PS3: Convince me.

[manasecret]

I build PCs, and $450 will get just the videocard and the CPU.

That doesn't include the required case, RAM, motherboard, OS, power supply, or hard drive(s).

With all that, to get a decent machine to play games well now and play ok into the future 3 years, you're looking at least $1000, not including monitor.

If you're playing on a big 24" LCD monitor and you want the full 1920x1200 resolution, then you're looking at least $1400.

At least, that's what I priced myself last week off Newegg while dreaming of buying it

[Typhoid]

The PS3 is a delicious system. First of all, Valkyria is a fun game. I still haven't beaten it because I have a gajillion other things I'm in the middle of.
Secondly, the slims are 120 gigs. 120. 1-2-0. That is worth it alone for the price they're selling for.
The backwards compatability doesn't bug me. I still hook up my PS2 when I want to play a game from it. And 360 doesn't have it either, so it's really a moot point.
And it DOES play blu ray - and it does it very very well.
The slim also got rid of the problem where the speakers would hum on a TV without hi-def if you're playing a normal DVD. It works perfectly now.
No batteries for the controllers is a gigantic plus.
It's tiny, light - and silent.

As for games coming out - there isn't much that isn't out for the 360. Which is why it comes down to preference. Granted, Sony won't fuck your ass dry (then again you're into that thing) with online charges to play their games - which is a giant bonus if you play online games.

Personally, I haven't ever played a Ratchet and Clank game, but I hear nothing but good things from them.

I would say this though - don't save the money up for Diablo 3. Spend your money now.

Edited for rampant spelling errors.

[Szymon]

Originally Posted by manasecret

I build PCs, and $450 will get just the videocard and the CPU.

That doesn't include the required case, RAM, motherboard, OS, power supply, or hard drive(s).

With all that, to get a decent machine to play games well now and play ok into the future 3 years, you're looking at least $1000, not including monitor.

If you're playing on a big 24" LCD monitor and you want the full 1920x1200 resolution, then you're looking at least $1400.

At least, that's what I priced myself last week off Newegg while dreaming of buying it

My PC cost $1400... last year! I play with two 1920x1200 monitors too.

Pricing for PCs has gone down big time. You could get a great PC for $450 nowadays, you just need to find a packaged deal. You don't need a quad core CPU, go with a $120 core 2 duo and save a bunch of cash. You don't need DDR3, grab a DDR2 Mobo with 4GB of RAM for about $200. 500GB hard drive is another $60, and that's plenty of space for installing games and downloading a few seasons. Case and PSU will run you another $100. A graphics card is all you need now, and they're going on sale all the time. You could get something really nice for $140, like 1920x1200 nice, if you find a great sale. Yes, this is about $150 over budget, but if you can find bundles for this stuff you can save a lot of money.

Edit: For example, a RAM + Mobo combo should cost you like $120. PSU+Case could be down to $70 if you wanna go mega cheapo. Saw a CPU+GPU combo for $200 too. With a $60 hard drive you could be look a total of: $450 (before tax and environmental raping fees)

[TheSlyMoogle]

Originally Posted by manasecret

I build PCs, and $450 will get just the videocard and the CPU.

That doesn't include the required case, RAM, motherboard, OS, power supply, or hard drive(s).

With all that, to get a decent machine to play games well now and play ok into the future 3 years, you're looking at least $1000, not including monitor.

If you're playing on a big 24" LCD monitor and you want the full 1920x1200 resolution, then you're looking at least $1400.

At least, that's what I priced myself last week off Newegg while dreaming of buying it

I can link you to all the products. I'm not going for maximum awesome. I'm going for being able to run the game without crashing out and still looking decent like XBox quality.

Rough prices:
320 GB HD for 45 dollars
4 GB of RAM for 79 dollars (Corsairs as well)
Antec Sonata III case for 89 dollars and that includes the power supply
Going with the AMD athlon II 3.0 Dual core processor for 68 bucks
I'm going with a relatively cheap motherboard, it only has a few PCI slots, but don't need many. It's 70 dollars. Reading reviews it's a pretty tough bitch though. Can't remember what it is exactly, and newegg wont let me log on right now for some reason.
The graphics card I'm kinda splurging on a bit. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102864

164 dollars.

Anyway it only cost me 515 dollars which was 65 dollars over my goal, but I think I'll have a decent gaming rig. I don't care about the best settings, just want middle ground kinda stuff.

