gaming on regular tv

[blackrain]

I have been putting together a pc for a media center/gaming pc to use with a regular tv (not HDTV or anything very large). I thought this would be better than having a console in my living room. My problem lies in that I have a regular tv and I believe the resolution is very low. I am not sure to what point I should try to upgrade my system. Is there a point that I shouldn't go past because it just won't make any difference as far as graphics (it'll be a waste).

specs:
abit vt7
2.6ghz northwood
ram: to be upgraded (either dual 512 or dual 1gb modules)
geforce 3: to be upgraded to 6600GT or 6800GT/GS/ultra
160 GB HD with 8mb cache
16x dvdrom

dual 512mb ram with 6600GT will likely get me medium settings
dual 1Gb ram with 6800GS wil maybe get me to high settings

will the high settings be noticeable on a regular tv? or should I just go with medium settings.

In pondering my situation, I started to wonder about xbox360 and other game consoles. xbox 360 is supposed to be more advanced with graphics....but does that come across on a regular tv any better than high settings using a pc with 2 GB ram and 6800GT (or better) video card? I'm just wondering if a regular tv is a limiting factor for advanced graphics in either pc gaming or console gaming. Maybe it makes sense to get a console rather than spend significantly more on an overpowered pc if you play your games on your tv set.

 

[ottothecow]

yeah, thats why I wasnt so impressed with the xbox 360...all of the console gamers look at it and say how amazing the graphics are and I am like well, I have been playing at HDTV equivalent resolutions for years, sure the rendering wasnt as nice as COD2 in the original halflife, but halflife 2 has more than a year on the 360 and still looks excellent (there are definately other games that look better than some 360 games and are older than hl2).

TV resolution is roughly equivalent to 640x480 on your PC which to anyone is ****** these days. HDTV will do you better but unless you are at 1080p, you arent touching what a normal desktop display can do. Maybe you should look into a 19inch or larger monitor with HDTV inputs (or hdtv->vga converter box).

 

[blackrain]

Originally posted by: ottothecow
yeah, thats why I wasnt so impressed with the xbox 360...all of the console gamers look at it and say how amazing the graphics are and I am like well, I have been playing at HDTV equivalent resolutions for years, sure the rendering wasnt as nice as COD2 in the original halflife, but halflife 2 has more than a year on the 360 and still looks excellent (there are definately other games that look better than some 360 games and are older than hl2).

TV resolution is roughly equivalent to 640x480 on your PC which to anyone is ****** these days. HDTV will do you better but unless you are at 1080p, you arent touching what a normal desktop display can do. Maybe you should look into a 19inch or larger monitor with HDTV inputs (or hdtv->vga converter box).

i'm not sure I understand your proposal. What is the purpose of a monitor with HDTV inputs? To replace my tv??

I've got my tv in my living room. That's where I plan to play games.

 

[MaxxuM]

A regular console TV has an upward limit of what, 525 scan lines; however most broadcasts are in the 480 range. Your looking at a VERY poor picture compared what is capable with HD (1080) or with LCD or Plasma (variable). As long as your video card can support video out (Standard) AND the actual game then you would be fine. Therefore, you?re looking at the games not the televisions upward limits.

A media center system like my own is meant to play and record movies, play MP3/WMA files and surf the internet (can even surf in a remote view on screen). Though I could play games on my TV I rarely ever do, mainly because my wife and daughter HATE me playing games instead of paying attention to them.

 

[blackrain]

So what do you suggest I do as far as upgrading? Do I go all out or just upgrade to play the latest games at medium settings?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: blackrain
So what do you suggest I do as far as upgrading? Do I go all out or just upgrade to play the latest games at medium settings?

If you're outputting to an SDTV, any resolution over ~640x480 (or maybe 800x600) will simply be wasted. I doubt you would have problems running any newer games at 640x480 with high details (and maybe even some AA/AF) on a 6600GT. Even a 9800Pro would probably work.

Upping detail/texture settings and AA/AF *will* help; in fact, that's the only thing that will, since trying to increase resolution will just blur the hell out of everything.

I wouldn't bother trying to "go all out"; it's just never going to look that good on an SDTV. Save up the cash for a better TV or an HD projector instead.

 

[blackrain]

if i plan on getting HDTV/plasma later on, would I get a lot more out of pc gaming with 2Gb and a 6800gt? or would that still be overkill? Just wondering if I should shoot higher with an upgrade since i'll be upgrading to a better tv one day (didn't think about tv upgrades when I posted this)

By the way, what would be the best tv upgrade for pc gaming (generally speaking)? DLP plasma?

 

[blackrain]

bump

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I think a 6600gt would be a good bet for now. If you can get a 6800gs for not much more though, I think you have a good alternative picked out.

I wouldn't invest in a better videocard for a future display purchase considering how fast videocard performance changes and how quickly they depreciate.

For a future display, DLP and Plasma would both work fine.

Go out and look at some in person.

 

[blackrain]

Thanks for the response

I also did a search and found a lot of helpful threads including this one:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1781502&enterthread=y

From what I have read, it seems that the high settings on pc games will really show through on HDTV/LCD TV/DLP and that it is definitely worth it to get more ram and better video

so I am going for the 2GB ram upgrade right now and wait a month or two for a good deal on a 6800GS

toward the end of the year, i'll try for a tv upgrade and take advantage of that 6800GS

if I have to i'll upgrade the video card next year....i'm just hoping they don't totally get rid of agp by then