The Big Bad Console Thread - Sway your Station with an Xboner !

This SSD is considered by many to be the best one on the market. At least it was as of a few months ago. It might have been overtaken by something else now.
Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 256 GB SATA 6GB/s Solid State Drive MZ-7PD256BW: Computers Accessories

Samsung 840 Pro, 256 gig. $224.95 + Tax on Amazon.
I picked one up almost a year ago on sale for $200. SSD's are the single greatest upgrade to ANY computer, especially considering how much benefit you get for their low price.

Vaclav_sl said:

Plus some games just play better on console - I'm sorry, but no amount of tweaking and controllers has made AC1-3 play as well on the PC as console - I tried to completely avoid playing them on console since I already owned them on PC and found the controls unworkable (got them in a humble or steam bundle at some point) - and only ever tried AC3 on the console because it came free with the 500GB PS3 at the time and then I suddenly realized "Holy shit, the controls don't suck - its just a PC thing" - even slapping the PS3 controller on the PC didn't get the same feel to the controls for whatever reason.

Maybe the SteamBox stuff will clear that up a bit with tighter quality controls on control schemata and easier "throwing it" to the TV set to play it big screen - but that's to be seen how it will actually operate. For today, right now - consoles are absolutely superior in some applications even when you've got both available to you.

Click to expand...

I played AC1 on xbox, and then AC2(+expansions/sequels) and AC3 on PC. I saw no difference in the basic controls, using a 360 controller for PC as well.

The only control difference I could possibly imagine is if your PC isn't powerful enough to play the game at a smooth framerate, that could definitely impact the perceived controls. Otherwise, PC controls were exactly the same as XBOX controls, when using the same 360 controller for both.

Maybe it's just the experience of throwing it on the TV instead and being able to relax while playing it - don't keep my PC near the big TVs in the house. (Of course even then, would still be tethered by the controller without a large investment to do a wireless PC controller setup - such a narrow thing) Absolutely wasn't a performance thing, I run a 7970 in my machine.

And yea Xarp - I've got the 128 GB of that model and it's boss and the one that I stick by when I've got a build I'm selling as well - hard to go wrong with the Samsung 840 series unless something's changed recently. (128 GB is a much better GB/$ last I checked BTW - IIRC last time I bought them actually got them for like $95 I want to say)

Quaid_sl said:

Also, no budget gaming build of mine would ever include a luxury item like an SSD, let alone one for a ridiculous $220+.

Click to expand...

Now a days a SSD is a must, not a luxury. Hard to even call a rig a "gaming" rig without one.

SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD120KW 2.5 - Newegg.comeven these days in the 840 series is under $100 - $90 right now, although "only" 120 GB.

Vaclav_sl said:

Plus some games just play better on console - I'm sorry, but no amount of tweaking and controllers has made AC1-3 play as well on the PC as console - I tried to completely avoid playing them on console since I already owned them on PC and found the controls unworkable (got them in a humble or steam bundle at some point) - and only ever tried AC3 on the console because it came free with the 500GB PS3 at the time and then I suddenly realized "Holy shit, the controls don't suck - its just a PC thing" - even slapping the PS3 controller on the PC didn't get the same feel to the controls for whatever reason.

Click to expand...

Opinions are bullshit now? Gotcha.

Vaclav_sl said:

Opinions are bullshit now? Gotcha.

Click to expand...

They're calling bullshit because you can literally plug in a 360 controller and have the exact same experience. Which is what I did.

Tol_sl said:

They're calling bullshit because you can literally plug in a 360 controller and have the exact same experience. Which is what I did.

Click to expand...

And I further elaborated perhaps it's the larger TV experience or being able to chill on the couch while doing it which is inconvenient as hell for my PC setup - subjective, but absolutely accurate to my experience with trying it pre and post PS3 controller on PC.

"I found them unworkable" - absolutely not a subjective statement... to be honest the more I think about it I don't think I've EVER found a controller based game I liked on PC. Literally zero I can think of has worked well with my office setup for me, likely do to the relaxing factor - hell, many games I enjoyed more on console vs. PC even while owning both (Skyrim for example - besides inventory management which was horrendous, but the other 95% of playing just felt better) simply due to control schemata being better for relaxing during play which tends to.

