replacing my 7950 this year

[Amart]

Take a look at the link evolucion8 provides. The e5200 which supposedly blows your x2 5000 out of the water only gets 3 more fps with their test settings. Granted I'm sure these aren't overclocked settings, but remember you can overclock too! Drop the ball on the HD5850 and you can always use it later down the road. Why listen to these people and buy a midrange card you'll have to upgrade in 6 months. Today's high end is the next generations midrange. With the HD5850, you'll be set for at least another year if not more!

What's releasing in 6 months that's going to make him upgrade? What game today requires more then midrange to enjoy on 1080p?
Mass Effect 2? Anything by Valve? Any MMO? Any PvP game that matters? Starcraft 2? What?!

Crysis that no one plays beyond the 6-10 hours that it takes to finish? That nonsense looked awesome on medium-high on my old 8800 GTS. Can't notice the details with motion blur and action gameplay anyway.

What, the OP is going to buy an Eyefinity setup after asking us to give him the best budget solution?

I'm tired of the console marketting BS claiming that PC's need upgrades every 6 months to "keep up" and inflating their price.
Considering the upgrade cycle of the consoles is at least 4-5 years, if not more, and the most popular games are already running better on the PC with a midranged card. There is NO POINT in getting more power until there is something to use it for. 30 FPS minimum looks just as good as anything higher. Before you argue for a hign-end card, you have to explain what you plan to use that power for.

IMO Eyefinity is the only feature worth it to go for high-end - and for that you have to include at least 3 monitors in your budget.

 

[Davidh373]

What I'm not getting from the way you are summing up is how you are getting your prices:

Year 1: GPU = $300 + PSU = $350 - $400 (with notable performance hits)
Year 2: CPU = $150 + Motherboard = $220-300 (rids performance hits)
Year 3: Nothing
Year 4: GPU = $400 (possible performance hits again)
Year 5: CPU + MOBO = $300 (rids performance hits)
Year 6: Nothing

At the end of year 6 that would be about 1400 spent. I also don't think you'd have to buy another PSU the second time since a $100 PSU can get you a pretty decent amount of power. The second CPU upgrade is also questionable since you may not need to replace the mobo. A lot of your numbers and assumptions are a bit fallacious since you're calculating a $300 hit for CPU + mobo for his position and only a $200 hit for toyotas and you even go lower than that in year 4. Also you neglect the price of a PSU anywhere in toyota's calculations.

Year 1: H55 or P55 with i3 = $200 + ~$150 for GPU = $350 - $400
Year 2: Mid - High end GPU (probably a Fermi or 5970 )+ PSU = ~$350-400 (Do you really think they'd drop by half in a year?? ) Realistically 5870 at 340 or so.
Year 3: Nothing
Year 4: Needs to be fair $300 new MOBO + CPU. Otherwise his strategy should be same cost.
Year 5: Possible G-Card upgrade = ~ $350 - $400
Year 6: Nothing


Total: 1500

So in conclusion these numbers will come out pretty close, and since we aren't factoring selling parts into this OP's strategy will come out cheaper. Factoring selling into it toyota's will probably be a little cheaper, but a lot more work. I should also mention his strategy would end up with him having a better CPU starting from year 2 compared with an i3 he'd get in year 1. The GPU however at that point might be weaker depending on what's available and for how much it costs. That is very speculative though.

The second set of upgrades was put in because that seems to be the OP's strategy when it comes to upgrading. Upgrade 2 years in a row, and skip a year. He said he likes to plan out 6 year cycles. The i3 is much better than the OP's Current Processor, and is more than enough to game for the next few years. The Motherboard he would get for that would be compatible with i5 and i7 processors, so he has a lot of room to upgrade. He could even get the new i7 980X Hexicore one day if they adapt it to the 1156 slot.

The OP wants to get a 5970, which is $700, or a Fermi 480, which is $500-$600 on release according to rumors. If he does what he wants the GPU in that part of my post would come to $600, and not $300. $600-$700 is a ton of money to put into something that (no matter how high end you buy) always gets trumped by a new one in a matter of months. He may even have to splurge on a new giant case. The 5970 is longer than my elbow to the knuckles on my hand. He may not even have space.

