Putting the PC cost argument to rest

[VanceIX]

Edit: Italicized key points

A ton of people seem to believe that PC gamers are uber rich, and that a gaming PC is impossible to maintain. This may have been true up to the beginning of last gen, but not anymore.

The base price for a good gaming PC will be anywhere from $900-1200. The initial investment seems very high, but you have to consider that it is not just a gaming machine. Most people buy desktops every few years for $350-500 anyway. The gaming part is just building on that. A lot of people buy $400 desktops and $400-500 consoles, and then complain that PCs are too expensive, when you can have a machine that does both (but better) for just a bit more.

But after that initial investment, you will find that gaming is much cheaper overall. You don't have to pay $50-60 per year just to play online. Humble Bundles and Steam sales allow you to get games for a mere fraction of the console cost, and many times you can even get brand new games for less than what the console version costs. Overall, a $200 saving per year isn't out of question.

You also have to upgrade your graphics card every 4 years or so, but with the money that you save from free online and sales that shouldn't be a big deal, seeing as that some of the best high-end graphics cards start at $299.

And after that, you will never have to truly rebuy a new PC. Things like the HDD, case, fan, etc. can be reused for a relatively long time, or at least until they get too worn out. You won't ever have to spend $1000 again after the initial investment.

Now, I'm not trying to be a PC elitist here. Consoles offer exclusive games that PCs can't, and are very easy to maintain overall. I'm just pointing out that PC gaming isn't nearly as cost prohibitive as people tend to make it out to be.

EDIT 2: Also, you don't need to be an electrical engineer to build a PC. There's no solder work or anything, it's mostly just attatching components via pins and screws, almost self-explanatory, really. A lot more streamlined than what most people expect, for sure.