Casual couch gamer with kids: Best option?

[Gdourado]

Hello, how are you?

Looking at discussing this.
For a person that enjoys single player story driven games, rpgs, single player campaigns and is a couch gamer, that will only game at the couch with a controller at the TV, so no high refresh rate monitor and no keyboard and mouse.

Also, this person is an adult with a house to take care of and kids, so doesn't have all the time in the world and is not made of money.

For such a person, what is the best option:

- Spend 300 euros on a PS4 Pro, enjoy the Sony exclusives and the multiplatform games like Assassins Creed Origins, Far Cry 5, Shadow of War, Rise of Tomb Raider and such at 30 fps.

- Spend 3 to 4 times that on an ITX build with an i5 8400, 16gb of ram, an SSD, SFX PSU, GTX 1060 6gb, forget the Sony exclusive games and enjoy the multiplatform games at 60 FPS ultra Settings.

 

Based on this scenario, what would be your choice and why?

 

Cheers!

[QuantumBit]

PS4, you dont need to spend all that extra money if youre not always gaming, specially if its for couch gaming

[Himommies]

I would recommend a PS4 with a extra controller.Get something like Gang Beasts or Rocket League so you can use your kids as a excuse

[App4that]

PS4, no question

[njmyers3]

If you already have a gaming PC, I'd recommend just buying a Steam Link and using in-home streaming. If not, it depends if you care about upfront cost or total cost. The PS4 is cheaper up front, but games and PS-Now will cost more in the long run. A PC will cost a lot upfront, but games will be cheaper and you don't need a subscription. Whichever you choose will give you a good couch gaming experience though. Have fun  

[FinnJim3]

this pc could work https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Hqj9NQ

[Himommies]

1 minute ago, JayKay3000 said:

Start with what you would like to play on it, then you'll be able to decide what platform to buy. You might even decide you want to play games that don't require high graphics power or even older console platforms.

 

 

He did give us a list.Read the post

[Unhelpful]

PS4.

[App4that]

10 minutes ago, njmyers3 said:

If you already have a gaming PC, I'd recommend just buying a Steam Link and using in-home streaming. If not, it depends if you care about upfront cost or total cost. The PS4 is cheaper up front, but games and PS-Now will cost more in the long run. A PC will cost a lot upfront, but games will be cheaper and you don't need a subscription. Whichever you choose will give you a good couch gaming experience though. Have fun  

Steam link is capped at 30fps at 4k. 

[Gdourado]

Forgot to mention, single player only, so would not buy ps plus.

a pc is more expensive.

did the math and for the price of an i5 with a 1060, I could get both a PS4 pro and a Xbox one X and have both consoles for exclusives and the one x for the multiplats.

a pc doesn’t seem so expensive, but it can add up when you add all the parts.

ram price is high for ddr4. Then you need an SSD, a psu and a case, a controller, a wireless keyboard with trackpad, all that adds up.

games are 60 euros at launch for the PS4, true. Games at launch are usually 40-50 for the pc. There are sales for the pc, but if you shop around, there are also cheaper places to buy ps4 games.

 

[njmyers3]

1 minute ago, App4that said:

Steam link is capped at 30fps at 4k. 

Indeed, but on a TV for casual gaming do you really need 4k?

[Gdourado]

Forgot to mention, 1080p gaming.

a 1060 cannot do 4k and the ps4 pro only does it in some titles and uses checkerboard rendering.

[App4that]

1 minute ago, njmyers3 said:

Indeed, but on a TV for casual gaming do you really need 4k?

Yes LOL, yes you do. Once you go 4k, good luck going back LOL

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 minute ago, App4that said:

Yes LOL, yes you do. Once you go 4k, good luck going back LOL

I wouldn't use 4K for casual gaming, even as a TV.

[njmyers3]

1 minute ago, App4that said:

Yes LOL, yes you do. Once you go 4k, good luck going back LOL

Don't wanna argue but I have a 55" 4k TV and at a normal distance it doesn't look any crisper than 1080p. Nothing wrong with 4k, but at such a distance it doesn't make a big difference.

[App4that]

1 minute ago, Gdourado said:

Forgot to mention, 1080p gaming.

a 1060 cannot do 4k and the ps4 pro only does it in some titles and uses checkerboard rendering.

A 1060 can do 4k, easy. Most games have a huge disparity between Ultra and High settings in performance, but look identical in motion. Plus you don't need an agressive AA at 4k. 