Did you scramble my numbers in the top portion of your post? Because those are not the prices I posted. Not saying you didn't intend to make a valid point but it didn't come across very clearly. Can you reiterate your intentions? My math was right in my post. You either are having issues where it's not displaying numbers correctly, or you are saying that my prices were off, but they aren't. If he gets a high end card every 3 years it will cost him (by itself) $1400 if you take the price of the 5970 into account. That isn't including the Mobo upgrade with a new CPU, and the next CPU he is planning. so my price projections are pretty accurate in my mind.

 

[cbn]

What, the OP is going to buy an Eyefinity setup after asking us to give him the best budget solution?

If the OP wanted to run Eyefinity with games like CS:S, Battlefield 2142 I could see the point of making higher video card and PSU recommendations.

But with a single monitor I can't see the point of getting anything stronger than HD5750. (Part of the problem might involve the OP not realizing how strong some of these $120 cards have become these days)

 

[Davidh373]

If the OP wanted to run Eyefinity with games like CS:S, Battlefield 2142 I could see the point of making higher video card and PSU recommendations.

But with a single monitor I can't see the point of getting anything stronger than HD5750. (Part of the problem might involve the OP not realizing how strong some of these $120 cards have become these days)

Agreed. If he wishes he is more than welcome to get one of those better cards.

He should take this into consideration:

-He has one monitor at a decent res.

-He is out to upgrade his Proc and Mobo at some point.

-His current Proc is soon to be completely useless in gaming.

-He has to upgrade his mobo to run a decent proc.

-A Full resolution Eyefinity setup will run him 2K for the G-Card (5970) and 3 1080p Monitors.

-Case size has to be taken into consideration.

-Cooling has to be taken into consideration.

-Power consumption has to be taken into consideration.

All of this just snowballs until he is stuck with a crappy processor that is holding a lot of his games back at 20 FPS and he won't have any money left to replace it. He should set himself up with something that works properly and to it's full potential now, so minor upgrades can be made later.

He can get it now, and replacing one part next year will (in reality) be the only action needed, or he can get his forearm sized energy sucking, heat spewing monster now, and have it working at full power in the next year or so. It's up to him in the end, but looking at those options I would say the decision would be easy for me to make.

 

[cbn]

-A Full resolution Eyefinity setup will run him 2K for the G-Card (5970) and 3 1080p Monitors.

Well normally three 1080p monitors doesn't cost $1400 unless you are talking about these Samsung MD230's--->http://tawesomepicturesz.blogspot.com/2010/01/samsung-md230-monitor-of-thin-rim.html

P.S. I agree with all the other things you said in that post. If he really wants to run 300 watts of GPU he should have the proper CPU, mainboard, case with matched PSU, etc

 

[blanketyblank]

The second set of upgrades was put in because that seems to be the OP's strategy when it comes to upgrading. Upgrade 2 years in a row, and skip a year. He said he likes to plan out 6 year cycles. The i3 is much better than the OP's Current Processor, and is more than enough to game for the next few years. The Motherboard he would get for that would be compatible with i5 and i7 processors, so he has a lot of room to upgrade. He could even get the new i7 980X Hexicore one day if they adapt it to the 1156 slot.

The OP wants to get a 5970, which is $700, or a Fermi 480, which is $500-$600 on release according to rumors. If he does what he wants the GPU in that part of my post would come to $600, and not $300. $600-$700 is a ton of money to put into something that (no matter how high end you buy) always gets trumped by a new one in a matter of months. He may even have to splurge on a new giant case. The 5970 is longer than my elbow to the knuckles on my hand. He may not even have space.

Did you scramble my numbers in the top portion of your post? Because those are not the prices I posted. Not saying you didn't intend to make a valid point but it didn't come across very clearly. Can you reiterate your intentions? My math was right in my post. You either are having issues where it's not displaying numbers correctly, or you are saying that my prices were off, but they aren't. If he gets a high end card every 3 years it will cost him (by itself) $1400 if you take the price of the 5970 into account. That isn't including the Mobo upgrade with a new CPU, and the next CPU he is planning. so my price projections are pretty accurate in my mind.

