Something I learned about PC gaming...

[ZombieGenesis]

When I was first looking into a gaming computer I didn't really know much, this was about four weeks back, and my searching took me high and low. Advertising and popular opinion tended to point towards high end systems from Dell like Alienware, but after some research I realised something.

PC gaming isn't expensive. Buying the rig alone from alienware (with an i7 930 processor, GTX 460 graphics card, 1 tb hard drive and 6 gb ram) comes upwards of £2000! Now don't get me wrong, that IS expensive, horribly so. But as I've come to learn you can get an even better system than that for about a third of the price.
Thanks to sites like Scan.co.uk I'm getting that same powerful machine for about £700. Of course I'm going to try building it myself (also much easier than I imagined) since many companies seem to throw hundreds into the fluff price for no better reason than exploiting people who didn't know better.

So there you go, from a previous console gamer, PC gaming isn't nearly as expensive as once thought. I'll probably be using this same build through the next console generation too. Still keeping my PS3 of course, I already paid £400 for the thing...

 

[kidwithxboxlive]

JEEZ...its amazing how much people charge you for just a computer...But thats due to the credit crunch i guess, and only rich people would pay that much for a computor (no offence)

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Woodsey]

Well at least that's one of you.

Now for the rest who list "oh it's sooo expenisve" as a reason as to why PC gaming is "dying".

 

[danintexas]

My gaming rig cost me about $800 total to make.

I have yet to find anything I can't run max/max at 1920x1080 resolution with a second monitor running 1680x1050

My PC is 2 years old at this point too. When I see people spending over $1000 in PC equipment for gaming I cry a little inside. Such a pointless waste.

 

[DoctorObviously]

Saying that a PC is expensive is total bullshit. A PS3 costed me 600 euro's (that's 760 dollars) and it broke down on me after only 2 years. I have a very powerful system right here that is almost four years old, and it still runs perfectly for 800 euro's.

 

[V8 Ninja]

You have found the pathway to the land of enlightenment. The knowledgeable ones stretch out their arms in welcome.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Haha, good to hear it.

Know that I'm not bashing consoles of course, I understand that we're talking two entirely different lines of products. I think the similarities have become moreso though in the last generations, with online play coming into it, and with the gaming machines ranging towards multi-media while the multi-media machines have taken leaps towards gaming.
The sad truth as I see it though is the PS4 is going to cost more than an equivilent gaming rig. We can pretty much guarantee taht.

I just wish there was more public knowledge about what classes as value for money where PC's are concerned. I was THIS close to buying a 1.2 thousand pound laptop for gaming, but now that I've done my research I realise how stupid that would have been.

 

[Chainsaws_of_War_2]

This about my same experience at the moment, except I'm not confident enough to do the whole build from mobo up by myself.

Anyone know of a good step-by-step computer building site?

 

[ZombieGenesis]

www.pcityourself.com

There you go, mate.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I'm sorry, am I missing something? £700 for a gaming PC, and you're all nodding your heads sagely and agreeing wwith how cheap that is?

A new Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hardrive costs, on Argos.co.uk, £190. That's less than a third of what your PC cost you. A 250 GB PS3 costs £285 from Argos, and that comes with two free games. I'm honestly struggling to see what exaclty is cheap about the PC option.

 

[101194]

This might be Advertising...Erm...Yeah, You might want to take that down a bit...

I barely have to upgrade by PC. Most of the games I want I check the specks out beforehand. I've spent probably less then 300 dollars in the past year and a half on my rig.

 

[Mechsoap]

I'm sorry, am I missing something? £700 for a gaming PC, and you're all nodding your heads sagely and agreeing wwith how cheap that is?

A new Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hardrive costs, on Argos.co.uk, £190. That's less than a third of what your PC cost you. A 250 GB PS3 costs £285 from Argos, and that comes with two free games. I'm honestly struggling to see what exaclty is cheap about the PC option.

a pc has more uses

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I'm sorry, am I missing something? £700 for a gaming PC, and you're all nodding your heads sagely and agreeing wwith how cheap that is?

A new Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hardrive costs, on Argos.co.uk, £190. That's less than a third of what your PC cost you. A 250 GB PS3 costs £285 from Argos, and that comes with two free games. I'm honestly struggling to see what exaclty is cheap about the PC option.

I suppose I should have been clearer, we're talking a high-end pc.
As in, something that would still be surpassing graphics and performance of the NEXT console generation. For something closer to the modern consoles would be looking at some hundreds off that, so it's really not expensive for what it is.
Also since a PC is multi purpose, more appropriate for browsers, and with new games going for as little as a tenner from Steam... well, in the least I think you can understand why it's appealing.

Consoles still have their place of course, no better way to play games on a budget. I couldn't afford a desktop a few years ago, so I got a pS3.

 

[danintexas]

I'm sorry, am I missing something? £700 for a gaming PC, and you're all nodding your heads sagely and agreeing wwith how cheap that is?

A new Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hardrive costs, on Argos.co.uk, £190. That's less than a third of what your PC cost you. A 250 GB PS3 costs £285 from Argos, and that comes with two free games. I'm honestly struggling to see what exaclty is cheap about the PC option.

a pc has more uses

Not to mention doesn't red ring you - or is it red dot now?

 

[Ymbirtt]

I'm sorry, am I missing something? £700 for a gaming PC, and you're all nodding your heads sagely and agreeing wwith how cheap that is?

A new Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hardrive costs, on Argos.co.uk, £190. That's less than a third of what your PC cost you. A 250 GB PS3 costs £285 from Argos, and that comes with two free games. I'm honestly struggling to see what exaclty is cheap about the PC option.

a pc has more uses

Basically this. You'll be wanting a PC anyway, so what you're actually paying is the price difference between a good PC and a gaming PC, and that pretty much comes down to the graphics card, and maybe a new power supply unit to feed it, since I'm running something that'll happy eat up any games I throw at it which needed about £180 to fit it with a new power pack and an NVidia 9800.

 

[thatstheguy]

I'm sorry, am I missing something? £700 for a gaming PC, and you're all nodding your heads sagely and agreeing wwith how cheap that is?

A new Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hardrive costs, on Argos.co.uk, £190. That's less than a third of what your PC cost you. A 250 GB PS3 costs £285 from Argos, and that comes with two free games. I'm honestly struggling to see what exaclty is cheap about the PC option.

You know a PC does more than just play games right. Not to mention that modern PC's are a good bit more powerful than the 360 and PS3. Still, £700 is a bit much, but this is a computer we're talking about and chances are you're using one to post that message right now. Surely that thing cost quite a bit anyway.

 

[mastermarty]

I find that a large amount of money!
my pc is just as good, but only cost's 600 euro's!
(but then again, I build him myself...)