PS4 in 2024?

[Drvulcanlord]

Is it worth getting a ps4 in 2024? I’ve mostly been a pc gamer but want a console to use too. Ps4s are getting around the 100$-150$ mark in my area and I am considering picking one up. But I want to get more information.

 

Also do I have to pay a subscription to a play online.
Any help is welcome.

[Skipple]

"Worth it" is subjective, so it all depends on what you are trying to do with it. There are a ton of exclusives for PS4 that may make it worth it for you. The price for used games is probably the lowest it will ever be for the platform. I'm not sure I would recommend any online experiences at this point, as the platform is dated, focus more on the single player experiences. 

[Drvulcanlord]

2 minutes ago, Skipple said:

"Worth it" is subjective, so it all depends on what you are trying to do with it. There are a ton of exclusives for PS4 that may make it worth it for you. The price for used games is probably the lowest it will ever be for the platform. I'm not sure I would recommend any online experiences at this point, as the platform is dated, focus more on the single player experiences. 

I’m fine with there not being any good multiplayer stuff, I was just curious about that part, I mostly want to play single player and local multiplayer games. If I want to do multiplayer I’ll just use my pc, what I’m asking is is it a good deal for the price I listed?

[Skipple]

6 minutes ago, Drvulcanlord said:

what I’m asking is is it a good deal for the price I listed?

That seems to be different than your initial question.  

I'm not sure where you are located, or what the secondary market is near you. Obviously the price is going to depend on condition, model, controllers, various accessories, etc.. The price sounds reasonable assuming it's a good package. It's a fantastic price if it's a PS4 Pro. 

[Drvulcanlord]

Just now, Skipple said:

That seems to be different than your initial question.  

I'm not sure where you are located, or what the secondary market is near you. Obviously the price is going to depend on condition, model, controllers, various accessories, etc.. The price sounds reasonable assuming it's a good package. It's a fantastic price if it's a PS4 Pro. 

Yes sorry about that, I live in the upper 48, the secondary market is pretty good, there  are a few ps4 pros for not much more money more like 170, should I spring for that?

[Sharkyx1]

If you put an ssd in it. Yeah it's still a solid games machine. Just check out digital foundry videos to see how games run before you buy them.

[Drvulcanlord]

22 minutes ago, Sharkyx1 said:

If you put an ssd in it. Yeah it's still a solid games machine. Just check out digital foundry videos to see how games run before you buy them.

Alright

[Sharkyx1]

8 hours ago, Drvulcanlord said:

Yes sorry about that, I live in the upper 48, the secondary market is pretty good, there  are a few ps4 pros for not much more money more like 170, should I spring for that?

To further this, I didn't read that but it's  better idea to get a pro if the difference is only say 120 for a base model vs 170$ for a pro.

 

Pro has bigger gpu and higher cpu clocks I think. Most games perform better on it 

 

Still definitely pick up a sata ssd. 870 evo or something like that, it adds to the price but the difference in load times is huge 

 

I just installed an ssd and tried rdr2 and loading went from 3 minutes to 36 seconds. Most games it's not that dramatic but it's a big increase.

[Drvulcanlord]

50 minutes ago, Sharkyx1 said:

To further this, I didn't read that but it's  better idea to get a pro if the difference is only say 120 for a base model vs 170$ for a pro.

 

Pro has bigger gpu and higher cpu clocks I think. Most games perform better on it 

 

Still definitely pick up a sata ssd. 870 evo or something like that, it adds to the price but the difference in load times is huge 

 

I just installed an ssd and tried rdr2 and loading went from 3 minutes to 36 seconds. Most games it's not that dramatic but it's a big increase.

Really? Ok I’ll definitely pick up an ssd then, dose the ps5 only support stata?

[Sharkyx1]

57 minutes ago, Drvulcanlord said:

Really? Ok I’ll definitely pick up an ssd then, dose the ps5 only support stata?

The ps4 and ps4 pro support sata ssds

 

The ps5 supports nvme ssds

 

Watch a video on how to upgrade the ps4 drive. You need a Phillips screw driver and a usb drive to setup the new drive.

[Drvulcanlord]

Just now, Sharkyx1 said:

The ps4 and ps4 pro support sata ssds

 

The ps5 supports nvme ssds

 

Watch a video on how to upgrade the ps4 drive. You need a Phillips screw driver and a usb drive to setup the new drive.

Ok thanks.

[atxcyclist]

On 2/7/2024 at 7:53 PM, Drvulcanlord said:

Ok thanks.

The SSD upgrade makes a huge difference in the PS4, I was upgrading my desktop hardware and moved to a platform that supported NVMe drives, so my 1TB Crucial MX500 SATA became my PS4 drive. The difference in performance between what is essentially a laptop spinning drive and an SSD dropped load times to nearly instant in many games.

[Drvulcanlord]

1 hour ago, atxcyclist said:

The SSD upgrade makes a huge difference in the PS4, I was upgrading my desktop hardware and moved to a platform that supported NVMe drives, so my 1TB Crucial MX500 SATA became my PS4 drive. The difference in performance between what is essentially a laptop spinning drive and an SSD dropped load times to nearly instant in many games.

Good to know.

