If anything Crysis from 2007 looks better than many next gen games (especially the whole scope and size of the game).  The new Blackfire mod puts the graphics in another league as well. 

However the new consoles will likely look pretty poor at first until the second or third generation.  Each generation of gaming is going to show less and less of a graphical "leap" as it gets harder to discern the differences the closer we get to "real life" graphics.  This is evident with DX11 and tessellation.  In many of my games, it takes a keen eye to really appreciate the small differences it offers.  I think the best of PC gaming right now is pretty indicative of the type of experience console gamers can HOPE to get this generation.  Nothing will really be a game changer if you have seen some good PC games running DX11 with 1080p.  Now in 2015ish, PC gamers and some PC games that take advantage of Volta GPUs will likely get some really intricate and powerful games that take the PC to the next level.  Until REALLY powerful GPUs come out on the PC, I expect games to look similar to consoles but just run with a bit better image quality, settings and resolution.  We are still a ways away from games that look much better than Crysis 3. 

I was in the market a few months ago and had an iphone 4s and prior to that the Samsung Galaxy S.  With that, I will say that I have very few 'biases' as a result. I looked at both the S4 and the HTC One.  Once i held the HTC One I immediatel liked the feel of it better than the S4 (I am not even talking fit and finish).  It just felt better for me.  Obviosuly the fit and finish were better so that was just a nice bonus. 

Now the phone is just as fast as the S4 despite SLIGHTLY lower specs (clockspeed).  Often, it beats the S4 due to the bloatware on the S4.  The s4 has cool features but many are too novel for my taste.  I would have preferred the Camera applications and tricks of the S4.  However, at the end of it, the HTC One was the best phone for me.  You won't go wrong with either, but the HTC One is a QUALITY phone and it really shows.  HTC went all out and Samsung played it safe.  So my hard earned money went with HTC One.  I don't regret it for a second.  Best phone I have ever owned.

It's a pretty nice rig but it is outdated.  Tis the world of PC computing and something I face in a harder reality as a converted notebook gamer.  The main thing missing is "what are you trying to play?" That determines what level of obsolesence we are facing.  A single 5870 is a great match for the i7 920.  The reality is that the 920 is pretty old and CPU's will last a long time.  That CPUs time has come and you could see that in games like BF3, Crysis 3 and GTA IV which are quick examples of games benefiting from beefier i7s.  So I would definitely think a new Mobo/CPU is needed (I won't recommend any until you figure out what you need to game for).  Since you are upgrading those, you definitely should get about 16gig of ram.  That will last a good while for gaming purposes in the future; any more than that is just overkill.  I would get the best single solution GPU you can afford finally.  However I would not just upgrade the GPU and leave the CPU as that is a bit too weak to compete with current high level games and definitely next gen games.  So definitely start with the basics.  I am not familiar with your PSU but if it is a good 750watt, then that should be plenty to carry over as is your case, HDDs and other components.  So a mobo/ram/cpu/gpu upgrade will get you set right.  If you plan to SLI/CF your next upgrade, then I would definitely look into PSU with a good 1000watt rating.  Good luck. 

PC Specifications:

• Intel Core i7-920 Quad Core
• Xigmatex Thor's Hammer Heatsink
• XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870
• Diamond ATI Radeon HD 5870
• OCZ 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 RAM
• Samsung Spinpoint 7200 RPM 16Mb Cache 3.0GB/s 3.5" 500GB SATA HDD
• Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 3.0GB/s 3.5" 1TB SATA HDD
• LG DVD Drive
• LG BD Drive
• Asus P6T SE Motherboard
• Antec Dark Fleet DF-35 (Formerly, Cooler Master HAF 932 AMD Edition)
• Corsair 750TX-PSU
• Asus VE24EH

 

 

 

 

NOTE: I no longer have two HD 5870s. I sold the Diamond one.

 

BluRayHiDef

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

[QUOTE="RR360DD"]Macbook >>> everything you just postedhiphops_savior

Not for gaming

You are "loling" at gaming on a notebook.  Why?  I see your rig in your sig.  Don't bother bringing up price because neither you or I know each other's financial circumstances.  I never disrespect people's rigs.  And while I am not disrespecting your rig, you do realize that my "lol at gaming on a notebook" offers well over 2X the performance of your custom desktop?  I can wirelessly stream my games to my 60inch plasma if I feel the need.  I can't right now because I am sitting in a brewery with great wifi, beer and burgers while typing this and playing some games.  How any desktop enthusiast can make fun of 2 780m SLI with a 4900mq Haswell CPU is beyond me.  Someone else mentioned a "chicklet keyboard" yet they must have never seen the new Alienware 18 as it is not only a full keyboard but it is loaded with macro keys.  Desktop 780 SLI and Desktop Titan SLI are really the only systems more powerful and those are not cheap machines.  They also have so much power they are NOT using 1080p screens.  This just happens to be running on an IPS screen so it's just fine with me. 

