Why do games run smoother on consle than PC?

[shuojinz]

This question has been bothering me for some time now and I wondered how come a game that's on both console and PC will run faster on console despite the PC's superior hardware? For example GTA 4 or MW2 on a 720p display on Xbox 360 with same quality on PC will run smoother on the Xbox even if the PC has better hardware.

 

[benski]

a PC game has to work on a huge variety of hardware configs, and console game only has to be coded to work on a single machine so it's alot easier to optimize the games. Also most PC gamers are playing at higher than 720p and running at detail levels a console can't approach.

 

[hang-the-9]

They don't run on the same quality, PC can get to much higher detail level.

There are several posts about this already, with some detailed reasons for console vs. PC arguments.

 

[shuojinz]

They don't run on the same quality, PC can get to much higher detail level.

There are several posts about this already, with some detailed reasons for console vs. PC arguments.

Sorry for the redundant thread I couldn't find any but I suppose it's my wording. Do you mind giving me some links to these threads? Thank you very much.

 

[hang-the-9]

http://www.tomshardware.com/search.php?s=console+PC

Probably a bunch of things in there not relating to game quality, but lots of threads. 720p is 1280x720, a gaming PC will run any game at that smoother than a console, at higher detail levels. Most true game PCs are setup to run at 1600x1200 or so.

 

[purplerat]

This question has been bothering me for some time now and I wondered how come a game that's on both console and PC will run faster on console despite the PC's superior hardware? For example GTA 4 or MW2 on a 720p display on Xbox 360 with same quality on PC will run smoother on the Xbox even if the PC has better hardware.

First off you are asking the question as if it's a given that a console will run a game smoother, it's not. In fact, the way things work in terms of hardware between consoles and PCs a PC can almost always run a game smoother than a console given the right hardware.
What I believe you may be asking is why is it possible that a console with lesser hardware can run a game as smoothly as some PCs which have better or equal hardware. In that case it comes down to what others have said - quality and optimization.

 

[purplerat]

First think of this:

Where are console games made?

They are made on PCs

They will definitely play smoother on PCs that surpass the recommended requirements for the game.

While your conclusion is correct your logic is wrong. That a game is coded on a PC has no relevance as to which platform it will run better on.

 

[Captainhero]

I think another reason you will find smoother results on a console with regards to games like GTA etc is that they were designed to run on consoles and then badly ported to run on the PC. Which unfortunately seems to be the norm these days. This also tends to lead to a bit of dumbing down with regards content in certain games. i.e COD MW2, no dedicated servers, no custom games. You will also be hard pressed to get a console port to max your graphics if you have a good setup as they were written to run on far lower spec hardware as the ps3 and xbox360 have been out a good while now.

 

[shuojinz]

Best answer selected by shuojinz.

 

[shuojinz]

I think benski sum it up pretty well thanks for the info everybody

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey