PC Gaming alive & well v3.0

Several days old I know, but I was on vacation :running:

Back when Sony announced the specifications of the PlayStation 3, everyone asked if it meant the end of PC gaming. After all Cell looked very strong and NVIDIA\'s RSX GPU had tremendous power. We asked NVIDIA how long it would take until we saw a GPU faster than the RSX. Their answer: by the time the PS3 ships. So congratulations to NVIDIA for making the PS3 obsolete before it ever shipped, as G80 is truly a beast.

A single GeForce 8800 GTX is more powerful overall than a 7900 GTX SLI configuration and even NVIDIA\'s mammoth Quad SLI. Although it\'s no longer a surprise to see a new generation of GPU outperform the previous generation in SLI, the sheer performance we\'re able to attain because of G80 is still breathtaking. Being able to run modern day games at 2560x1600 at the highest in-game detail settings completely changes the PC gaming experience.

...

Architecturally, G80 is a gigantic leap from the previous generation of GPUs. It\'s the type of leap in performance that\'s akin to what we saw with the Radeon 9700 Pro, and given the number of 9700 Pro-like launches we\'ve seen, they are rare.

http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2870

So it looks like if you\'re in the market for a new card this would be the one.  The 9700Pro was a kickass card for for a long time after its release and they compare it to that.

[Paul2]

wow.  Does this new graphic card have HDMI output with HDCP?

while the g80 is more powerful, one must remember that PC develops create games based on lowest common denominator. PC developers cannot tweak and utilize games like they can with closed systems. Take Gears of war for example, show me a pc game that looks as good as it, even though it\'s using a r500 and a power pc core.

It\'s just sad that you spend $600 on g80 knowing that its true power will never be tapped into cause the newer version will be available before that will ever happen, plus the future games always require a much more powerful CPU otherwise you have your GPU idle

I love PC gaming it\'s where my true love for gaming resides. It\'s downside, upgrade, upgrade-$$$$$money, $$$$$$money, $$$$$$money...............

oh and lots of time tweaking and dealing with buggy drivers, half ass finalized games that have to be patched to the wazooo

Take Gears of war for example, show me a pc game that looks as good as it

you a gambling man?

$$$$$money, $$$$$$money, $$$$$$money...............

new console every 3 years?

half ass finalized games that have to be patched to the wazooo

console games are impervious to this?

He is right to some extent though. Until DX10 & Vista are on a roll, the value per dollar/euro is imho higher at console side of gaming.

Just look at the bugfest Gothic 3, SC DA (of which i discovered it\'s got lesser ingame assets). Or you really have to LOVE massive online RPG\'s only to be found on PC. But who confines himself to one genre ?

Games which go sm3.0 exclusive, get ALOT of negative feedback already on alot of gamer forums. They will show you the Steam graphics card survey everytime and whine about how their X800\'s are still top cards.

Are these ppl instantly going to buy a Quadcore and a hefty DX10 card NOW ? hell no. For, at least the coming six months, they\'ll get more value for money on XBox360 and Wii....maybe even on PS3.

scalable.....architecture.....

you a gambling man?

Yes! show a released game that can match or shall i say surpass Gears of war.

new console every 3 years

360 and P23 will be around alot longer than 3 years. Besides if I had it my way i would have a new console every 3 years, better then paying $550(GPU) + 300(cpu) +$150(Motherboard) +$$$$(ram) etc.. every 2-3 years. Actually I can deal with this being a pc enthusiast, most people however cannot justify the price premium and how little they get out of it dollar per value compared to a console.

console games are impervious to this

Sadly no, just look at saints row. However mm PC games are far more notorious to be released with serious bugs and errors, hardware
incompatibility etc... something console games do no suffer.