5 Graphical powerhouses exclusive to PC

[greenmedic88]

Past a certain point, the amount to spend on a VGA card should really only be dictated by the native resolution of the display being used (along w/ processing effects and level of visuals).

When running at a display's native max resolution, AA is typically less necessary for smoother graphics. Of course if the VGA card has the processing power to run at a smooth frame rate with processing power to spare , no point in running anything other than max effects.

Currently, between $100-150 seems to be the sweet spot for typical resolutions, which is not to say that cards like the 4850 will run all games optimally. Unfortunately, some games really do require $500+ VGA solutions for the max experience.

Best platform for gaming? Still very subjective.

I build gaming PCs and I still prefer console gaming in many situations. Unless you keep your gaming PC running 24/7, it takes quite a bit more effort to get everything running optimally than to just flip on a console and insert a game.

Generally for multi platform games, I'll go with the PC version, with the knowledge that they are more likely to have driver or hardware conflicts, will likely require a bit of optimization and configuration for the best playback, and of course DRM, which is really beginning to make PC gaming more of a hassle than ever compared to the days when a reg code and CD key were all that were needed to play.

The trade off is the best visuals, assuming a decent hardware set up, properly configured.

Personally, I spend more time with the PC configuring both BIOS, software, OS and hardware than I do actual gaming (which I enjoy to an extent). But if I just want to play a quick game, consoles are a much faster solution with far less hassle.

As much as I like Steam, I have had to re-download multiple games w/ system reinstalls, drive reformats, etc. When you have close to 100GB worth of games purchased, it's not the most convenient thing in the world to recover them, especially if there are busy servers, OS network config issues (which Windows has plenty of), etc.

It's at times like those that installing games off disc is preferable, regardless of the type of DRM being used.