Yes the numbers I used were adjusted to what I thought were more accurate numbers. I tailored towards a 5850. A 5970 or (Fermi depending on speed and price) would change the prices for that. I still disagree with some of your assumptions in particular:
Year 2: for toyota's plan I highly doubt you'd get a card from year 1 at half the price. And you leave out the PSU upgrade required.
Year 4: CPU upgrade here is highly speculative since a new socket can be introduced by this point in time and we don't know if it becomes a limitation in games. Regardless this should cost the same for his upgrade path as well since he upgraded his CPU and Mobo in year 2.

Finally even if your numbers are accurate you are actually comparing apples to oranges since by the end of one of his upgrade cycles he will have a monster PC while you will have a moderate gaming PC. Some people are willing to pay to have a PC that pushes 60+ fps in all games while others are happy with over 30.
By the end of Year 2 and 5: He'd have a much faster CPU and mobo with maybe equivalent or faster GPU as your build depending on what GPU you can get at year 2 and 5 for your budget.

 

[cbn]

Year 2: for toyota's plan I highly doubt you'd get a card from year 1 at half the price. And you leave out the PSU upgrade required.

If a person upgrades video cards every generation that pretty much rules out needing an extra heavy duty PSU. As graphics needs increase the subsequent midrange products become stronger yet are more power efficient at the same time.

This in contrast to buying 300 watts of 40nm Video card and using it for 3-4 years.

 

[Davidh373]

Yes the numbers I used were adjusted to what I thought were more accurate numbers. I tailored towards a 5850. A 5970 or (Fermi depending on speed and price) would change the prices for that. I still disagree with some of your assumptions in particular:
Year 2: for toyota's plan I highly doubt you'd get a card from year 1 at half the price. And you leave out the PSU upgrade required.
Year 4: CPU upgrade here is highly speculative since a new socket can be introduced by this point in time and we don't know if it becomes a limitation in games. Regardless this should cost the same for his upgrade path as well since he upgraded his CPU and Mobo in year 2.

Finally even if your numbers are accurate you are actually comparing apples to oranges since by the end of one of his upgrade cycles he will have a monster PC while you will have a moderate gaming PC. Some people are willing to pay to have a PC that pushes 60+ fps in all games while others are happy with over 30.
By the end of Year 2 and 5: He'd have a much faster CPU and mobo with maybe equivalent or faster GPU as your build depending on what GPU you can get at year 2 and 5 for your budget.

I was just doing that for emphasis of what could be done for less money than what he was willing to spend on a card ($700). I can get an i7 920 and a X58 and probably a 650W PSU for $700. If he settles for the "crumby" G-Card (5770) for a year, he won't have any problems with any games at 1440 x 900 and he'll then have cheaper prices for the fermi and high 5k or even 6k series'.

As I said in the post, it is up to him what he wants. I set him on the path to have an i7 920 and a 5850/ 5870 / fermi. That is a beast in my book. If you just consider only the best of the best on the market at the time a beast, he certainly won't have that a year from now no matter what he does as in March intel is releasing the new Hexicore i7, and then Sandy beach in Q1 2011. AMD is planning an 8 core in Q2 of this year. Nvidia is sure to put a new Fermi out by next year and ATI the new 6k series is expected for Q2 2010. So in other words, by your standards he won't have a beast no matter what. A new computer with the newest parts on the market has a part outdated with every month that passes, be it a minor one like an HDD or a major one like a Proc. I know, I just built a comp 9 months ago and my Mobo, Processor, USB, SATA, CD/DVD, and Video card are all out of date. It sucks. I will never advise anyone to put brand new tech in their computer. Prices are over-inflated and the tech is only shiny and new for a few months tops before something else swings in to replace it as "the best" in benchmarks.

