Console vs PC gaming.

[AllstaRawR]

The community is usually significantly more helpful, and nice. We are proud group of people. It's just that sometimes, some threads, I guess irritate or annoy some people, due to the repetitiveness within the forum, or personal experience, or other forums they participate in (I am guilty of this)

 

Great post, but I want to correct that sentence so badly right now - and I'm not normally a grammar Nazi.

 

Another thing to note about PC gaming is that you can USE ALL SORTS OF INPUT DEVICES. I can use a 360 controller, a One controller, a mouse, a joystick, a HOTAS...

[GoodBytes]

Great post, but I want to correct that sentence so badly right now - and I'm not normally a grammar Nazi.

 

Another thing to note about PC gaming is that you can USE ALL SORTS OF INPUT DEVICES. I can use a 360 controller, a One controller, a mouse, a joystick, a HOTAS...

Thanks. I tried and fix it, but English is not my first language. I do however seek to improve my English, so any help to improve my grammar is something I really welcome.

[cubercaleb]

On consoles I get inferior games, but i end up spending much less and I get some exclusive titles. But on the other hand I can see the New-gen consoles have hardware that will not be suitable to handle games in a few years considering how much better the games are looking.

Lol isn't that cute.

http://store.steampowered.com/

[mr moose]

Lol isn't that cute.

http://store.steampowered.com/

 

Not very helpful, He maybe talking in general and you won't find the exclusives on there. 

[lutewan]

i would say get a budget pc why just check this vid out 

[Socratic]

Consoles are for fake people.

[Guest]

Planning to start gaming a bit more seriously and would like you guys to tell me should I get in the new consoles or invest in PC.

I know that this forum is mostly PC elitists (I don't judge), but I can see how people would game on consoles too. So here's some cons and pros of consoles and PC's. Please notice that this is only from my perspective and I would like you guys to give some advice to me and people in my position. Thanks. So starting off. With PC i'll have to buy expensive parts to actually have a better experience than on consoles. Not only is it hard anywhere with a part-time job, but especially in eastern Europe where the economy is shite and the only way to actually get the parts is ordering them from the U.S. and that includes shipping + 21% taxes (so i'll usually end up paying a lot more). However I can also see that the games are cheaper. On consoles I get inferior games, but i end up spending much less and I get some exclusive titles. But on the other hand I can see the New-gen consoles have hardware that will not be suitable to handle games in a few years considering how much better the games are looking. So the bottom line is this: I much prefer gaming on PC, but I can't afford it. Should i just go with a console or build a veeery budget PC and upgrade it as the time goes? Sorry for bad english, thanks for your time and have a good day.

What? do you live, in Polska?

 

Onto the stuff, PS4 doesn't cost 399 dollars, it actually costs 449 because you need to pay a 50 dollar fee to play online, if you buy a amd gpu above 150 dollars you get 3 games of your choice. So 450+180 is 630.

 

For that huge amount of money, i've built this:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3PvCFT

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3PvCFT/by_merchant/

 

CPU: AMD A10-6790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($129.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-S1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($36.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Lian-Li PC-V351A MicroATX Desktop Case  ($95.99 @ Mwave) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $628.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-20 01:36 EDT-0400

 

Case is a cube one, so small form factor and a good graphics card and a very powerfull apu.

 

Nowadays you don't need an optical drive, everything should be bought trough steam since you get games cheaper there, also, you don't need a steam os, get a linux with wine or steamOS, hell, you can extract the cd key from your last system and rebuild it on your new computer.

[MadManMarsBar]

ive said it plenty of times before and ill say it again , the only thing and i mean ONLY thing console has over PC is the amount of players and even that is starting to change 

[Mr. Brown]

Welcome to the forum. Please excuse some of the replies you have. Usually this kind of thread don't end well, and people here are fairly annoyed and tired about them.

The community is significantly more helpful and nice. We are a proud group of people. It's just that sometimes on some threads, they can irritate or annoy some people, due to the repetitiveness of the topic within the forum, or their personal conversations in their life, or simply on other forums they participate in (I am guilty of this).

Let me help you out the best I can. I'll place both sides on the table.

Why PC Gaming?

