It's been 3 years and 3 months. Think it's about time I did another one.
I would like to preface this by saying that I don't own and never have owned a console
but my field of expertise is computing. I've been building PC's for people and myself for as long as I can remember.
Now I'm not going to go over everything that I did last time since a lot of what I said is still true just slightly different names. As such this will be more of a refresher.
PC vs Console, what's the difference?
In my opinion these 4 points are the most important differences in no particular order.
1. Customisability, upgradability and, personalisability.
- It really can't get anymore clear cut then this. Sure you can paint your console, change the wallpaper and whatnot but [outside of breaking your warranty] you can't change anything meaning about the software/hardware.
2. Perceived and actual cost in both the short and long term.
- Thinking ahead and taking associated costs into consideration isn't something that comes naturally to most people.
It's true, for the most part PC is more expensive when starting from zero but even when starting from zero, long terms costs are much lower than on console. This post is going to go over this.
3. Extent of service (PSN, XBL, Steam, Origin, etc) features and integration.
- What I mean is to what degree you as a player is dependent on a service; how streamlined things are and, available features.
4. The amount of games and software that are available per platform.
- Here is another point where there is just no contest. Yes consoles do have some sort of backwards compatibility but not to the extent of the PC platform. Games such as Half Life can still be played on modern hardware.
Cost
This time I'm going to do things a little differently.
There will be 3 builds for PC as well as both PS4/PS4P and XBS/XBX. 1tb versions.
As I'm Australian, everything will be in AUD.
Let's look at 3, 5 and, 8 year time-spans.
If you were to buy 2 games per year.
XBS = 1220-3Y, 1780-5Y, 2620-8Y
XBX = 1470-3Y, 2030-5Y, 2870-8Y
PS4 = 1320-3Y, 1880-5Y, 2720-8Y
PS4P = 1370-3Y, 1930-5Y, 2770-8Y
PC674 = 1214-3Y, 1574-5Y, 2114-8Y
PC1221 = 1761-3Y, 2121-5Y, 2661-8Y
PC2579 = 3119-3Y, 3479-5Y, 4019-8Y
What about 6 games per year.
XBS = 2420-3Y, 3780-5Y, -5820-8Y
XBX = 2670-3Y, 4030-5Y, -6070-8Y
PS4 = 2520-3Y, 3880-5Y, 5920-8Y
PS4P = 2570-3Y, 3930-5Y, 5970-8Y
PC674 = 2294-3Y, 3374-5Y, 4994-8Y
PC1221 = 2841-3Y, 3921-5Y, 5541-8Y
PC2579 = 4199-3Y, 5279-5Y, 6899-8Y,
And 12 games per year.
XBS = 4220-3Y, 6780-5Y, 10,620-8Y
XBX = 4470-3Y, 7030-5Y, 10,870-8Y
PS4 = 4320-3Y, 6880-5Y, 10,720-8Y
PS4P = 4370-3Y, 6930-5Y, 10,770-8Y
PC674 = 3914-3Y, 6074-5Y, 8214-8Y
PC1221 = 4461-3Y, 6621-5Y, 9861-8Y
PC2579 = 5819-3Y, 7979-5Y, 11,219-8Y
*PC specs
I've specced these system so that they will offer good reliable performance while leaving room for future upgrades if desired.
Now Windows officially costs $225 but there are much cheaper alternatives.
Linux is great gaming alternative to Windows these days and I fully recommend it if you are particularly tight on cash and/or dislike Windows.
So I'm not including it in the total cost, same for keyboard/mouse.
Like last time, all prices are from PCCG (www.pccasegear.com) at time of writing.
