Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Xbox 360?
Hi all, basicly I'm really fracked off at pc games at the moment. I purchased 7 games a few weeks back and 3 out the 7 don't work and 1runs o.k at best. (which happen to be the ones I really wanted to play).
One was bioshock, which runs on my system, however it is plagued with constant crashes. After some research it seems many people are having the same problems (personally I think it's something to do with running 64 bit windows).
Beyond good and evil won't even install on xp 64 and the developers don't really care so there not gonna fix that.
Heroes of might and magic 5 had graphics problems and constant crashing(again after some research people with win 64 are having the exact same problems).
The witcher runs o.k but it dosn't run smooth at all.
System specs:
intel q6600, 4gb geil 800 memory, gigabyte board, 320 gb harddrive, 8800gt xfx graphics, win xp 64
Also after reading mass effect has this crappy securom installed I am way to scared to buy it. I am really feed up with pc gaming at the moment. The question is do I bite the bullet and buy an xbox 360? I have been a pc gamer for so long I'm not sure if I can get used to a console. What do you think? Do people tend to have less problems with console games?
Maybe I should buy xp 32 or vista 32 for better compatabillity? (thnx for any advice in advance
)
Comments
alright im a console fan and a pc fan. But its not your pc or the pc games thats messed up. Its you have windows XP 64 bit. Alot of people doesnt know it exist, and VERY few people use it, so it was overlooked by ALOT of software peeps. Although vista 64 is getting alot more attention due to the fact that nowadays, you get a 32 bit and 64 bit installation disk.
So, either:
A. get a new OS
or
B. buy a xbox 360
or
C. live with it.
Playing: EVE Online
Favorite MMOs: WoW, SWG Pre-cu, Lineage 2, UO, EQ, EVE online
Looking forward to: Archeage, Kingdom Under Fire 2
KUF2's Official Website - http://www.kufii.com/ENG/ -
Would you recommend vista or xp?, tbh this securom b.s there putting on pc games lately is very depressing also, thus I'm still thinking maybe xbox 360 (lol I'm horrible at making up my mind)
No, you won't have any of those issues on a console. You never have to worry "will it run on my system?" or "Do I have the right patch/drivers?" Games on consoles simply work, period. If by rare occassion the game does not run as expected, expect a patch within days if not within hours after release.
Unless MMO's and RTS are your love and passion, I say, make the jump to the Xbox 360.
XP is the best as it ismuch more efficent.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
XP 32 bit. Don't get the Xbox 360, its a waste of money because it will keep breaking down on ya and you will keep sending it back to microsoft and pay em to fix it for it. Easy way they made money, especially with the "RED RINGS OF DEATH" glitch they purposly put in the xbox 360 to make some quick cash. Yes, XP 32 bit is worth it.
You pay for posting and the they fix it for free if your within the warrenty, they even extented the warrenty. and yes I do belive too they put it on it on purpose. But yea Xbox 360 is where I play for Single player RPGs/FPS and RTS and MMOs on the PC, works perfectly.
Currently restarting World of Warcraft
There is a limitation with the 32 bit versions of windows in that they are incapable of utilizing all 4gb of memory. When I upgraded to 4gb of ram while staying with xp32 I consistently had out of memory issues and bsods. Vista 32 had the same problems. Under XP 64 or Vista 64 all those issues went away.
As to whether or not you want to get a console, well that's entirely your call. I have all 3 current gen consoles: Wii is great for when I have girl friends over. The 360 and ps3 I think are too intimidating for people that just are not into games (apart from rock band and guitar hero). Other than that it is a dust collector. The PS3 is a pricey blu-ray player. None of the games that have come out for the system have been worth more than a rent and everything else comes out on the 360. I like my 360, I stream movies from my pc to it all the time and there is a very good and growing library of games for it.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
This is actually an outright lie. The RROD problem did not hit every 360 and MS actually stepped up to the plate and have been addressing that, free of charge. It cost them enough that only this year did they mark up their first profitable year.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
They put it in the system on purpose? Thats what you beleive? I haven't seen many companys purposely try to ruin there fan base, but if that what you want to think, so be it. I guess thats what you can expect from someone that has over 500 hours of WOW in them.
How many delicate flowers have you met in Counterstrike?
I got a case of beer and a chainsaw waiting for me at home after work.
I play PC and console, so I would say why not have both. I have had an xbox 360 since launch and it hasn't broken down yet. Basically you put the disc in, the game boots up. Pretty simple. There are some pretty good games for it too. Only downside for me is the mmo scene is pc right now, but I think game devs are wanting to change that.
