PS4 performance on a ~£300 PC. Can it be done? (spoiler: yes)

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I'm going to give the article a pass for proving that you can get (near) PS4 performance on a PC for that price.

The rest of the bickering in this thread can be boiled down to the fact that value of brand, convenience, associated accessories, social network, and more are not placed on the scale for this PC and a PS4.
 
LX_Theo said:
99.9% of people considering buying a video game system would

That's so stupid to pretend it's the same as getting a monitor.
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90% people have windows in their house, 90% have mouse, keyboard and gamepad in their house yet those are still thrown as arguments.
PCs can work on TV same as consoles, You dont need monitor for it.
 
KHlover said:
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=159706726

Regular online store, one of the first google shopping results. Windows isn't expensive anymore. Thise times are over.
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Interesting. Is that something that's EU-only because you have the right to sell digital licenses? Or would something like this be OK in the US as well? I'm just asking because it says it's 'Windows 7 Home Premium Dell COA' and that the license sticker can show signs of usage or some such. Also, it says you get no MS support, so this has me wondering what kind of license this is.

EatMyFace said:
Everyone has a TV. Not everyone has a monitor.

You must also include mouse and keyboard if you're building a custom PC. Since we're directly competing with console here you might as well add a gamepad too.
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I bought my TV together with my PS3. Before that, I didn't have a TV for years. I agree that kb&m should be included, but I don't see how a gamepad is required.
 
arya's prayer said:
This argument is so disingenuous. Everyone Does have a TV in their house. In fact on average, Americans have multiple tvs in their house.

What do you think the percentage of people that own a decent monitor? I'd put it in single digits. But that's just a common sense guess so feel free to disregard it.

You have to include monitor, Windows, keyboard and mouse, etc in the cost. People don't just have those things lying around. And not everyone is able to/wants their computer in the living room.
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Yeah Windows is something most forget to include on a custom PC.

Anyone know why didn't they just use an AMD CPU/GPU? PS4 users AMD not Intel/Nvidia.
 
EatMyFace said:
And you think this is the norm?
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If you are making a computer primarily to play videogames, why would you consider a desk and monitor important? Just put the tower next to your entertainment center and plug it into one of the 3-6 HDMI ports that your TV likely has. Hell, some modern cases are small enough to put into your entertainment center.

The "PC's need a monitor" mindset comes from a time that your gaming PC also had to be the machine that your wrote your English essays on and chatted with your friends on instant messenger. Most of us now have tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc that have taken over those more basic tasks.
 
Truant said:
Why do PC gamers feel the need to justify the power to dollar ratio. Everybody knows the PC is superior in every way to a console. It's simply an argument about how much you care about graphics and framerate, besides the few console exclusives. Just spend your money on what suits your needs. You'll get a great experience either way.
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Some console fans are the equivalent of car fans who insist that their stock Ford Mustang is definitely faster than someone else's Bugatti Veyron. They're just not comfortable accepting that their platform of choice is in a lower tier.
 
Was this actually in doubt?

Also, as a console gamer, how much should I care? Congratulations to the PC gamers that can get something more affordable because I know it was always seem as a hefty investment, but cost was never what drove me away.
 
ricki42 said:
Interesting. Is that something that's EU-only because you have the right to sell digital licenses? Or would something like this be OK in the US as well? I'm just asking because it says it's 'Windows 7 Home Premium Dell COA' and that the license sticker can show signs of usage or some such. Also, it says you get no MS support, so this has me wondering what kind of license this is.



I bought my TV together with my PS3. Before that, I didn't have a TV for years. I agree that kb&m should be included, but I don't see how a gamepad is required.
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I think it depends on why you're building this PC the first place. Are you trying to replicate the console experience? If I say a gamepad is a must.
 
Netrunner2k2 said:
Soooooo far off. You are correct, however, if you do want to ignore complete genres.
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I'm not the one ignoring, sounds like you're on the defensive because I may come off anti-PC (I'm not) and you're not comfortable with that. I'm including most things in my assessment and using an average-joe mentality to interests, as that seems fitting given the idea behind a console spec PC.