Budget $674;
CPU: $219 AMD Ryzen 2400G
MB: $108 Asus B450M-K
RAM: $69 Kingston 8GB KVR24N17S8/8
GPU: N/A iGPU
SSD: $48 Kingston A400 240GB [Sata or M.2]
HDD: $85 Seagate Barracuda 2TBPSU: $95 Corsair CX650
Case: $50 Thermaltake Versa H18
Mid-Tier ~$1221;
CPU: $309 AMD Ryzen 2600X
MB: $125 Asus B450M-A
RAM: $149 Corsair 16GB CMK16GX4M2A2400C16
GPU: $279 MSI GTX1060 OC3GB / $ 269 Gigabyte RX570 8GB
SSD: $105 WD SN750 250GB NVMe
HDD: $85 Seagate Barracuda 2TBPSU: $95 Corsair CX650
Case: $79 Thermaltake Versa J21TG
High-End $2579;
CPU: $409 Intel 9600K
Cooler: $105 Noctua NH-D14
MB: $215 MSI Z390-A
RAM: $199 Corsair 16GB CMU16GX4M2C3000C15
GPU: $1149 Asus Strix RTX2080 8GB / $1149 Radeon VII 16GB
SSD: $189 WD SN750 500GB NVMe
HDD: $85 Seagate Barracuda 2TBPSU: $129 Corsair CX750
Case: $99 Thermaltake Versa J25TG
This is the cream of the crop while still being somewhat reasonable in cost. I DO NOT recommend this as a first build. It's here for more for shits and giggles but there's no question this will last 6/7 years without issue, maybe even 8/9 years depending where the industry goes and what your priorities are.
Future upgrades could include GFX [duh], CPU [9900K for example]/Cooler and maybe even ram if you're doing more than just gaming and internet.
Final Note
If anyone is interested to know more or is looking to have a PC built, I'm always willing to talk with you about it. Email me at apasztechie@gmail.com
As you may have noticed I haven't mentioned 4K, which is big selling point of both Xbox One X and Playstation 4 Pro. The reason is simple,
Console 4k is almost never actual 4k and it just isn't a fair comparison.
At the end of the day, let's all just enjoy the game, whatever platform you play on.
じゃあね Ciao
.AJ-R. -アパゾ
I would like to preface this by saying that I don't own and never have owned a console
but my field of expertise is computing. I've been building PC's for people and myself for as long as I can remember.
Now I'm not going to go over everything that I did last time since a lot of what I said is still true just slightly different names. As such this will be more of a refresher.
PC vs Console, what's the difference?
In my opinion these 4 points are the most important differences in no particular order.
1. Customisability, upgradability and, personalisability.
- It really can't get anymore clear cut then this. Sure you can paint your console, change the wallpaper and whatnot but [outside of breaking your warranty] you can't change anything meaning about the software/hardware.
2. Perceived and actual cost in both the short and long term.
- Thinking ahead and taking associated costs into consideration isn't something that comes naturally to most people.
It's true, for the most part PC is more expensive when starting from zero but even when starting from zero, long terms costs are much lower than on console. This post is going to go over this.
3. Extent of service (PSN, XBL, Steam, Origin, etc) features and integration.
- What I mean is to what degree you as a player is dependent on a service; how streamlined things are and, available features.
4. The amount of games and software that are available per platform.
- Here is another point where there is just no contest. Yes consoles do have some sort of backwards compatibility but not to the extent of the PC platform. Games such as Half Life can still be played on modern hardware.
Cost
This time I'm going to do things a little differently.
There will be 3 builds for PC as well as both PS4/PS4P and XBS/XBX. 1tb versions.
As I'm Australian, everything will be in AUD.
- Hardware = XBS $380 / XBX $630 - PS4 $480 / PS4P $530 - PC* $674/$1221/$2579
- Games = Console $100ea - PC $90ea. At release.
- Service = XBL/PSN $80/y - PC $0/y
Let's look at 3, 5 and, 8 year time-spans.
If you were to buy 2 games per year.
XBS = 1220-3Y, 1780-5Y, 2620-8Y
XBX = 1470-3Y, 2030-5Y, 2870-8Y
PS4 = 1320-3Y, 1880-5Y, 2720-8Y
PS4P = 1370-3Y, 1930-5Y, 2770-8Y
PC674 = 1214-3Y, 1574-5Y, 2114-8Y
PC1221 = 1761-3Y, 2121-5Y, 2661-8Y
PC2579 = 3119-3Y, 3479-5Y, 4019-8Y
What about 6 games per year.