[App4that]

3 minutes ago, njmyers3 said:

Don't wanna argue but I have a 55" 4k TV and at a normal distance it doesn't look any crisper than 1080p. Nothing wrong with 4k, but at such a distance it doesn't make a big difference.

Not correct, the difference is night and day. Not sure where that idea came from. 

 

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I wouldn't use 4K for casual gaming, even as a TV.

Why? One of the ways gaming on a 4k just about pays for itself is how it makes older titles look like they just came out. Simplistic titles. Getting a 4k got my wife back into gaming. 

 

Edit, but I digress. PS4 is your best option. HTPCs take a lot of tinkering and work. Fun to have around, but anything but casual. 

[dizmo]

I'd 100% go with the console, whichever you like more. I greatly prefer the controller of the Xbox, so I'll throw that one out there.

It does really come down to that and exclusives, really. Performance differences are negligible between the two.

 

39 minutes ago, njmyers3 said:

If you already have a gaming PC, I'd recommend just buying a Steam Link and using in-home streaming. If not, it depends if you care about upfront cost or total cost. The PS4 is cheaper up front, but games and PS-Now will cost more in the long run. A PC will cost a lot upfront, but games will be cheaper and you don't need a subscription. Whichever you choose will give you a good couch gaming experience though. Have fun  

PSNow/Xbox Live really isn't that expensive. It's a few dollars a month. That's one of the lamest excuses people use to try and turn people off of consoles. Also, you can find console games just as cheap as Steam Sale games if you look.

35 minutes ago, FinnJim3 said:

this pc could work https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Hqj9NQ

Except you don't have peripherals, Windows, and you used US sources when he doesn't live in the US.

19 minutes ago, App4that said:

Not correct, the difference is night and day. Not sure where that idea came from.

People's eye sight isn't the same

[App4that]

Just now, dizmo said:

 

People's eye sight isn't the same

I get that, but damn LOL. Especially in UIs the difference is amazing, so much so you know right away when something doesn't scale. 

[Gdourado]

24 minutes ago, App4that said:

Not correct, the difference is night and day. Not sure where that idea came from. 

 

Why? One of the ways gaming on a 4k just about pays for itself is how it makes older titles look like they just came out. Simplistic titles. Getting a 4k got my wife back into gaming. 

 

Edit, but I digress. PS4 is your best option. HTPCs take a lot of tinkering and work. Fun to have around, but anything but casual. 

Curious about this part...

why do you say a HTPC takes a lot of tinkering?

I mean a pc can probably also lead to the constant upgrade bug.

a way to spend more money, like thinking about spgetting a new GPU, get faster ram, a better cpu, bigger SSD...

 

[App4that]

3 minutes ago, Gdourado said:

Curious about this part...

why do you say a HTPC takes a lot of tinkering?

I mean a pc can probably also lead to the constant upgrade bug.

a way to spend more money, like thinking about spgetting a new GPU, get faster ram, a better cpu, bigger SSD...

 

One word, Windows. I spend more time chasing problems than gaming on mine. Latest is the gamepad deciding to reset after a few minutes of play, so while gaming you get the notification chime when ever you plug or unplug something. Gamepad and dongle work fine when connected to a monitor, act up when connected to a TV. Same goes for screen tearing, chaising a problem with DX12 and Vulkan causing it. List goes on. Honestly don't know why Windows and televisions mix so poorly, makes no sense. But. 

[Stefan Payne]

1 hour ago, Gdourado said:

For a person that enjoys single player story driven games, rpgs, single player campaigns and is a couch gamer, that will only game at the couch with a controller at the TV, so no high refresh rate monitor and no keyboard and mouse.

Also, this person is an adult with a house to take care of and kids, so doesn't have all the time in the world and is not made of money.

 

Based on this scenario, what would be your choice and why?

The first part is something that speaks more for the PS4 PRO.

But the Kids part speaks more for Nintendo Stuff. 

But you can also get them a cheaper console like a Wii with wich they will have much fun as well.

So that's not necessarily a Problem.

 

Don't know much about Kids Games on PS4 though. How old are they??

[Gdourado]

Kids are still way out of videogames.

they still only see paw patrol and super wings.

they are very young.

games are daddy’s hobby.

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, App4that said:

I get that, but damn LOL. Especially in UIs the difference is amazing, so much so you know right away when something doesn't scale. 

Haha, yeah. It's like when I gave my dad a monitor I bought. I can't stand 1080p on a 27" monitor, it gives me headaches. He loves it. *shrug*

[garyhogan1991]

You could always pick up a PS4 secondhand for pretty cheap. Then you could enjoy both platforms.