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

Discussion in 'PC Purchasing Help' started by pjbliverpool, Nov 22, 2013.

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  1. Silent_Buddha

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    Why used corded devices when wireless is just fine. I've been using wireless keyboards and mice for gaming for well over a decade now. My current living room HTPC is even using a solar powered wireless keyboard (never have to recharge).

    My current desktop is using a wired keyboard now, but that's only because I don't need to move it anymore and not having to recharge it is nice. Response in games is no different despite this being a relatively expensive mechanical switch gaming keyboard compared to my previous wireless Logitech keyboard using mechanical scissor switches.

    Regards,
    SB
     
  2. AlphaWolf

    AlphaWolf Specious Misanthrope
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    You're preaching to the choir.
     
  3. HMBR

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    optical drive :roll::lol:

    some things to consider, the PC requires no PSN/Live payment, also you can play your entire library, no silly restriction or paying for the same game again... also accessories are cheaper in general, since there is open compatibility with gamepads, wheels...

    and games, more F2P, more lower prices and competition, (steam vs origin vs others, free games with graphics card)

    and realistically, most PC gamers can use some old parts,

    also the HD you choose is 2x the PS3, you can also buy a keyboard for your PS4 for typing properly...

    anyway, the PS4 holds pretty well for now considering the price vs gaming quality, the PC is going to shine in 1 to 2 years against it... but if you consider some things I said previously, and the fact the PC does all the other stuff the PS4 is trying to do so much better, the PC is a compelling option right now.
     
  4. homerdog

    homerdog donator of the year
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    How about a full gaming rig for $700 shipped?

    Case - LIAN LI PC-A04B Black $70
    HDD - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM $70
    Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2 AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX $40
    Asus GTX670 overclocked - $250
    PSU - CORSAIR CX series CX500 $50
    RAM - 8GB DDR3 $48
    CPU - AMD FX-8320 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) $130
    Optical - BluRay Drive - $35

    Total with shipping is $701.91 and it comes with the new Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon. Not bad I say. This thing waxes the sweet little baby bottoms of the Xbox One and PS4.
     
  5. homerdog

    homerdog donator of the year
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  6. zed

    zed
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    at nearly twice the price

    so to sum up
    you cant build a comparable PC for the ps4/xbone price
     
  7. pjbliverpool

    pjbliverpool B3D Scallywag
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    That was never a question this thread tried to address. It was always about how much would you have to spend to match or exceed the console experience. Or in other words, if you want a PC, and all the functionality a PC offers (which easily outstrips any console), but you also want that machine to be capable of playing all the upcoming generation of console games - saving you the expense of buying a separate console, how much will it cost you.

    I've seen the typically exaggerated claims of $1000+ elsewhere. This thread serves as proof that such claims are false. 8 years ago when the last generation consoles launched, $1000 was probably more realistic but today, as we've seen it's more like $700.

    If you're key concern is gaming performance though rather than a PC which can cope with next gen games, then you are of course better off spending a few hundred more for something that comfortably wipes the floor with said consoles.

    The irony (for me at least) is that I'm drifting away from the idea of getting an XBO now purely on cost grounds. Far from being a gaming bargain, the £45-£50 price tag per game(!!) currently being charged for next gen console games is utterly insane. The same games on the PC right now are averaging about £20-30 cheaper each(!). At those prices just 5 games per year will buy you a brand new, high end-ish GPU every 2 years.
     
  8. homerdog

    homerdog donator of the year
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    Are you selectively reading posts? I already stated
    "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."

    And no it's only $200 more than the Xbox One, hardly twice the price.

    Sure you can buy a PS4 for $400, but would you like any games with that? The PC I listed comes with 2 new AAA games and one very good one.
     
  9. Malo

    Malo Yak Mechanicum
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    Another problem is that if consoles can play Bluray's out-of-the-box, you have to add yet another $100 for software to play Bluray's on PC.
     
  10. zed

    zed
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    I said nearly. yours is without kinect I see so add $100 onto your cost
    whoops I see you dont have an OS also so add another $100, or did you intend to use linux ;)

    resogun is free, plus theres at least 5 others also free
     
  11. mrcorbo

    mrcorbo Foo Fighter
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  12. joker454

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    If people want to start adding up costs for features that aren't on pc, then they have to do the same for consoles otherwise it's simply not a fair comparison. Right now the new consoles can't play hundreds of current gen games, games that are still on the top 10 sales lists, games that people want to play, games that sell in huge volumes and hence are clearly in demand. To play them on next gen consoles is an extra cost namely that of having to also buy a current gen console, an expense not necessary on pc which is fully backward compatible. That puts console gaming closer to the $700 range. It's also not fair to assume that a console gamer already has an existing console because it's always assumed they don't have any current pc parts either that they can simply bring up to spec by dropping in a new $200 gpu. If we are to assume that people always have to rebuy their pc case, keyboard, mouse, Windows liscence, hdd, etc, all stuff that can be kept for years and don't need to be re-bought, if we assume they don't have those then we have to assume they don't have an existing console either. Finally if all functionality is to be considered like console ability to play bluray, then all pc functionality should also be considered to be fair, and one has to add up how much it would cost to also make a console capable of doing what a pc can.

    Without the above the cost analysis is useless. If people are just going to cherry pick certain things then none of this is valid at all.
     
  13. pjbliverpool

    pjbliverpool B3D Scallywag
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  14. Silent_Buddha

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    Resogun is only free to PSN+ subscribers otherwise you have to buy it. So not exactly free.

    And if you want to go down the path of F2P games (like DC Online, Planetfall, Warframe, etc.), there are multiple orders of magnitude more of them on PC than on PS4.

    Regards,
    SB
     
  15. homerdog

    homerdog donator of the year
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    We must be on different pages. What use would I possibly have for kinect?

    OS license cost is fair, although for some reason that wasn't included in the OP (it probly should be).

    Something tells me most would take one of the free games included in that PC over all the free games you are referring to.

    Besides, let's not even get started on how many free games are available on PC lol.
     
  16. pjbliverpool

    pjbliverpool B3D Scallywag
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    "Win 8.1 64bit: $100" :wink:

    Those 3 games are probably worth around $150 in console terms so for comparison purposes the PS4 sohuld really cost $550 - or your PC costs £550 while the PS4 stays at $400.

    It'd be interesting to analyse the cost of ownership over the next 6 years when game costs and online subscriptions are taken into account.
     
  17. homerdog

    homerdog donator of the year
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    XBL is like $50 a year.
     
  18. BRiT

    BRiT (>• •)>⌐■-■ (⌐■-■)
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    Typical sales prices are $40 with top deals hitting $35/$36.
     

  19. It would depend on how many games a year a person would buy, and how long after the release date the person is willing to wait.

    I have no doubts that a gamer that buys 10-15 games a year but waits ~6 months after release of each game will benefit immensely from choosing the PC as a platform. The difference in hardware price should pay off in less than a year in those conditions.

    The PS Plus service kind of changes the game, though.
    But I believe that in the first year or so the Plus for PS4 won't have much to offer, because there won't be any 1-year-old games. People will be mostly served with indies and maybe some last-gen ports.
     
  20. homerdog

    homerdog donator of the year
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    Hah, after a quick google I see that the regular price is $60/year, with the typical "on sale" price being $50. So it's even more expensive than I thought.
     
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