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PC gaming has always felt like one disappointment after another.

kiphalfton

Member
Games never look as good as I expect. Combine that with performance never being as good as I think it will be, even when playing old games, and I just feel let down.

I'm thinking I may as well just stick just to console gaming, as it doesn't feel like it's worth the premium I paid for my computer (RTX 3080 and R9 5900X).
 
It’s definitely hard to beat the value proposition of the new consoles at the moment. I don’t what games you are playing where you can’t get good performance with that PC though.
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
True. But I think the price tag on this stuff has overinflated my expectations. Doesn't really feel like it's worth 2x the premium of a console (and that's just for the graphics card).

Then stop buying the expensive shit. I have a great time with a pc that cost around $700 to build 6 years ago that I stick a GPU upgrade in whenever I can get a significant boost for ~$250, which works out to once every 2-3 years.
 

Inviusx

Member
Games never look as good as I expect. Combine that with performance never being as good as I think it will be, even when playing old games, and I just feel let down.

I'm thinking I may as well just stick just to console gaming, as it doesn't feel like it's worth the premium I paid for my computer (RTX 3080 and R9 5900X).

You're always chasing something you can never reach with PC gaming. Atleast on console you know what you've got, no more no less.
 
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Stuart360

Member
By far the largest number of games, combined to all consoles put together. PC gets every game released except Nintendo first party, and Sony, but thats changing. PC has far more exclusive Indie and AA games coimpared to console. Your whole game history there for you to play anytime, and not held back by generations. The rez you want to play at, the framerate you want to play at, adjust settings for your preference. Mouse and Keyboard or controller support in the vast majority of games. Game prices that are sooo much cheaper than console, if you know where to look. Mod support, and mods can change a game and add so much vareity and extend a games life. The use of trainers and cheats compared to console where there are none.
PC is freedom., PC is life.
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
Just stick to what you prefer.

That said, i have no idea what exactly your expectations for performance/looks were, but neither will be better in the new consoles considering your build.
 
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Skifi28

Gold Member
I mainly game on consoles these days, but a mid to high-end rig is always worth having for the stuff a console just can't do. Paying for top end stuff like 3080s and 90s though? That's never been worth it in my book unless you have money to burn.
 
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fermcr

Member
People shouldn't be forced to use something they don't really care about. If you prefer console gaming, then go for it, enjoy.
As for me, I prefer PC. I lost interest in console gaming since the the PS3/X360 days. Yes, there are some console exclusives I would like to play, but not enough to purchase a console. If they eventually get released on PC, then I'll play them...
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
If you got into pc games for graphics or frame rate then yeah you’re going to run into severe diminishing returns past a certain point. You can determine that by looking at any dollar per frame graph. I would stick to consoles too if I only liked the types of games on consoles. Even if I was satisfied with using a controller in every multiplat game there are loads of pc only games that require a mouse. If you don’t like those types of games then it makes less sense to have a pc.

edit: as for “games never look as good as I expect” you should have been looking at YouTube videos e.g. Bang4BuckPC Gamer? I started looking at channels like that a few months before I got a 2080ti
 
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ACESHIGH

Banned
It's not about PC gaming. It's about the terrible value of top of the line hardware when it comes to gaming, even before the pandemic. A PC built with mainstream components will always be better than any console as a pure gaming machine.

But people are always eager to throw the platform under the bus on this site using the silliest excuses like "hours installing drivers" or my favourite "I am a programmer so I get PTSD when I try to game on a PC"

Lets use cars as an analogy: A Ferrari is several times more expensive than a Camry, and not 20 times faster. If you had a Ferrari and were disappointed about the value for money you were getting would you say "sports cars are not for me might as well drive my Camry"?
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
If you got into pc games for graphics or frame rate then yeah you’re going to run into severe diminishing returns past a certain point. You can determine that by looking at any dollar per frame graph. I would stick to consoles too if I only liked the types of games on consoles. Even if I was satisfied with using a controller in every multiplat game there are loads of pc only games that require a mouse. If you don’t like those types of games then it makes less sense to have a pc.
True. Better performance/visuals is a nice bonus to have if you invest more, but i consider it a bad reason to get into pc gaming.