Actually I am a pretty common member amongst the desktop gaming PC community over at [H] and have built plenty of desktops and am aware of the warranties.  However I work 12 hour shifts at a hospital and am honestly past the point of doing my own work on my rigs.  Now I am just into gaming and overclocking which takes enough time with bios flashes, voltage tweaks, etc.  The hundreds of dollars on a warranty isn't just for parts; it's for next day home installation.  That's a great benefit for some people like myself. 

If someone bought a really nice FalconNW, no one would be saying anything but nice things about the rig and those are very expensive.  However, they have very high quality machines and you get what you pay for. 

This is SW afterall and I am not being completely serious with my thread.  However I do think AW notebooks get a very bad rep on here and think it's a rather ignorant view.  As for the person who thinks gaming on a sofa is too difficult with FPS I beg to differ.  FPS are the main games I play.  Probably 95% I used to play Cal-O (yeah not super high level but better than most) and while I did that on my desktop, I find that I can game just fine and competitive in pubs on my notebook. 

Any way you slice it, it's pretty cool to basically have a desktop version 680 SLI system with the latest Haswell CPU in a mobile form factor.  While expensive, if you can afford it, it's a great experience.  The cooling is second to none in this class as they are modified Clevo shells.  I just find that the people that hate on systems the most are typically ones that never bother experiencing or trying to see a different view.  I respect people with the Titan SLI with 1600p monitors but I just don't have that passion for that setup.  Do I think it's a waste to spend thousands on a sick rig like that? No way.  Any type of enthusiast gaming gets my respect and most people with tricked out rigs do respect what AW offers in their mobile lineup.  I'd recommend building or buying a desktop PC from MANY different places outside of AW.  However, when it comes to the 18in line of gaming PCs, AW is tops.  These 780s, when overclocked are not very far off anything on the market and there is the cooling to back it up.  Honestly, the only problem we are having over at the forums is hitting the 780s true potential as we are, for the first time, limited by the 330PSU.  To work around it, many people have done a mod by combining two of them.  Sounds crazy? Yup.  Is it fun? Yup.  Does it make sense to the average user?  Nope.  However I like having 1536 fully unlocked cores on each GPU.  I like that this mobile card is about as powerful as the 7970 desktop 3.5 teraflop GPU in games.  Having two of them just makes it all the better.  BF4 and the PS4 multiplats will run just fine on this machine for the foreseeable future. 

It sounds like you know your way around desktops and I think it's cool you have the passion to build, troubleshoot and take ownership of your rig.  I do the same.

[QUOTE="Dave_NBF"]

No Desktop is greater than a laptop for YOU. Things must have really changed as my last desktop didn't have 5 year warranties on my GPUs and CPUs. Now if you are talking RAM/Mobo then who cares. Your mobo will be outdated before it ever has to be replaced. RMA, to you, may be simple, however I find it a pain to troubleshoot my own problems, take out the part, ship it, wait for a return, etc. Desktop gaming is fine with me but don't overglorify how easy it is and then go to the other extreme on how pointless a gaming notebook is. Then again, i am probably talking to someone who doesn't even have an enthusiast system to begin with.

Truth_Hurts_U

You said you like the mobility. So yeah :lol:

Only pro.

Good high quality PC parts always came with 3-5 year warranties. Some even life time. It's nothing new.

I had a few mobo's die or lan or sound stop working on them. I built countless systems and fixed countless systems.

It's really easy to troubleshoot if you know how. I can see why a person like you would want someone else to do it.

Please don't over glorify laptops.

So basically people are saying, "LOL Why get a 640hp 2013 Viper when you can get a 2013 Shelby GT500 for 1/3 of the price and it has 20 more hp." 

