Is PC gaming practical

[DrDevin]

i didn't know you could pick up custom made/modified cpu/gpu/mobo's from the average hardware store ?

the only thing lacking, is that it's not a personal computer, like i said, they are both 'computers' in a sense but are very different, you could say 'it was only lacking x' on a few things, it doesn't make them that though.

if i put linux on my vacuum cleaner does that make it a pc - and yes, this has been done before; it's also been done on the ipod and other various random things, but it doesn't make them pc's. so 'calling it a pc' is just useless.

Well if you had looked you would have found out that you can in fact upgrade your Xbox. It can be upgraded with a new motherboard/CPU/RAM/Disk Drive and hard drive. It can run all kinds of software and use a keyboard and mouse.

Now I'm not sure about your definition of a computer is but I would accept that.

http://www.anandtech.com/linux/showdoc.aspx?i=2271&p=1

http://xbox.gamespy.com/articles/565/565000p1.html

http://www.upgrade123.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=38&osCsid=348fd92650d40421ec44b0881ef934f0

 

[VirusType2]

Well if you had looked you would have found out that you can in fact upgrade your Xbox. It can be upgraded with a new motherboard/CPU/RAM/Disk Drive and hard drive. It can run all kinds of software and use a keyboard and mouse.

Now I'm not sure about your definition of a computer is but I would accept that.

http://www.anandtech.com/linux/showdoc.aspx?i=2271&p=1

http://xbox.gamespy.com/articles/565/565000p1.html

http://www.upgrade123.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=38&osCsid=348fd92650d40421ec44b0881ef934f0

so what dude, i could take my calculator apart and add a hard drive and all that crap. You could consider a calculator a computer by itself even. Thats like missing the whole point. :rolling:
Xbox !=computer

 

[Cole]

so what dude, i could take my calculator apart and add a hard drive and all that crap. You could consider a calculator a computer by itself even. Thats like missing the whole point.
Xbox !=computer

It is equal to a computer but not a personal computer.
Anyway, your right an Xbox is not equal to a personal computer. Though it is very similar. The Xbox 360 is alot less similar, and the Ps3 is just not similar at all to current day computers.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I'ma computer. Help computer!
Stop all the downloadin'!

 

[DrDevin]

It is equal to a computer but not a personal computer.
Anyway, your right an Xbox is not equal to a personal computer. Though it is very similar. The Xbox 360 is alot less similar, and the Ps3 is just not similar at all to current day computers.

How are they not similiar? You need proof to support your thoughts.

They use all the same parts as a PC, allow for media playback, feature USB plug and play support for devices and allow many tasks a PC can do to be performed on them, not to mention many other things (and perform like a PC if you install linux on them).

Back to the topic though. A console can be a PC but will never be. Software costs would be too high (and too demanding taking away from their gameing performance). Every piece of software would need to perform flawlessly because consoles currently do not crash (very rarely). Not to mention no one wants to get a virus on their console.

 

[Cole]

They use all the same parts as a PC, allow for media playback, feature USB plug and play support for devices and allow many tasks a PC can do to be performed on them, not to mention many other things (and perform like a PC if you install linux on them).

I'm talking directly down in hardware. The CPU for example, is entirley custom designed with games in mind. 3 cores, 2 for graphic card pipeline and filling and 1 for processing. The GPU, has embedded ram for free AA...the whole architecture is based aroing gaming and not for to much else. The Xbox architecture was more customized pc parts, while these are custom built parts. Yes how it's all put togeather is similar, but hey are we just going to forget about the Ps2, Gamecube, Ps3 even. The Ps3's processor is the main difference between it and a pc when it comes down to how it's put togeather. But in a technical standpoint the Xbox 360 is not just pc parts taken and modified and customized, but a new architecture that has been built up from the ground for gaming.

The Cell archtecture wasn't even built up from the ground for gaming.

 

[destrukt]

DrDevin, i know about what you can do when you mod your xbox, i've done it, i've also had unbuntu running it hosting a cs 1.6 server and messing with early builds of windows ce, good times.

look, the xbox is a computer entertainment system, go read my previous posts.

it is not a personal computer, just like a super computer isn't a personal computer, just like a modified ipod with linux isn't a personal computer.

you listed articles/sites which show people modding the xbox, which has nothing to do with microsoft, therefore, the xbox is a computer entertainment system out of the box, and forever if you do not break any laws.

so sure, you can mod it and make it somewhat like a personal computer, but just because YOU make it something, doesn't mean that every other xbox around the world is like yours. back to my comment about modding different pieces of hardware with linux (like with the xbox), are you going to label all of those personal computers ? ..

referring to your post about 'proof' where is your proof that the xbox, brand new, no mods, is a personal computer ? it's not, and there is 'no proof' just vague things like it using hardware like a pc, i'm sure the ps1 had some type of mother/circuit board, with the equivalent of a cpu/gpu, but .. who cares, it's a game console; also, if you take an arcade machine about, you'll see a huge 'motherboard' type thing, with a cpu of sorts (though it's not 1 main thing like on pc's) and it's probably like this with heaps of different pieces of hardware.

wouldn't media playback on a computer, following your logic, be called a vcr or betamax player ? and what about arcade machines, wouldn't that mean a pc is an arcade machine ?

minerel made some good points about the x360 hardware, which i haven't talked about at all.

 

[Cole]

Even the Ps3 will have a motherboard, graphics card, ram, cache, cpu etc..
Same the the Xbox 360 and older consoles. But it's the actual architecture for everything that makes it different from a PC.