer and 10% a
console gamer. If you had more money to play with, then the pc route
would make more sense. Even after getting a 9600pro, IMO, you would
need a MB/CPU upgrade at the very least sometime over the next year.
So at least on the hardware side, the console route figures to be much
cheaper.

And depending on what means you plan to acquire games for either the
Xbox or the PC, it can be very cheap, or very expensive for either.

Terence

 

[John Whitehouse]

The 9600 Pro will complement the system nicely. I would go for the card,
grab Halo for PC and pick up an XBox when Halo 2 comes out. If you do
decide to get the XBox check out gamefly.com. They are actually pretty good
and cheap. PC has so many good titles coming out that I would definitely
get the card: Half-Life 2, Doom3, Halo, not to mention classics like BF
1942, Warcraft, Generals, so on and so forth.

-Joe

I personally would would go for the graphics card for one main reason: Mods.
I'm still playing halflife and DX mods even now much better value for money.
I suppose you could argue the point that you can trade xbox games, to this
date on my Xbox I have played Halo and Max Payne just about to buy KOTOR, I
also use it as my DVD player. But for games like halflife2 and DX2 I would
only ever by them for the PC.

 

[Max Power]

I made that decision and went with the Xbox, very happy and have the best of
both worlds. My XP 1800+ Athlon and GF 4600 plays all the latest games with
full eye candy. My PC for flight sims, and Xbox for racing games...

 

[Bottom Feeder]

I am on a budget for gaming, and i would like to either upgrade my current
system, or get a console to play games on the the next year or two.

Depends on the type of games you like. I was considering an Xbox too
until I looked at the game library available. Couple of Xbox games
interest me but most Xbox games are action titles that don't interest
me at all. I'm staying with the PC because when it comes to flight
sims, strat games, racing games, and even FPS games, it can't be beat
by any console system.

 

[Bottom Feeder]

The Xbox is a FAR better deal, considering that card is not much faster than
what you already have and is not the bottleneck in your system. You won't
see a $300 improvement, but the Xbox opens up completely new aveneus for you
and you probably won't bother with your PC after using the Xbox.

Really, eh? When's Flightsim 2004 coming out on the Xbox?

 

[AiRNESS]

I am on a budget for gaming, and i would like to either upgrade my
current system, or get a console to play games on the the next year or
two.

My current pc is:
Athlon xp1800+ (1.5ghz)
Geforce 3ti 200 (overclocked to ti500 speeds)
512 megs pc2100 ram

I am looking at getting a saphire radeon 9600pro card. This card runs
at about $239.00 canadian, i can get an xbox refurbished by microsoft
for the exact same price, or i can go with the adrenaline pack and get
the xbox, halo, and amped for about $279 canadian without taxes.
I wouldnt really play amped, but i would play halo.

of course, halo will be out on pc this year.

What is more worth my money? Really, i get alot of games from friends
for the pc. i buy as much as i cant, but cant afford every big
release, so i buy the ones i like, and sort of borrow the ones i dont
(please, no flames because of this, i am still a "poor" student type
person).

If i go xbox, i have to consisder software. There is less of it, but
its easy to pop a game in and just play.

If i get the xbox, how outdated will it be by the time the next
console systems come out (in 2006 it seems now)?

If i get the radeon 9600, will i be able to even PLAY games like hl2
and doom3 properly? or will those games be better out on the xbox for
a guy like me.

If i stay with pc, i will have to keep upgrading the cpu, hdd, and
ram. that gets pricey.

Please, give me some advice.
I play alot of FPS games, but that is because i dont like sports games
on the pc, i do play them occasionally on my gamecube, because i have
a proper controller on that console. I would play mroe sports games if
i had an xbox i imagine, i am thinking of the sega sports titles here.

Are there that many xbox exclusive games out there? what about in the
future?

oh boy, so many questions.
Thanks.
Steven.

I think the issue is more simple than you think here...Just think for
what purpose use your pc at first.Then realize that the pc upgrades and
the consoles not...The new Radeon vcard sure is expensive (I will not
definetily bought one except if I had business with graphics) but think
that when Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo or whatever...realize that they
must rise their technology you will have to buy a new console.Offcourse
this is dilema that console gamers have, I don't know if you are a
console gamer.I was, back in the SNes days and let me tell you I had a
great time then and now with the Znes emulator.But no way, I will not
enter the console thing again.But you will probably think that 'yes he's
an adventure gamer (like the most people here) so the pc fits him.',
that's what the history tells at least.
Well, the choise is yours...


Akis and his AiRNESS

St.George Patron of the light who hunts the shadow of the night
upon my blood I call thee now, purify me, for I avow
to set my feet upon thy road, thy sword I take up for mine own...

 

[Robert P Holley]

I'd say get a PS2 and get more bang for your buck

Please point out in his post/subject where he inquired about the PS2?

 

[Axi0n]

No brainer.. upgrade your PC...

The small headaches with PC's drivers, differing hardware, etc, is small
compared to the expenses of buying console games, subscription costs for the
Live service, and you still only have a console good for only gaming...
instead take the money and put like $200 a year into it, each time replacing
the slowest bottleneck in your system... eventually you will have to
overhaul to a completely new system but it is likely a better investment
than just a console...

IMHO anyways..

Ax.