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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

Lawlight said:
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.

These points have been discredited multiple times now. Why bother repeating the same lies when they've been proven to be false.



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LudicrousSpeed said:
I only read the OP and none of the replies but uh.. PC's are cheaper. And more powerful. And though I prefer gaming on consoles since that's where my friends/family are, I can easily admit they make for superior gaming devices as well.

And to be fair, if you're going to include things like a monitor and OS and keyboard for the PC then you should also include a TV for consoles. And don't forget there's no online charge for PC's, and you can ALWAYS get new release games for a lot less.

You can actually build a PC that easily outperforms current gen consoles and save a lot of money in the long run.


Well OP doesn't seem to take the recent $50 price cut for PS4 into account, so right know the mentioned PC build is about the same price(though PS4 includes a controller). But yes PC does have the advantage of free online. Also if you upgrade or buy a new PC you can play you're old game library on it no problem. On most consoles you can't do that.

 

Against that there is one huge advantage that currently make consoles my platform of choice: used games. I have played a lot of new games for € 10 or less because i could buy and/or resell them used. On PC this market is almost none excistend, and you can't sell digital games.

 

 

 

 

 



LudicrousSpeed said:
I only read the OP and none of the replies but uh.. PC's are cheaper. And more powerful. And though I prefer gaming on consoles since that's where my friends/family are, I can easily admit they make for superior gaming devices as well.

And to be fair, if you're going to include things like a monitor and OS and keyboard for the PC then you should also include a TV for consoles. And don't forget there's no online charge for PC's, and you can ALWAYS get new release games for a lot less.

You can actually build a PC that easily outperforms current gen consoles and save a lot of money in the long run.

1.But not in the same time you have to choose what you want either you spend less money and can't play the blockbuster games or you spend a shit ton on money in a pc and can play them.

2.If it's so easy then show it, what pc can easily outperform current gen consoles and saves you a lot on money in the long run (a pc you don't have to upgrade I guess?) and can play the next let's say GTA?



Mummelmann said:
Lawlight said:


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.


1: And Battlefield 3 problems on PS3 yields even more results; what's the point again? Skyrim and Oblivion also had massive problems on the PS3, Skyrim had a game-breaking one for quite some time, where the size of the save files would basically corrupt everything and that happened to every single unit who played over a certain amount of time and/or story and side-story since the files became too big. Besides; "The Witcher 3 won't start" as a search query yields about 2 million results for PC, 1.6 million for PS4 and 1.4 million for Xbox One (which also sold considerably less) so that's probably not the best example. And; yes, the PC sales on Vgchartz are bogus (TW3 has sold around 30-35% of its total on PC, majority being physical copies).
AC: Unity on consoles also says hi, I'm pretty sure a lot of gamers we're trying to figure out why their game wasn't working properly.

2: So I'm just spinning tales for the heck of it to prove a point? Sure, that really shows the level we're at right now. You don't have to believe me, but my anecdotes are just as credible as the obvious misinformation spread by those who seek to paint PC gaming black. Frequent upgrades quite simply are not mandatory in PC gaming, and I'm sure even you know this fact very well.

3: You have a laptop on your desk so you can't be bothered to house a desktop in your entire appartment? That's a ridiculous argument and says everything about your interest levels in accomodating hardware and nothing about size and impracticality of desktop PC's.

4: Again; that's just a highly subjective opinion that doesn't really discredit the PC as a gaming platform. I understand how you feel, I have the same opinions on controllers in shooters and RPG's, but I don't use it as an argument as to why consoles are a useless gaming platform overall.


1. I doubt BF3 wasn't starting on PS3s. Your google results count is flawed obviously as you don't know the content of those results.

2. 

3.yes, and that is perfectly valid. Why have a desktop if you have a laptop?

4. It does for me. Just like importance of frame rate and resolution are subjective.



PC and consoles have each their pros and cons. Can we just get along?



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zero129 said:

Since im in Ireland i always use Pixmania.ie to order my parts from. Not sure if they would be cheap or not compared to where you live but here in ireland they have the best prices with free delivary so its handy. They also have some great deals on hardware sometimes.

I build this PC im using now back in 2011 i think. I got an upgrade kit from pixmania that was on sale at the time, Motherboard, i5-2500K CPU, and 8GB ram and a amd HD6870 1GB GPU and a new case. Total cost was only something like 500 euro with everything on sale (Plus the rest of the parts i still had from my old pc). Within that time last year i only upgraded the GPU to a AMD280X 3GB GPU what i got from pixmania on sale for like 150 euros and it included 3 free new games included access to Star Citenzin and the full game on its release with the deal, so it was pretty sweet deal imo.

And now thanks to that GPU this PC runs anything better then the nextgen consoles. Next upgrade, like you ill get an extra 8gb ram. And then in about another 2 years ill buy another new GPU if the need comes around. So pretty much with a starting cost of 500€ back in 2011 and a 150 euro upgrade in 2014 and that upgrade will last me the next 2 years (And much longer if i wanted to wait since it will still play everything and is a DX12 card) i have a PC Since 2011 with a total cost to me (we will just say 700 euros) once the extra ram is included that can play everything better then the PS4 or the X1 and any game from about a year to a year and a half ago (And some new games) in 2k res.

