Owning a gaming pc has made games less fun(and it's my own fault)

Hey guys, so i have a problem with my gaming pc, it just isn't as fun as my console was.

I've been trying to figure out why this is exactly and I think mainly it has to do with the consistency of experience. While it is true that games on my ps3 look worse, at least the frame rate seemed more stable all be it of course lower. And of course the textures are muddy and the resolution is often only 720p. Then again that all seems totally acceptable to me, perhaps it's conditioning but in the context of playing on the console itself with a controller in my hand I stop caring about the particulars of the games looks and just experience it for the most part anyhow.

Contrast this with the way I play PC games. Various different games may have different levels of graphical fidelity and the frame rate can often be inconsistent (say from 24 to 60 and back and forth in many games when playing to the max). Given that I have payed my own money on the various components of my PC I'd like to see it utilized to its fullest potential but that can be hard to discern with such a variable experience during a play session on any given game. And the fact that some games that I can play on the PC are several years older and worse looking doesn't help things either. The hard swings that make it apparent I'm dealing with a computer and not some magic game box as I had learned to feel like consoles were from when I was a kid playing the n64 is not welcome actually.

I also obsess about the game looking as good as it can rather than just playing it, it does lead me often to care more about games on my PC as tech demos rather than things to experience.

What's real shitty is console games do look significantly worse to my eyes now making those experiences less fun.

Is there any way for me to love my PC as much as I did my console experiences?

and yes again I know this is all in my head and it's my own damn fault.

Hey guys, so i have a problem with my gaming pc, it just isn't as fun as my console was.

I've been trying to figure out why this is exactly and I think mainly it has to do with the consistency of experience. While it is true that games on my ps3 look worse, at least the frame rate seemed more stable all be it of course lower. And of course the textures are muddy and the resolution is often only 720p. Then again that all seems totally acceptable to me, perhaps it's conditioning but in the context of playing on the console itself with a controller in my hand I stop caring about the particulars of the games looks and just experience it for the most part anyhow.

Contrast this with the way I play PC games. Various different games may have different levels of graphical fidelity and the frame rate can often be inconsistent (say from 24 to 60 and back and forth in many games when playing to the max). Given that I have payed my own money on the various components of my PC I'd like to see it utilized to its fullest potential but that can be hard to discern with such a variable experience during a play session on any given game. And the fact that some games that I can play on the PC are several years older and worse looking doesn't help things either. The hard swings that make it apparent I'm dealing with a computer and not some magic game box as I had learned to feel like consoles were from when I was a kid playing the n64 is not welcome actually.

I also obsess about the game looking as good as it can rather than just playing it, it does lead me often to care more about games on my PC as tech demos rather than things to experience.

What's real shitty is console games do look significantly worse to my eyes now making those experiences less fun.

Is there any way for me to love my PC as much as I did my console experiences?

and yes again I know this is all in my head and it's my own damn fault.

If you are getting inconsistent frame rates then lower the settings, the most heavy performance hitters in most games are anti-aliasing, so take that off first, and then ambient occlusion.

Maybe you didn't pay enough or pick the computer/parts you bought carefully or perhaps you just aren't using a very great machine, so there's that, but still, PC games on low-medium still look better than console games these days.

You can't start complaining about inconsistent frame rates while admitting you are playing everything maxed out, you have the power to change this, and either way you're getting a better experience than the console versions, so I do not see the issue.

I don't know how consoles are magic. I go onto Steam (usually) buy my game, it downloads and installs within 20 minutes (fast connection) and then it's ready to play. Beats having to use physical discs any day of the week, PS3 games regularly have long-ass installs, too. (MGS4, Yakuza 4, Catherine, I'm looking at you)

As for me PC gaming is consistent, everything runs great and I can turn up the settings without worrying. My PC is not some dual video card beast either, it's actually rather modest: a 2009 model i5 quad, with a GTX 470 (super OC'd, though) and 8GB of RAM. It's hardly pushing the bank these days but hey Far Cry 3 runs silky smooth on ultra so it's doing something right.

Take a break. Come back when stop you obsessing about the settings/framerate and just want to shoot dudes.

@Sooty said:

If you are getting inconsistent frame rates then lower the settings, the most heavy performance hitters in most games are anti-aliasing, so take that off first, and then ambient occlusion.

