Okay by this point you're starting to move the goalposts.Machine Man 1992 said:Lemme know when you've got a setup for under $350.
PC gaming is not for everyone; I happily admit that. The best price/performance point is still a few hundred above a console of this coming generation. That being said, I'll never trade the ability to rebuild, repair, improve and even change the fundamental workings of the unit for anything.
Plus, bear in mind that most big gaming PC upgrades, when they do occur, tend to only do 3-4 items:
The Graphics Card
The CPU
The Motherboard
The RAM
Some times, only the Graphics Card needs to be updated and as long as its the same socket (currently PCI-16X) then you don't have to change much else. Memory is cheap so a good option is buy twice as much as you need and unless the new ram sockets happen, they can happily transfer to new motherboard/cpu combos.
Your first PC will always be the most expensive; because then you're buying keyboards, mice, monitors, hard drives, optical drives, the case, the OS and the power supply. However most of these devices are capable of seeing you through many other upgrades so you don't have to purchase them again. I've been using the same keyboard for nearly ten years, and the same monitors for nearly 5 years. The only reason I'm using new hard drives is because I wanted an SSD.
Also, the PC is vastly more versatile than a console. Sure, I've paid a good premium to play games. You know what else I can do? I can edit videos, music or images, I can write my own games, I can get mods, I can video chat with people, or voice chat or go to forums or I can type up a CV while a video plays on one screen, a download is running on another. That's a big one too; is the ability to do passive updates. If Win7 and half my steam library decide it's patch day, I can still do other things while the various downloading bars are filling up. Fuck I can run a business from my gaming rig, I can't do that with PS4 or X1.
If all you want is games, consoles represent the least money spent, and least fuss for maximum return. That is how it should be. A PC is a larger investment, but your capability is greatly expanded.