Post by The Big Daddy C-Master on Dec 12, 2014 14:15:53 GMT -5
Some good stuff here:
www.forbes.com/sites/marcochiappetta/2014/07/14/the-console-war-is-over-the-pc-already-won/
"Despite a declining overall PC market, gaming systems are alive and well. So alive, in fact, that the PC gaming segment is already twice the size of the console gaming market – and growing. A report just released by John Peddie Research (JPR) claims that the PC gaming market will tip $21.5B this year and grow to over $23B in 2017.
In the Worldwide PC Gaming Hardware Market Report Series report, Ted Pollak, Senior Gaming Analyst at JPR claims that, “We continue to see a shift in casual console customers moving to mobile. While this is also occurring in the lower end PC gaming world, more money is being directed to mid and high range PC builds and upgrades by gamers.” This is a sentiment that’s been seconded by many of the large OEMs and chip-makers I’ve spoken to in recent months and why we continue to see a constant influx of products targeted squarely at PC gamers. The customers and dollars are there. Even Intel INTC +0.26%, which had talked about almost nothing but mobile for a couple of years, made a big deal about Devil’s Canyon and the 20th Anniversary Edition Pentium at an event in San Fran a few months back, and hinted at its next Extreme Edition Haswell-E, slated to arrive later this year. AMD and NVIDIA NVDA -1.38% have also advanced the ultra-high-end PC gaming segment recently, with their respective launches of the $1,500 Radeon R9 295X2 and $2,999 GeForce GTX Titan Z.
AMD Radeon R9 295X2
The dual-GPU powered AMD Radeon R9 295X2.
Pollak continued with, “Committed PC gamers are generally not interested in pure content consumption platforms. They are power users and pay thousands for the ability to play games at very high settings and then do business, video/photo editing, content creation and other tasks with maximum horsepower at their disposal in a desktop ergonomic environment.” A gaming PC’s utility is another reason for the segment’s continued success. Many console purists lament the PC’s relatively high price tag as a deterrent for some consumers. But the fact remains that a worthwhile gaming PC may initially cost more than a console, but the gaming PC can simply do more. And what they both do, the PC typically does better. In addition, there are a multitude of games available for the PC at a fraction of the price of most console titles. It’s far easier for a PC gamer to amass a large collection of titles, for a a lot less money than console games.
And although the Microsoft MSFT +0.92% Xbox One and Sony PS4 are huge updates over the previous console generation, they are roughly equivalent to an entry-level PC gaming systems in terms of total horsepower. Both the Xbox One and PS4 are packing, low-power 8-core AMD Jaguar based APUs, with graphics engines no more powerful than mainstream discrete graphics cards. Jon Peddie, president of JPR, notes that “NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD have enthusiast CPUs and GPUs that are so powerful, when combined with SSD’s and fast memory they absolutely trounce the computing power and gaming capabilities of the newest console generation. Being able to drive 3840 × 2160 (4K) at acceptable frame rates is already a reality for the highest end configurations.” That is something worth noting. While Sony and Microsoft console fans start flame wars over the merits of 720P vs. 900P vs. 1080P, a high-end gaming PC can push 4K displays (that’s 4X the resolution of 1080P), with better image quality. It takes a powerful system, but it’s absolutely doable. And I speak from experience—I’m typing this, while sitting in front of a 4K display, being powered by a couple of Radeon R9 290X cards.
AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) power the Xbox One and PS4.
AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) power the Xbox One and PS4.
Over and above the obvious performance and image quality benefits of PC gaming, the segment is also popular due to its depth and diversity. At the high-end, gaming machines are available that pack nothing but the best hardware, wrapped in custom enclosures with automotive-grade paint jobs, paired to bullet-proof peripherals. But at the low-end, where budgets are much more conservative, a myriad of gaming systems are available that can push 1080p displays, with acceptable frame rates and high-image quality settings–for not much more than a current-gen console. Not to mention the do-it-yourselfers that cover the entire spectrum.