I have every current system, even a stinking OUYA, I've got as good of an idea of what's out there as the next guy and what most people would find interesting. If you're on such a budget (factoring in reasons why, like a lack of funds and probably a lesser interest in specifications and graphics) and don't care for strategy games or specific MMOs (almost two whole genres, that such a majority of what's available! /S), then I'd always recommend a PS4 or Xbone.

I'm glad you're willing to see there's a possibility I'm correct however. :-) Perhaps you could actually explain how I'm soooo far off now that I've made my point more clear, instead of just accusing?
 
SgtCobra said:
Where did I say that? Can you please quote the part where I said it's the PC crowds fault?
Do you know what vice versa means? It means that both parties are at fault here.
The poster with that semi snarky post I quoted was wrong with his assumption, never did I post anything which implied I was defending any camp.
But good to see that you set an exaple of what I meant.
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I set an example of what? Go ahead and read the very first post I made in this thread. Hell the almost every single post I made in this discussion has been platform neutral. But good job making a baseless assumption about me.
 
Terbinator said:
I'm not sure what scenario i'd ever be in where I'd recommend someone spend PSXB1 money on an entry level PC. That isn't even scratching the bottom end of the PC platforms advantages graphically.
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I spent around $450 on my first gaming PC. It was barebones and not where I really wanted it to be, but it worked. Over time I've upgraded and changed components and now I have a high-end gaming PC. The only component left from my original build is the 2TB storage drive.

I'd say a cheap PC is a great way to dip your toe in the water and see if PC gaming is something you really want to pursue. If you're smart with your build you can ensure compatibility and upgrades for years to come.
 
Look, I can see their point. If you would be fine with playing multiplatform games at the exact same settings as a PS4, a PC is not actually much more expensive. For me, this is something not actually useful to do in the real world, but ok.

However, if I take it at face value, I would still have some comments though:

Does that PC have wireless, Bluetooth?
Should also have a great gaming input device (and not the cheapest kb&m they could find?)
GDDR5 vs DDR3. But whatever, they seem to get almost the same performance in their tested games?
They omitted the costs of an OS but that they mentioned (and that's kinda fine because you can also do much more stuff with a PC OS)
However, can it play any Blu-rays or at the bare minimum DVDs? (also for physical game releases)

low power mode chips for downloading&Installing in standby?
dedicated hardware for automatic video recording/streaming?
USB 3.0?

Very important, what about audio? Any loss-less 7.1 capabilities or at least some optical 5.1 DD/DTS thingy? Don't make the common mistake and cheap out on having great sound in games/movies etc. It's not only about graphics.

The man-hours needed to built, tweak and overclock all this stuff?

They built it NOW for £320 but the PS4 is already 1.5 years old (was £350 at launch I think?), so could you have built it for 350 in 2013? Would you still be able to play the same games at the same settings with their machine in 5 years from now?




Oh and btw I'm in the camp that misses the PS3 days when I paid at launch a price far cheaper than even the raw production costs for Sony. I also wish the PS4 was a tad more powerful but oh well. The mass market doesn't think much about the actual value of the product vs. the profit margin of the company. (See also Apple)
 
alexandros said:
Basically, dispel a couple of age-old myths. That a) you need much stronger PC hardware to match console performance and b) that a PC that matches console performance would be much more expensive than the console.
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there is no age-old myths. Everybody knows that multiplatform games that are well ported to the PC (or consoles) have often the possibility to scale higher on the most powerful platform. And then, as you can upgrade a PC to better parts any time with a cost, and even if the cost isn't linear, PC will always have the better performing multiplatform games potentially.

But, what people are saying here (the salty ones, the neutral ones... etc, everyone you think are console warriors or something) is that they don't care about performance compared to a PC because:

a) they don't want a PC
b) they are only interested in some console exclusives
c) they don't want to go higher than the price of a PS4 for a gaming platform and simply prefer then, at the same price, a PS4 for plenty of rational or irrational reasons.

Now, really, thanks for the information. I already know i can buy a PC for gaming, while having a good experience with it, for cheap. You know, it's the same between PS4/XBO/WiiU, all those guys choosing the underpowered platforms aren't fools or brand-addicted warriors.
 
