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Forums - PC Discussion - How To Build A Solid $500 Gaming PC For Fallout 4 And GTA V

hunter_alien on 14 November 2015
yoscrafty said:

Question; how important is the CPU cooler in this one (or any rig)? Doesn't the CPU you buy come with its own cooler/fan?


Buying a better cooler is always a plus. The standartd ones are often not up to the task when you try and squeeze out every performance you cvan from your rig. So in most cases I would most deffinatly recomend a good, 3rd party cooling system.



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sc94597 on 14 November 2015
hunter_alien said:
sc94597 said:
hunter_alien said:
Yeah, and with this configuration you will need an upgrade for all the latest PC games in a year. I really don't know why are some even trying. I mean, yeah you can do this, but be ready to only get partially the true PC experience. Hardware price wise they never did and never will beat consoles.

And this is coming from someone who is a regular in the PC gaming scene for almost 20 years now.

The bolded is blatantly false.  This platform should last the whole generation. The CPU outclasses the CPU in consoles considerably. The GPU is an upper-mid end enthusiast card. There shouldn't be a game that is unplayeable for at least 3-5 years and that would coincide with the release of new consoles. 

The only people who need to upgrade every year are those who need to play their games at ultra 1440p+ 60fps indefinitely. 

 

No, I dont want that but 1080p with accveptable performance on ultra settings is a must. I am not a graphics whore, otherwise I wouldent game on consoles, but graphical fidelity is one of the few reasons I still like to put PC's to the limit. Calling what I wrote blatantly false, is pretty much admitting that console quality is perfectly acceptable for PC gamers, while that can actually be called out, judging by the reponse many PC gamers have on this and other forums.

There are many more reasons to game on PC than graphics. My games don't look much better than console games on my $650 PC, but they sure run much better. I don't have the stuttering problesm of Fallout 4, and I can run the game at a decent 50-60 fps with high/ultra settings. But what really appeals to me is that I can get the bugs fixed and graphics improved with mods. I can try out the creative endeavors of others without publishers limiting them.  I can choose which ever control scheme I want. I can prioritize framerate in my games or visuals. It is my choice. PC gaming isn't just about visuals, and for me that is my least priority, although it is a nice bonus to have all my games run at 1080p, while console gamers have to compromise image quality and still have worst performance. 



sc94597 on 14 November 2015
hunter_alien said:
sc94597 said:
LurkerJ said:
"CPU and GPU are miles ahead of what's in the consoles"

That doesn't mean you will get to play every game released on the PS4 for said PC years down the line. Optimization is key. We know by know that a lot publishers just don't put much effort into porting their games. What's the use of my superior PC in that case if it can't run said games smoothly? Who is to say hardware requirements are not gonna become more demanding next year? or the one after?

The architectures of modern consoles and PC's means just that. The difference in power exceeds the difference optimization would give. If you can optimize a game for a Jaguar-based cpu, then it is very likely the game will run, even when less optimized,  on an FX 6300. If you can optimize the game to run on a stripped HD 7870 then it will certainly run on an r9 380. We aren't in the age of complicated and specialized PPC cores in which the developers don't know what they are working on too well. They know pretty much what the consoles are made of and they know the limitations. This is why we have already reached a performance barrier, even for talented developers. Furthermore, current API's have allowed PC games to be quite optimized as well. 

Yes they do, to bad that only 1/5th of PC developers know or are willing to put some effort behind optimization. As someone who has worked as a gaming QA for an outsource company, believe me, rushing in some fixes 3 weeks before launch, is far from enough.

And the same isn't true for console games? If the answer is yes, then that supports my point that the consoles have already been maxed out and optimized as much as they can. If the answer is no, then what is the difference? 



hunter_alien on 14 November 2015
LurkerJ said:
"CPU and GPU are miles ahead of what's in the consoles"

That doesn't mean you will get to play every game released on the PS4 for said PC years down the line. Optimization is key. We know by know that a lot publishers just don't put much effort into porting their games. What's the use of my superior PC in that case if it can't run said games smoothly? Who is to say hardware requirements are not gonna become more demanding next year? or the one after?

The PS4 on the other hand will play the games it gets, you will not have to worry about being left out.

"No OS & no monitor"

That's a valid counter point. You can't have it both ways, if you want me to hook my PC into my TV and leave it there to use it only for gaming, then I gotta have a separate windows key for it. Unless you want me to sit on the couch and get a mouse and a keyboard and turn my living room TV into my main PC...... that's not gonna happen.


I am a PC gamer and I fully get why some people choose a console over PC gaming. Please stop getting defensive over every counter argument, especially when they are VALID.


Very well put. PC has tons to offer, if you invest in it, and if you go on Steam, the price of software can be extremly good. QUality hardware configurations are now at a decent price, but even if people like it or not, the entry point for a AAA PC gaming experience is way more at the moment, then that of console gaming. Its a fact, and no mid-tier rig will change this.

Also, I wonder, how many PC gamers actually payed less then 200$ for their monitors? I know I payed almost 300, and I can say that the quality is pretty much OK, but you can easily go far higher. Oh, and what about a mouse or keyboard? How many of them play on sub 20$ mouse? I doubt that many...



