Console vs PC

[hornetstinger]

I prefer gaming on a pc because I use a mouse and keyboard and for the driving sims I own I have a full sim set up. On a pc you also have much more control over your settings and I think it looks better too. Another reason that I no longer have a console is that the controllers are too small and make my hands hurt as I have large hands. Replacement controllers are also ridiculously expensive now.

Yeah isn't ps5 controller something like £250? haha

 

[chaparral]

Yeah isn't ps5 controller something like £250? haha

PS5 owner asks hornetstinger " So how much does a PC GPU cost these days"

 

[hornetstinger]

PS5 owner asks hornetstinger " So how much does a PC GPU cost these days"

I want a 197 core PC, 2TB of quad channel RAM, 100PT of NVME storage for two shillings and enough change for a pint of ale.

 

[chaparral]

I want a 197 core PC, 2TB of quad channel RAM, 100PT of NVME storage for two shillings and enough change for a pint of ale.

Make it three shillings and they throw a 5090 in

 

[Noxia]

Another thing that seems to be lost on a lot of console owners is that you can indeed play a PC on a TV with a controller on the sofa. They seem to think it's some kind of exclusive thing to a console lol.

 

[Gray2233]

Another thing that seems to be lost on a lot of console owners is that you can indeed play a PC on a TV with a controller on the sofa. They seem to think it's some kind of exclusive thing to a console lol.

I've ran a 4k 65" TV as a second monitor to my ultrawide for awhile now, absolutely the best combo if you've the space imo. Mouse and keyboard for FPS and RTS at the desk, or for when I'm using my hotas setup. Nice comfy couch and big TV with my wireless pad for RPGs and adventure type titles.

 

[t2na]

Another thing that seems to be lost on a lot of console owners is that you can indeed play a PC on a TV with a controller on the sofa. They seem to think it's some kind of exclusive thing to a console lol.

I don't think that's fair, a lot of people (rightly so) don't enjoy the faff of setting up a PC to work on a TV so it's less about thinking it's exclusive to console - and more about it being more hassle in comparison to console.

There's a lot of people in this thread missing the point. People aren't buying a console because they're expecting a better gaming experience compared to PC, they're buying a console because they're insanely convenient. I buy my PS5, I buy my game, I play my game.

I don't touch any settings, games that are made for console will just work on console. I don't have to worry about shader compilation, I don't need to revert to a previous driver because the current one has an incompatibility issue with the latest update to the game I'm playing. There's no need to have a broad understanding of tech, you just press 'play'.

I spend 90% of my time playing on my PC - but consoles are fantastic for what they offer.

 

[Noxia]

I don't think that's fair, a lot of people (rightly so) don't enjoy the faff of setting up a PC to work on a TV so it's less about thinking it's exclusive to console - and more about it being more hassle in comparison to console.

There's a lot of people in this thread missing the point. People aren't buying a console because they're expecting a better gaming experience compared to PC, they're buying a console because they're insanely convenient. I buy my PS5, I buy my game, I play my game.

I don't touch any settings, games that are made for console will just work on console. I don't have to worry about shader compilation, I don't need to revert to a previous driver because the current one has an incompatibility issue with the latest update to the game I'm playing. There's no need to have a broad understanding of tech, you just press 'play'.

I spend 90% of my time playing on my PC - but consoles are fantastic for what they offer.

Faff as in plugging in an HDMI cable? Because that's all the faff I go through if I decide to play it in the living room.

The issues you've just described I rarely encounter, most games auto detect settings, or I put them on high. No different to going into a menu and selecting between 30fps or "performance" mode. I think these issues are completely overblown to try highlight how convenient a console is.

The only factor I think is a genuine win is cost, but then you get what you pay for as with all things.

 

[Gray2233]

I don't think that's fair, a lot of people (rightly so) don't enjoy the faff of setting up a PC to work on a TV so it's less about thinking it's exclusive to console - and more about it being more hassle in comparison to console.

There's a lot of people in this thread missing the point. People aren't buying a console because they're expecting a better gaming experience compared to PC, they're buying a console because they're insanely convenient. I buy my PS5, I buy my game, I play my game.