KHlover said:
win8csutv.jpg

https://www.google.de/?gws_rd=ssl#q=windows+8+oem&tbm=shop

That took me literally 5 seconds to find.
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reddit can also be a decent play to get legitimate keys from for cheap. Though, you do have to look out for the right sellers as some might try to sell of pirated keys.
 
It's becoming increasingly apparent that this topic has gone beyond it's intended purpose and people are just simply throwing platform specific bullshit around without acknowledging the useful points brought up in the OP and article linked.

I don't know why it hasn't been closed yet.
 
MrCunningham said:
reddit can also be a decent play to get legitimate keys from for cheap. Though, you do have to look out for the right sellers as some might try to sell of pirated keys.
Click to expand...

Yeah if you know were to ask on reddit you can get a legit Win 8.1 Pro key for $15. So OS is not a real problem here.
 
Hypron said:
You're right, a PS4 can't even do a tenth of what a budget PC can do.
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True. But the article is trying to match a PS4 with a custom PC not the other way around.....

There's plenty of things a PS4 can do too that a budget PC just can't. These things have been mentioned above so I won't repeat them.
 
Alej said:
there is no age-old myths.
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That is really, absolutely, positively not true. Both those myths were treated as gospel by a lot of people and it is only recently, with tons of game benchmarks and with the help of articles such as the one from DF that this has started to change.
 
KKRT00 said:
90% people have windows in their house, 90% have mouse, keyboard and gamepad in their house yet those are still thrown as arguments.
PCs can work on TV same as consoles, You dont need monitor for it.
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Aha, nope. Young people are already converging from desktop to laptop to tablet/smartphone.

And then i won't say anything about counting every PC users as a decent monitor owner... Most don't even have a flatscreen monitor for their PC.

alexandros said:
That is really, absolutely, positively not true. Both those myths were treated as gospel by a lot of people and it is only recently, with tons of game benchmarks and with the help of articles such as the one from DF that this has started to change.
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Educate people about a product... What is it again? Marketing?

You just want more people to buy PCs, i don't know why you feel you aren't allowed to say this. I'm with you, you know, i want the gaming market to grow.
 
Interesting to see how easily the hardware in a Ps4 can be matched. Now look at whats possible with the hardware (Driveclub, The Order etc.) and imagine what could be done with a PC 5 times as powerful as a Ps4.

Would also be interesting to see a follow up in two or four years.
Will the PC still be able to display multiplats at the same settings as a Ps4 in 2 years? Or 4 years?
 
OmegaDL50 said:
It's becoming increasingly apparent that this topic has gone beyond it's intended purpose and people are just simply throwing platform specific bullshit around without acknowledging the useful points brought up in the OP and article linked.

I don't know why it hasn't been closed yet.
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So it's that simple? Anyone can come in a thread about game performance, completely ignore the topic, post about exclusives or convenience or how the box's color is bad and get the thread locked? Doesn't that seem wrong to you?
 
KKRT00 said:
90% people have windows in their house, 90% have mouse, keyboard and gamepad in their house yet those are still thrown as arguments.
PCs can work on TV same as consoles, You dont need monitor for it.
Click to expand...
If you getting a new motherboard, you have to renew Windows licence.

But most of them will crack it. Naughty
 
KKRT00 said:
90% people have windows in their house, 90% have mouse, keyboard and gamepad in their house yet those are still thrown as arguments.
PCs can work on TV same as consoles, You dont need monitor for it.
Click to expand...
Uless you already have a desktop PC you're replacing, you won't have a copy of Windows to dedicate to it

Same with mouses and keyboards for most people.

Game pads only apply to select people.

And don't pretend that anyone is likely to take their TV and dedicate to a PC. The vast majority of people buying a gaming PC are not just going to hook it up like a game console and leave it solely for that setup, either

All of those should be a part of the entry price into into PC gaming

This has gone beyond idiotic and into the realm of pure desperation, it seems
 
KKRT00 said:
90% people have windows in their house, 90% have mouse, keyboard and gamepad in their house yet those are still thrown as arguments.
PCs can work on TV same as consoles, You dont need monitor for it.
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PC can't be operated with purely a gamepad. You also need a PC compatible.
Who actually has an extra Windows install lying around the house? 90%? Really dude? You have to be joking.
 
