I was into the PCMR sub back when you could build a machine that ran better than the current console generation for the same price as the two main consoles. And it’s not like consoles perform so above and beyond a PC that there’s little difference today; the PC hardware just exploded in price so it costs so much more to make something that runs as good or better than a PS5, which is sold at a loss.
It’s possible to build a competent gaming manchine if you’re ok with 1080p. A ten year old card still runs 1080p perfectly fine.
I have a Ryzen 5500 on a radeon 550. It plays mostly everything at 720 to 1080. It’ll do lite 4k but it does what it needs to do.
I bought a Acer nitro with a 3050 in it for my teenager. 🤷 It’s perfectly fine. She plays mostly counter strike anyway.
I play a bunch of indie stuff and remasters… Unless you want 60fps in cyberpunk in 4k ultra ray tracing… You can get into a pretty decent build for well under 1k.
My VR rig built just before the first COVID lockdowns is already capable of keeping up with the PS5 in performance mode; but it was also about $900 mostly from the GPU (a 1660 Super because the 2070 Cyberpunk Edition card was sold out).
I don’t need 4K, but I definitely would like to be able to have raytracing in Cyberpunk, specifically. It’s the only game I’ve seen them used beyond shadows and it looks amazeballs. My GPU is one generation too old to even support RTX, tho. Or DLSS!
If you have a microcenter somewhat close by, they get refurbished 20 and 30 series cards all the time for really good prices. They let you come back and return/swap it out if you dont like it too. Last I looked my store just got a shipment of 4080s that are priced at 750$ as well.
That’s only part of the story. Consoles have many benefits, like warranty, consistency, drivers, software, etc. I built some reasonable budget gaming machines back then, but I still bought consoles and still do to this day because of their superiority.
The whole idea of “superiority” is so dumb. People should get what works for them.
For most normies/noobs, they don’t even know how to start thinking of gaming PCs. No ideas of GPUs. Don’t want to make the wrong choice and overpay for an ancient system labeled “gaming ready”. Consoles work great in not having to think about anything and just playing. Also you get exclusives. It comes at the cost of higher price, online subscriptions, system lock in, few options for mid cycle upgrade, etc.
PC works great for me and I haven’t had a console in 20 years. I’d recommend it to anyone who is even slightly inclined to learn the basics. The Steam Deck would be a great console experience for anyone…but the sales number compared to the Switch and lack of mainstream recognition shows that a lot of people don’t have an appetite for PC gaming. Fine, use what works for you.
Another problem is that online PC communities have a real obsession with going “top tier”. Most people can do perfectly well with last generation parts and secondhand or refurbished bargains. Budget gaming, retro gaming, patient gaming, are all valid and cheap.
The whole idea of “superiority” is so dumb. People should get what works for them.
I think you’re taking an unserious humorous thing too seriously.
For most normies/noobs, they don’t even know how to start thinking of gaming PCs. No ideas of GPUs. Don’t want to make the wrong choice and overpay for an ancient system labeled “gaming ready”.
I doubt the person who is this afraid of gaming pcs also worried about being ripped off.
Also, there are more resources than ever to figure out a decent build or to ask people to tell you if a build is decent.
Another problem is that online PC communities have a real obsession with going “top tier”.
They most certainly do not. I don’t think you frequent these places.
Probably the most common build combo is a 9600, 9060XT 16GB build. Thats around 1100 USD. Thats just a bit more than a console while performing a lot better.
As for second hand or refurbished, that can help, but you sometimes can be getting a worse value, as they fall out of support faster or don’t support modern features and you have to be ok with them not being good at ray tracing for instance, or not doing well with ai upscaling, or not being able to do framegen. There are third party software solutions for all of the above, but most people don’t want to deal with the effort required for those. Luckily FSR4 might be coming to some older AMD cards.
I was into the PCMR sub back when you could build a machine that ran better than the current console generation for the same price as the two main consoles. And it’s not like consoles perform so above and beyond a PC that there’s little difference today; the PC hardware just exploded in price so it costs so much more to make something that runs as good or better than a PS5, which is sold at a loss.
It’s possible to build a competent gaming manchine if you’re ok with 1080p. A ten year old card still runs 1080p perfectly fine.
I have a Ryzen 5500 on a radeon 550. It plays mostly everything at 720 to 1080. It’ll do lite 4k but it does what it needs to do.
I bought a Acer nitro with a 3050 in it for my teenager. 🤷 It’s perfectly fine. She plays mostly counter strike anyway.
I play a bunch of indie stuff and remasters… Unless you want 60fps in cyberpunk in 4k ultra ray tracing… You can get into a pretty decent build for well under 1k.
My VR rig built just before the first COVID lockdowns is already capable of keeping up with the PS5 in performance mode; but it was also about $900 mostly from the GPU (a 1660 Super because the 2070 Cyberpunk Edition card was sold out).
I don’t need 4K, but I definitely would like to be able to have raytracing in Cyberpunk, specifically. It’s the only game I’ve seen them used beyond shadows and it looks amazeballs. My GPU is one generation too old to even support RTX, tho. Or DLSS!
If you have a microcenter somewhat close by, they get refurbished 20 and 30 series cards all the time for really good prices. They let you come back and return/swap it out if you dont like it too. Last I looked my store just got a shipment of 4080s that are priced at 750$ as well.
Yeah but you have to spend so much money on games and with PC you can almost play anything for free and games add up fast
Yep so many amazing games for $5-20 on steam sales often not even that old
That’s only part of the story. Consoles have many benefits, like warranty, consistency, drivers, software, etc. I built some reasonable budget gaming machines back then, but I still bought consoles and still do to this day because of their superiority.
Subscription to access multiplayer on third party servers 🤡
I agree you are a clown but I’m not familiar with that because as a decent person, I don’t play multiplayer.
The whole idea of “superiority” is so dumb. People should get what works for them.
For most normies/noobs, they don’t even know how to start thinking of gaming PCs. No ideas of GPUs. Don’t want to make the wrong choice and overpay for an ancient system labeled “gaming ready”. Consoles work great in not having to think about anything and just playing. Also you get exclusives. It comes at the cost of higher price, online subscriptions, system lock in, few options for mid cycle upgrade, etc.
PC works great for me and I haven’t had a console in 20 years. I’d recommend it to anyone who is even slightly inclined to learn the basics. The Steam Deck would be a great console experience for anyone…but the sales number compared to the Switch and lack of mainstream recognition shows that a lot of people don’t have an appetite for PC gaming. Fine, use what works for you.
Another problem is that online PC communities have a real obsession with going “top tier”. Most people can do perfectly well with last generation parts and secondhand or refurbished bargains. Budget gaming, retro gaming, patient gaming, are all valid and cheap.
I think you’re taking an unserious humorous thing too seriously.
I doubt the person who is this afraid of gaming pcs also worried about being ripped off.
Also, there are more resources than ever to figure out a decent build or to ask people to tell you if a build is decent.
They most certainly do not. I don’t think you frequent these places.
Probably the most common build combo is a 9600, 9060XT 16GB build. Thats around 1100 USD. Thats just a bit more than a console while performing a lot better.
As for second hand or refurbished, that can help, but you sometimes can be getting a worse value, as they fall out of support faster or don’t support modern features and you have to be ok with them not being good at ray tracing for instance, or not doing well with ai upscaling, or not being able to do framegen. There are third party software solutions for all of the above, but most people don’t want to deal with the effort required for those. Luckily FSR4 might be coming to some older AMD cards.