PC Gaming Too Expensive, Switching to Consoles, so long [H]

Well said. Both sides of the coin provide equally impressive and fantastic experiences, and it's proportionate to the resources you dump into it. Honestly, I can't believe this thread is still alive. Limiting yourself to one side is limiting yourself to certain game experiences. For me? No thanks, I'll play what looks good regardless of what platform it's on.

Case in point, I was gifted a Onkyo THX certified receiver that originally retailed for $1,099.99. It also came with some Polk speakers. Had I paid retail prices for those combined with my TV, I'd be at a price that costs at least as much as my current PC, if not more.
 
Well said. Both sides of the coin provide equally impressive and fantastic experiences, and it's proportionate to the resources you dump into it. Honestly, I can't believe this thread is still alive. Limiting yourself to one side is limiting yourself to certain game experiences. For me? No thanks, I'll play what looks good regardless of what platform it's on.

That's awesome to see a PS-Vita slim in your sig. It's currently my go-to gaming platform. :)
 
Do people consider a PC out of spec when u cant run ultra ? Ive been following the same formula for 2 decades

New system with a future proof CPU so in my experience

QX6700 > 2600k that's it

For the gpu it's twice as much

8800gtx > 480gtx > 970Gtx > 2070RTX

Upgrading CPU now is much less of a concern as it used to be and I can run games perfectly .

Buying the latest spec is almost never a necessity .I'll never understand the thought processes of someone who says it's expensive
 
Do people consider a PC out of spec when u cant run ultra ? Ive been following the same formula for 2 decades

New system with a future proof CPU so in my experience

QX6700 > 2600k that's it

For the gpu it's twice as much

8800gtx > 480gtx > 970Gtx > 2070RTX

Upgrading CPU now is much less of a concern as it used to be and I can run games perfectly .

Buying the latest spec is almost never a necessity .I'll never understand the thought processes of someone who says it's expensive

Their thought process is easy to understand, it's just flawed in that they assume you have to drop 2 grand every year to keep up with it (like you hit on), instead of selling your existing hardware towards your upgrades and/or buying budget friendly mid-range parts in the first place.

CPU really only makes a difference now if you're running 120+ Hz displays, IMO. Even then I don't believe anyone can really tell the difference between 120-240 Hz anyways; at least I can't but I def can tell a difference between 60 and 120 Hz on my monitor. It also doesn't make much of a performance difference at 1440p and above since you're going to be GPU bottle-necked at that point on any modern game.
 
Do people consider a PC out of spec when u cant run ultra ? Ive been following the same formula for 2 decades

New system with a future proof CPU so in my experience

QX6700 > 2600k that's it

For the gpu it's twice as much

8800gtx > 480gtx > 970Gtx > 2070RTX

Upgrading CPU now is much less of a concern as it used to be and I can run games perfectly .

Buying the latest spec is almost never a necessity .I'll never understand the thought processes of someone who says it's expensive

If you have the real estate (TV 4K) it is a one time fee and with what you are describing it an upgrade path that will keep costing money. The difference is when you have to not invest in new hardware for a period you also do not have to worry about games that suddenly run like crap on your system.

Buying a pc that can do 4K 60 frames per second (that is what next gen consoles have as a target) you will not be able to spend the same amount of money on it across the same time frame as you would own a console. If that is a 5 year period gaming evolves on the PC much faster. And that is also the drawback for consoles.

And this applies only for next generation consoles...
 
Their thought process is easy to understand, it's just flawed in that they assume you have to drop 2 grand every year to keep up with it (like you hit on), instead of selling your existing hardware towards your upgrades and/or buying budget friendly mid-range parts in the first place.

CPU really only makes a difference now if you're running 120+ Hz displays, IMO. Even then I don't believe anyone can really tell the difference between 120-240 Hz anyways; at least I can't but I def can tell a difference between 60 and 120 Hz on my monitor. It also doesn't make much of a performance difference at 1440p and above since you're going to be GPU bottle-necked at that point on any modern game.