It's the same logic. People that buy 140k Vipers are not anymore stupid than people than buy Mustangs; nor are they any less equip with computer knowledge.  They just choose a different route.  I guess we have a lot of young thinking in here.  Price isn't the problem yet everyone has made it that.  Maybe 3,000 to me is less hit to my bank account than 600 that some of you spend.  Interesting if you think about that huh?  The number of people "laughing" at spending a lot on a notebook yet have NO clue as to my financial circumstances.  Again, maybe your 600 dollar single GPU PC is MORE expensive to YOU than 3k is to me.  I am not saying it is...but it could be.  So price should have NOTHING to do with this.  I'll let the ignorance continue as I continue to game Crysis 3 max settings and enjoying my system.  I'll try to break 15k 3dmark11 which 5% of gaming PC's can do.  I will do this at Panera bread which is a great internet cafe.  I then will go and "overpay" for a bottle of Ciroc Redberry for a party tonight for friends.  Now I know most of you would go for the cheaper Sky but I am willing to go "crazy" and get the premium brand.  Have a good day people.

Because they are garbage? The build quality of them is terrible I went through 3 M17x in the span of 3 month before giving up on it. It's smarter to get just about any other brand of laptop.

Darkslayer16

I am not a fan of the 17s.  Now if you are talking about the older M17x R2..you are crazy.  It had the best build quality (outside of the current one) and an RGB 1900x1200 screen.  If you are talking about the R3 or R4..yes they are garbage.  Rubber and cheap.  The 18s are enthusiast with aluminum chassis and second to NONE cooling.  Have your facts straight and also try to not overgeneralize ALL AW because you didn't happen to like ONE model....

[QUOTE="Dave_NBF"]

 

Already bought the AW.

1. It's not overly hot. Thermal lmit on intel chips is 100*C. My CPUs run at 60 under load. The 780s are hot but still allow for a 20% OC. This is all covered under a 3 year warranty. Next day replacement parts AND a technician if you cant be bothered doing the replacement yourself. So troubleshooting I guess is easier with AW then what you mentioned. How do I know this? RMA is a PITA as I had to do that on my desktops in the past.

2. Cleaning is super easy. Unscrew a few things are check everything. These new AW 18s are simple to open and work on.

There are not more pros to desktops. IF anything, there are LESS now that mobile gaming is gaining more and more popularity. Desktop gaming is becoming less popular. FACT. Why? Notebook gaming and tablet gaming (which is still mobile gaming).

Truth_Hurts_U

With 1 press of my figure my side panel is removed. No unscrewing required. 1 easy pull of a the dust filters now and then and the work is done.

Almost all my parts in my PC are covered with a 5 year warranty and I didn't have to pay extra.

If a part fails I just pick up one of my extra parts and keep going while RMA is going.

And yes Desktop > Laptop.

No Desktop is greater than a laptop for YOU.  Things must have really changed as my last desktop didn't have 5 year warranties on my GPUs and CPUs.  Now if you are talking RAM/Mobo then who cares.  Your mobo will be outdated before it ever has to be replaced.  RMA, to you, may be simple, however I find it a pain to troubleshoot my own problems, take out the part, ship it, wait for a return, etc.  Desktop gaming is fine with me but don't overglorify how easy it is and then go to the other extreme on how pointless a gaming notebook is.  Then again, i am probably talking to someone who doesn't even have an enthusiast system to begin with. 

I spent $650 on my desktop, and I knew someone who bought a "comparable" laptop at the time that cost them $1500.

That alone is a big enough reason.

In addition, for me personally, I don't like how a laptop feels for gaming. I dislike the monitor being attached to the keyboard, I dislike that the monitors aren't very big, and I dislike chiclet keyboards (I much prefer the deep, set-in keys of a standard keyboard).

You need a mouse for any serious gaming, for me I'd need to buy a different keyboard for any serious gaming, and the battery life typically isn't very long. Kinda kills the portability factor quite a bit for me.

treedoor

Ummm...who would game on a notebook without a mouse?! I play CS:S, CS:GO and every online shooter and would NEVER even think to use a track pad?

Your other reasons, well while I don't share your sentiments, I can appreciate that notebooks would definitely not be good for you in those cases! At least you have a gaming rig you enjoy. Cheers.

I don't really have anything against AW laptops i just don't want to spend $4000 on a laptop, I just don't see the point on gaming on a laptop unless your job requires you to travel a lot, my laptop was dirt cheap its for business related matters, surfing the internet, and things like that. I also don't support companies that ruin the hardware industry that would include both Alienware for it's insanely overpriced desktops and Mac it's truely insanely overpriced everything It's not about money, i have money, it's about the principle of the matter.SaintJimmmy

I agree their desktops have gone way downhill.  I would never buy an AW desktop.  However, comaring their only competitor  (Sager) the AW are flashier (hey if it's expensive it may as well look cool) and actually has better cooling than the competition.  This has been proven over and over.  AW still offers the best notebooks in it's class (18 inch and 14).  There are better options for 17inch notebooks as the MSI looks pretty decent.