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Torn between building a new gaming PC or a PS4.

Similarly to Call of Duty: Ghosts and how it will look better in some aspects on PC, Patrick Bach, Executive Producer, has said to VideoGamer that DICE is “doing as much as it can” when it comes to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Battlefield 4, “but we need to compromise in some places.”

Continuing to talk about the differences between them, Bach said, “From a CPU/GPU perspective,” the PS4 and Xbox One versions can’t match PC, and “you can just add more to a PC. There’s always more. The game supports to a big extent better hardware, but not completely, so it won’t be night and day.”

Although those next-gen console versions won’t the absolute best versions of the game come October/November, Bach did discuss how he sees Battlefield 4 on PS4 and Xbox One:

I think the cool thing that we are extremely excited about is that you will, for the first time, get a full Battlefield experience on a console. It’s the same core, it’s the same game, it’s the same feature set, there’s nothing left out, so to speak. But there’s also the 64 players, 60FPS experience that you haven’t really seen on a console previously which will move it up a big notch and eliminate some of the gap between PC and console.

Then it’s more of a question on graphical fidelity, graphical detail and stuff like that. But then on the other hand, [PS4 & Xbox One] have some cool features that [benefit] it being a console game. You know, how Battlelog is integrated into the game in a much better way, you have the second screen features, you have the whole friends network which is super nifty on the consoles, and stuff like that.

As for whether Battlefield might be annualized like Call of Duty, Patrick told VideoGamer, “We can’t build a game at DICE every year.”

Are you disappointed to hear that the “first true next-gen shooter” will be better on PC?
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a PC. it's not even a question. in both next gen console's entire lifetimes, they won't build anything close to library of defining titles already available to the PC today.

This argument holds true for everything.

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a PS4"

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have an Xbox One"

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a Wii U"

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a Vita/3DS"

...

You get the point.

I seriously doubt many people fall under this umbrella, the hardcore enthusiast type that has to have access to every single title imaginable, and in the best quality they are able to receive it on.

You're looking at someone that represents a tiny fraction of the population on GAF, a forum dedicated to gaming enthusiasts that represent only a tiny fraction of the population as a whole.

For many folks, the price, single configuration, couch-ready, wealth of third party content, and exclusive content with high production values is enough for them to pick a single console of their choosing rather than going with a PC. And to them, gaming still may not be a mere "distraction", but something they are passionate about. They've just found the best platform suited for their needs.
 
Might be possible to get both if you shop around a little.

Two years ago I bought a laptop on Newegg with an i7, 6 GB ram and a rather average GT 540m card that cost me about 650 Bucks because I shopped around. It's not a 1200 bucks gaming rig, that's obivious, but so far it has run all games i've thrown at it at high of even ultra settings on it's native screen resolution. It's also plugged into a monitor/keyboard/sound system setup, so it's basically a desktop I can bring anywhere. My roommate keeps gloating about his 2000 bucks gaming PC, but the truth is I play the same games as him on my 650 bucks rig and the visual difference is quite often not exactly something to write hope about... Keep in mind though with new consoles coming , there's bound to be a jump in hardware on PC, so you might want to hold down till your existing laptop actually die before buying another one... Let the new video cards designed to beat the new consoles become mainstream before jumping into building or buying a new PC, i'd say.

I'm sure nowadays you can get an even better laptop for the same price if you shop around, especially in regards to the video card. I can't stress that enough, the video card will most definitively be the bottleneck of your system when it comes to gaming, as you'll have a great processor, enough ram, and a fast enough HD to run every single game on the market... It's always the video card... And since you can't change most Laptop's cards, you better get one that can run most modern games. If you can get a desktop in those price ranges, be my guest too, as you'll be able to swap the card for something better and keep it relevant for even longer... But I find it's often cheaper to buy that oddly discounted laptop than to build a system using components who somehow retail for 300 or more bucks each when bought separately... And I love the convienence of laptops... I mean , I drop at my friends all the time for Lan games carrying only a small bag with my Laptop.

Spend the rest on a PS4 and you got yourself a great console that will last you 8 or so years and a decent enough PC that should run most games for three to four years, assuming it doesn't self-destruct like some laptops do. If some very demanding PC games come out and you have a feeling they won't run on your laptop, get them on PS4. And to be perfectly honest, in three or four years there will probably be a huge gap in PC gaming hardware anyway, and by then even your 1200 bucks gaming rig will be near obsolence.

