Every so often, I question whether it’d be better to continue purchasing a(n increasingly more expensive) PlayStation system to play all these first-party and some third-party Sony experiences, or if I’d be getting more for my money by simply purchasing a PC.

From what I have researched, however, maintaining even a somewhat modern PC can cost several hundreds per yer. And every ten-ish years, you’ll need to drop thousands on a new set up. Am I understanding this correctly?

Help me out.

Depends on what components you get. People who purchase the most powerful setup right now will probably be able to run a lot of PS6 games.

If you get a decent setup, you may even skip upgrades. I have a RTX 3050 (I paid R$ 1.150 BRL for it) but I knew what I was purchasing. I can run some PS5 games with pretty nice quality, but when the PS6 come out I'll probably only play indies and low demanding games.

Remember that not all next-gen games requires a very powerful RIG. Silent Hill f never came for PS4, but it runs really well on modest PCs.

It is definitely far more expensive than console. I just bought an $1800 PC, all I really get is good frames for a few games. Considering my last laptop lasted 8 years, but my consoles are still going strong. Longevity is a factor in the hardware too.

Basically if you got money to spend and a steady job, upgrading PC is fine.

If you got a limited amount of money, but have to buy new tech every now and then, consoles are fine.

If PS6 goes up to $1000 then PCs will likely go up the same or more.

Let me share my experience.

My previous PC, which I got in 2014, cost about 900 €, and I replaced it with a new one finally in 2023. It was not a top-tier PC even at the time, but it was pretty good. Originally I skimped out on the SSD, so I kind of had to buy a new one later, and I also added more RAM later. Those two were probably less than 200 €, and I could probably have saved some by not skimping out on the SSD initially. I also upgraded my GPU later, and that's the big one. For me, without the cryptocurrency boom I would probably have just got a new PC in 2020 without ever upgrading my GPU, because I didn't play a lot of new games on my PC. For someone playing a lot of new games, a GPU upgrade for, say, 300 € once during the PC's lifetime would probably have been fine. All this is probably applicable even to the current situation, except that everything is a lot more expensive now.

Like I said, I got a new PC in 2023. I got parts for it from several stores, but I think the total for it was something like 1500 €. The GPU was worse than the one I got in 2014 (relatively speaking), and I expect to have to add more RAM at some point, and in the current market situation, that'll probably be something like 400-600 € total in my price/performance range. That would be something like 2000 € total for the lifetime of my PC, which I expect to be at least 5-6 years, probably more. If you get higher-end hardware, it'll cost more, but you'll also probably be able to skip some upgrades if you so desire.

If you want to, you can definitely spend more too and upgrade more often. There's absolutely no need for it though, unless you really want to crank up those visuals. It's hard to put on a price tag on PC gaming without knowing your exact desires though. 2000-3000 € for about a decade might be a somewhat realistic estimate at the moment though, depending on how you'd like your visuals. It's probably a 'comparable' amount in USD.

Of course there's other factors affecting the cost of PC gaming too, like online gaming being free (although since you're not subscribed to anything, aside from maybe Game Pass, there won't be a subscription to have games included in). Also, if you have a PC anyway even without gaming, that costs money too, right? Well, if you have a gaming PC, your other PC needs also get taken care of, so in a way, you can kind of deduct the costs of the non-gaming-capable PC from the 'gaming costs' of your PC, since you'd be paying them anyway (only if you have some sort of a PC, obviously).

If you want a PC that isn't weaker than a console then the up front cost will be more but there's various benefits like not having to pay to play online which reduce the gap over time. Though if someone is only gonna play single player or local multiplayer stuff then that part doesn't matter for them. Even in that case however the higher cost also gets you a higher quality experience like being able to use mods and having access to a bunch of store fronts instead of just one.

You don't have to spend hundreds a year to maintain a modern PC, not even close. After you've bought the parts or the pre-built you don't have to spend any more on it at all unless you want to or get unlucky and run into hardware issues. Dropping thousands on one is completely optional but can be done if someone wants a really good PC that'll play games much better than current consoles but most people don't do that and have low to mid-range builds instead. If someone wants a high FPS at 4k with the settings turned up then that'll need pricey hardware but if instead someone is content with 1080p 30fps then a fairly cheap rig would do them just fine. Basically you get what you pay for and can customize things to your liking so if you want one that costs around 1k then that would get ya a nice PC.

That is complete nonsense. My CPU is more than 10 years old at this point but thanks to a somewhat modern GPU I can still play modern demanding games at 1080p and even 1440p on medium to high settings and with a high framerate. If you buy even a mid range gaming PC today for ~1000 shekels you will be able to play modern games for at least 5 years without any upgrades.

PC costs money and do not listen to disingenuous people who list cheap parts. The biggest bonus of a console is its longevity of seven years or whatever it has for its shelf life. I have built loads of rigs over two decades or so and it will always be smart to at least get towards the top end components. Although, contemporary PC ports are the very worst they ever have been, that is probably the main issue. Here in the UK you can get a refurbished PS5 for £389 with 12 months warranty, you are not ever beating that on price, or even new.

Edit: PC gaming will always be cheaper in the US, if you can get a nice rig for $1000, then good for you I guess. But the PS6 is looking pretty potent from the rumours anyway.

Considering how, after the investment, you get not only a gaming platform but a general multipurpose tool (from work to entertainment) which can last you years even after consoles are left in the dust, the extra cost is well worth it. Not to mention games are MUCH cheaper in PC, plus you get emulation and the option to sail the seas.

If you play online and buy many day one AAA games - PC may be the better value.

If you don’t care too much for online play, buy a limited number of games, preferably on sale - console is it.

There’s not going to be a situation where a $1000 console is the only way to play new games though. Sony will either keep selling the PS5 as the default offering, in tandem with the PS6. But more likely they will have a cheaper version of the PS6 that’s $400-500 and around PS5 Pro power level, along with a more powerful and expensive PS6 version.

And on average, I’d say the cost of PC vs console is similar. Instead look at whether the freedom of PC is something that outweights the ease of use of consoles for you.

I think it's silly to use PS6 as a comparison point when we have no idea what a hypothetical $1000 PS6 would have. Due to the price rises of the old consoles, right now it is actually possible to build a comparable PC for around the same price, definitely for the $650 of the Series X. But of course that requires buildings your own, and is comparing to the price of new consoles. I don't remember when this was last the case.

Used consoles are cheap AF. My PS5 cost me £280 when I got it 2 years ago. Even with old used pc parts you can't get remotely close to that power for the price with PC building.

I'd say building your own PC right now is more affordable than buying a brand new console at RRP. Due to the benefit of no paid online, cheaper games, key sites etc. The used console market remains the absolute best value point of entry.