I don't touch any settings, games that are made for console will just work on console. I don't have to worry about shader compilation, I don't need to revert to a previous driver because the current one has an incompatibility issue with the latest update to the game I'm playing. There's no need to have a broad understanding of tech, you just press 'play'.

I spend 90% of my time playing on my PC - but consoles are fantastic for what they offer.

Everyone has individual needs, but I found the PS5 a painful experience and one I was glad to be rid of. I bought mine purely to play FF7 Rebirth, and as another poster mentioned you had to choose between 60fps and hideous or 30fps and decent looking, but still with a bunch of problems. I sold the console on the MM immediately after beating the game, spent the entire time wishing I could have played it on PC.

I do somewhat get the convenience argument, but the things you're complaining about are a rare to non issue, at least for me. I've always found setting things up for the TV very easy and generally quick. I'd say that anyone interested in running their pc on a TV that has the means should at least give it a shot.

 

[hornetstinger]

Faff as in plugging in an HDMI cable? Because that's all the faff I go through if I decide to play it in the living room.

The issues you've just described I rarely encounter, most games auto detect settings, or I put them on high. No different to going into a menu and selecting between 30fps or "performance" mode. I think these issues are completely overblown to try highlight how convenient a console is.

The only factor I think is a genuine win is cost, but then you get what you pay for as with all things.

No fiddling on a PC, once it's setup right, just if you do updates drivers etc could break it, or require shader rebuild.

Only issue with my PC is it weighs a tonne so not exactly easy to move from downstairs to upstairs, if I wanted to play on the 4K TV.

 

[Rroff]

For a lot of games now you can just use an Amazon Fire stick with an Xbox controller and stream games with many no worse an experience than playing on console if you have a reasonable internet connection some exceptions aside.

Personally would rather PC every time though and if I want to play away from my desk have a 43" UHD display hooked up to my PC additional to my monitor but generally I prefer keyboard and mouse.

 

[Gray2233]

For a lot of games now you can just use an Amazon Fire stick with an Xbox controller and stream games with many no worse an experience than playing on console if you have a reasonable internet connection some exceptions aside.

Personally would rather PC every time though and if I want to play away from my desk have a 43" UHD display hooked up to my PC additional to my monitor but generally I prefer keyboard and mouse.

GeForce Now is another super convenient option, with Ultimate you could plug in a tiny form factor cheap PC and get the equivalent of a Nvidia 4080 setup.

Then there's stuff like Steam Link.

 

[adidan]

People should just do both and stop crying over which is better.

I like tea and coffee. I'm not going to just drink one.

 

[t2na]

No fiddling on a PC, once it's setup right, just if you do updates drivers etc could break it, or require shader rebuild.

Only issue with my PC is it weighs a tonne so not exactly easy to move from downstairs to upstairs, if I wanted to play on the 4K TV.

I totally agree that once setup right it'll be fine.

For a lot of people they don't want to spend that time getting things setup right. Most of us here, when we launch a game for the first time, will spend time finding a balance between quality and frame rate so we get a great visual experience as well as smooth performance. I do that regularly with games on PC and it means I'm always really happy with my experience once I've done that.

On console, I fire up a game and choose performance or quality and then I start playing. It's a different audience that it's appealing to.

 

[Zefan]

Consoles are better for gaming and always have been. It's funny that anyone believes hardware designed specifically for a single purpose is somehow worse than a general purpose computer that is designed for spreadsheets and browsing. PC owners are just trying to justify their spending habit. "Look I can also file my taxes!" woooo

 

[t2na]

Faff as in plugging in an HDMI cable? Because that's all the faff I go through if I decide to play it in the living room.

The issues you've just described I rarely encounter, most games auto detect settings, or I put them on high. No different to going into a menu and selecting between 30fps or "performance" mode. I think these issues are completely overblown to try highlight how convenient a console is.

The only factor I think is a genuine win is cost, but then you get what you pay for as with all things.

Sure - you plug your PC into your TV with a HDMI cable. Are you using a wired mouse and keyboard? Have you got Steam Big Picture set to launch by default?

What controller are you using? If you're using a PS5 controller then some games (Elden Ring etc.) might not initially detect that so you have to disable Steam Input for that specific title.