Gaming on PC is a unique experience by itself. Thanks to the keyboard, it allows the creation of complex games that requires many keys. Different keyboard allows you to get different feel when you game. The mouse allows you for great precision which many (most, if not all), find that it makes the game experience better, and allows you to flow better through the game and not fight with the game controller to pass a difficult level that requires speed and accuracy.

 

PC games are cheaper, saving you a lot of money. Why they are cheaper? When you buy a console, the console is sold at a loss, manufacture wants the money back, and later make a profit. They charge a license fee on every game. Last generation of console, it was ~8$ (in the U.S). Seeing that games on the Xbox One and PS4 has increased, this would suggest that either it is a point to attract publishers to their system with higher profits, or the license fee is higher.

 

In addition, on the PC side of things, they are competition among stores, which pushes lower prices. AND, because you buy games online and not have to get the physical copy, and that is with stores that does competition with all other games store, they can push game prices further down, due to the lack of needing large warehouse to store the games, and have sales man, and physical retail store.

 

So, the prices of games are cheaper. Also, you have stuff like Humble Bundle, which a bunch of games (usually indie games), that sales their games at: "you pay what you want", where money goes to charity, and you get to select how much money goes to the developers directly, and the site, and to charity  with the price you put: https://www.humblebundle.com/ And there are other stuff like that. All thanks to the openness of the PC.

 

But PC are expensive! You say.

No, not really. Here is how to think about it. We pretty much all have a PC at home these days. We do homework, we use it for entertainment, we do stuff that relates to ones hobby (research for something, even if you collect stamps, you can seek info, software development, CAD, image editing, movie/video editing, audio recording (let's say you like to play music), and so on and so forth). The PC is a needed tool in the household, is what I am saying. So having a PC, somewhat modern, is a requirement. Now you may say: "Right, but for gaming I have to spend more money!.. A LOT more!". No you don't. You obviously will need to spend more, or maybe not depending on what you have, but not much in reality. Let think for a second... a good system that will offer you a smooth, solid, fast and super responsive experience, can be made with: 4GB of RAM, Core i5 (any speed) and a decent SSD.

 

All you need to do is spend about 150-200$ or so, to get a dedicated Nvidia or AMD graphics card, and you just turned your system in a gaming system, and you should be getting better graphical experience than on consoles already.

 

Another cool thing about PC games is that you get to control the game experience. Sure, it is a bit complicated and a bit annoying that you need to set it up the first time you run your game to get the best experience possible for your computer specification, but if you want smoother and a faster gaming experience, you can reduce the game graphical setting. Moreover, if the game runs beyond, perhaps you want to sacrifice a bit of that performance, while maintaining still amazing experience, for better visuals. On consoles, you have none of that. If the developers decides for instance: "Look we want the highest visuals possible, and that means that the game will run at 30fps, and sometimes dip at 15-20fps, well to bad.". Well, there is nothing you can do. If you prefer faster 60fps experience lower visuals, or maybe instead of that, you just want a solid 30fps experience, and not go lower, by dropping the graphical settings just a tad. That is something you can do on the PC, but simply can't on console. Now, it might sound preposterous, like why would a game developer do such a thing where they would set the graphical too high resulting in not great gaming performance, but sadly, it is common practice. The developer’s side of the story is that they try to portray the target art style, or try to reach a level of realism in graphics and they simply see it a worthy compromise. However, you have no choice.

 

Another point with PC is power. I do not mean performance. I mean abilities. Let's say you are playing game, and you want to check something online, or chat with a friend, or check your Facebook or play music, or take a break and watch a video, or simply check the time or something.. Well, you are just a Alt+Tab away. On console, you are stuck with their infrastructure. Sure you pop a web browser, a shitty one at best (actually the WiiU web browser is seriously surprisingly good compared to the other console), and a full keyboard allows you to navigate through your system with ease, even web surfing.

 

In addition, there is more. Like for example: in home gaming streaming, or play your own music in your game instead of the game music, and thanks to a keyboard with media playback keys, you can control your music listing while in game. You want better sound? You can get a dedicated sound card, and speakers of your choice or better yet, headphones, like this you do not disturb the rest, if you want to play at night or something. The options and limitless, and that is what I meant about power.

 

Why Console?

-> Console can have unique features that might interest people. For example with the Xbox One, you have an overlay system which can give you information about what you are looking for, and all sorts of crazy stuff for sports games (assuming the service is available where you are).

