WoW and Hearthstone are the primary reasons I've not upgraded my PC in yonks, although GTA5 may tip me over into new computer territory, depending on how it runs on my existing setup.

I don't need much encouragement to spunk cash on shiny new PC stuff, but when WoW and Hearthstone are accounting for 95%+ of my gaming, even I baulk at dropping £250 on a new graphics card or a few hundred quid on a new mobo/CPU/RAM, or maybe a grand or more on a whole new PC.

Mrs Hearthly's new PC has been a bit of an eye-opener as well, it's very much what you'd call 'midrange', and yet it absolutely kicks the shit out of everything I've chucked at it at 1080p with all the pretties turned on whilst comfortably maintaining 60FPS (and remaining whisper quiet at all times).

The thing is though, XBox One and PS4 just haven't moved things on in terms of the power on tap, being comfortably outgunned by even a modest gaming PC. Their CPUs in particular are turning out to be very weak (with those 8 horrible AMD cores), and as they're effectively PCs stuffed into little boxes, it stands to reason that you're not going to need much of a mega-PC to run whatever game you want to at very nice settings.

GTA5 will be one to watch though, I'm awaiting that one with keen interest.

Dear god stop beating the PC v console drum. No one cares.

One sentence in a single post, and must be the first time I've posted anything on the subject in months, plus it was contextual, and in a thread called 'PC gaming hardware thread'.

Your definition of 'beating the drum' is a fairly unusual one.

Yup, but still one one cares.

I've bitten the bullet and ordered a GTX960, which seems to be the right card for my 1080P projector. It's twice the speed of my HD6970 according to the stats, so it should make a noticeable difference and mean I don't need to faff around with video settings as I currently do to get stuff smooth

It's a pretty remarkable card TBH, which variant did you go for?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_960_SSC_ACX_Cooler/

This one. It was £175. Couldn't justify the extra £100 for the 970, especially as i'm going to be using it on a 1080P display.

Yup, but still one one cares.

How do I find out what specs my computer are?
Can I press a button or shall I open it up and read the insides?

Windows 8.1 all the way, baby! Yeeeaaah.

Could be, could be. I might test that, after checking with them.

I had another BSOD just now in the middle of Homeworld, got the message down:

'STOP 0x00000124
Uncorrectable hardware error.'

Bah.

Wrong.

You care about PC vs console comparisons? Why?

approximately zero people make the decision between gaming PC and console based on raw performance, because many other factors such as perceived ease-of-use and what platform your friends favour dominate.

Because I have both, and I think the "jump" between the current-gen consoles and the last gen is far less than the previous one, and because PCs are (slowly) starting to claw their way into the living room.

Unfortunately every time anyone dares talk about it people like Kov start jumping up and down, like we were sat around his dining table slagging off his mum.

Nice. What a lovely place this is.

Because I have both,

and I think the "jump" between the current-gen consoles and the last gen is far less than the previous one

and because PCs are (slowly) starting to claw their way into the living room.

Moreover, since this comment was in a thread about PC HARDWARE I don't think there's any reason to be a dick when someone talks about PC HARDWARE in a PC HARDWARE thread.

You only have any last-gen consoles though.

I think you are wrong. I think the baseline resolution going from sub-720p to almost universally 1080p is a big "jump."

Are they? Where?

You also haven't addressed my actual point, which is: this stuff isn't changing. There's nothing new to discuss. Any conversation about it is inherently a retread of old ground.

It's mainly as people are tired of it. Some people got so tired of it they decided to stop coming here so it's perhaps a bit of a touchy subject.

Or perhaps high fives should be handed out.

c) recognise that PC gaming is massive these days.

You'll be high-fiving yourself in not too long.

Sorry chaps, i should not have said anything

Now you're being silenced by bullies!

You're the bullies, d'uh.

The bully is in the eye of the beholder.

What's the resolution and frame rate of that? It's important.

In the case of Steam Machines, well, they're coming, and they're certainly more expensive than current-gen consoles. The 14 models that debuted at GDC start at no less than $460—the cheapest being an Athlon X4-powered rig by iBuyPower with a 1GB Radeon R7 video card inside—so Valve certainly isn't positioning any of its suppliers' machines to be affordable, mass-market living room devices.

I just don't rate touch controls at all for most games.