So i was pretty happy with it. But maybe you should give that site a look, like i said maybe compared to where you live it might be expensive but they do have some pretty sweet deals sometimes.

One more thing id like is to see some pics of the OPS PC build outside and in , i just love looking at peoples builds.

lol I actually live on the Isle of Man so I'm really not far from you =P.

I use PCPP and Scan.co.uk since those two and a combo of Amazon UK are those that tend to give me the better deals than say Overclockers UK and some other unknown lesser sites based in the UK (I say lesser because they don't have a bigger rep than the 3 I mentioned).

 

As for my build is pretty much: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YCqxmG minus the 680 which got replaced with my GTX Zotac AMp edition 980 and EVGA 750w PSU.

 

Going for this monitor in a few days and a DP cable ebcause my current benQ one isn't really ideal for me and features colour banding and changing display cables isn't changing any of that lol.

 

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160162&cm_re=21%3a9-_-24-160-162-_-Product

 

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423118&cm_re=dp_cable-_-12-423-118-_-Product



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"

zero129 said:
bigtakilla said:
zero129 said:
bigtakilla said:
zero129 said:
bigtakilla said:

His post didn't make point invalid where I said there are pretty much every genre on the Wii U, so a lack of variety isn't an issue. I'm picking at straws in a response to someone picking at straws.

I do not think anyone can really say that the WiiU has them covered when it comes to many genres, and imo its kinda selflish to say so. Now i do think that if you own a PC or an x1 Or a PS4 that the WiiU would be the perfect console to complement one of them 3. But without having one of them 3 your missing out on so many great 3rd party games, and so many games its just pointless to say otherwise.

Now you're picking at straws.

Really?, how so?. I see nothing in that comment thats picking at straws but instead giving facts. If a person just owns a WiiU they are missing out on alot of games and genres and anyone that says otherwise is just kidding themselfs imo. This is in no way, Shape or form me putting down the WiiU and maybe you shouldnt take it as such its just a simple fact.

Just like anyone who doesn't own a Wii U are missing out on a lot of great games, and anyone who says otherwise is just kidding themselves. Also a plain and simple fact. 

I never said they wasnt. I believe that anyone that doesnt own a console that has games on it that "they want" thats exclusive to that console are missing out clearly. It was you who said that no one was missing anything by just owning a WiiU. 

No one was saying people aren't missing out if they don't own a PS4/XBONE/PC. 



Consoles give you the highest Graphics per Dollar value, period, PCs can't compete with that, if you dont care about Graphics per Dollar value go get a ILM computer and brag about that.



dd if = /dev/brain | tail -f | grep games | nc -lnvvp 80

Hey Listen!

https://archive.org/details/kohina_radio_music_collection

When you spend $1000 on a PC how much goes to a game developer?

I know console games have platform royalties but they are nowhere near the sometimes 50% price difference between PC versions. There's a reason why Rockstar released GTA 18 months later, Rocksteady contracted out Arkham Knight, and Ubisoft in general don't go to a great effort to get their PC games optimised.

There's LESS money to be made on PC, despite strong sales.

This is not a dig at PC gaming (I have one myself) and PC gamers, just an observation.



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

beeje13 said:
When you spend $1000 on a PC how much goes to a game developer?

I know console games have platform royalties but they are nowhere near the sometimes 50% price difference between PC versions. There's a reason why Rockstar released GTA 18 months later, Rocksteady contracted out Arkham Knight, and Ubisoft in general don't go to a great effort to get their PC games optimised.

There's LESS money to be made on PC, despite strong sales.

This is not a dig at PC gaming (I have one myself) and PC gamers, just an observation.

It's not really a fact about building a PC and then claiming me building a custom rig of my own choosing and freedom somehow means less money goes to devs, that part has nothing to do with one another.

PC gaming isn't owned by a corp so there aren't really royalties to pay so what you pay for on PC goes to either the devs or publishers (and then of course the pubs pay the devs so they still get paid either way).

Rockstar took their time with the PC port because they wanted to make it the ebst port possible and the ebst version they could produce, that actually does take time whether you like to believe it or not, the fact they threw a lesser version up on current gen as well as having them on last gen shows they wanted to take advantage of gamers switching between platofmrs while they were working on the PC version and others have taken advantage of that as well and yet they've released PC versions in less time than GTA V, still doesn't prove they were just waiting based on sales/profit because they are already making profit with the PC version anyway.

Also Rockstready didn't contract out AK, that was always down to WB and WB happaened to get the crappy console based small man team studio to work on it while they had Rocksteady work on the console versions, that was a grave error on WB's part, not because of the "oh less money lets give them shit ports" kind of excuse.

Actually if we go by studios, devs and generally PC only devs there is actually decent money to be made on PC and of course PC has surpassed consoles globally in terms of revenue and the platform in general is getting more and more popular as time goes by.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/pc-games-have-surpassed-console-games-globally/033849

 

I dunno about it being a dig though but you're honestly not the sort of fellow who's exactly neutral to all this and you kinda went in this thread a bit blindly with your observation without checking sources to find out what was what (which was why I jumped in to correct you kindly). It was an observation for sure but not exactly one that's well informed.



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"