Horrific stability problems are why i dislike PC gaming. I permanently slowed down an older computer just trying to install one game (forget what it was exactly), had to give up on PSO: Blue Burst because the game would crash at random and i would have to pull the plug on the computer to fix it, while KOTOR would crash at the drop of a hat in some areas, meaning i would have to save every thirty seconds or so.

Ah it's Gabe Newell... everytime i see that picture i think...  "Why is the guy in front so fat if he's part of the "master race.""

Now I know.

Depends on your definition of gamer. If by gamer you mean an arbitary sub-genre of customers that play on "core" big budget games then sure.

If you actually mean all people who play video games, then the market on PC is much larger, especially with all the free-2-play titles that are all the rage in Asia.

If you were to look at the entire industry as a whole, console gaming is actually only a small slice of the pie.

While PC can drive me nuts, I love PC games.

You are wrong, games like COD and Battlefield, have much bigger playerbase on Xbox 360 than PC. I cant say for certain, that this also holds true for PS3 as i have never played those games online on my PS3, but i would be suprised if this wasn't true for PS3 as well. Of course if we are talking about games like Diablo 3, Stacraft 2 or League of Legends, they have much more players than any console game, even COD. But the games that exist for both consoles and PC usually have more players on Xbox Live, even FPS like COD. The only reason i prefer playing these games on consoles, is because there are no cheaters on console, even if there is more players on Xbox Live, i would still prefer PC if it wasn't for the fact, that people cheat.

What would you need a 690 for? The cost alone means it not worth it, you should of just got a 670 or 680, they are more than powerful enough for a couple of years and far cheaper. I have a 550 Ti for now and that's good enough for all games on high settings for now

It doesn't matter that much if you have the money for it, but i personally don't see how the top graphics card at any time is worth buying at all. They are so over priced! 

I was talking western society, but fair enough.

This is what always puts me off pc gaming:

It's cyber Monday, lets see if I can get a good deal on a gpu upgrade. Turns out most cards still need more then a 350 watt power supply, ok I can replace that. Crap I also need two PCI-E slots next to each other or it won't fit. I'm not going to replace the motherboard, forget it.

So lets check out the Geforce 640, 1 slot, 350 watt, looks perfect. Or not:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/20/nvidia-geforce-gt-640-review-roundup/
Bad performance compared to the HD 7750, barely maintaining 30fps at 1080p. The 7750 doesn't fit in my system, and I can already get 1080p30 with my current 3 year old card.

Goes back to play AC3 on ps3.

its not just about getting a psu over 350 watt's, most GPU's require around 500 watts as a safe point but also make sure there are enough amps on the 12 volt rail to fully support the card (you dont want your system to go pop).

you would be far better off building your own system and give your self plenty of space with a bigger case for future upgrades, its pointless going to a pc store buying an acer HP packard bell ect and expecting to be able to install new graphics cards, these systems simply wont offer that option plus for the price you pay for a complete mass manufactured pc you could easily get a more powerful self build pc.

my current system cost around £1000 and can run games like dirt 3 on ultra settings 1080p @ 153fps, crysis 2 ultra settings 1080p @ 60+ fps, dirt showdown ultra settings 1080p @ 120+ fps.

this is why i prefer PC gaming to console gaming, playing games that i can play at over 60+ fps on my pc and then play them on the consoles at a locked 30 fps it makes the games almost unplayable, untill there is a 360 or ps3 emulator ill have to play the games i cant emulate on those consoles.