Is it time to give up and move to consoles

[HangTime]

PC has been my primary platform since the late 90s (didn't own any consoles between the SNES and Wii) and I still wouldn't want to give it up as there's certain things it does very well (FPS/RTS games, modding, general performance, huge back catalogue etc). But I am coming round to the idea of just having a lower end system in future, to use for older games etc and then do most gaming on my Xbox Series X.

I mean I have a 5900X/6900XT system, so pretty powerful, but I play hardly any demanding games on it these days. That's a CPU and GPU costing over a grand but would be fine with something costing half that 99% of the time.

 

[arc@css]

I can't imagine using a console for 100% of my gaming, though I suppose it would be nice to have both options. The last console I owned was the 360.

I've recently been playing an old, classic shooter (community made wad) on the PC but with a controller, and that's been a lot of fun. The most fun when gaming I've had for literally several years.

Back in 2015 I bought a 980Ti from here for £480 (including a free game), and later, nearly 8 years later, I purchased the 3070 FE for £469.
So, roughly a doubling of performance/slightly lower power draw for about the same price as when buying the 980Ti.
It can be done if you're patient... just a shame about it only having an extra 2 GB of video memory, though... :/

I nearly pulled the trigger on the 360Ti FE for £369 and out of the two, that's probably what I should have done.

Therefore, no, I'm not yet willing to move over to console only for gaming, though I might consider bagging a PS5 further down the track for some exclusive titles.

 

[jonneymendoza]

Just get a steam deck. Much better than a Sony or Microsoft console imo

 

[TheRealDeal]

I think i will always have every console and a PC. I am a big gamer so want access to everything but Gpu prices make upgrading my PC unpalatable at the moment although i really want more power. The Ps5 is my main console and i get a lot of enjoyment out of it with Sony only games. As above i rent my single player games through the mail so i save a lot of money. Comes in at £15 a month for 2 games at a time from Boomerang rentals.

 

[Rroff]

No proper mods, no proper keyboard and mouse, no thanks.

Modding has directly or indirectly been responsible for some of the best stuff in gaming history.

Sadly the current state of the GPU market is likely going to seriously impact PC gaming if things don't change quickly.

 

[Wing-Man]

Sadly the current state of the GPU market is likely going to seriously impact PC gaming if things don't change quickly.

its not just the GPU market, a good motherboard used to be £100-150 but your looking at £300-500.
what you would call a good motherboard is a console in cost, CPU's are going to the same way.

ive been looking for a cheap board to go with a 10400f and there from £100 used, do you remember what a cheap motherboard used to be £50 new

 

[Rroff]

its not just the GPU market, a good motherboard used to be £100-150 but your looking at £300-500.
what you would call a good motherboard is a console in cost, CPU's are going to the same way.

ive been looking for a cheap board to go with a 10400f and there from £100 used, do you remember what a cheap motherboard used to be £50 new

I'm not seeing the prices too bad on motherboard or CPU unless you are buying the very latest AMD range which has gone a bit crazy on price.

Second hand market can be a bit crazy for stuff a couple of generations back - sometimes better off selling what you have and buying into a new platform whole rather than trying to buy bits

 

[Brazo]

I only play flight sims: DCS, Il-2 great battles and MSFS. All are used with addons such as peripherals that wouldn’t work on a console (some will, mine won’t) and software add one such as head tracking, voice commands and even specific navigation apps. Of the above titles only MSFS will work on consoles and even then only some planes as consoles can’t power the more complex planes and you get lower resolution and frame rates. Not that even a monster PC can hit that game hard mind!

 

[SpellowHouse]

During the pandemic, PC parts manufacturers got the idea they could charge anything they wanted for hardware and people would pay it. They are wrong.

 

[Wing-Man]

They are wrong

Not in all cases. Something's are still selling at inflated prices, not pandemic prices but still up

 

[SpellowHouse]

Not in all cases. Something's are still selling at inflated prices, not pandemic prices but still up

That's what I mean. The manufacturers have pretty much kept the prices high, but I think they are killing the PC. They have to reduce prices. Especially graphics cards are ridiculous now. NVIDIA neeed to completely change their strategy.

 

[bjjgann]

Why do you have to choose to own just one thing

To be honest, in my household we have two GTX 1660 Super based gaming PCs, an Xbox Series X and a Meta Quest 2 so we pretty much have every angle covered. Will probably replace the Supers at some point but not with current prices and I certainly won't be upgrading motherboards, CPU, power supplies etc. to cope with the demands of the 4 series.

 

[Wing-Man]

but I think they are killing the PC.

100%, if i didnt have a base pc to upgrade on there is no change i would buy one now.

PS5 - £450?
you go ask to speck a 1440p pc, everyone wants you to drop £2000.
untill that changes in some way the pc market is dead

 

[apatia77]

PC gaming is great and all but omg the top end gaming PC now cost like £4k which I find to be kinda ridiculous. If prices will stay this high then surely it will affect PC gaming long term. I know not everyone needs top end gaming PC, but the prices of GFX are eye watering right now. So you need to spend at least £2k for a decent enough PC.

 

[Buckster]

Interesting a music instrument manufacturer just announced large drop in prices post Covid component shortages

As chips return, Behringer drop synth prices up to 60 per cent

Behringer has announced that it will be dropping prices for its synth products by up to 60% worldwide as components become more available.

musictech.com

You'd hope we'd see something similar in PC market but I'm not sure we will

 

[SpellowHouse]

Interesting a music instrument manufacturer just announced large drop in prices post Covid component shortages

As chips return, Behringer drop synth prices up to 60 per cent

Behringer has announced that it will be dropping prices for its synth products by up to 60% worldwide as components become more available.

musictech.com

You'd hope we'd see something similar in PC market but I'm not sure we will

Something that NVIDIA should take heed of....

 

[hyperseven]

Something that NVIDIA should take heed of....

Have you seen their share price? They could probably pivot to only doing AI/deep learning products in the current climate.

 

[jonneymendoza]

Steam deck is worth a punt tbh

 

[jonneymendoza]

100%, if i didnt have a base pc to upgrade on there is no change i would buy one now.

PS5 - £450?
you go ask to speck a 1440p pc, everyone wants you to drop £2000.
untill that changes in some way the pc market is dead

pc market is far from dead. Not everyone wants to play cp77 in 8k res…

Plenty of pc owners play oldie or less demanding games

 

[Wing-Man]

Plenty of pc owners play oldie or less demanding games

That’s what I play. But if the young gamers don’t buy pc’s then it’s dead.

What’s known as acceptable performance as got a bit silly. Everyone wants a 260hz monitor and if they can’t game at that they get a ps5.

You can get a good level tower for £700 that’s console compatible, but a console can be had for £350

What needs to change is.
To game you need 6 cores, some people are telling everyone you need 8c/16t

A lad on hear said if your a serious gamer you need 4th of nvme storage

If you want to game at 1080 your pushed 6800xt’s and 4070’s