One large example is HDDs and SSDs a few months back. My Velociraptor was kicking ass in benchmarks, even a lot of SSDs, now, there are SSDs that have higher storage capacity, and 2x the read and write speeds. They are still a tad expensive, but my main point is that "the best of the best" is only that way for so long, then it's just like any other piece of hardware. Truth be told, if you can get parts that work for half the price you may as well. Sure, they may get outdated a year faster, but you did only pay half the price, so you can rationalize upgrading more frequently.

One more thing. In your post you said a $100 PSU would supply more than enough power, but listed it as $300 - $400 in your estimate... not very accurate or logical to buy a $400 PSU...

Also, You listed his Mobo @ $220 - $300. That is ONLY the most expensive X58 boards and they are only priced that way for 3-way SLI/ Crossfire and 48 GB Ram. I could get a well reviewed X58 for $150, and a p55/H55 for $89.99.

 

[blanketyblank]

I was just doing that for emphasis of what could be done for less money than what he was willing to spend on a card ($700). I can get an i7 920 and a X58 and probably a 650W PSU for $700. If he settles for the "crumby" G-Card (5770) for a year, he won't have any problems with any games at 1440 x 900 and he'll then have cheaper prices for the fermi and high 5k or even 6k series'.

As I said in the post, it is up to him what he wants. I set him on the path to have an i7 920 and a 5850/ 5870 / fermi. That is a beast in my book. If you just consider only the best of the best on the market at the time a beast, he certainly won't have that a year from now no matter what he does as in March intel is releasing the new Hexicore i7, and then Sandy beach in Q1 2011. AMD is planning an 8 core in Q2 of this year. Nvidia is sure to put a new Fermi out by next year and ATI the new 6k series is expected for Q2 2010. So in other words, by your standards he won't have a beast no matter what. A new computer with the newest parts on the market has a part outdated with every month that passes, be it a minor one like an HDD or a major one like a Proc. I know, I just built a comp 9 months ago and my Mobo, Processor, USB, SATA, CD/DVD, and Video card are all out of date. It sucks. I will never advise anyone to put brand new tech in their computer. Prices are over-inflated and the tech is only shiny and new for a few months tops before something else swings in to replace it as "the best" in benchmarks.

One large example is HDDs and SSDs a few months back. My Velociraptor was kicking ass in benchmarks, even a lot of SSDs, now, there are SSDs that have higher storage capacity, and 2x the read and write speeds. They are still a tad expensive, but my main point is that "the best of the best" is only that way for so long, then it's just like any other piece of hardware. Truth be told, if you can get parts that work for half the price you may as well. Sure, they may get outdated a year faster, but you did only pay half the price, so you can rationalize upgrading more frequently.

One more thing. In your post you said a $100 PSU would supply more than enough power, but listed it as $300 - $400 in your estimate... not very accurate or logical to buy a $400 PSU...

Also, You listed his Mobo @ $220 - $300. That is ONLY the most expensive X58 boards and they are only priced that way for 3-way SLI/ Crossfire and 48 GB Ram. I could get a well reviewed X58 for $150, and a p55/H55 for $89.99.

I personally agree with your philosophy, but it's not for everyone. When you are using middle range components you do have to upgrade more frequently or just live with slower performance/reduced settings once the games start passing you by. It does take longer to reach that point when you use high end components though it is costly and variable. Technically a top of the line card from a few years back like the 9800 gx2 could still provide better frame rates than a lot of cards now so it could last a while longer (yes it is horribly depreciated in value and I know there are tons of problems with SLI). People pay for convenience and it is more convenient to upgrade fewer times than yearly or every year and a half. I expect the life of high end parts to be at least 2 years but possibly longer. (they won't be high end at that time, but still probably around middle level).

As for the prices I listed I misinterpreted your notation.
Those prices are totals so they include CPU + Mobo for 220-300. In other words I expect the Mobo to cost between $70-$150 + $150 for the CPU. I'm near a Frys so I usually consider them together as they are a lot cheaper that way.
Same goes for the PSU that's also added to the GPU price so I estimate $50-$100 for that + 300 which is what a midrange-highend card like the 5850 would cost.