-> Unique gaming experience. The WiiU, for example, while many pushes it aside, it is a console that, like other Nintendo console, gives you a unique gaming experience that you simply cannot get anywhere else.

-> Simple, and fast. I said Xbox One, and I said WiiU, and just for balancing thing I'll mention the PS4, even though this point applies to all. You buy a game, you put it in the system, and you play. No install (well I believe that is not the case with the PS4 and Xbox One on some games), no graphical settings to setup for the first time. You just play.

-> Play on the big screen. While they are numerous ways to output what you can get on the PC on a TV, and as it is a OC, you can use an XBox One or XBox 360 controller and play, the console is designed for TV output, it is small and compact, and nothing to setup.

-> Exclusive titles. Every consoles have its set of truly (and not time based, where it is exclusive for a a week or so, and then gets out for all other consoles and PC) exclusive titles. These games are usually crazy fun, and you just can only get them on a specific console.

 

 

What I have:

 -> Gaming PC.

 -> WiiU.

What I have reflect my views and my tastes. It is not "the law", if you will. I like Nintendo games; I am having a huge blast with them, including their second party games. I also seek for unique experiences. Nintendo offers that with the WiiU. For me, the WiiU has a most catalog of exclusive games that I am interested in, then the other consoles, and as for the "lack of games on the WiiU". I don't care. I have a PC. The games are released on PC regardless, and I can play them with higher fidelity, visuals, faster and get a better experience.

 

Hope this helps.

This definitely helps a lot. Thank you,

[Scratchy1215]

 

Case: Lian-Li PC-V351A MicroATX Desktop Case  ($95.99 @ Mwave) 

Why is every budget build a Micro ATX case  :blink:

For that 96$ case you can get a great mid or even Full tower case. With great looks and way bigger chance at expand-ability. Just saying... nothing against Micro ATX i actually was going to make one but i plan on crossfiring in the near future and got a NZXT Phantom for 90$ on sale and slapped a micro atx mobo in it to save money  

[ShadowCaptain]

I am thinking of selling my 780ti to buy an Xbox One

 

 

No but SERIOUSLY

 

 

The consoles offer some compelling value for a casual user. But for those of us that are really into our games, and demand controll over settings, and like to run our own voice chat programs

 

Dont forget, 90% of console owners normally own a normal laptop or desktop, So instead of buying a £300 PC and a £400 console, they could have bought a much higher end £700 PC and had a much better PC and a much better gaming experiance

 

That is why PC gaming makes sense, since I would have a PC anywayl, why waste money buying A console (or 2 or 3) when I can just do it on PC?

 

The only reason I (and many of us here) consider getting a console is for exclusives that we just CANNOT get anywhere else

[tobben]

Just so that you know (cuz you are clearly misinformed), you can get games for PC for far cheaper then on console.  Console your paying $60 for a brand new game, on PC you might be able to find a steam/origin or whatever Cd-key for $40 (same game both brand new titles) and the longer the game is out the cheaper you can find them.  Steam also has some amazing sales, they currently have their summer sale right now. Also as @Scratchy1215 stated for $700-800 you could build a far better system then one of the consoles.  However just get whatever you have fun with, I'm thinking about picking up a Wii U for the new Zelda game.

the whole pc versus console cost wise is invalid to me, pc being expensive you say? bullshit!, buy 3-4 new triple a titles from the store and you already spendt all that money,  from 60 to 40$? how about 20$? i can't remember last time i payed 40$ for a game on pc, on pc you have easy access to a nearly infinite amount of games, many are incredibly cheap, ALOT is free, then you have the big titles that are still cheaper, you easily make the money back in the long term (heck, even short term), it has a more open community and eco system, anyone can unleash whatever they want upon the interwebs, not to mention that a pc isn't just used for gaming.. 

[BaconComputing]

Just think about it. For the same price as an Xbox One, you could get a fully functioning computer that you can use for other things as well as gaming, and games don't usually cost nearly as much on pc as they do on consoles. 

