Hardware/Software Technical Discussion Thread

[jervi]

Well, depends. Consoles have a lot of advantages. Comfort, screen size, ease of sharing experience with family and friends.

Not all PCs are small-screen jobbers with uncomfortable chairs. I only rock a 32" screen, but I don't sit in whatever chair my boss found for the lowest price at Staples. You may say that console controllers are more comfortable than keyboards and mice, but I find Sony controllers small, Nintendo controllers outright tiny, and Microsoft controllers to be unergonomic AF.

That's not to say that consoles don't actually have some advantages, but screen size and comfort are not among them. For instance, my PC isn't small, and while it's six fans aren't exactly noisy, it's nowhere near as quiet as a console either.

 

[Triffid77]

That's not to say that consoles don't actually have some advantages, but screen size and comfort are not among them. For instance, my PC isn't small, and while it's six fans aren't exactly noisy, it's nowhere near as quiet as a console either.

Jervi, check out Noctua fans. Specifically the new A12x25. Theyre high pressure and at low speed can push a crap load of air silently (having to pull air through the front filter - low pressure airflow fans should only be used as exhaust). They also aren't cheap but literally the best fans money can buy. Thats Noctua.
Also a few decibels can be knocked off by removing the rear fan grill.
See this build - https://pcpartpicker.com/b/TKkdnQ Its silent.

 

[jervi]

Jervi, check out Noctua fans. Specifically the new A12x25. Theyre high pressure and at low speed can push a crap load of air silently (having to pull air through the front filter - low pressure airflow fans should only be used as exhaust). They also aren't cheap but literally the best fans money can buy. Thats Noctua.
Also a few decibels can be knocked off by removing the rear fan grill.
See this build - https://pcpartpicker.com/b/TKkdnQ Its silent.

I have a Thermaltake Core V1 case with a nice, quiet 200mm fan. And my EVGA GTX 1050Ti and CPU cooler are also near silent. The real culprit is my power supply.

 

[Triffid77]

I have a Thermaltake Core V1 case with a nice, quiet 200mm fan. And my EVGA GTX 1050Ti and CPU cooler are also near silent. The real culprit is my power supply.

oh yeah get rid of that thing. Really the only good coolermaster PSU is the V series (Vanguard) thats made by Seasonic (coolermaster and many others outsource PSU manufacturing and rebadge).

Seasonic now make fanless PSUs up to 600w. Also theres quite a few in the range that have fanless mode (via a switch).
I have the PSU fan switched off permanently. Its mounted fan side up and its an exhaust via the positive pressure provided by front 3x fans.

 

[jervi]

oh yeah get rid of that thing. Really the only good coolermaster PSU is the V series (Vanguard) thats made by Seasonic (coolermaster and many others outsource PSU manufacturing and rebadge).

Seasonic now make fanless PSUs up to 600w. Also theres quite a few in the range that have fanless mode (via a switch).
I have the PSU fan switched off permanently. Its mounted fan side up and its an exhaust via the positive pressure provided by front 3x fans.

Maybe after I sort out a few thousand dollars worth of medical expenses.... :cautious:

 

[Triffid77]

Maybe after I sort out a few thousand dollars worth of medical expenses.... :cautious:

Sincerely, hope you get all that sorted. Cheers to our health.

 

[Snowflakez]

Well, depends. Consoles have a lot of advantages. Comfort, screen size, ease of sharing experience with family and friends.

If you don't care about mods and that extra 10% graphics (or however you define the ratio of superior PC graphics to next gen console) boost from PC, then console is arguably a superior experience.

It's a tradeoff and each has advantages.

Oh, Sard, why do you do this?

To the discussion at hand... "The best experience" and whatnot - it's a bit silly, IMO. The best experience for a console player will certainly be on a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, because those are the best systems available to them within their chosen platform. Everything is the same, except performance, so... objective upgrade.

There's no "best experience for everyone," unless everyone was willing to jump through a few hoops with PC (just because it offers the most options - you can play on your living room TV, on your couch, with a controller, but it requires some setup), which they aren't, so... moot point.

Whether people want to admit that or not, both consoles played a significant role in The Witcher III's success, so it is very important to show good performance on both machines. Now, HOW they will achieve that with a game of such magnitude - one can only guess.

Yes, this is correct. The PC gaming market is not as small as it once was (that's why people even bother porting games to it), but we are only one fraction of the overall market.

Even if, and this is probably a very generous guess, PC gamers made up 1/3 of the market, we are still in the minority. Not compared to Xbox or PS4 players alone (again, generous guess), perhaps, but compared to consoles in general, which have similar hardware and optimization requirements.

A AAA developer likely cannot afford to ignore such a large segment of the market, and they must make games that run well on those systems, so us PC gamers do end up with games that don't look quite as good as they could, but so what?

I'm not so elitist as to think my market should come at the cost of everyone else. Unlike some (who aren't on these boards, for the record) who like to rub console exclusives in everyone's face. "HAH, bet you regret being a PC gamer now because you don't get to play Red Dead Redemption 2! Nana nana boo boo!"

 

[Hoplite_22]

Snipped for brevity

yeah, the "best" experance is the one where you get what you want out if it. for me this is the PC, for others it will be a console.

but the PC market is pretty big these days. some 200 million people use steam for games. which is about twice the size of either PS4 or Xbox. that said there will be over lap and one offs so never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[Snowflakez]

that said there will be over lap and one offs so never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.

Unfortunately so.

 

[blitehaus]

some 200 million people use steam for games. which is about twice the size of either PS4 or Xbox

I guess it's important to take into account how many of those 200 million own a rig that can actually run a game like Cyberpunk 2077, at least on minimal settings. Some of those Steam users might just use it to play annual Farming sims (nothing wrong with that, just an example). And being a console owner automatically makes you a potential customer for the game, since you will be able to run it anyway (even though it will be downgraded).
But with that being said, I really hope you PC owners (with powerful rigs) will get the best the game and CDPR have to offer. Depriving you of better performance is just wrong.

 

[Snowflakez]

But with that being said, I really hope you PC owners (with powerful rigs) will get the best the game and CDPR have to offer. Depriving you of better performance is just wrong.

Appreciated.

I'm not worried, though. CDPR did great with TW3, so I expect no less here. As long as the game is well-optimized, I'm happy.

 

[jervi]

I guess it's important to take into account how many of those 200 million own a rig that can actually run a game like Cyberpunk 2077, at least on minimal settings. Some of those Steam users might just use it to play annual Farming sims (nothing wrong with that, just an example). And being a console owner automatically makes you a potential customer for the game, since you will be able to run it anyway (even though it will be downgraded).
But with that being said, I really hope you PC owners (with powerful rigs) will get the best the game and CDPR have to offer. Depriving you of better performance is just wrong.

I think that the Steam Hardware survey is rather telling.



It should come as no surprise that roughly 2/3 of Steam users surveyed have quad-cores, just under 5% have hexa-cores, and most of the remainder are on dual-cores. I mean, we already knew the i5 and i7 were popular. Likewise, it should be no surprise that nVidia beats AMD by about 5-to-1 when it comes to GPU popularity since AMD has been more about value than peak performance for quite a while. However, their Top Five GPUs seem to be different from what these forums show. According to these forums, everyone and their dog has at least a 1070, and most have a 1080/1080Ti. However, Steam has them in 6th, 8th, and 11th places respectively, and by a considerable margin.

Now think about this for a moment. Many PC gamers who are serious enough about gaming to even care about CP2077 already have a Steam account. (Sure, they aren't as cool as GOG, but that's besides the point.) So I think that the Steam survey is a relatively good measure of what sort of hardware prospective CP2077 players (CDPR customers) have. So if I had to guess, I'd say that anyone with a GTX 10xx will be fine, as will those with a Haswell-or-newer i5 because I doubt CDPR would set the minimum requirements so high as to make CP2077 practically a console-exclusive.

 

[Hoplite_22]

I guess it's important to take into account how many of those 200 million own a rig that can actually run a game like Cyberpunk 2077, at least on minimal settings. Some of those Steam users might just use it to play annual Farming sims (nothing wrong with that, just an example). And being a console owner automatically makes you a potential customer for the game, since you will be able to run it anyway (even though it will be downgraded).
But with that being said, I really hope you PC owners (with powerful rigs) will get the best the game and CDPR have to offer. Depriving you of better performance is just wrong.

oh never more than 10% will get a given game, same on consoles, but 10% of 200 million is more than 10% of 80 million. I am largely not surprised that the 1060 is leaps and bounds more popular than the 1080 or 1080 ti, £400+ cards are rarefied air, and AMD not making a bigger impact is again unsurprising when their 1070 beater was £800 for the last year rather than the £300 that would be more it's range given it launched for £400.

