computer hardware evolution

Well, the CPU race have stagnated some lately, it seems they can fulfill the data that is feeded and needs processing. I'm now talking about the IB and haswell platforms, Sandy Bridge OC is also a strong candidate yet still.

Then again it seems the ones mentioned above also have no bottleneck or throttle against later GPU's

Direct X for dummies is here, quite good learning and properly written : http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/25578950

i do agree with ssddx here, format it properly, if not noone will bother

@rosewell

you really need to stop typing in one long paragraph. short paragraphs with spaces in between works much better for forums. separate topics in separate paragraphs. most people dont bother reading a giant wall of text.

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yes there are games which are released for consoles or one console in particular however do realize that there are some computer games not available on console. games developed for console and ported to pc are typically rather bad. it is far better to design for pc and then port to console.

consoles are often not compatable with previous generation games. the ps3 will NOT play ps2 games. the ps4 will NOT play ps3 games. a computer can often play some older games in compatability mode. for instance i still play a game from 1997 on my 2010 built pc. i can NOT play a 1997 ps2 title on my ps3.

consoles are cheap but you must realize two things. first is that most consoles are sold at a huge loss and that they make up for this with high priced games, high priced perepherals and in some cases paid online memberships. also realize that often parts are created a little differently so that you must buy official products. look at how the ps vita can not take normal memory sticks and they charge 5x the price. the second thing is that console hardware is outdated from day one. any mid level pc is able to thoroughly thrash any console.

you can not upgrade a consoles performance but you can upgrade a pc. games developed for a console are not played at the same quality as on a pc. you may be playing at 1080p in some games (quite a few are only 720p) however you are only doing so at 30 frames per second and at lower quality settings than even a mid level pc can handle. i play games at 1080p, 60fps on high quality. the difference can be pretty huge in some cases.

playstation is far from hassle free. first the fan system is poorly designed and it overheats alot. no the aftermarket coolers do not work and actually worse for cooling. second the internal parts are not easy to access and finding replacement parts other than a hard drive is not easy. third the perepherals are all terribly expensive. then we have the rlod (red light of death) issue. at least with computers if something goes wrong it is very easy to fix it yourself instead of sending the unit away for repair. it is also much cheaper to replace a part yourself.

not everyone needs a top end graphics card. if you are perfectly fine with "console like" performance than you can buy a much cheaper one. people who play on computers however often never settle for that low level performance. think about it as if you had a choice between a ferarri and a go cart. obviously the one is more expensive but a go cart isnt going to be going 100mph either. if you only wanted go cart speeds instead of buying a ferarri you could just buy a honda civic or smart car.

why are you so worried about pci-express changing? if you remember when the agp slot was still around new cards were offered in both agp or pci-express. obviously the same will hold true. a ps3 is not compatible with ps2 parts but i dont see you complaining. a ps4 is not compatible with ps3 parts and i dont see you complaining. same thing but a pc wins out.

remember you can use a pc for other tasks besides gaming. using the internet, checking your email, writing documents, etcetera. any of these tasks (if you can even do some of them) are really bad on the ps3 and will likely be the same on the ps4. many of us do not buy a pc just for gaming.

in short... with consoles you get what you pay for.
-less quality
-less features
-lower game performance

but you do get it cheaper. its a bicycle compared to a motorcycle. it does the same thing but you really can not compare the two!

direct x improves graphic capabilities. you may need the newest version of windows for the latest direct x support though. often directx is backwards compatible for users on older systems. there is a bit of drop off in quality but still not even half as much as the drop from pc to console. do you think that consoles can actually run games meant for dx11 at the settings they were developed to be ran at? that would be a huge resounding NO. consoles are not even equal to computers at the time they come out let alone when new games and software comes out.

i already answered your pci-express question.

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i'm not saying consoles are all bad. i personally own both a ps2 and ps3. what i am trying to convey is that consoles have MANY flaws which some people seem to overlook just because they are cheaper. comparing a pc to a console is like comparing an apple to an orange as they say. you just can not do it very well.

why do i have a ps3 if i have a gaming computer?

two reasons really...

-exclusive releases or games which play better on a console. an example of exclusive would be dragons dogma. an example of better to play on console would be
-blueray support. i purchased my ps3 when bluerays cost the same price. i wanted blueray so i bought a ps3. i get a blueray player AND a game player for the same price as normal tv blueray players were.

there are however games which are far better on the pc or are exclusive to the pc. an example of exclusive would be several strategy game titles. an example of better on the pc are first person shooter games like unreal tournament, halo, etcetera.

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you can buy a console if you want to. just realize the negatives and dont try and preach to us that a console is better for this or that reason.

i think that answered all your questions.