If the goal is to build a PC that’s the same performance level as the console in question, even with current ridiculously inflated prices it isn’t nearly that expensive.
PS5 Pro ($699) is an 8-core AMD Zen 2 with 16Gb of RAM (shared with the GPU), a 2TB SSD, and a GPU roughly in line with an RX 9060 XT or RTX 5060TI. Late last year, building a matching PC would have been somewhere in the $1-1.2k range. Today it’s few hundred more due to the AI caused RAM shortage.
It’s when you actually want to outperform consoles and push the graphics settings far beyond the optimizations and targets of console games use when things start to get expensive fast.
But I slowly take it back one 75-90% Steam sale game at a time.
You aren’t getting a processor, graphics card, a motherboard, case and that ram for $699 right now, though. That’s my point. It’s more than double the cost, if not maybe even triple right now. Do you actually get double or triple the value then? Touche on the steam savings (you could even argue pirating - not condoning but just saying it’s an option, to get those savings), but are you going to actually close the gap? PC games tend to be more demanding too, plus as a PC gamer I often find games need a lot more time for optimization and need tinkering, whereas with a console they just sort of work. There’s pros and cons to each for sure, but I’m of the opinion that right now I’m more heavily on the side of the console, at least from a $ value perspective.
Yes. But you claimed “about 5 to 6x the purchase price for a PC vs a console”. Which isn’t double or triple.
And neither did I claim that you could build a PC at the same cost, I said 1-1.2k plus a few hundred more. Which is around double.
I don’t think you’ve realistically ever been able to build a matching PC at the same price, because they are almost always sold at cost or sometimes at a loss as the manufacturer gets their profit selling games, not the hardware. Same deal why VR hardware from Meta is so much cheaper compared to everyone else - because you need to then buy your games from Meta as well.
If the goal is to build a PC that’s the same performance level as the console in question, even with current ridiculously inflated prices it isn’t nearly that expensive.
PS5 Pro ($699) is an 8-core AMD Zen 2 with 16Gb of RAM (shared with the GPU), a 2TB SSD, and a GPU roughly in line with an RX 9060 XT or RTX 5060TI. Late last year, building a matching PC would have been somewhere in the $1-1.2k range. Today it’s few hundred more due to the AI caused RAM shortage.
It’s when you actually want to outperform consoles and push the graphics settings far beyond the optimizations and targets of console games use when things start to get expensive fast.
But I slowly take it back one 75-90% Steam sale game at a time.
You aren’t getting a processor, graphics card, a motherboard, case and that ram for $699 right now, though. That’s my point. It’s more than double the cost, if not maybe even triple right now. Do you actually get double or triple the value then? Touche on the steam savings (you could even argue pirating - not condoning but just saying it’s an option, to get those savings), but are you going to actually close the gap? PC games tend to be more demanding too, plus as a PC gamer I often find games need a lot more time for optimization and need tinkering, whereas with a console they just sort of work. There’s pros and cons to each for sure, but I’m of the opinion that right now I’m more heavily on the side of the console, at least from a $ value perspective.
Yes. But you claimed “about 5 to 6x the purchase price for a PC vs a console”. Which isn’t double or triple. And neither did I claim that you could build a PC at the same cost, I said 1-1.2k plus a few hundred more. Which is around double.
I don’t think you’ve realistically ever been able to build a matching PC at the same price, because they are almost always sold at cost or sometimes at a loss as the manufacturer gets their profit selling games, not the hardware. Same deal why VR hardware from Meta is so much cheaper compared to everyone else - because you need to then buy your games from Meta as well.
As for the Steam value…