Poll: PC... Expensive... Wait what?

[CheeseSandwichCake]

I keep seeing people complain about the price of a decent PC (and that is the only thing really negative about the PC that anyone can really say...) yet it's not even THAT expensive to upgrade, especially if you upgrade to a good one and fuck you our games are cheaper than console games.

If you already own a PC then you usually only have to upgrade your graphics card, RAM and processor and in Australia that's about $700 (I got a 9800GT, an extra GB of RAM and a 2.5ghz E5200 Dual Core for that at least), if things don't work then you can get a cheapass motherboard that does work with them for probably $150.

So, $850 Australian dollars later... I've upgraded, I could've spent that $850 on a PS3 and a game if I wanted to, but didn't because none of them really interest me. It really isn't that expensive to upgrade if you've already got a decent computer (higher half of the low-end).

The technology in PCs IS changing but it's not changing so fast that you need to upgrade once a year. Hell, I had a PC that ran just about everything that I got in 2003 for like 6 years.

side note: Yes... I know the E5200 sucks... I got it so it wouldn't explode when I overclocked it, check the figures.

 

[D_987]

I prefer buying a console and knowing it'll run anything on the system for the next few years. That and PC's are generally more expensive to buy originally.

 

[Sneaklemming]

The most important bit in your PC when it comes to games is your video card

If its nVidia, it needs to be a 7800, 7900, 8800 +

The 8600, or 7600 are second rate video cards.
In practice, a 7900 is better than an 8600

I have no idea about Radeon cards, maybe someone else can explain them

 

[pirateninj4]

Well I spent around 1k for my puppy and while it does wonderful things with some games, others it shits itself every ten seconds. My theory? Frustration is included in your price ha ha.

 

[Rascarin]

On the whole, I've found console gaming to be a bazillion times less buggy than PC gaming. I hate having to deal with bugs - I'd much prefer to be able to just put the disk in the tray and play the damn game. Also, with console, theres no install time, no online registration, no DRM...

It's less a matter of price for me, and more about laziness. But still, I think it would be more expensive to upgrade my archaic PC than it was buying my 360. And I have no monies.

 

[CheeseSandwichCake]

The most important bit in your PC when it comes to games is your video card

If its nVidia, it needs to be a 7800, 7900, 8800 +

The 8600, or 7600 are second rate video cards.
In practice, a 7900 is better than an 8600

I have no idea about Radeon cards, maybe someone else can explain them

Eh, my last PC had a 7600GT and it ran the Crysis demo (on low... at 800x600, with everything else on my computer closed)

 

[Caimekaze]

The Playstation 3 isn't actually that expensive.

The problem with the price of the PC is that it's a gamble; you may buy the parts just before the next batch comes out, kicking the parts you just bought down to a far cheaper price. They do also have far less longevity than consoles in terms of getting the most out of them; the PC market can continually push forwards with graphics, as the hardware will keep being developed. As the hardware in consoles is relatively stable for at least five to ten years after its release, the pressure to upgrade is lessened.

That's not even going into the games; while the PC does have a magnificent range of games, it has an obvious deficiency of decent JRPGs. While a much-maligned genre, I enjoy them, which is why I tend to identify as a console gamer.

... Hmm. I might write something up about that.

 

[Sneaklemming]

The most important bit in your PC when it comes to games is your video card

If its nVidia, it needs to be a 7800, 7900, 8800 +

The 8600, or 7600 are second rate video cards.
In practice, a 7900 is better than an 8600

I have no idea about Radeon cards, maybe someone else can explain them

Eh, my last PC had a 7600GT and it ran the Crysis demo (on low... at 800x600, with everything else on my computer closed)

I could run crysis fine, on a 6600GT - whats your point?

 

[Abedeus]

Good PC at the moment is cheaper than PS3 in Poland.

By a nice $100.

 

[CheeseSandwichCake]

The most important bit in your PC when it comes to games is your video card

If its nVidia, it needs to be a 7800, 7900, 8800 +

The 8600, or 7600 are second rate video cards.
In practice, a 7900 is better than an 8600

I have no idea about Radeon cards, maybe someone else can explain them

Eh, my last PC had a 7600GT and it ran the Crysis demo (on low... at 800x600, with everything else on my computer closed)

I could run crysis fine, on a 6600GT - whats your point?

My point is that you don't even need anything spectacular to run most of the games that are out. Sure, you may not have as pretty graphics as everyone else but as long as you can pull off mid settings and 1024x768 resolution with an FPS of between 50-60 on most games your computer is O.K

 

[massau]

i buy one once in the 3 or 2 years sometimes even after 5 years but te games stat to lagg than
i have now 9600GT+ so i w8 till 2013 till i buy a new pc

 

[Iron Mal]

The thing is that the money I spend on upgrading a PC is the same money I use to buy games for a console (console games cost that little bit extra largely because they're more conveinient in this way), if you look at it this way, consoles are more efficient if you have to work with a limited budget (considering how we're in an economic crisis at the moment that would constitute most of us).

You buy a console and it's ready to plug in and play while with a PC you will more often than not have to constantly tinker with it to keep it up to date with recent games (which requires money and computer skills that not everyone posesses, before loads of people rush in and say 'well, I find computers to be easy', we're writing on an internet forum with computers, this unfortuneately means we do not represent the majority of people out there).