 

[Davidh373]

Understandable. 300 is totally an amount I'd pay for a CPU and Mobo. Same with the GPU and PSU. I personally don't think it's worth an extra $300 - $400 to save yourself 30 minutes to swap a GPU, but hey, that's me. I think a lot of this is just for bragging rights too "Hey, I've got THIS Proc" or "THIS G-Card". I'm relatively new to this, but I saw a lot of that from my friends in High School and my Tech program in College. I noticed the attitude swap between friends, each taking turns a few months at a time. In other words, one would blow all their cash on one part, brag about it until it was outdated, then another friend would get the next big release and the last friend would get all Jealous. I'd like to believe the companies KNOW they can do this to people, so they overcharge an UNGODLY amount for the parts when they are released. I'd actually hate to be you guys right now, because you all get marketed that you NEED these parts or else. I only got the i7 because I do a lot of Rendering in Mental Ray and Vray from 3DS Max and sculpting in ZBrush. Gamers won't NEED the i7 for a very long time, the hardware companies just market it that way. Dual Core isn't even used a lot, neither is the full power of newer Graphics cards. I guarantee you'll be able to game on a single 1 GB 9800 for another 3 years, but now they're marketing stuff 2 generations ahead of it. As with the i7 980X. 6 CORES!, That's ridiculously unnecessary for you guys.

I guess I don't mind all that much. It gets me the parts I want, but the major reason is there aren't a lot of people like me. In order to sell to masses, they market to the consumer what they won't even near need for 3 years.

 

[Amart]

I still don't have an answer to my original question - what game is going to demand the performance that any of the high-end GPU's these days provide?
It costs too much to dramatically increase visual quality specifically for the PC, considering it's currently a smaller market then the consoles for graphically intense gaming. What usually happens is development on a graphical engine that can output better quality without the console hardware limitations and optimizations - so PC versions are more demanding but look better. But that was last years situation. Now the gap is even wider, and it's not going to close until a new console generation is released.

There is also the question of visual quality improvement. Between Half Life 1 and Half Life 2 there were revolutionary changes. DirectX 9.

Have you compared Half Life 2 with the High Resolution replacement textures to most modern games? The differences are in some effects and aren't as striking.

Gaming is reaching a graphical plateau - a point where further improvements towards photo realism are nitpicking, and are entirely irrelevant to the fun you have while playing.

There is a difference for professionals, and there may be differences in terms of the need of optimization vs. development speed - but for the end user I doubt further advancements toward "photo realism" are going to seem as revolutionary or important.

You keep saying "he'll need an upgrade in a year!" TO DO WHAT?

 

[cbn]

I still don't have an answer to my original question - what game is going to demand the performance that any of the high-end GPU's these days provide?
It costs too much to dramatically increase visual quality specifically for the PC, considering it's currently a smaller market then the consoles for graphically intense gaming. What usually happens is development on a graphical engine that can output better quality without the console hardware limitations and optimizations - so PC versions are more demanding but look better. But that was last years situation. Now the gap is even wider, and it's not going to close until a new console generation is released.

There is also the question of visual quality improvement. Between Half Life 1 and Half Life 2 there were revolutionary changes. DirectX 9.

Have you compared Half Life 2 with the High Resolution replacement textures to most modern games? The differences are in some effects and aren't as striking.

Gaming is reaching a graphical plateau - a point where further improvements towards photo realism are nitpicking, and are entirely irrelevant to the fun you have while playing.

There is a difference for professionals, and there may be differences in terms of the need of optimization vs. development speed - but for the end user I doubt further advancements toward "photo realism" are going to seem as revolutionary or important.

You keep saying "he'll need an upgrade in a year!" TO DO WHAT?

You make a really good point.

At the moment cards like HD5770 are competent at a lot of games.

Maybe this is why ATI came out with Eyefinity? (To challenge the hardware more)

 

[toyota]

You make a really good point.

At the moment cards like HD5770 are competent at a lot of games.

Maybe this is why ATI came out with Eyefinity? (To challenge the hardware more)

at a low res like the op has a 5770 is plenty especially considering that he will already be noticeably holding back that card especially in more cpu dependent games.

a 5770 is easily as fast as my 192sp gtx260 and there is not a single game including Crysis that I cant basically max out at just 1440x900.