[theroflcopta]

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/33KdrH) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/33KdrH/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-ad760kwohlbox) | $84.73 @ OutletPC 

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-S1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaf2a55ms1) | $39.38 @ Newegg 

**Memory** | [Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/patriot-memory-pv38g160c0rd) | $64.99 @ Newegg 

**Storage** | [seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $52.92 @ Amazon 

**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9280gaming3g) | $236.99 @ Newegg 

**Case** | [Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermaltake-case-vl80001w2z) | $24.99 @ Micro Center 

**Optical Drive** | [Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas12414) | $14.99 @ Newegg 

 | | **Total**

 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $518.99

 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-19 19:16 EDT-0400 |

 

The CPU bottlenecks the graphics card on some CPU intense games, i currently have that CPU and that GPU in my build, im going to put another 500$ in it in a month for a i5 so there is a lot of room for upgrades while being cheap, if u cant afford 500$ u could cut the graphics card a bit and still play most titles and upcoming titles on medium which consoles play medium-high at 30-40fps anyway

 

This is a good build with an OS you will look at a little over 600 but if you can harvest a HDD and OS from a rig you already have whether it be a desktop or laptop you can cut it down less or invest in a good monitor and peripherals.

[theroflcopta]

Of course it is your own personal opinion but here are some straight up facts. 

1. PC is more expensive up front but cheaper in the long term since games on PC always go on deep discounts. Just look at steam right now.

 

2. And likewise consoles are cheaper up front but more expensive in the long term but microsoft and sony are entering digital distribution on consoles so this is subject to change.

 

3. If you like gaming on keyboard and mouse AND controllers PC is the way to go but consoles cannot use keyboard and mouse unless you buy adapters.

 

4. The obvious advantage to PC over console is the customization. From mods to tweaking graphical settings to changing the aesthetic of your build you can change all of it.

 

5. BUT consoles are consistent with their performance the games might not run at the highest frames and they might not look the greatest but they will run and will atleast run at playable framerates. Most    would debate what constitutes playable haha but they will run.

 

6. Better split screen support on consoles. This might change with steam in home streaming but for right now consoles still kinda reign when it comes to gaming with your friends on one system and TV.

 

7. Backwards compatibility on PC is vastly better then console. You can play basically any game that has come out on the PC. A lot of older ones though can have incompatibility issues that need to be worked out but you can expect a good 95% of games will run.

 

8. Consoles do have exclusive titles that are worth playing. And not many people can deny that. But you pick it and it's games up for cheaper down the road once the console reaches the end of its life    cycle which most people do.  

 

There are pros and cons to both systems but either way you can't be absolutely wrong. Just wrong in the eyes of some people

[Scratchy1215]

Me and a good friend that ive known and gamed with for 5 years or so are in a ongoing argument over pc vs console and his main point is graphics arent everything when gaming. Which I 100% agree on. But he claims that consoles use controllers and pc doesnt use controllers or you have a hard time setting them up and ext. Then comes the price difference, i spent 700$ on my rig mainly because i love graphics as well as smooth gameplay. Now he just bought a ps4 about two weeks ago and yesterday sold it took a 200$ lose and bought a xbox one, which is around 600$ he could of spent on a PC. Now the even bigger thing he did is is buying a Apple mac book air for 700$ for the steam sale and is going to buy the PC exclusives.. i seriously want to smack him over it but hey to each his own, Just dont be him and spend 1300$ on a pc and console when 1300 could get you a 4k ready PC  <_<

[Guest]

Why is every budget build a Micro ATX case  :blink:

For that 96$ case you can get a great mid or even Full tower case. With great looks and way bigger chance at expand-ability. Just saying... nothing against Micro ATX i actually was going to make one but i plan on crossfiring in the near future and got a NZXT Phantom for 90$ on sale and slapped a micro atx mobo in it to save money  

I thought that the console form factor was a must-have...

[Scratchy1215]

I thought that the console form factor was a must-have...

that might be, gotta love custom pcs for that reason. You pick what you want

[AllstaRawR]

I am thinking of selling my 780ti to buy an Xbox One.

 

 I know you're not serious, but I would go and buy an Xbox One within the next hour to make that trade if you were haha.

[EmotionalSloth]

Not a good idea aksing that sorta question here lol

[juretrn]

If you buy PC parts... don't order from the US, import taxes are too high. At least order from inside the EU. Germany has usually the best prices (geizhals.de, hoh.de...).