I think that thought process, as you noted, is effective. Selling existing parts to fund new parts is probably what we all do. Myself, I upgraded the GPU (I'm now back to PC gaming) each year when the next new one was out, and then tried to find a buyer for the one I had. But I'm finding that I can sell my entire PC to friends and family for much more than I can on a platform like Craigslist, so I just sell the entire thing and build a new one each year. If I don't sell the existing PC (or line up a buyer immediately), it'll sit around for months and take up space.
 
Buying a pc that can do 4K 60 frames per second (that is what next gen consoles have as a target) you will not be able to spend the same amount of money on it across the same time frame as you would own a console. If that is a 5 year period gaming evolves on the PC much faster. And that is also the drawback for consoles.

And this applies only for next generation consoles...

Not sure I agree with gaming evolving faster on PC; the hardware does for sure, but games and the technologies they use are just as modern on consoles today as they were 6 or so years ago when they launched. Hell, some tech hasn't even made it to PC games from consoles, like proper HDR support and dynamic resolution scaling (some games support it, but it's rare on PC and common on consoles). Barring 60+ Hz gaming too, some games on consoles can look just as good at 4K as most games on PC. Almost any of the PS4 exclusive games look debatably as good or better than any current gen PC games IMO, despite being limited by 7+ year old hardware (or 3+ for the GPU in the Pro - basically a RX 470 I think).

Their main limitation to me is that they have a hard time hitting 60 FPS at 1440p or higher resolutions without sacrificing too much of that IQ, but with perfect frame pacing and just the right amount of motion blur, they play plenty smoothly at 30 FPS to me even after coming back from my 120 Hz PC monitor. Plus factor in that most PC games are cross-platform and are console game ports first, rarely do they ever offer anything more over the console versions other than the standard IQ settings and higher resolutions if your hardware can run it. The one thing I really hope next gen consoles adopt is Freesync support (Xbox One already has it, though think it's pretty limited still), since TVs are starting to support that now and that makes sub 60 FPS in games feel just as smooth since it fixes the uneven frame pacing and stuttering the millisecond it drops below 60 FPS, so it gives devs much more room to play with when tweaking IQ to get acceptable performance, effectively allowing them to eek that much more IQ out of the game.
 
Not sure I agree with gaming evolving faster on PC; the hardware does for sure, but games and the technologies they use are just as modern on consoles today as they were 6 or so years ago when they launched. Hell, some tech hasn't even made it to PC games from consoles, like proper HDR support and dynamic resolution scaling (some games support it, but it's rare on PC and common on consoles). Barring 60+ Hz gaming too, some games on consoles can look just as good at 4K as most games on PC. Almost any of the PS4 exclusive games look debatably as good or better than any current gen PC games IMO, despite being limited by 7+ year old hardware (or 3+ for the GPU in the Pro - basically a RX 470 I think).

Their main limitation to me is that they have a hard time hitting 60 FPS at 1440p or higher resolutions without sacrificing too much of that IQ, but with perfect frame pacing and just the right amount of motion blur, they play plenty smoothly at 30 FPS to me even after coming back from my 120 Hz PC monitor. Plus factor in that most PC games are cross-platform and are console game ports first, rarely do they ever offer anything more over the console versions other than the standard IQ settings and higher resolutions if your hardware can run it. The one thing I really hope next gen consoles adopt is Freesync support (Xbox One already has it, though think it's pretty limited still), since TVs are starting to support that now and that makes sub 60 FPS in games feel just as smooth since it fixes the uneven frame pacing and stuttering the millisecond it drops below 60 FPS, so it gives devs much more room to play with when tweaking IQ to get acceptable performance, effectively allowing them to eek that much more IQ out of the game.
Software enhancements are undeniably held back by console hardware in the age of multiplatform titles. We have interviews from developers admitting as much, in particular with 343 Industries talking about Halo 5 and how the scope needed to be dialed down due to the weak CPU in the Xbox One.
 
Pc gaming is actually the cheapest route software wise. I've been gaming on the same pc now for 5 yrs. I've never spent more than 30 bux on a game vs consoles usually always costing 50+and hardly going down in price. Wouldn't have it any other way either as I haven't owned a console since the ps1 days lol.
 