Ok, let's view the point of this article in a slightly different way.

Are you gonna get the same value from a similarly priced PC as a PS4? No, probably not.

However, the game performance is pretty much the same. Which goes against viewpoints of many people that coding to the metal and such makes a vast difference and that you would need to shell out much more money for your PC components to keep up with games and need to regularly update your components to keep playing games.

This article helps with showing that is not true.

No, you won't get a Blu-ray drive, no gamepad, no bluetooth, no OS. Some people would have a need for them, some don't. But both would be capable of playing games on the same performance level (well, might need the OS for that).

And it will take a bit longer for custom PCs to compete with that, because unlike Sony we don't buy our components in bulk. Besides that they are able to have a low or no margin on their components because this is not what they make their money with.

Give it a year and maybe you'll be able to get a similar PC with more peripherals, but at least this shows that PC component wise, PC gaming doesn't have to be much more expensive than a PS4.

iceatcs said:
If you getting a new motherboard, you have to renew Windows licence.

But most of them will crack it. Naughty
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No you don't, since Windows 8 we don't have licenses tied to the components anymore. You can switch it over to another PC.
 
FunkyDealer said:
I'm not the one ignoring, sounds like you're on the defensive because I may come off anti-PC (I'm not) and you're not comfortable with that. I'm including most things in my assessment and using an average-joe mentality to interests, as that seems fitting given the idea behind a console spec PC.
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Looking at Steam's most played games I'm not entirely sure you're really speaking for the average joe while casting many big PC games aside.
 
1.21Gigawatts said:
Would also be interesting to see a follow up in two or four years.
Will the PC still be able to display multiplats at the same settings as a Ps4 in 2 years? Or 4 years?
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't it? In fact with DX12 and Vulcan just around the corner it might perform even better. I see no reason for performance to drop.
 
alexandros said:
That is really, absolutely, positively not true. Both those myths were treated as gospel by a lot of people and it is only recently, with tons of game benchmarks and with the help of articles such as the one from DF that this has started to change.
Click to expand...
Yeah. You can claim tons of stupid bullshit and these days I won't even bat an eye. But the idea that there are no age-old myths concerning relative hardware performance is absurd.

I've argued against those very same myths 100s of times over the past years.
 
This is off-topic, but since some of the PC-only crowd seem to be congregating here I have a question: how is the current state of laptop gaming? Are you still locked into the hardware you originally purchased (save for RAM) or has future proofing been improved? I ask because I'm considering replacing my current 2010 MacBook Pro sometime in the near future and Apple's OS seems ever-worsening. If Microsoft can right the ship with their next version of Windows I would consider axing MacOS. I'm still a 7 user (partition) and really couldn't stand the business/glut of 8.

I realize that going desktop is a better value, but I need transportability and don't personally see the value in having a dedicated gaming rig. I wouldn't want nor expect access to "ultra high" settings as I simply don't care about graphical showcases but would be more concerned with, say, running Dark Souls free of any framerate dips/etc.

Thanks in advance if you choose to respond to my incredibly ignorant post! :)
 
alexandros said:
I think you're being a little unfair here. The article being quoted has a pretty specific subject (matching console performance with a low end PC) and the discussion on it is being clearly derailed by all the unbelievably dumb "but can I play Bloodborne on it" comments. The topic is game performance, plain and simple.
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For sure. My point is more that people still just read the title and then mouth off, often with such comments as the "bloodborne" one, which are indeed entirely irrelevant - but that's the sort of thing that will spark a thread going in this direction
 
Sid said:
I'd say that is the case for the PS4,the XB1 has a considerably worse GPU as well
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'Considerably' is probably too strong a word. The raw difference is about 50%, but not in practice. So I think the two GPUs sort of 'average out' as far as real world performance goes, with the PS4 edging out in some cases.

Besides that, both consoles have noticeably underpowered CPUs. IIRC Digital Foundry made an article on this and came to the same conclusion (that the CPU is what's causing these consoles to lag behind).
 
