Consoles also get software and SDK updates that improve what developers can do, but ofcourse games don't usually get performance updates.

Anyhow an 8% exta overclock on your $600 CPU is not so big difference, and doesn't apply to most folks.  If someone was trying to get even close to console pricing, they'd be dealing with El Cheapo motherboards, locked CPUs, cheap cooling, and PSUs rated just enough.  Enthusiast parts come at a premium as I'm sure you know.

When PC games revolve around Steam and its heavy DRM, that's surely funny to read.

PC Gamers want to best that gaming has to offer, and they are willing to pay more for it up front.  

As someone mentioned already in this thread, you will easily make your money back on games in no time.  Example:  I have $1800 bucks in my gaming rig, built 2 years ago(i7 3770k, 16 GB RAM, dual 7970's), yes this was a lot more than a $400 PS4.  (for me the XB1 doesnt exist as it's a steaming pile of inferior hardware even in the console space, but this is just my opinion).  

The last 2 months alone the games I am interested in were Alien ISO, Evil Within, Dragon Age 3, FarCry 4.  On PS4 these would have cost me $240 bucks at $60 bucks a pop.  I was able to get Alien for $33, Evil Within for $40, and DA3 for $47.  On those 3 new releases alone, I saved $63, with just some simple leg work searching for the deals.  I have not pre-ordered Farcry 4 yet, but the point is that there WILL be a deal out there and I will save at least $13 dollars, and thats if I am wanting it on release day.

This is repeated all year long, every year.  Not to mention the steam sales.  There is also the undeniable fact that PC gamers get the best verisons of the games, period.  another example:  Evil within was released and was pretty much a direct port of the PS4 version, but within a week bathesda patched it and fixed the frame rate and letter box giving PC the best version of the game.

There was an article I read not to long go, about the top 25 PS4 games, and everything on the list was available, and superior on PC, accept for Resogun and Second son.  We are a year into this console generation people.  If you want to console game thats cool, and I get it from an upfront cost perspective, but in the long run, PC gamers will have the superior experience, and save money as well.

I can afford to get all consoles and gaming PC. I use gaming PC for multi-plats and consoles (Xbox and Playstation) for exclusives only these days. Current gen is severely underpowered compared to previous generations at the same time frame. Also it's easy to PC game console style these days which is why I game mostly on PC now and have done so for a few years.

Nobody is saying PC is not going to have superior versions, if you have superior hardware.  PC games are not usually optimized as well as console games are, but they have unlocked settings so you can run much higher settings than consoles if you have high specs, and also much lower if you don't have the specs.

About deals, I got the BestBuy gamers club unlocked ($30 for two years now) and so I've been getting 20% off PS4 games ($60 -> $48) and $10 reward for pre-ordering COD, FC4, GTAV.  So effectively you can get console games for $38 on release day without much legwork.

Say WHAAAAAAT?
Like when? Are you computer or software engineer to say that?

If all that mattered was the ability to play games (and no other multimedia functions) then why would those features be advertised by the companies and why would they even be implemented in the costs of producing the system? Why didn't Sony just use more powerful hardware instead of spending money for their software to support multimedia applications like Netflix? Quite obviously that is part of the console's appeal and it will allow for more consoles to sell. I'm sure there are a minority of consumers who only want their devices to play games and would not care if these other features were not present. However, when you have a heading "hardware" and you are doing a cost-analysis, you must look at all hardware. But anyway, let me just list a few things my PC can do, relevant to gaming that a PS4 (without a PC) can't do (as well) currently (and no cheap laptop can either.) 

I can stream any game I play and have a social interaction involved with that gameplay through whichever application I choose (i.e Twich, Ustream) better than a PS4 can. 

I can record my gameplay at resolutions of 1080p and put them online for commentary better than a PS4 can. 

I can modify my games to my choosing, eliminating game breaking glitches, poor framerates, improving graphics, and gameplay. 

I can play games on multiple monitors. 

I can play old games at high resolutions and framerates. 

All of these improve the gaming experience, and therefore are directly relevant to gaming. Graphical capability and performance isn't the only hardware feature that involves a cost.  In the price of the PC one pays more for a more versatile Operating System that can perform many gaming-related functions. One also pays for a GPU that can perform functions like outputting to two (or more monitors), meanwhile such features are obsolete and unnecessary in console-gaming, and therefore do not factor when developing the GPU of a PS4/Xbone.  