XBS = 2420-3Y, 3780-5Y, -5820-8Y
XBX = 2670-3Y, 4030-5Y, -6070-8Y
PS4 = 2520-3Y, 3880-5Y, 5920-8Y
PS4P = 2570-3Y, 3930-5Y, 5970-8Y
PC674 = 2294-3Y, 3374-5Y, 4994-8Y
PC1221 = 2841-3Y, 3921-5Y, 5541-8Y
PC2579 = 4199-3Y, 5279-5Y, 6899-8Y,
And 12 games per year.
XBS = 4220-3Y, 6780-5Y, 10,620-8Y
XBX = 4470-3Y, 7030-5Y, 10,870-8Y
PS4 = 4320-3Y, 6880-5Y, 10,720-8Y
PS4P = 4370-3Y, 6930-5Y, 10,770-8Y
PC674 = 3914-3Y, 6074-5Y, 8214-8Y
PC1221 = 4461-3Y, 6621-5Y, 9861-8Y
PC2579 = 5819-3Y, 7979-5Y, 11,219-8Y
*PC specs
I've specced these system so that they will offer good reliable performance while leaving room for future upgrades if desired.
Now Windows officially costs $225 but there are much cheaper alternatives.
Linux is great gaming alternative to Windows these days and I fully recommend it if you are particularly tight on cash and/or dislike Windows.
So I'm not including it in the total cost, same for keyboard/mouse.
Like last time, all prices are from PCCG (www.pccasegear.com) at time of writing.
Budget $674;
CPU: $219 AMD Ryzen 2400G
MB: $108 Asus B450M-K
RAM: $69 Kingston 8GB KVR24N17S8/8
GPU: N/A iGPU
SSD: $48 Kingston A400 240GB [Sata or M.2]
HDD: $85 Seagate Barracuda 2TBPSU: $95 Corsair CX650
Case: $50 Thermaltake Versa H18
This system will be able to play most games at low-med settings without too many issues.
Down the road I'd recommend getting a dedicated GFX and throwing in another stick of RAM.
Mid-Tier ~$1221;
CPU: $309 AMD Ryzen 2600X
MB: $125 Asus B450M-A
RAM: $149 Corsair 16GB CMK16GX4M2A2400C16
GPU: $279 MSI GTX1060 OC3GB / $ 269 Gigabyte RX570 8GB
SSD: $105 WD SN750 250GB NVMe
HDD: $85 Seagate Barracuda 2TBPSU: $95 Corsair CX650
Case: $79 Thermaltake Versa J21TG
This system will last 4/5 years without issue. Now it's not going to run the latest games at absolute max settings but it can most definitely hold its own no matter what you throw at it.
As for future upgrades I'd again recommend a more powerful GFX card.
High-End $2579;
CPU: $409 Intel 9600K
Cooler: $105 Noctua NH-D14
MB: $215 MSI Z390-A
RAM: $199 Corsair 16GB CMU16GX4M2C3000C15
GPU: $1149 Asus Strix RTX2080 8GB / $1149 Radeon VII 16GB
SSD: $189 WD SN750 500GB NVMe
HDD: $85 Seagate Barracuda 2TBPSU: $129 Corsair CX750
Case: $99 Thermaltake Versa J25TG
This is the cream of the crop while still being somewhat reasonable in cost. I DO NOT recommend this as a first build. It's here for more for shits and giggles but there's no question this will last 6/7 years without issue, maybe even 8/9 years depending where the industry goes and what your priorities are.
Future upgrades could include GFX [duh], CPU [9900K for example]/Cooler and maybe even ram if you're doing more than just gaming and internet.
Final Note
If anyone is interested to know more or is looking to have a PC built, I'm always willing to talk with you about it. Email me at apasztechie@gmail.com
As you may have noticed I haven't mentioned 4K, which is big selling point of both Xbox One X and Playstation 4 Pro. The reason is simple,
Console 4k is almost never actual 4k and it just isn't a fair comparison.
At the end of the day, let's all just enjoy the game, whatever platform you play on.
じゃあね Ciao
.AJ-R. -アパゾ
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