 

[TemjinGold]

Both upgrade strategies are completely valid if the high-end route netted better results now for the tradeoff of worse later. The problem is, with the OP's system, the high end route gets bottlenecked to not much better than mid-range AND gets worse later. In this situation, the high end route is basically lose-lose. If he had a powerful rest of the system and we were only discussing video card upgrades, either strategy would be equally valid.

 

[Blue Shift]

...Okay, folks, looks like I neglected to mention this. Perhaps in order to avoid feeding the Reds.

The Fermi from page 1 and the 120hz LCD from page 4? 3dVision, whenever the price of the kit goes down. I'm thinking that ATI will start competing with it this Fall... But I'd much rather go with the entrenched company, which already has a base of supported games which includes everything that I enjoy running now.

freelancer takes the cake in terms of my favorite game of all time, and I'm hoping that Jumpgate Evolution will be similar. The former could be run at 60-120hz by just about anything, but the latter may be a challenge on a larger screen. We'll see, when it comes out. I'll also be looking at whatever Oblivion's successor is, as well as any other good open-world games. (O shit, Oblivion in 3-d!)

The 5970 was a smokescreen, in order to avoid feeding the trolls. My bad.

And whoever mentioned gpu one-upmanship... Yep. That's definitely a factor.

-------------------


So, from this point forwards... No holds barred. Lay out a course to get from the point I'm at (aging rig, etc.) to a machine that can play the Oblivions of tomorrow (e.g. Two Worlds 2) in stereoscopic 3-D for years to come. At 60fps (the 30fps of stereoscopic gameplay) minimum, for as long as possible.

I won't be fighting you, or attempting to prove that my method is superior... Let's hear it straight. (Although I am trying to one-up someone with a gt260.)

Edit: This is why I liked the idea of a 9800 as a stopgap card. Also, I'm not a fan of triple-monitor setups.
Edit 2: Cost will determine timing. Of course. Spending 2k is out of the question.

 

[Qbah]

Looks like you already made your decision. 3 120Hz screens and 2 GTX480 cards for 3D Vision Surround. That will probably be around ~$2500 for those two pieces. Pairing it with anything lower than a Core i7 9xx is a total waste, so you also know which route to go for your full upgrade. So... there's nothing more to discuss.

EDIT: If you want a single screen, a 120Hz one and a GTX480 is also your only option, as you prefer nVidia cards (which you just admitted - of course nothing wrong with that). Which also requires a total system overhaul as your 5000 X2 sucks. No need to try and put it in a nice way I'm afraid.

 

[Davidh373]

Well then. I do have to say 3D vision and a 3 monitor surround view do need a beastly rig. That would be a reason for you to get high end Hardware. I would still go with a new X58 or P55 to get things started. There is no sense in getting the epic graphics hardware without a proc that can back it. I don't quite understand 120Hz monitors... they seem overkill to me. There is nothing wrong with an Nvidia, or ATI, but ATI will be behind as soon as Fermi releases to a wide audience. Again, unless you have a case that is a large Full ATX, you'll likely need one. Think Forearm to Knuckle on your average arm for size of the new cards (getting this from size of the 5970). Unless you're 6 ft. tall, you should have a pretty good comparison. Again, if you'd like to wait on the BRAND NEW graphics cards, they normally shrink in the next iteration, and also consume less power, so you won't be sucking a Gigawatt of energy out the wall every time you play Crysis. It's just a tip though. As far as ram goes, at this rate you may want to start making that your 3rd year upgrade. With the rig you appear to be settling into in the next few years you might as well go crazy with 12-18 GB. I still recommend a modest G - Card for now until you can get that Proc. replaced but it is entirely up to you to make that decision.

 

[Blue Shift]

EDIT: If you want a single screen, a 120Hz one and a GTX480 is also your only option, as you prefer nVidia cards (which you just admitted - of course nothing wrong with that). Which also requires a total system overhaul as your 5000 X2 sucks. No need to try and put it in a nice way I'm afraid.