 

[Snowflakez]

That hardware survey was fascinating. As a 1080 Ti owners, didn't realize I was in such a minority. Figured enthusiasts were more common than that, but Steam has a huge playerbase so I guess 1.27% is still a sizable amount.

 

[Hoplite_22]

it's the GPU prices thanks to crypto miners. they have been through the roof.

 

[blitehaus]

I think that the Steam Hardware survey is rather telling.

View attachment 10973315

Damn, that's more than I expected for sure. Thanks for taking time to actually getting all that.
Guess it would've been more logical on my part to rely on the Witcher III sales first, then add a presumable amount of newcomers. Anyway, that's not bad. I hear there's a chance the numbers will rise pretty significantly by 2020, because new models are coming and the cryptocraze is cooling off.
But there's also a chance I don't know what I'm actually talking about lol.

 

[jervi]

That hardware survey was fascinating. As a 1080 Ti owners, didn't realize I was in such a minority. Figured enthusiasts were more common than that, but Steam has a huge playerbase so I guess 1.27% is still a sizable amount.

Personally, I'm not surprised that the majority of games went for a card that cost "only" $250 as opposed to one that is currently selling for more than I've paid for any of the cars I've ever owned. I am slightly surprised that the 1050Ti is as popular as it is, but I suppose I shouldn't be since there was a time where it was the only semi-decent card under $400. Even now, the 6GB 1060 is a little rich for many people's blood, so I suspect a majority of the 1060s out there are the 3GB versions.

it's the GPU prices thanks to crypto miners. they have been through the roof.

That didn't help. Take a look at the charts here and you'll see exactly how unhelpful it was.

 

[Snowflakez]

Personally, I'm not surprised that the majority of games went for a card that cost "only" $250 as opposed to one that is currently selling for more than I've paid for any of the cars I've ever owned. I am slightly surprised that the 1050Ti is as popular as it is, but I suppose I shouldn't be since there was a time where it was the only semi-decent card under $400. Even now, the 6GB 1060 is a little rich for many people's blood, so I suspect a majority of the 1060s out there are the 3GB versions.



That didn't help. Take a look at the charts here and you'll see exactly how unhelpful it was.

Different priorities. Not rich, I just don't spend the money I have on eating out, consoles, fancy new phones, mortgage payments or cars. I have basically one hobby, so that's where my funds go.

Not a fan of the 1050 in general, but I haven't looked into the Ti. I just know I was disappointed by the fact that it's significantly worse than last-gen's midrange GPU, heck, even the low-end GPU.

 

[Guest 4310777]

Why are you waiting? Get a large 1440p screen. It doesn't need to be high refresh (its not yet mature - LOADS of potential problems and you play the panel lottery)

32" 16:9 60hz 1440p samsung for e.g. S32D850 - $388 from amazon.
You can prob find it cheaper. Awesome for gaming, work and video content (16:9 is more practical). No dodgy acer or asus monitor quality.

I have basically no budget limit and this is my current choice & recommendation (unless youre a hardcore CS:GO player and need 100000fps).

Regarding 4K: GPU fluency isnt there plus software scaling at high DPI STILL has a long way to go.
1440p @ 32" 16:9 is exact same DPI as 24" @ 1080p (the defacto software size/scaling standard) Therefore all software works perfectly at 100% (default)

I think ASUS has refined the production of their high end models, because they have been manufacturing the PG279Q for a few years now and mine is perfect. I could have just won the lottery (they have been known for backlight bleeding). My DELL ultrasharp had excellent brightness and color accuracy, when I upgraded to an LG ultrawide I was really dissapoint by comparison, so I sold it and got the ASUS. Best monitor ever. The only thing I would like is deeper blacks, but have to wait for OLED.

 

[Triffid77]

That hardware survey was fascinating. As a 1080 Ti owners, didn't realize I was in such a minority. Figured enthusiasts were more common than that, but Steam has a huge playerbase so I guess 1.27% is still a sizable amount.

Thankfully i didn't hold off for too long. I got the MSI gaming x in 2017 for US$715 at newegg. Saw the price at US$1300 or 1400 months later.
This was an unheard of situation that a US customer would have been better shipping it from Australia. Its original price is AU$1200 here and only went up to about AU$1350. (~US$1K)