CerebralHawk
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- Messages
- 172
Over the last week I've learned that my graphics card, a Radeon R9 280 (3GB, 950MHz), which was good enough to run Fallout 4 and Skyrim SE with no problems on high settings at 1080p, was only good enough to get about 15FPS tops in Cyberpunk 2077, and I worry that it will face a similar fate with Starfield, and possibly even worse with The Elder Scrolls VI. So, I'm faced with a couple options, and I'm wondering what you guys would do, or what you have if you were in the same boat.
Option one is the cheapest and easiest: buy an Xbox Series X. The obvious caveat being I'm limited to whatever Bethesda allows for modding on Bethesda.net and Microsoft allows on the new console. If it's changed from the previous generation's (Xbox One) limit of 2GB, I haven't heard anything about it. I'd like to think the XBSX can handle more, but as an XB1S owner, I have pretty low faith in Microsoft as a console maker, though it seems to be the more powerful of the two. All things being equal, I'd go with PS5, but with Microsoft having acquired Zenimax, they've also acquired my console loyalty along with it. Buying a console that isn't guaranteed to get Bethesda games is a complete deal-breaker, even though, all things being equal, I'd rate the PS5 higher (albeit having not used either). I just have more faith in Sony to deliver a good console than f—king Microsoft. As you can see, I'm not a big fan of Option One. That said, maybe Microsoft has learned from the PS4 completely curb-stomping the XB1 last generation and has made a better (X)box this time around.
Option two, buy a new GPU. I have NO idea where to begin here. I don't know how much RAM the graphics card needs. I don't know if I should stick with AMD or go to Nvidia. I don't have a preference. With Nvidia, I know the latest is the 3080, but are the 3070 and 3060 also good? Will a 2080 or 1080 be good enough? What about processors? Fans? I'm just kind of lost with graphics cards. On top of that, since Bitcoin is on the rise, graphics cards are next to impossible to get at market value — bots are buying them and flipping them for nearly double the price. So I hear. If I'm willing to pay $500 for an XBSX (and let's be honest, it's not $500, because you then have to pay more for games, you're probably gonna get GamePass at $15 a month (or at least, I'm strongly considering it), there's the warranty... I'm at least forking over $600 out of my checking account for the damn thing. So, my GPU budget should be at least that, or perhaps a little more considering I'm getting modding in my games as well. Though, the question must be asked: do I even need to spend that much? My last GPU was around $320 and was considered upper-mid-range at the time I bought it.
Of course, there is a third option. Google Stadia allows one to play games remotely, eliminating the need for paying for hardware in the first place. But, the fact that Google has completely avoided every question about what happens to game purchases when they inevitably close the service in a few years, makes it a non-starter as well, at least until they do. Especially considering games cost the same on Stadia as they do elsewhere. I mean, sure, if I pay $60 for Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia, and I play it for six months to a year or however long, beat it six ways to Sunday, I will surely have gotten my money's worth, and I shouldn't b—h too loudly when Stadia goes under and Google shows me deuces when I go to ask how to get my game code to redeem on Steam, or better yet GOG... but still, the thought of paying full price for a game and losing it after an indeterminate amount of time just doesn't sit well with me, even though I never paid a dime for the hardware it runs on. Also, games don't really go on sale on Stadia, though a $10/month subscription (of which there is a free month included) gets you 10% off purchases. That knocks Cyberpunk 2077 down to $54, and it works with existing controllers via the Chrome browser. Big caveat here: no modding whatsoever. So while this will be fine for a game like Cyberpunk 2077, it will be the worst of the three options for The Elder Scrolls VI and possibly Starfield as well.
So... WWYD?
EDIT: I looked into two other streaming options. GeForce Now is interesting in that, for free, you can connect your Steam account to it, and you can play the games you already own. Well, some of them — and Cyberpunk 2077 is included on GOG, Steam, and Epic. I tried two games that were not installed on my PC: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Saints Row: The Third, and both just picked up and played like they were installed. However, the free GeForce Now is capped at 720p30. It still looked great, just a little jagged around the edges as it was a lower resolution than my monitor would have liked. Also, playing on the free tier, you're limited to 1 hour at a time, though they never say when your time resets. While playing, a GeForce banner slid down from the top, showing me my remaining time. It didn't get in the way at all, and it only stayed for a few seconds. Despite streaming only on a 25Mbit down, 1.8Mbit up DSL connection, I experienced no perceivable latency. A lot of these services are saying you need at least 10Mbps, but GeForce seems to want more. Oh, saves sync — in both cases, I had saves already, and by signing into Steam, it synced my saves. Also, it didn't care that I don't have an Nvidia card installed, which is kind of odd. I have one in my laptop (and maybe that counts, I made the Nvidia account on the laptop, so Nvidia knows I have a 940MX GPU, maybe that's good enough), but the desktop, again, Radeon R9 280. Lastly, GeForce Now also appears to be the cheapest streaming service, at both free for 1 hour at a time and 720p30, and $24.95 for six months as an introductory "founders" rate.
