Skeptical about Switching to PC

I don't play BF4 .... but have 3 kids (18 - 24 yrs) that do.

1. They all play BF4 with mouse / KB.... they do use PS4 controllers hooked to the PC for games like Dark Souls II so the option is there if ya want.

2. Never heard of it.....unless ya silly enough to give out login info.

3. Kids upgrade their systems every 4 years.

4. Ya talking an Optimized Toyota Corolla (PS4) versus a Porsche (PC) .... of course Im not talking a Walmart bought PC.

1) You need to use mouse/keyboard if you plan to play competatively. Console has a generic Autoaim feature by default that will be disabled on PC, and you will die.

2) There are most likely as many hackers on PC as there are on PS3, you just don't really notice since they are subtle and not obvious (or risk banning)

3) New games generally only demand better hardware if you intend to run at the highest graphics. Obviously, PC has better graphics than a console, but you will need top end hardware to get those settings all the time. If you are OK with medium - high, a good quality gaming rig will outlast a console, since the end of consoles generally means the end of game manufacturing, where as PC's can run both old and new hardware; just, not necessarily well.
Your PC games also carry over. If you end up buying BF5 in the next few years, you can always purchase a new PC. You could not put your PS3 disk in a PS4.

4) That is absolutely correct. You will need to pick components that are optimal for gaming, and you will need to maintain the environment (Windows). PC's are not as durable as consoles, they do tend to break more frequently. You will need to know how to troubleshoot and resolve issues with applications, such as game crashes, updating the videocard drivers and antivirus.

5) Once you are used to mouse/keyboard, so are shooters.
Actually; all games are better on PC. You can just plug a PS3/Xbox 360 controller in and play any Console type game flawless. Steam also regularly puts games on sale, and PC gaming can be significantly cheaper.

1)i have no idea what you're talking about regarding the sensitivity of the mouse, seeing as plenty of them usually comes with software that allows you to change the DPI settings to your liking. what you will face however is that awkward transition from controller to KB+M, which needs some getting used to (consider getting an X360 controller, wired preferably, not necessarily for PC). the payoff; better accuracy, usually in fps.

2) if you're referring to players using a cheat online; fair point, but not really a major issue. report any suspicion of cheating on the forums and the relevant officials will look into it. plus, sometimes, it's fun to mess with hackers in some games. case in point; kicking an idle hacker, likely sleeping. in Dark Souls with infinite hp off a cliff several screens away or baiting him/her to a cliff in a fight.

if you're talking about literal hackers; just follow proper online security etiquette. an AV here, a anti-malware there, some security add-ons on your browser like WOT, NoScript, etc., some smart surfing, and naturally creating a non-sensical and secure password, preferably different for each account, the only backup to it in case you forgot is printed out/written down, and a constant update of any security breach from news site like TH, game news sites, ars technica, etc.

3)BS. with a good enough rig, and a realistic enough expectation, you can run a $1000 PC for years. example; plenty of pc gamers still run on a core 2 duo + Nvidia 8000/9000 GT/GS/GTS/GTX. first & second gen i5/i7 owners have no reason to abandon their 2-3+ year old PC for gaming, and i'd still be playing on my Radeon 6870 if it didn't crap out on me.

4) and PC has the horsepower to run those games at a much better setting, simply ignoring whatever H/W optimization. not the best but it's been done and has worked out well over the years. while true some games are optimized real poorly to the point of frustration, the likes of GTA IV and ARMA, you can trust a legion of modders to step in and help improve it over time. otherwise, you can always google for how to fix an issue and do so from the games' setting files. worked wonders for Fallout 3 & NV for me.

5) okey dokey.

my advice; if you got the money & the will to learn, go for it. but if you still got some doubt and don't want to waste the possibility of troubleshooting a problem, stick with consoles. despite the enormous pay off in gaming, pc gaming does has it's issue. issues that can be fixed with time, effort & at worst, money. understandably, not everyone can commit to those, so again, your choice. think wisely.

I'm with hazle on number 3. I could upgrade from my 6870 but its not really worth it for me as it still plays all games on at the very least medium settings. (bf4 and crysis 3 included) The 6870 cost me about 200 bucks quite some time ago and when it was new it was 250ish. It was released nearly 4 years ago.

There's a ton of mice with DPI settings, mine can switch. I have the G35, from Logitech. It's older.

You won't do well with a PS controller. It's not so much the speed you look around, or the DPI, it's the accuracy. You will not get any kills because there is no auto aim assistance.

Again; you won't notice any hackers in competitive games. Some older, abandoned games will have bad hackers, but they will be obvious (Transformers for example).
Anyone who hacks in BF4 will use such a minor tweak, that you won't really notice. People get banned from the main servers for hacking and need to buy another copy of the game. It's not that common.

Playing Battlefield 4 online, on ultra, will depend more on your processor than the graphics card. I'm using a 670 Amp! and I can run it on Ultra easily, with an overclocked FX8350.

The 760 and 770 would be comparable to this card.

But if you want to know how hardware compares, check the benchmarks.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7503/the-amd-radeon-r9-270x-270-review-feat-asus-his/8

Yuk, why 1 stick in a dual channel motherboard?

Any modern motherboard should have 2 or 4 sticks from the same kit of RAM. You are creating instability and reducing performance by using only one channel.

But anyway; those processors are fine.

You will need two copies of the game, yes.

You need two copies of the game.

Consoles do not experience the same level of piracy that PC's do, so PC is generally more restricted where it can be.

Although; PC does get mod support often enough.

You can buy the game, DL it on two PC's and share one account. But you could not play online together in this case.

Or just wait for it to go on sale in August and buy a second copy cheap.