That's the thing with PC gaming, I always aim in the medium of the price bracket, because I feel having a top PC is not necessarily sound from a budget perspective. I mean, my friend gloats about his "gaming pc" now, but he paid three times as much as I did for it and it's an ongoing investment, as he keeps paying to stay on top of the curve.

Meanwhile, I play my games fine knowing the cash I saved on hardware, I'll be able to spend it to buy a new cheap laptop in a couple of years when mine no longer cuts it or there's a huge jump in hardware capacities (18 core processors or something). When it comes to PC, you don't want to be on the bottom of price bracket, because you'll be getting terrible performance and will have spent on underperforming hardware, but you don't want to be on the top of the price bracket, because you'll have paid the inflated price for your components and being on top doesn't last anyway. Middleground is where the good price/performance ratio is.
 

Orayn

Member
Relatively speaking.

Wait till 8 Core CPUs + 8 GB GDDR5 GPUs become the standard.

PS4 isn't using all of that memory the way GPU would, though. Killzone Shadow Fall had about 3GB allocated as VRAM.

Also, you're talking about 8 cores that are relatively weak compared to modern enthusiast-grade CPUs, many of which can already run 8 threads even if they're "only" quad core. (To say nothing of the fact that it could very well be easier to set up the PC versions to use fewer threads on a more powerful processor.)
 
What are the specs of the PC and how do they compare to the PS4?. If they are close in GPU spec, go PS4. Way more graphics for your buck now and you can get a PC in 2 years. Buy a tablet or notebook for your PC needs unless you really need the horsepower. Given you've been using a laptop I doubt that's the case, so there you go. PS4 now, PC later.

A $250 Radeon HD 7950 is alredy more than 50% more powerful than ps4's GPU, so if he's spending $1200 on a PC, the specs will be A LOT better than a ps4
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Kind of a toss up, but I'd still lean PC.

1) PC improvements have significantly stagnated for better or worse on the CPU side, and GPU upgrades have slowed a lot now as well. Thus, waiting for newer parts isn't as important.
2) Value for your dollar today is fantastic on quality parts
3) Huge library and Steam sales

PS4 is cheaper, has hype, promise of a good array of exclusives by Q1 or Q2 2014.

If your laptop is on its way out I'd say get the $800 tower in the PC Thread and wait until PS4 hits it's stride.
 

alstein

Member
I'm in the same boat- I'm going to go PC first

Reasoning:

1) Gives the consoles time to play out, there's always a possibility of something crazy happening to the PS4 that makes it terrible. (I don't think that will happen, but things have happened before)

2) The games I want on console- see if they make PC versions. If I don't need to buy a console, why waste the money on it?

3) The PS3 has 2 years of life left in it, especially if you're into Japanese stuff.
 

Alienous

Member
A PC is really an investment.

It's a nice thing to have, but I invested in building one in the latter half of this gen. I'll probably upgrade it in the latter half of next-gen, and use a PS4 until then.
 

nib95

Banned
PS4 now, PC later. Once all the new stuff comes out that matches the consoles for ram amount (8gb GDDR5) and even more considerable performance differences.
 

Logash

Member
PS4 now, PC later. Once all the new stuff comes out that matches the consoles for ram amount (8gb GDDR5) and even more considerable performance differences.
I'm not sure you understand exactly how that works...

EDIT: I think the people who are making the best argument about getting the PS4 over the PC are those who say that getting the PC next year will be cheaper. While a PS4 is probably still gonna cost $400 this time next year, the PC you will build today will most certainly be half the price this time next year
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Kind of a toss up, but I'd still lean PC.

1) PC improvements have significantly stagnated for better or worse on the CPU side, and GPU upgrades have slowed a lot now as well. Thus, waiting for newer parts isn't as important.
2) Value for your dollar today is fantastic on quality parts
3) Huge library and Steam sales

PS4 is cheaper, has hype, promise of a good array of exclusives by Q1 or Q2 2014.

If your laptop is on its way out I'd say get the $800 tower in the PC Thread and wait until PS4 hits it's stride.