Pc gaming is actually the cheapest route software wise. I've been gaming on the same pc now for 5 yrs. I've never spent more than 30 bux on a game vs consoles usually always costing 50+and hardly going down in price. Wouldn't have it any other way either as I haven't owned a console since the ps1 days lol.

As I said in my earlier post, not true at all. I've routinely bought console exclusive and multi-platform games on PSN, XBL, and the eShop on sale for 50% off and/or < $30. Those are digital copies on sale directly from the console's built-in store, but Amazon and other retailers typically mirror their sales for physical copies if you prefer those too.

I buy the consoles pretty much for their exclusives only though and have to say I enjoy those games than most of the multi-platform games I play on PC. So I recommend at least considering them (PS4 the most, but I really like Nintendo's 1st party titles as well) if you like games in general and aren't a PC elitist that only plays FPS games or something.
 
As I said in my earlier post, not true at all. I've routinely bought console exclusive and multi-platform games on PSN, XBL, and the eShop on sale for 50% off and/or < $30. Those are digital copies on sale directly from the console's built-in store, but Amazon and other retailers typically mirror their sales for physical copies if you prefer those too.

I buy the consoles pretty much for their exclusives only though and have to say I enjoy those games than most of the multi-platform games I play on PC. So I recommend at least considering them (PS4 the most, but I really like Nintendo's 1st party titles as well) if you like games in general and aren't a PC elitist that only plays FPS games or something.

Sony has their line of playstation hits which has some great games for low prices.
 
Sony has their line of playstation hits which has some great games for low prices.

Indeed, also like I said in my original post, they recently had their whole Uncharted series (along with other PlayStation Hits games) on sale for $10 or less, which are nearly my most favorite games of all time. So that's a steal and a must buy/play for any PS4 owner IMO.
 
Their thought process is easy to understand, it's just flawed in that they assume you have to drop 2 grand every year to keep up with it (like you hit on), instead of selling your existing hardware towards your upgrades and/or buying budget friendly mid-range parts in the first place.

CPU really only makes a difference now if you're running 120+ Hz displays, IMO. Even then I don't believe anyone can really tell the difference between 120-240 Hz anyways; at least I can't but I def can tell a difference between 60 and 120 Hz on my monitor. It also doesn't make much of a performance difference at 1440p and above since you're going to be GPU bottle-necked at that point on any modern game.

Believe me, there's a difference. Even on my Sony VA panel TV, I can tell the difference easily between 120 and 240hz. Had my brother blind test me to prove it to both ourselves. One quick spin of the mouse in any FPS game, it's immediately obvious. :cool:
 
Pc gaming is actually the cheapest route software wise. I've been gaming on the same pc now for 5 yrs. I've never spent more than 30 bux on a game vs consoles usually always costing 50+and hardly going down in price. Wouldn't have it any other way either as I haven't owned a console since the ps1 days lol.
This really is not true nowadays. Console games can be had for $40 or less a couple months after release. There is also the use market when you could find games for dirt cheap on CL or FB if you look around.
 
Maybe you're right I wouldn't know as it wouldn't make sense for me to buy a console when I can just use my pc for everything from playing games, music, trading,selling,watching movies,printing,running several businesses so I'd rather one machine that does it all. I enjoy tinkering and upgrading when it's needed.
Plus I think you're off about prices. I just checked octopath traveler on switch is still 44 to 49 and it came out a yr ago while on pc it just came out and price dropped to 41 already. Game prices drop way faster on pc than any other console.
 
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Always felt that PC gaming needed deeper pockets, probably just the need to have the latest and greatest.
 
Always felt that PC gaming needed deeper pockets, probably just the need to have the latest and greatest.

It’s pretty balanced now. You can expect the same experience on a $300 pc than a $300 non pro/x console.
 
It’s pretty balanced now. You can expect the same experience on a $300 pc than a $300 non pro/x console.

Maybe $400-450 all said and done, $300 is pushing it. Console is all in one in a box. PC you still need the OS, KB/Mouse and so on.
 
The OS is free for a while now, linux gaming has come lightyears in the past year or two.
 
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