[SteveGrabowski0]

A lot of the PS4's best one time exclusives have come to PC. Eg stuff like

• God of War (2018)
• Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Horizon Forbidden West (comes next month)
• Yakuza 0-6
• Persona 5 Royal
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• The Last of Us Part 1
• The Last of Us Part 2 (already officially confirmed, no release date though AFAIK)
• Spiderman and Miles Morales
• Until Dawn (already officially confirmed, no release date though AFAIK)

Of course there are a few bangers not on PC

• Bloodborne
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Shadow of the Colossus
• God of War Ragnarok
• Ratchet & Clank

You have to imagine Ghost of Tsushima and God of War Ragnarok will have to be coming to PC in the next couple of years. Shadow of the Colossus and Ratchet & Clank (2016) are probably doubtful and Bloodborne will sadly never happen. Which sucks because IMO Bloodborne is the single best PS4 game ever made (with the caveat that I'll call Elden Ring a PS5 game, otherwise it's a coin flip IMO).

 

Personally the only use for PS4 I'd find these days is if you can get a PS4 Pro on firmware low enough to hack it to run Bloodborne with the 720p 60fps patch. Otherwise you'd be better off upgrading your gpu, as your i7-4790 should be enough for most of those games. The Last of Us Part 1 Remake will murder a Haswell chip so I'm guessing Part 2 will too but otherwise upgrading your gpu to maybe an RX 6650 XT or RX 6600 will probably offer you a far better experience. Even the PS4 Pro has a gpu more on par with the RX 470, while the PS4 and PS4 Slim have a gpu pretty close but slightly faster than the HD 7850 you list in your system. I ran a slightly slower version of the i7-4790 in the Xeon E3-1231v3 (it's a 4790 minus 200MHz I believe) and it didn't start having trouble keeping up with my old GTX 1660 Super for 1080p60 gaming until Elden Ring. Also I'd recommend AMD over Nvidia for running with a lower end cpu like a 4790, as their DX12 driver overhead is lower. And for DX11 games you have plenty of cpu for that gen so no worry about bottlenecks.

 

Long story short: PS4 is a really cool system with great games but you could just upgrade your gpu to get a better gaming experience. For instance RDR2 is a straight 1080p30 fps on PS4 and it looks good but it was so much better playing on my Xeon E3-1231v3 + GTX 1660 Super at 1080p60 using the Hardware Unboxed recommended settings. In that $100 to $150 range you can get cards like the RTX 2060 Super or the RX 5700 XT or you could spend $190 and get the RX 6600 brand new.

[Drvulcanlord]

49 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

A lot of the PS4's best one time exclusives have come to PC. Eg stuff like

• God of War (2018)
• Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Horizon Forbidden West (comes next month)
• Yakuza 0-6
• Persona 5 Royal
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• The Last of Us Part 1
• The Last of Us Part 2 (already officially confirmed, no release date though AFAIK)
• Spiderman and Miles Morales
• Until Dawn (already officially confirmed, no release date though AFAIK)

Of course there are a few bangers not on PC

• Bloodborne
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Shadow of the Colossus
• God of War Ragnarok
• Ratchet & Clank

You have to imagine Ghost of Tsushima and God of War Ragnarok will have to be coming to PC in the next couple of years. Shadow of the Colossus and Ratchet & Clank (2016) are probably doubtful and Bloodborne will sadly never happen. Which sucks because IMO Bloodborne is the single best PS4 game ever made (with the caveat that I'll call Elden Ring a PS5 game, otherwise it's a coin flip IMO).

 

Personally the only use for PS4 I'd find these days is if you can get a PS4 Pro on firmware low enough to hack it to run Bloodborne with the 720p 60fps patch. Otherwise you'd be better off upgrading your gpu, as your i7-4790 should be enough for most of those games. The Last of Us Part 1 Remake will murder a Haswell chip so I'm guessing Part 2 will too but otherwise upgrading your gpu to maybe an RX 6650 XT or RX 6600 will probably offer you a far better experience. Even the PS4 Pro has a gpu more on par with the RX 470, while the PS4 and PS4 Slim have a gpu pretty close but slightly faster than the HD 7850 you list in your system. I ran a slightly slower version of the i7-4790 in the Xeon E3-1231v3 (it's a 4790 minus 200MHz I believe) and it didn't start having trouble keeping up with my old GTX 1660 Super for 1080p60 gaming until Elden Ring. Also I'd recommend AMD over Nvidia for running with a lower end cpu like a 4790, as their DX12 driver overhead is lower. And for DX11 games you have plenty of cpu for that gen so no worry about bottlenecks.

 

Long story short: PS4 is a really cool system with great games but you could just upgrade your gpu to get a better gaming experience. For instance RDR2 is a straight 1080p30 fps on PS4 and it looks good but it was so much better playing on my Xeon E3-1231v3 + GTX 1660 Super at 1080p60 using the Hardware Unboxed recommended settings. In that $100 to $150 range you can get cards like the RTX 2060 Super or the RX 5700 XT or you could spend $190 and get the RX 6600 brand new.

Ok good to know, I plan on using the console for at home because my computer is at a different location. Thank you for the extremely informative response.

[SteveGrabowski0]

6 hours ago, Drvulcanlord said:

Ok good to know, I plan on using the console for at home because my computer is at a different location. Thank you for the extremely informative response.

Makes sense. It's definitely an awesome system and I highly recommend getting Bloodborne with its DLC if you pick one up unless you hate Souls style games. The DLC is a must though, as it has the best bossfights in the game. Maybe the best bossfights in any FromSoft game. The complete edition bundle goes on sale for $17.49 pretty often and I wouldn't be surprised to see it go there again for a spring sale on PSN.

 

https://psprices.com/region-us/game/115727/bloodborne-complete-edition-bundle