You've got an insanely powerful PC - so of course you just set things to high and start playing, likewise the same reason as to why you rarely encounter issues because you can essentially brute force through most things. Most PC gamers aren't running a 4090 and 9800X3D - so they need to spend time finding a balance between visuals and performance, completely different to selecting peformance or quality at launch on console.

I understand your point, I just don't think it's fair to make a comment that PC on a TV is just as easy as a console is.

 

[Gray2233]

Sure - you plug your PC into your TV with a HDMI cable. Are you using a wired mouse and keyboard? Have you got Steam Big Picture set to launch by default?

What controller are you using? If you're using a PS5 controller then some games (Elden Ring etc.) might not initially detect that so you have to disable Steam Input for that specific title.

You've got an insanely powerful PC - so of course you just set things to high and start playing, likewise the same reason as to why you rarely encounter issues because you can essentially brute force through most things. Most PC gamers aren't running a 4090 and 9800X3D - so they need to spend time finding a balance between visuals and performance, completely different to selecting peformance or quality at launch on console.

I understand your point, I just don't think it's fair to make a comment that PC on a TV is just as easy as a console is.

I'm on a 4070 and 5800X3D, hardly cutting edge. I have very few problems myself, you're really overblowing the difficulty of setting up a PC with a TV. Every game I've played with a controller for years now has auto detected everything, granted I tend to use Xbox variants but if specifically aiming to use a controller with a pc you're probably not going to buy a playstation pad.

 

[hornetstinger]

Sure - you plug your PC into your TV with a HDMI cable. Are you using a wired mouse and keyboard? Have you got Steam Big Picture set to launch by default?

What controller are you using? If you're using a PS5 controller then some games (Elden Ring etc.) might not initially detect that so you have to disable Steam Input for that specific title.

You've got an insanely powerful PC - so of course you just set things to high and start playing, likewise the same reason as to why you rarely encounter issues because you can essentially brute force through most things. Most PC gamers aren't running a 4090 and 9800X3D - so they need to spend time finding a balance between visuals and performance, completely different to selecting peformance or quality at launch on console.

I understand your point, I just don't think it's fair to make a comment that PC on a TV is just as easy as a console is.

Go back to MS-DOS where you had to mess around with boot files to eek out another 2K of base memory to get mouse driver to work.

PC's are dead easy to use.

I guess that's the problem with consoles, doesn't require much thinking to use, or even graphics settings menus are too complex hahaha

 

[Rroff]

You've got an insanely powerful PC - so of course you just set things to high and start playing, likewise the same reason as to why you rarely encounter issues because you can essentially brute force through most things. Most PC gamers aren't running a 4090 and 9800X3D - so they need to spend time finding a balance between visuals and performance, completely different to selecting peformance or quality at launch on console.

Almost any game now which is out on console and PC has automatic settings detection and preset profiles and most people who'll settle for console gaming aren't that fussed about settings and would just game with whatever, where it is more complicated is PC specific titles, or games which originate on PC and have had a console "port" but for the former that is kind of irrelevant as you can't play them on console anyhow.

EDIT: Kind of related to this quite a lot of stuff now when it comes to streaming devices and consoles will give you the option to type a URL into a PC browser and/or scan a QR code on your phone for easier setup heh.

 

[David Bisset]

Consoles are better for gaming and always have been. It's funny that anyone believes hardware designed specifically for a single purpose is somehow worse than a general purpose computer that is designed for spreadsheets and browsing. PC owners are just trying to justify their spending habit. "Look I can also file my taxes!" woooo

Bit of a weird take.

Consoles have been varying in quality, value etc forever. They're currently based on .... the very general purpose system you suggest is worse. Strange, if it's worse, that it displaced the dedicated hardware development.

What consoles are good at: Set hardware, so games can aim for a specific setup. Price, broadly due to subsidies repaid through game purchases but also partly due to numbers made of the exact same spec. Generally they're of a form factor that suits being in/around the TV.
What they're not good at: Upgrading, high end performance, value after initial purchase.

So are they better or worse? That depends what you want from them or a PC. They're a good way of getting relatively affordable entry into gaming. They're a terrible way to get high-end gaming. They're more expensive than some of the PC-based gaming options but cheaper than many. Worth remembering here that most gamers on PC are not on high end systems either, they're on mid range laptops. And those taxes aint gonna file themselves