The other option is, of course, Microsoft xCloud, which is part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. $15 a month gets you access to all their games, but the selection is hugely limited and does not include Cyberpunk. The neat thing about Game Pass is, you don't seem to need an Xbox to use it. I just need the Xbox for games that are not on Game Pass, which... kind of defeats the purpose.
So, a winner sort of emerges, GeForce Now for free or about $4 a month, and I get to keep the game.
Option one is the cheapest and easiest: buy an Xbox Series X. The obvious caveat being I'm limited to whatever Bethesda allows for modding on Bethesda.net and Microsoft allows on the new console. If it's changed from the previous generation's (Xbox One) limit of 2GB, I haven't heard anything about it. I'd like to think the XBSX can handle more, but as an XB1S owner, I have pretty low faith in Microsoft as a console maker, though it seems to be the more powerful of the two. All things being equal, I'd go with PS5, but with Microsoft having acquired Zenimax, they've also acquired my console loyalty along with it. Buying a console that isn't guaranteed to get Bethesda games is a complete deal-breaker, even though, all things being equal, I'd rate the PS5 higher (albeit having not used either). I just have more faith in Sony to deliver a good console than f—king Microsoft. As you can see, I'm not a big fan of Option One. That said, maybe Microsoft has learned from the PS4 completely curb-stomping the XB1 last generation and has made a better (X)box this time around.
Option two, buy a new GPU. I have NO idea where to begin here. I don't know how much RAM the graphics card needs. I don't know if I should stick with AMD or go to Nvidia. I don't have a preference. With Nvidia, I know the latest is the 3080, but are the 3070 and 3060 also good? Will a 2080 or 1080 be good enough? What about processors? Fans? I'm just kind of lost with graphics cards. On top of that, since Bitcoin is on the rise, graphics cards are next to impossible to get at market value — bots are buying them and flipping them for nearly double the price. So I hear. If I'm willing to pay $500 for an XBSX (and let's be honest, it's not $500, because you then have to pay more for games, you're probably gonna get GamePass at $15 a month (or at least, I'm strongly considering it), there's the warranty... I'm at least forking over $600 out of my checking account for the damn thing. So, my GPU budget should be at least that, or perhaps a little more considering I'm getting modding in my games as well. Though, the question must be asked: do I even need to spend that much? My last GPU was around $320 and was considered upper-mid-range at the time I bought it.
Of course, there is a third option. Google Stadia allows one to play games remotely, eliminating the need for paying for hardware in the first place. But, the fact that Google has completely avoided every question about what happens to game purchases when they inevitably close the service in a few years, makes it a non-starter as well, at least until they do. Especially considering games cost the same on Stadia as they do elsewhere. I mean, sure, if I pay $60 for Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia, and I play it for six months to a year or however long, beat it six ways to Sunday, I will surely have gotten my money's worth, and I shouldn't b—h too loudly when Stadia goes under and Google shows me deuces when I go to ask how to get my game code to redeem on Steam, or better yet GOG... but still, the thought of paying full price for a game and losing it after an indeterminate amount of time just doesn't sit well with me, even though I never paid a dime for the hardware it runs on. Also, games don't really go on sale on Stadia, though a $10/month subscription (of which there is a free month included) gets you 10% off purchases. That knocks Cyberpunk 2077 down to $54, and it works with existing controllers via the Chrome browser. Big caveat here: no modding whatsoever. So while this will be fine for a game like Cyberpunk 2077, it will be the worst of the three options for The Elder Scrolls VI and possibly Starfield as well.
So... WWYD?
EDIT: I looked into two other streaming options. GeForce Now is interesting in that, for free, you can connect your Steam account to it, and you can play the games you already own. Well, some of them — and Cyberpunk 2077 is included on GOG, Steam, and Epic. I tried two games that were not installed on my PC: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Saints Row: The Third, and both just picked up and played like they were installed. However, the free GeForce Now is capped at 720p30. It still looked great, just a little jagged around the edges as it was a lower resolution than my monitor would have liked. Also, playing on the free tier, you're limited to 1 hour at a time, though they never say when your time resets. While playing, a GeForce banner slid down from the top, showing me my remaining time. It didn't get in the way at all, and it only stayed for a few seconds. Despite streaming only on a 25Mbit down, 1.8Mbit up DSL connection, I experienced no perceivable latency. A lot of these services are saying you need at least 10Mbps, but GeForce seems to want more. Oh, saves sync — in both cases, I had saves already, and by signing into Steam, it synced my saves. Also, it didn't care that I don't have an Nvidia card installed, which is kind of odd. I have one in my laptop (and maybe that counts, I made the Nvidia account on the laptop, so Nvidia knows I have a 940MX GPU, maybe that's good enough), but the desktop, again, Radeon R9 280. Lastly, GeForce Now also appears to be the cheapest streaming service, at both free for 1 hour at a time and 720p30, and $24.95 for six months as an introductory "founders" rate.
The other option is, of course, Microsoft xCloud, which is part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. $15 a month gets you access to all their games, but the selection is hugely limited and does not include Cyberpunk. The neat thing about Game Pass is, you don't seem to need an Xbox to use it. I just need the Xbox for games that are not on Game Pass, which... kind of defeats the purpose.
So, a winner sort of emerges, GeForce Now for free or about $4 a month, and I get to keep the game.
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