320 GB HD should be more than enough to hold all the games I want. I'm really only interested in Diablo III anyway, but sure some other games will come along that I'll at least want to play. It will definitely hold all my music, and have plenty of space left. Plus it's not like I can't get a larger drive later if need be for storage. They were running a special on some Corsair RAM last week so grabbed that up. It's like 119 dollars now I think, but regardless I would have went with G.SKILL 4 GB for like the same price had corsair not been on sale. 4GB of RAM should get me through the rough times. lol. I've heard really good things about AMD athlon II, and figured I'd give it a whirl. Going on the advice of a friend who is more into building than me and he says it's a great processor for the price. The motherboard I am getting could support all my stuff and had really boss reviews. Has integrated sound (Which is fine as I always have to play with headphones on anyway) and integrated Ethernet. Limited PCI slots like I said, but I only need the one for my video card anyway. That case is a steal and the power supply included has more than enough power to run my machine. That case has great reviews, and for the price it doesn't look half bad either. Not my ideal case, but I'll get over it.
I've heard good things about the graphics card as long as you're just looking for middle ground gamerness.

And the OS is not a factor, and you can take that to mean whatever you would like.

[Vampyr]

Yeah, I meant to reply to this a few days ago.

Whenever I was going through and picking out all the parts I wanted for the PC I was going to build (not counting monitor) It was right around $500.

You can build a really great gaming machine that will last several years nowadays with cheap parts. You don't need to go top of the line, or even a tier or two down. Brand new parts are really over priced, because it takes a while for the manufacturer to get a successful output rate.

OS wasn't a problem for me either, I have the means of getting several free copies through my university.

[Vampyr]

So did you decide to not go for the ps3?

[TheSlyMoogle]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

So did you decide to not go for the ps3?

Yeah I did. I'm only slightly upset I cannot play Valkyria Chronicles yet, but I know someday I will buy a PS3 and it's the first (And only game) on my to buy for PS3 list.

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by TheSlyMoogle

Yeah I did. I'm only slightly upset I cannot play Valkyria Chronicles yet, but I know someday I will buy a PS3 and it's the first (And only game) on my to buy for PS3 list.

Yeah, good choice IMO.

I checked out that Alan Wake game you mentioned...I had never heard of it, but it looks like it will be awesome.

[Szymon]

Originally Posted by TheSlyMoogle

I can link you to all the products. I'm not going for maximum awesome. I'm going for being able to run the game without crashing out and still looking decent like XBox quality.

Rough prices:
320 GB HD for 45 dollars
4 GB of RAM for 79 dollars (Corsairs as well)
Antec Sonata III case for 89 dollars and that includes the power supply
Going with the AMD athlon II 3.0 Dual core processor for 68 bucks
I'm going with a relatively cheap motherboard, it only has a few PCI slots, but don't need many. It's 70 dollars. Reading reviews it's a pretty tough bitch though. Can't remember what it is exactly, and newegg wont let me log on right now for some reason.
The graphics card I'm kinda splurging on a bit. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102864

164 dollars.

Anyway it only cost me 515 dollars which was 65 dollars over my goal, but I think I'll have a decent gaming rig. I don't care about the best settings, just want middle ground kinda stuff.

320 GB HD should be more than enough to hold all the games I want. I'm really only interested in Diablo III anyway, but sure some other games will come along that I'll at least want to play. It will definitely hold all my music, and have plenty of space left. Plus it's not like I can't get a larger drive later if need be for storage. They were running a special on some Corsair RAM last week so grabbed that up. It's like 119 dollars now I think, but regardless I would have went with G.SKILL 4 GB for like the same price had corsair not been on sale. 4GB of RAM should get me through the rough times. lol. I've heard really good things about AMD athlon II, and figured I'd give it a whirl. Going on the advice of a friend who is more into building than me and he says it's a great processor for the price. The motherboard I am getting could support all my stuff and had really boss reviews. Has integrated sound (Which is fine as I always have to play with headphones on anyway) and integrated Ethernet. Limited PCI slots like I said, but I only need the one for my video card anyway. That case is a steal and the power supply included has more than enough power to run my machine. That case has great reviews, and for the price it doesn't look half bad either. Not my ideal case, but I'll get over it.
I've heard good things about the graphics card as long as you're just looking for middle ground gamerness.

And the OS is not a factor, and you can take that to mean whatever you would like.

That's a good rig. I heard good things about the new Radeon line. This should get you way better than xbox quality.