Customizability and more control over your library, much better digital market, unrestricted backwards compatibility, emulation of older consoles, specific types of games you can only find or were designed with the platform in mind.... i think those are much better reasons to get into pc gaming
 
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Chiggs

Gold Member
I can't get enough of it. Gaming on an an ultrawide monitor is game-changing, and it's hard for me to even consider other options. I have spent at least 5k on my gaming PC, and I still consider it a value.
 
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I've seen this countless times among console gamers switching to PC. They're completely fine with middling or even bad performance on consoles, because it's beyond their control. They can rest assured that the game is running like that not just for them, but for everyone. If everyone gets the same experience, then nobody is missing out, even if the experience itself isn't ideal. There is no small measure of comfort to be found in that.

If you're like that, then switching to a platform that gives you way more direct control over performance (whether it's through settings/tweaks or better hardware) and where newer/better components are coming out every few months is going to be an absolute nightmare.
 
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Hmm, I've been a pc gamer for nearly 2 decades now - others who haven't would think PC gaming has been disappointing as typically consoles always used to play catch up.

Before the best looking games and features were always specifically on PC. Enter Xbox, suddenly this began to change.

Material Shaded water in Elder Scrolls Morrowind was groundbreaking in 2002 if you had the hardware, far superior on PC but still very pleasant on Xbox.

Still PC had games that wouldn't come to consoles for another 2 generations. Battlefield for instance was doing 128 man MP maps with modded settings and 64 player
maps standard and the graphics/draw distance/objects on screen blew away every other game that came before it. And the ported 7vs7 BF and variants that came afterwards
to console have forever since paled in comparison.

Half Life 2 came out and again was absolutely stunning, a technical marvel on PC. Ported to consoles and they suddenly began to show their age.

As a PC gamer you're expected to know PC's

A. have the best of the best. Best graphics, best framerates, best hardware.

B. Aware that in most cases Keyboard and Mouse is far and away the superior way to play

C. Aware that Multiplayer Gaming still reigns Supreme on PC. If you don't enjoy Keyboard And Mouse Multiplayer you shouldn't consider yourself a PC gamer anyways.

D. Aware that Modding support is still best when consumed on PC.

E. Realize that eventually, one day - another game will release on PC that consoles can't hope to run efficiently without great losses in visual acuity. Some would consider
Star Citizen one of those games already. I don't personally but if you haven't made this realization, that PC's are wholly underutilized currently and have been for about a decade
you probably weren't a legitimate PC gamer to begin with.
 
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Brofist

Member
It's too bad you feel that way. I get that PC gaming is a little more high maintenance than console gaming, but the games not looking good is an interesting take.

Maybe you expected to max out everything in every game at 4k and get over 100fps in each game? Then I could get the disappointment I guess.
 

Irobot82

Member
something funny about being tethered to a mainframe categorized as freedom, but ok...
This doesn't even make sense. You play PC games on a mainframe server?

Or are you trying to say PC's a large and can't be played on a TV? Because those can both be false. We even have handheld PC's now.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Below is just my personal ranting about gaming PC:

I have few gaming PC in my life time.
The latest one is a 2070s with 3700x which I bought last year, i barely use it except playing survival games like rimworld, minecraft, subnautica, 7 days to die etc....
I owned Control on my gaming PC and PS5. Funny thing is I play control on my PS5 instead of my gaming PC although it can run more than 60fps with full ray tracing and DLSS enabled.

My several gaming PC had hardware failures but it never happens to my gaming console (except eject drive failure on my PS4 but i fixed it).
It always annoying for me to diagnose the errors and identify the reason causing all the issues on my gaming PC, i just fed up of it.

Furthermore, not every game runs stable at all on my gaming PC for some reason.
1) Fallout 4 always crash to desktop when I installed the unofficial patch on it alone, even on my new gaming PC, weird. Unable to find a solution for it as todate.
2) Control crash to desktop during loading randomly (uncommon but its annoying).
3) Alt tab does not work right for some games. So when I'm gaming I am unable do anything else.

And now my current gaming PC has some weird issue whereby the whole PC had serious slowdown randomly, no buzzing sound, no BSOD, video and audio just stutter and I am unable to run any program, including using task manager or even restart my PC.
Test with memtest86 and full SSD scan, no issue found. Still no idea what causing it. Perhaps its a CPU issue? i don't know, i just don't care anymore.