OmegaDL50 said:
I set an example of what? Go ahead and read the very first post I made in this thread. Hell the almost every single post I made in this discussion has been platform neutral. But good job making a baseless assumption about me.
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Where is that quote I asked for?
The example of someone trying to put someone else in his place with a "No U" or "bububut PC/PS4" post. Painting me as someone who's on the PS4 camp thanks to a wrong assumption by yourself.
 
1.21Gigawatts said:
Interesting to see how easily the hardware in a Ps4 can be matched. Now look at whats possible with the hardware (Driveclub, The Order etc.) and imagine what could be done with a PC 5 times as powerful as a Ps4.

Would also be interesting to see a follow up in two or four years.
Will the PC still be able to display multiplats at the same settings as a Ps4 in 2 years? Or 4 years?
Click to expand...

At the level of the PS4, it's probable. I mean when the PS3 and 360 came out they were on par with the highest end PCs at the time, back in 2005 / 2006.

However for the PS4 and XB1 when they released back in 2013 the case as the highest end PCs already surpassed them by a significant margin. Which is quite a strange inverse compared with the PS3 and 360.

Of course the minimum requires for multiplatform titles on PC will always steadily rise over time, along with the life of the PS4, However in 5 years time the minimal requirements of PC titles will exceed what the PS4 should be realistically capable of. In truth running games below this should be relatively on par.

Also consider this a $300 PC build today will not be the same as a $300 PC in 5 years from now. The PS4 WILL drop in price eventually. However the barrier of entry for a PC on the price comparison of a PS4 at power that meets or exceeds it will continue to become lower and lower over time.

However this is ultimately irrelevant. It's what enjoyment you get out of these devices regardless of their power is what truly matters.
 
Fitts said:
This is off-topic, but since some of the PC-only crowd seem to be congregating here I have a question: how is the current state of laptop gaming? Are you still locked into the hardware you originally purchased (save for RAM) or has future proofing been improved? I ask because I'm considering replacing my current 2010 MacBook Pro sometime in the near future and Apple's OS seems ever-worsening. If Microsoft can right the ship with their next version of Windows I would consider axing MacOS. I'm still a 7 user (partition) and really couldn't stand the business/glut of 8.

I realize that going desktop is a better value, but I need transportability and don't personally see the value in having a dedicated gaming rig. I wouldn't want nor expect access to "ultra high" settings as I simply don't care about graphical showcases but would be more concerned with, say, running Dark Souls free of any framerate dips/etc.

Thanks in advance if you choose to respond to my incredibly ignorant post! :)
Click to expand...

Seems to be pretty much the same state. Almost never you can do something with the GPU, I only know of one laptop series that allows it by adding a GPU.

However laptop GPUs might relatively be more powerful nowadays considering their is a big focus on improving GPUs for smaller devices.
 
Fitts said:
This is off-topic, but since some of the PC-only crowd seem to be congregating here I have a question: how is the current state of laptop gaming? Are you still locked into the hardware you originally purchased (save for RAM) or has future proofing been improved?
Click to expand...

No, not really. There were a few initiatives with modular systems but they all failed sooner or later afaik and with notebooks getting more compact year after year there's just no room for expandability.
 
SgtCobra said:
Where is that quote I asked for?
The example of someone trying to put someone else in his place with a "No U" or "bububut PC/PS4" post. Painting me as someone who's on the PS4 camp thanks to a wrong assumption by yourself.
Click to expand...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=159709357&postcount=268 - Read this and the and the original post that person was replying to.

We both know what what Steiner84 implied in his post and you replying to jim-jam bongs statement

This is becoming pointless.

Why hasn't this thread been closed yet.
 
Swarna said:
You know you're doing something wrong when you create strawman arguments defending your purchasing decisions in a thread about an article meant to simply educate people on performance comparisons between hardware. Who's selling who to what again?
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The purpose is as clear as day on a forum where consoles are constantly downplayed, PC parts picker lists showing how inexpensive you can build a PC for are constantly displayed, as well as charts showing how PS4 compares to $100 GPUs. Oh, and of course there's the "no games" argument, because multiplatform games don't count. No reason to buy one! Many times have we seen that?

This is just another in a long line of been there seen that on GAF. Perhaps if weren't so inundated with all the other shit this article could be seen differently, but in the GAF climate no, it serves a purpose.
 
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