Cost of gaming PC's in the PS4/XBO era

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AlphaWolf said:
My TV would cause problems with that mount. ;)
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Yeah that one is for up to 9 Kg or something like that. They have some models that support heavier displays. In any case my suggestion was just to have an option to have an extra monitor conveniently next to your sitting position and freeing the telly for something else. If you have regular setup with one bigger screen, then my first suggestion

"The cords aren't a problem if the computer is close to where you sit, then you just have to have a longer HDMI cable and route it nicely to the TV"

Applies.
 
btw for PC spec, usually how much we will need to overestimate?

because not all PC games are highly optimized, for example the CoD: Ghosts that for unknown reason are super heavy to run. Much heavier than BF4.
But it able to run 60fps on consoles.
 
I'd go be aiming for around twice as fast on the CPU side with maybe 20-30% more on the GPU side. There will always be horribly optimized games which still perform worse on such a configuration but if a games well optimised for the PC (or Mantle is involved) such a setup should be more than enough to match the consoles.

Incidentally, it does look as though at comparable settings the 7870 can at least match the PS4's performance in Ghosts. Don't forget there are PC exclusive graphics options in Ghosts like HBOA+ and MSAA that would use more performance than the console version. It's also not too tough on the CPU side. Even an FX4300 or i3 4340 can easily push out well in excess of 60fps minimum:

http://www.hardwarepal.com/call-duty-ghosts-benchmark-cpu-gpu-performance/6/
 
Dr Evil said:
"The cords aren't a problem if the computer is close to where you sit, then you just have to have a longer HDMI cable and route it nicely to the TV"

Applies.
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Yes people will just redesign their home so they can use a wired KB in their living room, just add $5k for the renovation cost.
 
Especially early on you will see a lot of console versions being straight ports from PC, where the PC hardware will outperform the console even on relatively similar hardware. We will probably see the console versions become more optimized but with the PC hardware increasing in capacity faster than that. I have honestly no idea where things will end up, but consider it likely you're better off spending $200 now and $200 in two years when console titles start ramping up, than $400 now.
 
I dunno, $400 right now gets you a 290. Are you going to outperform that in 2 years for $200? That price range in 2 years could well just be a rebranded 290.
 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 mITX- $50
HDD: Western Digital WD Blue 7200RPM 1TB - $70
PSU: EVGA 600 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 600W - $55
RAM: 8GB DDR3-1600MHZ CL9 - $58
Mobo: ASRock Z87E-ITX LGA 1150 Intel Z87 with built in 802.11AC WiFi and Bluetooh - $140
CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 - $200
Optical: LG Black 12X BD-ROM - $35
GPU: Radeon R9 290 - $400

All parts selected from Newegg, grand total is $999.96 after promo codes, plus $12 shipping.

I would personally add an SSD in there, but for $1000 the above build will completely blitz a console for years to come.
 
I may be walking on thin ice now, but you just can't be "safe" with a PC if you don't want to upgrade until after a few years. No problem for the enthusiasts, but can be problematic for the average gamer.

We have CoD: Ghosts and Crysis 3 working on the 360/PS3, but refuses to even start on DX10 cards. There's also the risk of losing driver support, who knows for how long AMD's recent series will be supported? AMD stopped supporting the DX9 and DX10/10.1 products pretty early

It's a pity no site tests old products, I'd like to see how much better for example an HD 3870 runs today's games than the consoles
 
AlphaWolf said:
I dunno, $400 right now gets you a 290. Are you going to outperform that in 2 years for $200? That price range in 2 years could well just be a rebranded 290.
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I'm going to make a small wager and say yes, on account that we often see a boost after the new consoles have been launched, taking away a big asset bottleneck.
 
A 20nm GPU in the $200 price range will most likely have its hands full against the 290 two years from now and getting a Pitcairn today will see you having significantly less GPU power for the next two years. 290 is almost twice as powerful as 7870. Things get better if you can get some clearance sale 7950, perhaps an OC model for close to $200 now and then get something like a 290X for $200 in 2015. 290 now is definitely a good option, it has plenty of memory and raw power.
 
And in performance... you get what you pay for.

If you are looking for console level performance, the consoles are the best value right now. You can't build a PC that performs like the PS4 for $400.
Dr Evil said:
A 20nm GPU in the $200 price range will most likely have its hands full against the 290 two years from now and getting a Pitcairn today will see you having significantly less GPU power for the next two years. 290 is almost twice as powerful as 7870. Things get better if you can get some clearance sale 7950, perhaps an OC model for close to $200 now and then get something like a 290X for $200 in 2015. 290 now is definitely a good option, it has plenty of memory and raw power.
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Oh man I'm so glad I scored a 7950 Boost a couple months ago for $210 free shipping. Deal of the year. That was regular price on Newegg at the time, no promo codes or anything.
 
Cool, I'd like to see what CPU and memory setup its using but this certainly has more GPU power than the consoles for a comparable price (and form factor). The lack of support for windows games could be a big issue though.
 
Yeah the small amount of GPU memory would be my concern here. 2GB has got to result in some compromises compared with the consoles in the longer term. Its one of the reasons I don't expect my 670 (at 680 speeds) to last more than a few years. I may be wrong though.
 
Yes, 4GB would have been better to make it a common target with the consoles.
 
I would be concerned if they shipped with 1GB VRAM, but 2GB should be fine for at least a couple years. Consider that almost all PC GPUs shipping even now have 2GB or less. Devs won't be alienating 95% of the PC market any time soon.
 
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