In the past couple of years we have seen graphic cards coming out in the range of $500-$600, however all of these card prices have eventually dropped  and droppped to very low levels after new technologies have come out.  
Now we are now in the year 2006, and with the release of such Gaming machines like the Microsft Xbox 360 and the soon to be released, Playstation 3, many Pc Gamers are second guesing about buying that $600 7900gtx that'll give you 100fps in Oblivion. Because it doesnt really make sense to buy that card, cuz right after buying that Graphic card, you need to couple with at least a $300 Cpu, and 1-2gb of top of the line Ram.  
 
So since these current graphic cards are single handedly costing more than a fully loaded Xbox 360 and almost as much as the projected Ps3 reatil price. Do they provide more Graphical power? Does 2 7900Gtx's in SLI provide better graphics than the Xbox 360? I just hope that someone knows the answer.

I was going to make a post here, but I simply cant do it without being an ass.
 
cheers

Id like to put in my 2 cents: The graphics for Oblivion on the 360 are good, but a single 7900gtx can do just as well, more than likely better....especially after it is more optimized with newer drivers and such. (My 6800GS looks as good as the 360's not on HD mode)
 
Of course graphics will get better for the 360 and ps3...but really the top of the line gfx cards out right now have similar qualities to those in the consoles...so this next generation of Video cards should be able to do anything that the consoles can do.
 
In my opinion, building a PC for gaming is very expensive, and if you only need it for gaming, i would recommend buying a console if you worry about the price, unless the biggest draw for you for PC gaming is the freedom (mods, online play that is not as restrictive, etc.)
 
And, as always, PCs can be expanded, or upgraded. Example: x-fi sound card or physics cards, or brand new vid cards.

The PS3's RSX GPU is nothing more than a G71 at 550MHz.

 
Hear hear

From what I can tell, the RSX is very similar to a G70 Nvidia card such as the 7800. Maybe this new generation of consoles will be more advanced then computers but from what I have seen in the past comparing my PC to my Xbox the graphics are always better on my PC. Plus you have the option to upgrade your PC. The only time I truely hate a PC is for some sports games and fighting games like Street fighter becaue the game pads for a PC never seem to be as efficient and responsive. As for PCs all first person shooters I enjoy way more on a PC with keyboard etc then console. So I guess to sum it up, if you have a tight budget and don't like upgrading then a console would be your best bet.

I think the new systems are much different from the past.
They're a lot closer to computer hardware out at the time then the past say PS2 and XBOX were.
Thats the reason for the much higher price on them.
They're close to the same right now as far as power but you have to spend much more to get the same power out of a pc then you do for a gaming system.

Consoles do not have the same overheads as PCs i.e. an OS like XP so they will always perform foaster on like for like hardware.  MS have bucked the trend in consoles by upgrading quite quickly, so possibly consoles will overtake PCs in the future.

 
the xbox was a pc in a smaller case, that was still really big...

LMFAO i 2nd that :?

At least its good to know that Im not wasting my money on a $400 graphic card....................At least not yet. lol

 
I applaud your self -restraint.  I guess since you held you tongue, I must do the same.                  

In the past couple of years we have seen graphic cards coming out in the range of $500-$600, however all of these card prices have eventually dropped  and droppped to very low levels after new technologies have come out.  
Now we are now in the year 2006, and with the release of such Gaming machines like the Microsft Xbox 360 and the soon to be released, Playstation 3, many Pc Gamers are second guesing about buying that $600 7900gtx that'll give you 100fps in Oblivion. Because it doesnt really make sense to buy that card, cuz right after buying that Graphic card, you need to couple with at least a $300 Cpu, and 1-2gb of top of the line Ram. So since these current graphic cards are single handedly costing more than a fully loaded Xbox 360 and almost as much as the projected Ps3 reatil price. Do they provide more Graphical power? Does 2 7900Gtx's in SLI provide better graphics than the Xbox 360? I just hope that someone knows the answer.[quote]
 
Completely agreed.  I dont know how you pc gamers can just sit back and say "i dont mind paying 500 bucks for a graphics card to get a max 30fps in oblivion" it makes no sense. im a pc gamer, and have been one for a long time, never owned a consol, but i can atleast admit when pc has been beat. and it has been in gaming.  you will not get the same power out of pc, wtf are you nuts? Play oblivion on the 360, then play it on a pc with a 7900 gtx or 1900xtx.  You get constant smooth frames with AA and HDR on at the same time with the 360..pc..good luck getting a max35 fps on outside environments.
 
(My 6800GS looks as good as the 360's not on HD mode...Yes, but you didnt state how much fps you get, if i get 20 fps in outside environmenst with a 7800gtx overclocked..id love to see how smooth yours is. sure The pc looks just as good as the 360 version, if you are completely still and dont move at all. then its just horrid. Ps3 looks absolutely amazing. the games are photorealistic, and you never see a single frame drop in any of the demos played. just fantastic.  I give pc 3-4 years before it catches up IMO..ibut by then who knows whats going to be out...if the prices get anymore higher than they are now for top of the line hardware...i dont see alot of people building pc's anymore for games.The only thing that hasnt made me take the transistion to consols, is that awesome fact that i get to use a keyboard and mouse...if ps3 makes all first person shooters keyboard and mouse compatible...say goodbye to pc's for gaming

That's strange. My brother's 7900 GT can handle max settings with 4xAA and Bloom perfectly in Oblivion. Of course I used the NGO optimized drivers (84.56 I believe), and I set the max frames to render ahead to 0. That grass is awfully pretty, let me tell you. Oh yeah - that gpu cost $300. The machine cost $1300 in all, but that's with 2 DVD Burners and 2 Hard Drives. What consoles do they do well, but the right PC can do just as good a job.

[quote="LordBelial"]
 
    8O  8O  8O  8O  8O  8O  8O Simply Amazing answer-
 8O  8O  
Couldn't agree more 8)

Actually, I would have prefered you to lash out at him

You're kidding right?  
 
In forming this opinion, did you at all take into consideration the change in pc gaming over the past 3-4 years?  4 Years ago today the GF4 ti4600 was the best gaming card money could buy.  The R9700 pro and UT2003 weren't available for months after that, which would be the best GPU/graphical game of the 3-4 year ago period.

Yes, PCs and new consoles are pretty close now. But a consoles life cycle is what? Like 5 years. So ask us in 4 years if PCs are better than PS3

My 6800gs is running at a variance of settings...most textures are all on high except for landscape, and grass is on low, but my view distance is 100%, HDR on...i get about 57fps outside.
 
You have to tweak it some figure out what your hardware likes...i bet oblivion will be even smoother when new drivers come out.  
 
Also... have you seen 360 Oblivion? The only graphics that look really good are the character models, and lighting, the draw distance isnt great and everything pops into the frame...my 6800gs does fairly well copying performance from 360.  
 
By the time PS3 actually comes out...there will be next gen cards that give better performance....Last generation, there was no contest for a few years as the xbox when realeased with Halo blew PCs out of the water, and held its position for a year or more. THis gen consoles arent holding on for very long.