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LurkerJ on 14 November 2015
sc94597 said:
LurkerJ said:
"CPU and GPU are miles ahead of what's in the consoles"

That doesn't mean you will get to play every game released on the PS4 for said PC years down the line. Optimization is key. We know by know that a lot publishers just don't put much effort into porting their games. What's the use of my superior PC in that case if it can't run said games smoothly? Who is to say hardware requirements are not gonna become more demanding next year? or the one after?

The architectures of modern consoles and PC's means just that. The difference in power exceeds the difference optimization would give. If you can optimize a game for a Jaguar-based cpu, then it is very likely the game will run, even when less optimized,  on an FX 6300. If you can optimize the game to run on a stripped HD 7870 then it will certainly run on an r9 380. We aren't in the age of complicated and specialized PPC cores in which the developers don't know what they are working on too well. They know pretty much what the consoles are made of and they know the limitations. This is why we have already reached a performance barrier, even for talented developers. Furthermore, current API's have allowed PC games to be quite optimized as well. 

That's why the latest CoD and the latest Batman, two of the biggest releases this year, are running worse on PC? Beta CoD BOP 3 had the same issues found in the final PC release, Come on, it's well known at this point that lots of developers just don't put a lot of effort when they port their games. Not the PC fault but it's a problem I may have to run into every now and then. The possibility alone irks me, especially that it happened already with titles that aren't cross-gen.



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hunter_alien on 14 November 2015
sc94597 said:
hunter_alien said:
sc94597 said:
LurkerJ said:
"CPU and GPU are miles ahead of what's in the consoles"

That doesn't mean you will get to play every game released on the PS4 for said PC years down the line. Optimization is key. We know by know that a lot publishers just don't put much effort into porting their games. What's the use of my superior PC in that case if it can't run said games smoothly? Who is to say hardware requirements are not gonna become more demanding next year? or the one after?

The architectures of modern consoles and PC's means just that. The difference in power exceeds the difference optimization would give. If you can optimize a game for a Jaguar-based cpu, then it is very likely the game will run, even when less optimized,  on an FX 6300. If you can optimize the game to run on a stripped HD 7870 then it will certainly run on an r9 380. We aren't in the age of complicated and specialized PPC cores in which the developers don't know what they are working on too well. They know pretty much what the consoles are made of and they know the limitations. This is why we have already reached a performance barrier, even for talented developers. Furthermore, current API's have allowed PC games to be quite optimized as well. 

Yes they do, to bad that only 1/5th of PC developers know or are willing to put some effort behind optimization. As someone who has worked as a gaming QA for an outsource company, believe me, rushing in some fixes 3 weeks before launch, is far from enough.

And the same isn't true for console games? If the answer is yes, then that supports my point that the consoles have already been maxed out and optimized as much as they can. If the answer is no, then what is the difference? 


Absolutly. Thats why I try and play mostly exclusives on consoles. Thats why I always tried and did this.

And for your other post: all valid arguments. I dont usually play mods, because my backlog is already massive, but if that is a selling point for you, PC is a must. For me, the easy setup and "played from the couch" experience usually draws me to consoles, while the AAA graphical experiences draw me to PC games. I guess it all depends on what are everyones gaming priorities



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sc94597 on 14 November 2015
hunter_alien said:

Also, I wonder, how many PC gamers actually payed less then 200$ for their monitors? I know I payed almost 300, and I can say that the quality is pretty much OK, but you can easily go far higher. Oh, and what about a mouse or keyboard? How many of them play on sub 20$ mouse? I doubt that many...

I am using a $100 monitor that I bought 3 or 4 years ago. It works fine. I also use a 1080p passive 3d 240hz television.  My PC doesn't have the power to play games at 120fps nor 1440p, so I don't worry about getting a top tier monitor. Although my next monitor will probably be 3D so that I can play Wii and PS2 games in 3D like I do on my television. 

My monitor

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-S220HQL-Abd-21-5-Inch-Widescreen/dp/B005LJWJSG

My televison 

http://reviews.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/vizio-lcd-tv/vizio-m551d.html

And my mouse and keyboard

^$25 for both as a set. 



deskpro2k3 on 14 November 2015

OP, all that is nice and all, but this is my perfect combo:

PS4

&

i7 6700k
Z170-p motherboard
1TB SSD
EVGA Geforce GTX 980Ti SC 6GB
DDR4 16GB

ISKU FX Keyboard. KONE XTD Mouse.

 

This is god gamer status.



CPU: Ryzen 9950X
GPU: MSI 4090 SUPRIM X 24G
Motherboard: MSI MEG X670E GODLIKE
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 32GB DDR5
SSD: Kingston FURY Renegade 4TB
Gaming Console: PLAYSTATION 5 Pro
OneKartVita on 14 November 2015

You will be getting consoles that play those games at a decent level for $200 cheaper on black friday and $150 cheaper normally. I'm not surprised the high level pc build is getting more affordable and it's good to see.

BTW you forgot another cost. You need a person to play the pc. People aren't cheap yano!



GamechaserBE on 14 November 2015

Honestly comparing the price of the hardware is a bit silly because you(a gamer) spend more on the software than on the hardware.