Maybe you didn't pay enough or pick the computer/parts you bought carefully or perhaps you just aren't using a very great machine, so there's that, but still, PC games on low-medium still look better than console games these days.

You can't start complaining about inconsistent frame rates while admitting you are playing everything maxed out, you have the power to change this, and either way you're getting a better experience than the console versions, so I do not see the issue.

I don't know how consoles are magic. I go onto Steam (usually) buy my game, it downloads and installs within 20 minutes (fast connection) and then it's ready to play. Beats having to use physical discs any day of the week, PS3 games regularly have long-ass installs, too. (MGS4, Yakuza 4, Catherine, I'm looking at you)

As for me PC gaming is consistent, everything runs great and I can turn up the settings without worrying. My PC is not some dual video card beast either, it's actually rather modest: a 2009 model i5 quad, with a GTX 470 (super OC'd, though) and 8GB of RAM. It's hardly pushing the bank these days but hey Far Cry 3 runs silky smooth on ultra so it's doing something right.

I fully acknowledge that it's irrational of me I will try to correct this but somehow when it's my pc doing the things I get more particular about the visuals

@deathstriker666 said:

Take a break. Come back when stop you obsessing about the settings/framerate and just want to shoot dudes.

that's great advice it's most likely as simple as that :)

It's the nature of the beast, unfortunately. When I built my first PC I got really hung up on that stuff too, but eventually I just learned to accept the fact that I either needed to upgrade or just tough it out.

Some games just won't run great on your system no matter how powerful it is, it just depends on how the developer optimised the game. For instance a beautiful game built for a Nvidia card will generally always run super well on a decent Nvidia card maxed out but may run like shit on ATI and vice versa. I had multiple frame rate issues and crashes with Sleeping dogs but could play Max Payne 3 maxed out at 60fps. Also some games have settings that need two videocards SLI to run well.

The easiest solution to PC gaming is keep dropping the settings until you get a constants 60fps. Some settings can be resource hogs and look barely any different turned off. I turned a bunch of stuff down for Far Cry 3 but it still looks gorgeous running 1080p 60fps.

@VisariLoyalist: If you're having trouble running some games at max settings; the first thing I'd do is find out what the most useless settings are in the graphics options and turn them down a notch at a time. Usually the ones where there's no real discernible difference or so minute that you'd notice the FPS change more than you would the quality difference. Like for instances, a lot of games have options for medium shadows and high shadows then maybe ultra high shadows and they all look the same.

First world problems?

Yeah, I´m with you.. at least for some of this I just bought a 7950 OC and it fucking reminded me why I hate PC gaming sometimes. Mostly AMD/ATI. Good LORD their fucking drivers and vsync issues get up my ass.

But yeah, after a while I realise that I can play Far Cry 3 on Ultra and get 60 frames per second most of the time. And I just play and have a blast with the game. Took a while though until I stopped obsessing over benchmarks and shit.

On the other hand, owning a decent gaming PC has not made me hate my PS3 for example.. I´m currently playing Vanquish and that one is a hell of a game, even if it doesn´t look all that fancy compared to high end PC stuff.

BTW: Why does my 7950 only get like 6400 3Dmarks when not overclocked?!!! What the fuck is this shit arrrrrrrrrrgh!

i was playing Max Payne at 15fps and then lowered it to 800x600, and boom 30 fps.

PC MASTER RACE

Also my own fault

If you set your PC to 720p and have an appropriately powerful videocard, the pc will be consistently better than any console and have access to a wider variety of games; just because it can look better, doesn't mean it has to if that is what is bothering you.

My main problem with PC gaming is that I end up wasting more time alt-tabing, facebooking and browsing the web thanplaying videogames... Yeah this is lame, and it is my fault. It is also the sole reason I still play more videogames in my PS3.

I do agree that it's nice to pop in a game and never have to touch the settings, but I still like PC gaming much better than I did when dealing with my Xbox's low framerates and expensive games.

EDIT: And yes, I do occasionally stop a game to check Facebook, browse GB, etc., but I was often doing that with my consoles anyway. It doesn't bother me, I do need a minute or two to break up the game every hour or so.