i hope that my pc can stand it.

Download the benchmarking tool I linked to above and find out.

How do you play games without OS, mouse/keyboard/gamepad? How about firewall/antivirus which is pretty much needed with windows? Anyway 400$ is more than $199 no matter how you try to spin it.

Gawd, not again...

Reuse your OS license, along with your mouse, keyboard/ controller. XP and Vista come with a built-in firewall and Avira/ AVG are free. Buying ten games at $20-25 less than the console versions will easily save the difference between $400 and $199, plus I've yet to see a console that can run Office, Photoshop, Visual Studio etc etc

For many people, me included, who need a PC for work and can just spend $150 on a decent graphics card to make it into a gaming PC, console gaming is simply too expensive, too rigid and too limiting. Your mileage may vary, but please stop these ridiculously ignorant posts.

Everyone does not have a mouse or a keyboard, not to mention a control pad. They don't get that stuff with the "400$" computer, do they? Usually those licenses are bound to your hardware and it is illegal to use it on another computer. Even if you can use the old OS, it still did not come free.

25$ cheaper games? Where? Those games would be almost free. I usually buy my console games for that 20-30$.

So basically you buy them used, months after they've been released? Even so, the PC version will still be significantly cheaper.

The last multi-platform game I bought for the PC-

Fallout 3- currently £24.99 on the 360 and £12.99 on the PC new, with a similar differential between used copies. At the current rate of exchange, the difference between the new versions- £12- is just over $20. Plus you get a version that can already has hundreds of mods available for it.

The next multi-platform game I'll buy for the PC- £37.96 on the 360 and, surprise surprise, £24.99 on the PC. Again, over $20 difference between the two and again, you'll be getting a moddable, tweakable version with extra longevity.

BTW, if you have an OEM license for Windows, then you can reuse it on your new PC- just ring up and ask for it to be reactivated. As long as you're not using it on your original PC as well, you're fine. And yes, everyone who has a PC will also have a mouse and keyboard, it'd be pretty difficult to use one without. If it's your first PC, add £20 extra onto the prices above. Are HDTV's free, by the way? As I never seem to see the cost of them factored into the cost of owning a console, and it'd be pretty pointless to use an HD console without one.

No, I buy them new and usually few months after they have been released.

For me last PC/360 game I bought was Last Remnant for 11,73£. Cheapest pc version now is 15,73£ and 360 version 14,95£. That is not 20$ cheaper. We can keep going cherrypicking examples if you wish.

Everyone has a keyboard and a mouse? No. Guess how many people own only a laptop. Or do you plan to rip your touchpad and kb out of laptop and use it on your pc? Why aren't those HDTV's factored in pc costs? They aren't free. Of course you don't necessary need one, you can use a monitor. That must be free I guess and of course, you can't use that monitor with your 360.

20£ gaming mouse and a keyboard. Sure thing mate. I am using a cheap gaming mouse MX518 and it was more like 40£ than 20£.

You're a mug, then.

Laptops? Don't be dense- the vast majority of PC gamers will be using a desktop, and most laptop gamers will be using a plug in mouse rather than the trackpad. Even if they don't have a mouse or keyboard, do you really think they're going to be spending hundreds extra on unnecessary peripherals after buying a budget build's components?

Cherrypicking? Are you really telling me that console games aren't released £10-20 more expensive than their PC equivalents? Take a look at any recent multi-platform release.

I haven't the foggiest what you're on about with the rest of your post- "Why aren't those HDTV's factored in pc costs?" Eh?

I thought the whole point of having an HD console was the 'wow factor' of gaming on a 40"+ HDTV in your living room with a bunch of mates. If you're just going to plug it into a £150 24" monitor and sit 3 feet away, do you not think that kind of defeats the object?

BTW, the 'your' here is meant to be plural, and not solely directed at you.

For me, and no doubt many others, PC gaming works out cheaper and better. For you, and no doubt many others, console gaming works out cheaper and better. Good luck to you if so, and I'm sure you'd be happier sticking to the sub forum of your choice rather than trying to justify your purchase in here and telling me, and many others, what we should and shouldn't be doing.

I dont understand how you refer to V-sync here. You make it sound like V-synch increases framerate.

And what do you mean by "without it (V-sync) I was seeing a huge discrepancy in frame rates"?