 

[Sneaklemming]

The most important bit in your PC when it comes to games is your video card

If its nVidia, it needs to be a 7800, 7900, 8800 +

The 8600, or 7600 are second rate video cards.
In practice, a 7900 is better than an 8600

I have no idea about Radeon cards, maybe someone else can explain them

Eh, my last PC had a 7600GT and it ran the Crysis demo (on low... at 800x600, with everything else on my computer closed)

I could run crysis fine, on a 6600GT - whats your point?

My point is that you don't even need anything spectacular to run most of the games that are out. Sure, you may not have as pretty graphics as everyone else but as long as you can pull off mid settings and 1024x768 resolution with an FPS of between 50-60 on most games your computer is O.K

but really tho its a pain in the ass... I have a macbook with an 8600GT running windows to play my games, and the day is fast approaching where that will only meet the lowest specs.

If youre buying a new PC you want it to be cutting edge, or else it wont last! I feel a good PC which does not cost the world should last at least 5 years before it cannot play all the games on the market.

It has slowed down recently because we've become tied with the static console market, so we might get 7-8 years out of this cycle, but who knows when the next generation hop will occur?

Anyway I know you can build a cheap PC at the moment which will play everything, but who whats just that? Its not much more to get the cutting edge!

You might as well buy an xbox if youre satisfied with just mediocrity.

 

[Xvito]

OMG DUCKS!!!!!!

They're so much better than kittens!

 

[Flour]

A decent PC* is about E650, a PS3 + game is less than E400.
A PC is used for three years(four if everything is new), a console for 4-6 years depending on how long people make games for it.

*With 'decent' I mean hardware that's at least a year old. If I were to buy everything new, I would spend about E1200 on it.(E250-350 graphics card, E120~ RAM, E250~ motherboard, E300-400 processor, E120~ power supply)
This all is without windows and a monitor, which adds another E400-500.(120 for Vista and the rest for a decent fairly new monitor)

The "E" is used for the ?(euro) sign.

 

[RedVelvet]

A: You only have to buy a console ONCE and it's there for years. With computers, at the end of the year you're lucky if you still have the original computer's casing
B: Most computer games these days can only be installed xxx times before the protection on it will prevent you from installing it again even though you own the bugger.
c: In the long run, consoles are cheaper, better and less likely to implode whilst playing today's equivalent of Crysis.

 

[sunami88]

DUCKS!

No, but really, it all depends. I'm a horrible pathetic nerd, so when I buy a crazy $1500 PC, I'm using it for ALOT more than just gaming. If all you want to do is play games, then a ~$250 Xbox360 or the like is far more suited to your needs. If you're into video encoding and burning away CPU cycles for the hell of it (using Adobe Audition as an MP3 player ftw), then the money is better spent on a gaming PC.

You also have to be careful what PC you buy. Some people can get confused with all the numbers etc. But again, if you've got a mind for it, a PC thats 2/3x more expensive than a console can be of far more use than just a console.

Spoiler: Nerdgasm!

I'm typing this from my Core2Quad q9400, 8 gigs of Corsair Dominator, and a GTX-260. It's name is DeepThought (because there will only ever be one computer faster than it ). Gratuitous? HELL yes. But when I want to do something - anything, this PC pretty much scoffs at me and does it in half a millisecond. Well worth the pricetag for me.

 

[veloper]

The difference between any PC that you absolutely need for internet, email and printing documents and a complete gaming rig, varies between just adding a better gfxcard to a full upgrade of mainboard+ram+cpu+cooler+gfx.

It depends on your non-gaming needs.

Starting with a decent rig with a C2D7xxx or C2D8xxx, 2 GB ram and winXP installed, you only needs an HD4830 or 9800gt to play games well. This is cheaper than buying a console.

Now if instead you start only with a pentium 4 or less, you'll be looking at a full upgrade to play the most recent games.

 

[Aries_Split]

A decent PC* is about E650, a PS3 + game is less than E400.
A PC is used for three years(four if everything is new), a console for 4-6 years depending on how long people make games for it.

*With 'decent' I mean hardware that's at least a year old. If I were to buy everything new, I would spend about E1200 on it.(E250-350 graphics card, E120~ RAM, E250~ motherboard, E300-400 processor, E120~ power supply)
This all is without windows and a monitor, which adds another E400-500.(120 for Vista and the rest for a decent fairly new monitor)

The "E" is used for the ?(euro) sign.

You don't already own a monitor or computer? I'm not being sarcastic.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

My point is that you don't even need anything spectacular to run most of the games that are out. Sure, you may not have as pretty graphics as everyone else but as long as you can pull off mid settings and 1024x768 resolution with an FPS of between 50-60 on most games your computer is O.K

Yep, people forget this.

If you don't care about having the latest brillo-fandango parts and just keep your computer parts at an 'above average' level, it probably works out cheaper or about the same as you would pay for buying a new console every 4 years and the games for it which are more expensive than PC games; and you get all the perks that PC gaming brings (except the graphical perks, obviously).

Seriously, there are video cards out there that cost less than a single game, that can play any game out there (at least those that are half-way decent ports). It only becomes expensive when you want to play everything at high quality graphics.

I would still prefer to be a PC gamer than exclusively a console gamer even with cheap parts, and indeed I was in this situation last year and was perfectly happy there.