Largely what I enjoy the most are console exclusive stuff and "open-world" games - PC plays strategy (XCOM: EU I own on both and PC is far better), FPS and MMO's far better by a wide stretch though. Guess I'm just too much of a purist and non-KBM feels wrong on PC to me - been using KBM since 82 or so (I think that's when we got our Atari 800 at least) - versus controllers I've only been dabbling in until 2008, literally would own like 5 titles per console until this past generation of consoles. (Hell, Gamecube I bought for one title ever - RE4)

(Interestingly, it also coincides with my health degrading too now that I'm quoting years and thinking about the timeframes...)

a_skeleton_03: Damn straight I'm a mutant... and as proud as I can be of such - gotta be proud of who you are when it's something that's impossible to change, right?

Utnayan_sl said:

Yeah because that extra second of load time that already cached into the RAM from a regular hard drive makes a notable difference in performance inside the game

While I have an SSD to keep windows on to load into my computer within about 7 seconds, saving 10 seconds on loading of a game isn't worth the still outrageous prices they charge in dollar to gig value with the amount of space most games take today, especially when having an SSD has ZERO impact what so ever when in the game itself.

Click to expand...

Sure, but you admitted you have your OS drive on a SSD, which was my point. Would you consider that rig a gaming rig if your OS and games were on a mechanical drive? Probably not. The SSD makes everything about Windows faster, and that includes gaming. Load times are only a part of it.

I don't have any mechanical drives in my PC anymore, not since SSD prices have come so far down. You can buy 500gb SSDs for ~$350 now. Hell you can even get a 960gb for ~$550. There is no reason that any serious PC enthusiast shouldn't have an SSD now. You can fit a lot of games on a 500gb SSD.

Tuco_sl said:

So you enjoy using a controller more than a mouse/keyboard for games like AC, but using a controller on a PC feels wrong. You realize the cognitive dissonance here, right?

Click to expand...

I was hoping to convey that in my post - I'm starting to see why it might be confusing to some - making me feel like when I had to try to teach the in-laws how to use a touchscreen phonepad instead of a standard old school dial pad with real buttons. Perhaps it's something I'll have to make a greater effort into adapting to, since clearly it "feels right" to me, but only in the right context which does seem odd....

I understand what you're saying about PC being more of a value over console, especially during the first year. I just think that SSDs are the best upgrade you can make to a PC, with the videocard being a close second. Doesn't take much to max out 1920x1080 anymore, which is the resolution most people game at. Can do that with a $200 card. So I think a $200 card and a $300 SSD is the best PC upgrade for the cost of a console you can make.

I'm also not one to have that many games installed at a time. I can see how in your situation having 2TBs of games installed makes SSDs less appealing. I normally only have between 150~250gb of games installed a time. I normally only play a few at a time, and some stuff like Tomb Raider I just uininstall after I finish it. So it's normally whatever MMO I'm messing with, BF4, COD, TL2 and a few Steam games that I have installed at any given time.

Utnayan_sl said:

/\/\ My guess is you are using Motioninjoy for your emulator, and that can cause some response issues in some games so I do not blame you. So if you are dead set on using a PS3 controller, there isn't much I can say here to help. However, an Xbox 360 USB controller doesn't require any of this and there isn't a game out there on Steam that doesn't feel exactly like a 360 game when using the controller.

Click to expand...

Got a Logitech one since as well that's "360 styled" and wasn't fond of it either - I think it's just alien to how I'm used to PC games feeling an adaption process that I just need to muddle through at some point.

Sorry Gaige but I have to partially agree with him. SSDs are just not essential. Video card, motherboard, processor, ram, cooling and heck even power supply rank higher then SSDs if you have a moderately decent sata hard drive to begin with. I've personally tested this OOC since I have more installed games then my SSD can handle and moving my entire Steam collection to my terabyte drive only increased loading times by seconds. Even in cases of massive games like skyrim it was noticeable but not enough to buy a new hard drive over.

Now there are case where SSDs can be significant like a media server but for gaming? Highly optional but recommended.