Minimum internet speed for online gaming? (PS3 or XBox)

[Pints]

Before I go and spend my hard-earned pennies on a new PS3 or XBox, I want to make sure I can play online racing games without frustration.

So, as per the title, what is the minimum actual speed I should make sure I'm getting in order to make it worth my while?

Cheers
Pints

[sstein]

You don't need a high capacity connection, most games will not be sending lots of data, you do need low latency though.

[Jasandjules]

I used to play with a 56k modem...

However, on the PS3 I think I run 0.5mbps and it's generally ok.

[WeirdNeville]

I get 2Mb and am officially so far from the exchange that I shouldn't be able to get broadband, but it's fine online. I can host 12 player CoD4 matches fine, gets a bit shaky when you get up to 16 though!

[shakotan]

As well as speed, what sort of bandwidth does playing a typical evening session use up?

I don't want to flush my 10Gig limit down the tubes in less that a week!

[lizardking]

I think Forza or xboxlive card said.... at least 384k upload and the same for download.

[scorp]

shakotan said:

As well as speed, what sort of bandwidth does playing a typical evening session use up?

I don't want to flush my 10Gig limit down the tubes in less that a week!

Depends on the game, usually FPS style games use little bandwidth compared to say an RTS, lets say a game uses 128k/sec then you would eat your 10gig in about 22.5 hrs..

[Pints]

Cheers for the info. Thankfully I'm on unlimited so that's not an issue, but I'm usually lucky to only get 0.5mbps.

Sounds like I should be ok though (I have Forza 3 in mind), so now I just have to get Mrs Pints to approve the spend.

[Neil_H]

500k should be ok, just don't expect to be able to host big games. If it's just you playing then the main factor is latency, hosting other players is when you need the bandwidth as well (depending on the game, some are more efficent than others). I can host 16 player games of TF2 thanks to a 1 meg upstream.