Got it. I'll take your word for it that my cpu would cause framerate caps somewhere between the 30fps that's acceptable normally and the 60fps that's an absolute minimum in stereo.

Alternatively, I could do something else to my rig this year instead...

GDR Drive: $20
Bluetooth Dongle: $15
Infrared LEDs: $5
Wiimotes: $20 each

= Legal Wii, $60 total. Plus game costs, which will be low if I can find them used.


This thing can be turned into the ultimate party machine for far less $$ than it would take to do any of these upgrades... And I can still play most games on the market. Fuck Just Cause 2.

Edit: Unless, of course, emulation-imposed inefficiencies make my rig sub-par for even that purpose. That would suck.

 

[blanketyblank]

Got it. I'll take your word for it that my cpu would cause framerate caps somewhere between the 30fps that's acceptable normally and the 60fps that's an absolute minimum in stereo.

Alternatively, I could do something else to my rig this year instead...

GDR Drive: $20
Bluetooth Dongle: $15
Infrared LEDs: $5
Wiimotes: $20 each

= Legal Wii, $60 total. Plus game costs, which will be low if I can find them used.


This thing can be turned into the ultimate party machine for far less $$ than it would take to do any of these upgrades... And I can still play most games on the market. Fuck Just Cause 2.

Edit: Unless, of course, emulation-imposed inefficiencies make my rig sub-par for even that purpose. That would suck.

you could get bluetooth dongle for like $3 so that cuts your costs by a good $12.
I do have to ask what are the infrared LEDs for though?

 

[Blue Shift]

you could get bluetooth dongle for like $3 so that cuts your costs by a good $12.
I do have to ask what are the infrared LEDs for though?

They're for mounting on top of the monitor as an IR emitter, sort of like the "sensor bar" that Nintendo sells for $20.

Oh, and I found one of those cheap-o dongles on Amazon after you tipped me off. Nice!

So, what does one call a machine that functions as a PC, an Xbox 360, and a Wii? (edit: Oh, and gamecube too!)

Edit 2: XiiPC!

 

[blanketyblank]

They're for mounting on top of the monitor as an IR emitter, sort of like the "sensor bar" that Nintendo sells for $20.

Oh, and I found one of those cheap-o dongles on Amazon after you tipped me off. Nice!

So, what does one call a machine that functions as a PC, an Xbox 360, and a Wii?

Your pc can emulate an xbox 360?? PSX, Wii, and older consoles no problem, but 360 emulation should be hard. I'm not even sure you can emulate the old xbox well.
Even PS2 emulation needs a fairly decent CPU if you want playable fps.

I think the term for a pc that can do everything is either "media center" or "entertainment center".

 

[Blue Shift]

Your pc can emulate an xbox 360?? PSX, Wii, and older consoles no problem, but 360 emulation should be hard. I'm not even sure you can emulate the old xbox well.

It doesn't need to. 360 controllers and console ports, some of which have single-machine multiplayer. Yes, calling it a 360 is stretching the truth... But upwards of 80% of the games run, and the input method is the same. Close enough, right?

 

[zerocool84]

It doesn't need to. 360 controllers and console ports, some of which have single-machine multiplayer. Yes, calling it a 360 is stretching the truth... But upwards of 80% of the games run, and the input method is the same. Close enough, right?

lol no not really but ok

 

[Davidh373]

It doesn't need to. 360 controllers and console ports, some of which have single-machine multiplayer. Yes, calling it a 360 is stretching the truth... But upwards of 80% of the games run, and the input method is the same. Close enough, right?

Yes, yes it is. I've done the same thing. I actually use Xpadder. It's software you can get for like $10 shareware. It works great! I play all my games on my gamepad and usually (like 4/5 times) win, or at least get a positive Kill/ Death spread. You don't need an $120 mouse and a $80 keyboard, I do it all with a $30 gamepad .

 

[Narynan]

Removing my recommendation because from when I posted to reading to the bottom of the post creates a different view of what he is really looking for.

It seems like you are on course for a full system update!