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Forums - Gaming Discussion - So I just built a PC and here's my take on the whole Consoles VS PC argument

Conina said:
 

I agree that the progress has slowed down, but it's not THAT bad.

The GTX 970 (September 2014) is more than 3x as fast as the GTX 470 (April 2010) and has ~3x the RAM:

You had to pay €350 - €400 for a GTX 470 when it launched, but only €300 - €350 for a GTX 970 (I got mine for €290) when it launched. So about 3.5x the performance in 4.5 years.

The GTX 960 (January 2015) is ~2.7x as fast as the GTX 460 (July 2010) and has 2x the RAM (or 4x if you choose the 4GB-version):

You had to pay €200 - €250 for a GTX 460 when it launched (the cheaper ones were the models with 768 MB RAM), but only €180 - €200 for a GTX 960 (2 GB) when it launched. So about 3x the performance in 4.5 years.

Sorry it's difficult to find a good comparison between an HD5850 and a modern day card so i guess i could have been a bit off(what site is that btw?), especially since the progress moves exponentially. Though i think it's important to note that the GTX 470 was not a good card, an hd5850 was very close in performance and used less power at a price range of € 220- € 250. Also since PS3/360 launched power consumption of high end gpu's has more than doubled, so part of the performance gain is simply from amping the juice(and therefore making these chips less usable in small form factor consoles).

So i was a little to negative about the advancement but my point still stands. Looking at the charts you can see there has been an advancement of just over 50% in the last 3 years/two series. Up to about five years ago it wasn't uncommon to see performance gains off up to 80%-100% in just 1 year/series.

Like i said, 3 years after the PS3 we got the hd5850/GTX 470 cards which were probably 7x to 8x faster with up to 4x the video ram. 3 years after PS4 we have the GTX 970 which is about twice as fast with about the same amount of video memory. And PS3 was higher end tech for it's day and more expensive than PS4! So that's a huge slow down.

The gap between PC high end hardware and current gen consoles is growing much slower than last generation, and that makes high end PC hardware less interesting.



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oh noes shipping costs



Sprash said:
Can all of you please stop with the derailing?

To the OP: Hope you don't regret it or rather hope you can enjoy pc gaming from now on (great platform).


How is it derailing though? OP sets out to disprove a myth about PC vs console gaming, others throw out other myths, which are clearly untrue or completely subjective and then some of us answer them. It's perfectly in line with the OP and general theme of the thread, if someone makes bogus claims, you argue against them, that's how debates and discussions work most of the time.

 

Blag79; yeah, I also paid nothing for shipping, despite the packages being massive and heavy (over 100 pounds in total). If some stores are being cheapskates; that's not really the as PC platform's fault.



IMO the building is the best part. And I think the savings for building your own PC should be compared with off the shelf PC's, not consoles, which are always going to win performance per dollar contests.



PS, PS2, Gameboy Advance, PS3, PSP, PS4, Xbox One

To those who don't get it, just look at how 7th gen multiplat games look and work on a 400 usd/euro PC - it's a day and night comparison, not to mention other advantages like mods. That being said I've been on a PS2 kick again :D



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Deus Ex (2000) - a game that pushes the boundaries of what the video game medium is capable of to a degree unmatched to this very day.

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Mummelmann said:
Sprash said:
Can all of you please stop with the derailing?

To the OP: Hope you don't regret it or rather hope you can enjoy pc gaming from now on (great platform).


How is it derailing though? OP sets out to disprove a myth about PC vs console gaming, others throw out other myths, which are clearly untrue or completely subjective and then some of us answer them. It's perfectly in line with the OP and general theme of the thread, if someone makes bogus claims, you argue against them, that's how debates and discussions work most of the time.

 

Blag79; yeah, I also paid nothing for shipping, despite the packages being massive and heavy (over 100 pounds in total). If some stores are being cheapskates; that's not really the as PC platform's fault.

It is derailing the thread because (the way I see it) it is very clear that one part of this conversation in the last couple of comments isn't going to listen, so my advice would be to let it go, no point in arguing that any further.



beeje13 said:
IMO the building is the best part. And I think the savings for building your own PC should be compared with off the shelf PC's, not consoles, which are always going to win performance per dollar contests.

True, it would be a lot more interesting to compare with pre-built pcs. The cheap ones suck nowadays though, they try to save cost with mobile cpus and gimped gpu to get below that $400 price point.

However you have a lot more room at the enthusiast level as those are already near the $1200 mark on pc parts picker. (without OS, kb/m etc) And at that price point saving a $100 becomes less important too, or the ease of mind of having warrenty on the full system.



My problem is that if I build a pc I'm going to spend too much money because I go all out on everything. I don't want to do that. I also prefer console style gaming as it is. It's more convenient for me and consoles are collectible. I don't think many people collect old pc parts. I have a $650 laptop that has no disc drive and can hardly play 5 year old games at 30fps. Its fast for a i5 but the built in Gpu is shit. I know that doesn't compare to a tower where you can put in two gtx 980s in sli but I need a good laptop for work. I guess I'm saying I will stick to console for gaming and pc for work. I also prefer the Ui on ps4. The Ui on xbone and pc is more of a toss up. Kinda like I prefer android to Apple os. I own at least one of every platform I mentioned.



