can you build a gaming pc better than a ps4 for the same price?

sham_97

Prominent
Jun 13, 2017
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i have a ps4 and i see online lots of people comparing a £500 pc to a ps4 but that's quite an outdated price. Right now you can buy ps4 and xbox for like £250 each, i mean brand new ones.
In fact, i'm looking at tesco right now and they are selling the PS4 slim 500gb (not pro) for £250 INCLUDING a ps4 controller and either fifa 17 or horizon dawn.

I actually have a gaming pc that costs about £700 or £750 without monitor or accessories, but i cant think of how i can build a £250 pc that performs as good as a ps4 and there's so many people saying that you can build a gaming pc for the same price as ps4 and cheaper, but they are always using a false price for the console to compare with.

so Tom's Hardware, show me the proof. Can you really build a better pc than a ps4 for the same price of £250? guess you could say that a pc does more than just gaming but lets balance that out with the free game and controller you get with the console (i know it's different but let's just agree for the sake of comparison).
 
Solution
You cannot compare a gaming PC to a console. The same games are written completely different for different platforms and run completely differently. Games written for the PC are written to encompass hundreds, if not thousands, of PC configurations. Those games also need to take into consideration differing operating systems, different hardware drivers, and what background processes are running on each and every machine that the game is running on.

Consoles are completely different. There's only one set of hardware components, only one OS running, and very few (if any) background processes running.

-Wolf sends

Math Geek

Titan
Ambassador
not a chance to build a gaming pc for that price. you could probably hobble together some basic parts but it'll be weak and unable to play anything very quickly after building it if even that day!!

that and consider how long the ps4 will be supported. games get better and better optimized as time goes by while the ultra cheap pc will get weaker and weaker as time goes by. for that budget, the ps4/xbox is the only way to go.
 
You could with used parts but not new. Used sb i5 pc and add a 1050ti. A higher level of mass production results in lower cost per unit which is why it was comparable at release. Now after so long there's more supply and decreasing sales resulting in cheaper prices and deals to get rid of old inventory.
 

sham_97

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Jun 13, 2017
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so then another question. I believe a pc would last longer? How long would a cheap £500 gaming pc last until you need some serious upgrades? (not including increasing ram or increasing airflow/cooling)
Also, in this hypothetical situation im talking about 1080p with 30 fps (since i believe that's what ps4 is running at right?) for modern games which are also run on console.
 

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
You cannot compare a gaming PC to a console. The same games are written completely different for different platforms and run completely differently. Games written for the PC are written to encompass hundreds, if not thousands, of PC configurations. Those games also need to take into consideration differing operating systems, different hardware drivers, and what background processes are running on each and every machine that the game is running on.

Consoles are completely different. There's only one set of hardware components, only one OS running, and very few (if any) background processes running.

-Wolf sends
 
Solution
How long a pc lasts depends what setting you'd be fine with. With a decent setup and lowering settings, you should get 5 years. That's probably the same time as a new console gets released. But then usually a gpu upgrade is all it needs so it's not a serious upgrade or lots more money to spend.