Man, the US has great prices. Pretty sure that $800 build would be nearly £800 here.. If the OP has a $1200 budget he could buy that *and* a PS4

Then later down the line just replace the GPU for more power
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
I my mind PCs need to be powerful enough to handle rushed unoptimized console ports + higher resolution + 60 FPS + any other graphical bells and whistles that are very easy to add. Otherwise it's pointless to spend so much extra money on a system that gets fewer games later. The advantage of a PC is to destroy the consoles graphically, not just be comparable to them.

That typically means it's pretty pointless to buy a pc at the launch of next gen consoles because you need to spend way too much money to get a pc that can do that long term. I find one or two years after next gen release to be a much better timing.
 

Lulubop

Member
Kind of a toss up, but I'd still lean PC.

1) PC improvements have significantly stagnated for better or worse on the CPU side, and GPU upgrades have slowed a lot now as well. Thus, waiting for newer parts isn't as important.
2) Value for your dollar today is fantastic on quality parts
3) Huge library and Steam sales

PS4 is cheaper, has hype, promise of a good array of exclusives by Q1 or Q2 2014.

If your laptop is on its way out I'd say get the $800 tower in the PC Thread and wait until PS4 hits it's stride.

This.
 

ShadyJ

Member
51af8f7040066.png


But really, a 1.2k rig would be way better.

Expensive you say?

Steam sales will offset the higher price barrier with PCs, whoever said a PC is worth half its value in a year is mentally unstable. My 4870x2 a 2008 card is still running games on high...

Having said that i have a PS4 pre order for exclusives. Thats it.
 

Brofist

Member
This argument holds true for everything.

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a PS4"

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have an Xbox One"

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a Wii U"

"if you are someone who wants to invest in this hobby beyond treating it as a distraction, you must have a Vita/3DS"

...

You get the point.

I seriously doubt many people fall under this umbrella, the hardcore enthusiast type that has to have access to every single title imaginable, and in the best quality they are able to receive it on.

You're looking at someone that represents a tiny fraction of the population on GAF, a forum dedicated to gaming enthusiasts that represent only a tiny fraction of the population as a whole.

For many folks, the price, single configuration, couch-ready, wealth of third party content, and exclusive content with high production values is enough for them to pick a single console of their choosing rather than going with a PC. And to them, gaming still may not be a mere "distraction", but something they are passionate about. They've just found the best platform suited for their needs.

It sounds like you just agreed with him for the most part.
 
this is such a load of shit it's ridiculous.

Yeah such a load of shit, my PC bought at the start of 2007, Intel quad core and Geforce 8800GTX can still play every game released better than the consoles.

... My 6 year old PC.

If I bought it in 2005. I would be stuck with a 7800 and shitty dual core. That wouldn't play everything the consoles could and would need upgrading halfway through this generation.


Wait a year or two. Wait for the supported HUMA technology in PC's etc. Then hop on the master gaming race bandwagon, where you're guaranteed 1080p@60fps for every console game for a better price.

PC's aren't about looking at what you could play, if you want to play the backlog, get a 300 quid shitty tower from your local electronics retailler. PC gaming is about pushing the power ...
 

Morokh

Member
If you won't be loosing sleep over not playing Sony's first party titles, or aren't tied to some kind of 10 year friend-list, I'd go PC all the way.

Initial investment is greater, but you'll definitely make-up for it in the long run.
 

Brofist

Member
I'm not seeing it.

First guy basically said console is mainstream kit for those who can't be bothered and are happy with what they are given. PC is less mainstream but for those who want more input into their hobby.

Second guy lists all the ways consoles are geared toward mainstream.

They didn't agree on all points but that point seemed like they were kinda on the same page.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Yeah such a load of shit, my PC bought at the start of 2007, Intel quad core and Geforce 8800GTX can still play every game released better than the consoles.

... My 6 year old PC.

If I bought it in 2005. I would be stuck with a 7800 and shitty dual core. That wouldn't play everything the consoles could and would need upgrading halfway through this generation.
Whats so bad about upgrading halfway through a generation? I certainly wouldn't recommend somebody to buy a PC now with eyes to lasting an entire console generation. Why focus so much on the consoles, anyways? It seems some people cant seem to separate them in their mind, when its best to worry about keeping up with the PC race in general. You're not buying a console. You're buying a PC. PC tech advances. If you aren't willing to somewhat keep up, I wouldn't recommend going down that path. Having an old, outdated computer isn't going to be fun and you'll be missing out on a ton of what YOUR platform is capable of.