All gaming console does is just play games, which is also the reason why I prefer gaming on a console.
It simplistic, convenience, no hassle and nonsense except 30fps (which i'm fine with it)
I have my gaming PC on the left and my PS5 on the right, with two monitors I basically can do everything anyway.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Felt that way about ps5 and xsx. Games looked worse then 3+ year old pc hardware. Hell even my bargain prebuilt pc with a 2070 super runs circles around both new consoles and it cost about what they are going for on eBay now.

new major games strugle to hit 30fps ”next gen” hardware yet my older video card can maintain 200fps in the same games.

to each there own, hell if there was a half way decent port of destiny 2 on switch I might be a switch only fella
 
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mvui1z8.jpg
 
Used to love pc gaming, now with family and kids, dont have the time to mess around with all that, so im glad ps5 is powerfull enough to play at 60fps, hate 30fps.
 

Chiggs

Gold Member
Below is just my personal ranting about gaming PC:

My several gaming PC had hardware failures but it never happens to my gaming console (except eject drive failure on my PS4 but i fixed it).

This is one of the reasons that I stick with certain manufacturers; and not always because they're the absolute best performers, but because the level of familiarity I've developed with them over time helps me pinpoint issues far more quickly than if I went with a brand I don't know as well.

Example:
  • I'll go with Gigabyte for motherboards and video cards, not because they're always the best (though I think their x570s are pretty freaking good), but because I know them and know how to troubleshoot them.
  • For RAM, I only use G.SKILL; nothing else.
  • For cases, I usually stick with Corsair, because I know what to expect.
 
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nerdface

Banned
This doesn't even make sense. You play PC games on a mainframe server?

Or are you trying to say PC's a large and can't be played on a TV? Because those can both be false. We even have handheld PC's now.

I’m saying I’ve been there. Dank musky ball sweat permeating the air...Mountain Dew can decor. Burrito wrappers with morsels of un-eaten cheese still stuck to the wrapper.

Your mouse might as well be a ball and chain.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
True. But I think the price tag on this stuff has overinflated my expectations. Doesn't really feel like it's worth 2x the premium of a console (and that's just for the graphics card).

I think I'm just having buyer's regret, from having spent >$2k on my PC and >$700 on my monitor.
Your PC does a lot more than a console. You can put whatever the fuck you want on it and run it. You could just tone it down and buy a lesser rig to shave a few hundred off, but if gaming is all you want it for, definitely drop it for a console. My PC cost way more than a console. The GPU was 3 PS5s FFS. I don't even remember what the CPU cost. It was MSRP, but I didn't need the 5900x when I had a 3700x. And I didn't need the 3090 when I had a 3080. But I went to near max due to boredom and luck and hating every minute of looking for the GPU/CPU that I just wanted to blow money to postpone the next upgrade. I have it hooked up to a big TV just like a fucking console. If MS let me run windows on an XSX I might switch platforms for my main thing because I don't game enough to justify the cost and lost college savings for my kids.

But I am typing this from my chair with a wireless keyboard and I have just grown to like the PC on a big ass TV in the living room thing so much that it is worth it to me to splurge every 5 or so years. We are in the age of diminishing returns on graphics. Each gen is going to be a minor upgrade compared to what we got when we were younger. Your rig will run things better than a console but you probably don't care enough about that to want to spend that amount next gen. Luckily your CPU will probably be fine for a long time and you could upgrade your GPU in 2 gens to get a decent boost.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
I’m saying I’ve been there. Dank musky ball sweat permeating the air...Mountain Dew can decor. Burrito wrappers with morsels of un-eaten cheese still stuck to the wrapper.

Your mouse might as well be a ball and chain.
thats has nothing to do with pc gaming, it was just you being unhygienic
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
The beauty of pc gaming is choice. You probably can’t hit 4K 60 FPS on ultra in most games but maybe you can at 1440. Or maybe you go down to mid settings to push 4K 120fps.
it’s all up to you.

but yeah I blame people spouting hyperbole about “ blowing away consoles “ most games look close no matter the mid to high settings. I haven’t seen any port that blows away another port on consoles in a long time.
 

theclaw135

Banned
Preservation efforts and indies flourishing are the crown jewels of PC gaming.

Top tier AAA development is very rare. Most bigger publishers give PC scraps, in console games ported with better graphics yet more bugs and glitches.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I think pc gaming is generally more rewarding if you are ok to upgrade regularly and put a decent amount of money into it. Not for me anymore.......

I also think (and this could be changing), that you need the consoles to play all of the best games on the market.
 
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