It’s not all sunshine and roses on the PC, however. While the PC is, in my opinion at least, the premiere gaming platform, configuration woes and shoddy ports of console titles can mar the user experience. To give a concrete example, I recently collaborated on an article comparing the PC and Xbox One versions of the popular game “Watch Dogs”. And while the PC clearly offered superior image quality, it suffered from annoying anomalies that required turning down the image quality to smooth out."
www.forbes.com/sites/marcochiappetta/2014/07/14/the-console-war-is-over-the-pc-already-won/
"Despite a declining overall PC market, gaming systems are alive and well. So alive, in fact, that the PC gaming segment is already twice the size of the console gaming market – and growing. A report just released by John Peddie Research (JPR) claims that the PC gaming market will tip $21.5B this year and grow to over $23B in 2017.
In the Worldwide PC Gaming Hardware Market Report Series report, Ted Pollak, Senior Gaming Analyst at JPR claims that, “We continue to see a shift in casual console customers moving to mobile. While this is also occurring in the lower end PC gaming world, more money is being directed to mid and high range PC builds and upgrades by gamers.” This is a sentiment that’s been seconded by many of the large OEMs and chip-makers I’ve spoken to in recent months and why we continue to see a constant influx of products targeted squarely at PC gamers. The customers and dollars are there. Even Intel INTC +0.26%, which had talked about almost nothing but mobile for a couple of years, made a big deal about Devil’s Canyon and the 20th Anniversary Edition Pentium at an event in San Fran a few months back, and hinted at its next Extreme Edition Haswell-E, slated to arrive later this year. AMD and NVIDIA NVDA -1.38% have also advanced the ultra-high-end PC gaming segment recently, with their respective launches of the $1,500 Radeon R9 295X2 and $2,999 GeForce GTX Titan Z.
AMD Radeon R9 295X2
The dual-GPU powered AMD Radeon R9 295X2.
Pollak continued with, “Committed PC gamers are generally not interested in pure content consumption platforms. They are power users and pay thousands for the ability to play games at very high settings and then do business, video/photo editing, content creation and other tasks with maximum horsepower at their disposal in a desktop ergonomic environment.” A gaming PC’s utility is another reason for the segment’s continued success. Many console purists lament the PC’s relatively high price tag as a deterrent for some consumers. But the fact remains that a worthwhile gaming PC may initially cost more than a console, but the gaming PC can simply do more. And what they both do, the PC typically does better. In addition, there are a multitude of games available for the PC at a fraction of the price of most console titles. It’s far easier for a PC gamer to amass a large collection of titles, for a a lot less money than console games.
And although the Microsoft MSFT +0.92% Xbox One and Sony PS4 are huge updates over the previous console generation, they are roughly equivalent to an entry-level PC gaming systems in terms of total horsepower. Both the Xbox One and PS4 are packing, low-power 8-core AMD Jaguar based APUs, with graphics engines no more powerful than mainstream discrete graphics cards. Jon Peddie, president of JPR, notes that “NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD have enthusiast CPUs and GPUs that are so powerful, when combined with SSD’s and fast memory they absolutely trounce the computing power and gaming capabilities of the newest console generation. Being able to drive 3840 × 2160 (4K) at acceptable frame rates is already a reality for the highest end configurations.” That is something worth noting. While Sony and Microsoft console fans start flame wars over the merits of 720P vs. 900P vs. 1080P, a high-end gaming PC can push 4K displays (that’s 4X the resolution of 1080P), with better image quality. It takes a powerful system, but it’s absolutely doable. And I speak from experience—I’m typing this, while sitting in front of a 4K display, being powered by a couple of Radeon R9 290X cards.
AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) power the Xbox One and PS4.
AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) power the Xbox One and PS4.
Over and above the obvious performance and image quality benefits of PC gaming, the segment is also popular due to its depth and diversity. At the high-end, gaming machines are available that pack nothing but the best hardware, wrapped in custom enclosures with automotive-grade paint jobs, paired to bullet-proof peripherals. But at the low-end, where budgets are much more conservative, a myriad of gaming systems are available that can push 1080p displays, with acceptable frame rates and high-image quality settings–for not much more than a current-gen console. Not to mention the do-it-yourselfers that cover the entire spectrum.
It’s not all sunshine and roses on the PC, however. While the PC is, in my opinion at least, the premiere gaming platform, configuration woes and shoddy ports of console titles can mar the user experience. To give a concrete example, I recently collaborated on an article comparing the PC and Xbox One versions of the popular game “Watch Dogs”. And while the PC clearly offered superior image quality, it suffered from annoying anomalies that required turning down the image quality to smooth out."