That is just one example of why comparing a $350-$400 console and a $350-$400 PC will not work fairly. If we are only speaking of graphics, then we should then only add up components that influence graphics (not the operating system, for example.) However, there is much more to PC gaming than just "better graphics" and the type of hardware found in PC builds reflect this (some people choose a weaker Nvidia card at the same price-point because it has shandowplay, for example.) 

The flaw in the argument is this:

"shoudn't it only be fair to compare a PC that cost just as much and will give you the exact same things in the box?"

What you get in the box, even at the same pricepoint is not the same. What you are paying for, is not the exact same. In your opening post you said nothing about performance or graphics. You mentioned, "what is in the box." It was generally labeled "hardware", which is more than just performance and graphics, and it just so happens that one can get more freedoms out of PC hardware to game how we want than with console hardware, regardless of graphics. That is why costs of components would be higher, there are more things a PC GPU must be designed for than a console GPU. There are more things a PC OS must be designed for than a console OS. There are more things a PC CPU must be designed for than a console cpu. And some of these "more things" are relevant to playing video games and sharing your experiences with the ever-more social gaming community. If somebody chooses to game on a PC it is because they want these "more things" included. PC gaming isn't only about having the better graphics and the faster framerates. They are corollary to the main experience, an experience which is not free by the way. 

Except when these extra things are relevant to the video gaming experience. And I'm not saying you have a "better car" I'm saying we both have a comparable car at the same price-range and mine is still more versatile. Mine can ride on streets, on dirt roads, and on mountains. Yours can only ride on streets, but it might do it slightly better, if at all. That's the comparison. 

1. Can you show me one commercial sony has made saying that the PS3 plays netflix? Or that its also a blu-ray player. I am beginning to think you do not grasp what it means when referring to somethings primary fucntion. A gaming consoles primary fucntion is to play games. That is solely what it is designed for. Everything else it can do is just a bonus. But I strongly doubt anyone alive spends $400 on a console primarily to play netflix. And as for Pcs, if all someone wants to do with their PC is browse, youtube, check their mail and edit the odd documnet or two. I strongly doubt they would buy anything outside a basic laptop.
2. You should read my opening post again. I am just not gona do this again with yet another person that choses to noyt read the opening post properly, sees PC vs consoles and jumps to conclusions.

Thanks for replying, but you have a few things wrong.  First off, no one has 12GB or RAM, you have 2^n amount, not just even numbers. Most people don’t actually bother with Blu-ray as windows doesn't play them, and hell, I've a $20 keyboard that works fine (mouse is a bit more, but not much). Also a 760 isn't ok - it is pretty damn good seeing that it can hit 60 fps on BF4, 1080p, on ultra. Game controller? Unless you are doing hack and slash, most people won't have one, and you can just use AVG for antivirus as long as you don't go on dodgy sites or hit up torrents.

I have a $2000+ PC and I won't touch it for years, and for you to change yours that much is silly, because what do you get from the upgrades? Another 20%-30% fps when you are already well over 60fps? Um, that is utterly pointless (unless you have 144Hz monitor, but that is a luxury rather than needed). As for fixing? You should buy better parts. My old $1000 PC only had its RAM fail after 4 years of brutal gaming and work...and of course that is covered by a lifetime warranty. All your parts should have at least 2 - 5 year warranties with them.

Why do I need my PC to improve? Only after 4+ years did my old PC struggle to play new games at a level I wanted e.g. high or better. But did I need a new one to play new games? Nope. 

As for size and noise? They use to be a problem, but are not any more. My current PC has 5 fans, none go over 17 dBs Also with modern gpu's which are always the noisiest components, many have fan switching modes so they run silent when not under heavy use. Size; Mini-itx ring a bell? You can now get full PC in something smaller than the original Xbox or 360.

I do agree that PCs are certainly not always the right choice. If you need to move a lot for work, a laptop or tablet is better. As for code, it depends what code and just how much you are going to do as a gaming rig can now double up pretty well as a workstation with the x99 chipset and the Titan range.

Macs? I would say they are only good for coding with terminal. They are way too pricey for simple day-to-day functions. Yes, they are simple, clean, and relatively robust, but you could easily have a custom PC built for cheaper which lasts longer which should do the same.

As for social gaming, you can't beat consoles. I do wonder if SteamOS will change this (micro-itx+ssd), however if no one cares about 1080p at 60 fps (which most people when they are drunk couldn’t see anyway), then a cheap console is a good idea.