While at times I've been pondering on how would it be to ditch consoles and go full PC, at the end I come to my senses thinking it's not a viable idea for me at the moment. Everyone can sugarcoat it as they want, but PC gaming, despite the inexpensive year old games, can be quite expensive, especially when you factor in shipping. Sure, free shipping is a godsend when you're living in the continental US. Whereas people living in an island like me have to take in some hefty shipping fees for lugging things over here. I know; I've been there several times. Also, if I were to build a PC, why would I make it with the same specs as a PS4? Wouldn't it make sense to, I dunno, make it more powerful than a PS4?

If I'm going to ultimately build a rig, it's going to be used for work rather than gaming. In fact, I rarely use my current laptop for gaming anymore since the video card tends to crash everytime I play Warframe. I once downloaded Steam only to delete it from the computer a few hours later because I just didn't like it and its policies. Games weren't as inexpensive as people tend to swear about, but to be fair there wasn't an sale by then.

In the end, trying PC gaming was much of a nuisance for me than inexpensive convenience. I gave it quite a few tries, but I personally just don't see myself solely gaming on a PC. Will I give it a chance in the future? Maybe, but I'm way more comfortable playing on my PS4.



Mummelmann said:

I'll give it a go;

1: Constant fiddling with drivers and settings. No, I update my graphics drivers about once every two months or so, the process is entirely automatic and can usually be performed in the background. Drivers for motherboard, sound card, HDD and SSD, optical readers and network gear is usually out of the box and practically never needs updating. GPU's are the only components which require frequent or semi-frequent updating. The firmware updates and various app updates on consoles are an equal hassle, sometimes more since the servers are terribly slow (especially on PS). I've also experienced not being able to play a new game at all (GTA V) because I lacked the newest firmware on my PS3 when I was without a connection for 2 months, the game simply would not start and I was forced to bring my PS3 to a friend's house across town, ride 30 minutes of trains and bus each direction simply to update it, this has never happened to me on PC ever since we entered the modern era of gaming (I've also spent 3-4 hours waiting for Gran Turismo 5 and 6 to update after not having played them for a while).
As for settings; I'm assuming you're talking about games here. Never have I "constantly fiddled" with settings in games, I buy the games, install them and then choose every setting and bind the keys and then I play the game, usually never touching the setting ever again until I'm done with the game, so that part is an outright lie at least.

2: Frequent upgrades required; no. I had my last rig for 5 years and it was in the upper middle segment of performance when I bought it, I never so much as replaced a single component in it. It was still fully functional and even ran the newest games, but I wanted more oomph and decided on a new one (and went balls-to the walls). This is among the favorite arguments of console gamers, but it's also an outright lie. Frequent upgrades are not required, my current rig can probably go for 7-8 years if I add another GPU on SLi setup, with no other components replaced, it won't max them but run them at least (1080p and unstable 30 FPS console gaming isn't anything to shower with pride either imo).
I guess it comes to to your definition of "frequent", but to me, every 5 years or so is not frequent, that's actually more or less in line with most console lifecycles for early adopters (with One and PS4 being exceptions and not the rule, PS3 and 360 had unnatrually long lives due to the HD era being ushered in).

3: Requires extra space to set up desktop, monitor and input devices. My monitor is huge (32") and my desktop is a Big Tower as well, it easily fits in my 1 room appartment of around 37 square meters though, and I also have a 46" TV here. My input devices are as follows; a Logitech 2.1 system with the small speakers placed on each side of the monitor on my fairly small desk and the bass placed directly below on the floor, an HD camera for Skype on top of the monitor and currently a Xbox 360 controller I use for FIFA. That's not really a terrible hassle and my screen and tower is vastly bigger than average. Besides; the TV + console + possible surround takes up a lot more room, so this is a non-argument at best and seems like serious grasping at straws.
If you can't afford living conditions that will fit a desk and a desktop computer, you probably don't have cash to spend on console gaming and a decent TV either.

4: Having to play with kb/m in MP just because everyone else is. Another non-argument; "the majority of users are using a controller setup I don't like, the platform is unfit for me." That's just personal preference. I hate playing FPS games and most RPG's with controllers, that doesn't mean that I complain about people playing Battlefield on PS and Xbox and state that I can't buy those consoles because other gamers are using controllers I don't like.
Keyboard + mouse is superior in every way on FPS and 3rd person games, as well as RTS and RPG's with lots of shortcuts and hotkeys; the fact that you don't like it personally is not an argument against PC gaming in general from any objective standpoint.

These are not proper arguments at all, they're either false or simply completely subjective and/or irrelevant. It's fine that you don't appreciate or like PC gaming, I can understand it on some level, but the above points are not fit to dismiss PC gaming as a whole.
There are a hundred arguments of the same nature I could use against consoles, but I don't because I see their lack of value in the discussion.
Some prefer console gaming (I did too for many years) and some prefer PC gaming and that's fine, we can't really "defeat" the other' preferences by imposing our own, especially with non-arguments and personal anecdotes on likes and dislikes.


1. That's great for you but a quick google search of "The Witcher 3 won't start" gives you multiple threads on multiple forums with people having issues just starting the game. I can have any number of updates on my PS4 games (though, those are done in the background) but I know I'll never have to spend hours trying to figure out why something is wrong with my game.

2. Who knows what components you have and how much you spent on them years ago.

3. I live in a 3-room apartment so don't worry about my lack of space. That's not the issue here, it's just a waste of space. I do have a desk but I have my work laptop on there. No way, will I waste other desk for a machine that's only going to be used for gaming.

4. KB/M is boring and uncomfortable to play with. No idea how people tolerate playing with those.