Also Xbox360 will have some good games later this year. Star Wars the Force Unleashed and Fable 2 both look good to me. Also, I think Age of Conan will be coming out for Xbox360, but not sure when. Maybe other mmo's in development for the Xbox 360 as well but not sure.
I would say just buy Vista 64bit , thats what i use and it runs perfect , i also play Bioshock and mass effect and they run with no probs what so ever and i run both on max settings and you have the same computer setup as me almost.
XP 64bit is a nightmare for driver support and compatibility. It is essentially WIndows 2003 64bit, workstation. (The kernels are exactly the same even.) This means the Video drivers from NVidia and ATI are 'special' as they are not the XP drivers because of the 64bit development and not the WDDM Vista drivers that are equal to the 32bit Vista drivers.
Vista x64 on the other hand was designed to be for everyone, not just engineers or professional people that needed 64bit. This is why Vista x64 has all the features that Vista x32 does (except 16bit Win3.1).
It also has the backing of all the development and hardware companies, as for the first time MS requires all companies to produce a 64bit version of their drivers in order to get any certification or logos, so companies can no longer just make 32bit drivers and get Windows Logo approval.
Additionally, all software that gets the 'Games for Windows' or Windows Vista logo, must also run properly on Vista x64 (which is easy because of how closely it and Vista x32 regarding features.)
So XP64bit may be at the heart of your problems, and with all the XP myths finally being killed by gamers and review sites, there is no reason that anyone should not be jumping to Vista for the extra performance it DOES have over XP in gaming (with the latest 2008 video drivers).
Vista x64 is about 15% faster than Vista x32, especially when running 32bit games/applications on it. This is because Vista x64 is a FULL 64bit OS, unlike OS X, and it not only gets larger memory address space, but processes memory for 32bit applications in upper and lower bit chunks, shoving two memory reads/writes into one memory operation, in addition to the OS level optimizations that take advantage of 64bits, like the expanded registers, the ability to manage Volumes and pagefile in native memory tables, as well as the drivers being 64bit based, allowing them to shove data between the CPU and hardware in larger chunks, that also helps Video Card performance.
Try out Vista x64 first, and you can always reinstall Vista x32 if you need.
As for the XBox 360, it also rocks, as it is a 64bit version of Windows with many of the Vista optimizaitons like some of the WDDM video driver and DX10 concepts. It is also running a tri-core G5 processor, and the ATI GPU in it is equivalent to the ATI X2xxx series DX10 cards. (PS3 is using a lower end Geforce 7800 GPU technology, which is several years behind the ATI/XBox 360 design.)
The XBox 360 is great to have, but is not a replacement for PC gaming. There are pros and cons to each platform. If the games you like are on the console, then go for the XBox 360, as stuff just works and crashes are uber rare, and the newer hardware doesn't have the thermal problem the early models did.
However if you play MMOs or PC only type games that are not made for a console, it will not give you everything you need, and you will need to invest in your computer as well.
For people that want to get Vista (especially Ultimate) cheaper, you have a couple of options that most people overlook.
1) Go to a small computer reseller and buy an OEM version, or order your own if you are building your own computer, you can find them online, and there are ways to qualify without buying a computer from the OEM, some other types of hardware purchases qualify, check with the company.
2) Student/Educational pricing
3) Look into the ISV/Partner program at Microsoft. As you can register yourself as a developer and pay around $299, and MS will give you access to several Vista Ultimate activations (for you own testing and use) in addition to a copy of Office 2007, and access to developer tools and some MSDN content.
(#3 is the best bang for the buck, especially if you have a couple of systems and also would like to have Office and access to some of the development toys that MS throws in for free. It also will get you into the Windows Beta, so if you time when you sign up right, you should get access to Windows 7 to play with early.)
Ahh thanks for the update. I was sick hearing one story this whole time. In that case, PC will still be worth it to switch OS to windows xp 32-bit. You can get the xbox 360 later if you want, right now the only good games released are Halo3, Army of 2, GTA4, and CoD4. Great games, I would get the Xbox 360 just to play em.
I'm running 64-bit Windows and Bioshock runs flawless on my rig, which is a lot lower end than yours. Anyway I just got an Xbox 360 and I'm really enjoying it. The RRoD problem is no longer a real issue on new models of the 360. Just make sure you get a 360 with the falcon chipset and you should be fine.