If all you're worried about is console games, then buy a console.
 

Nozem

Member
You can only afford a PC if you're a millionaire, so I guess you're stuck with playing games in sub HD at 15fps on a console.
 

Addnan

Member
$800~ PC and PS4. This is what I chucked together yesterday for someone in the PC thread. If you can get OS for cheap or free from work/college then great, if not then slightly over budget!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $768.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-28 04:09 EDT-0400)
 

MaLDo

Member
Yeah, this is ridiculous: A couple of years ago, HD5870 was AMD's highest end card with a price of $350 on day one. Today we have a GTX780 that costs about $600! *shakeshead*

What? I paid more than 600$ for my 8800 Ultra 6 years ago. No news here.
 

Creaking

He touched the black heart of a mod
But really, a 1.2k rig would be way better.

Expensive you say?

Steam sales will offset the higher price barrier with PCs

That's kind of silly.

Spend money on games to offset all the money you spent on your PC? Hopefully that game you've been eying goes on sale soon, otherwise, here's a bunch of other cheap titles that you may or may not care about/ever play, but boy oh boy, will you ever have eventually saved big bucks.
 
$800~ PC and PS4. This is what I chucked together yesterday for someone in the PC thread. If you can get OS for cheap or free from work/college then great, if not then slightly over budget!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $768.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-28 04:09 EDT-0400)
Listen to this man.
PC_GAF is really a helpful bunch of people.
This rig is great and will surely sustain old and upcoming games with ease + you have the money to get the PS4 if you want to, day one.
this really is a "whynotboth.gif" situation. use it to your advantage.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
$800~ PC and PS4. This is what I chucked together yesterday for someone in the PC thread. If you can get OS for cheap or free from work/college then great, if not then slightly over budget!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $768.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-28 04:09 EDT-0400)
Alternatively the BP550 modular PSU for $65
and a GPU choice of a GTX 760 (Though the 7950 is better value + games)
 

Brofist

Member
It is in crazy PC enthusiasts land


Well to be fair there are more than 3 tiers of GPUs, that's where it get hard to categorize them. If we look at Nvidia's 6 and 7 series you have

Enthusiast level: 790, Titan, 780

High: 770, 680, maybe the 760 and 670

So anything under that would be somewehre mid to low.

Now if you are talking about every GPU under the sun, a 660 would look like a high end card. But that hardly seems fair, considering most of the GPUs on a list like that would hardly be considered gaming class GPUs.
 
$800~ PC and PS4. This is what I chucked together yesterday for someone in the PC thread. If you can get OS for cheap or free from work/college then great, if not then slightly over budget!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($61.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $768.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-28 04:09 EDT-0400)


good list, but I think that CPU is overkill, with next gen consoles having such weak CPUs . AMD FX-8320 costs $145 and is 8 core running 3.5 Ghz. that brings it down to a $700 PC, although yes without a windows license.
 
I would buy a PC first. All multiplatform titles will be looking best on PC (fullHD, Max Details, no compromises like on PS4/One) - Dont forget the possibilites of modding and the great sales on a pc (Humble Bundle!). And you can play MMOs and RTS games

You can buy a ps4 when interesting exklusives are launched and they're selling bundles with controllers, games, and so on.
 
I would buy a PC first. All multiplatform titles will be looking best on PC (fullHD, Max Details, no compromises like on PS4/One) - Dont forget the possibilites of modding and the great sales on a pc (Humble Bundle!). And you can play MMOs and RTS games

You can buy a ps4 when interesting exklusives are launched and they're selling bundles with controllers, games, and so on.

and don't forget even if you get a PC that's "only" about or slightly better than PS4's specs right now, any time later you decide to upgrade, you just upgraded all your games. I wish I can spend money to upgrade console games but I can't.
 

RubenCordeiro

Neo Member
What has NeoGaf turned into?

If you don't know jack about hardware don't talk about hardware. If you don't know jack about software optimization and profiling, don't speculate about the PS4's capabilities.

Some users are being fed hyped statements much like the previous generation and they still eat it with a golden spoon.

Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact... same fucking thing... over and over again expecting... shit to change... That. Is. Crazy.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
consoles are cheaper up front and last longer.

PCs do a shit load more stuff.

I always get sad when a PC starts nearing the end of it's awesome life and enters 'old computer' territory. That doesn't really happen to consoles.

Steam is the cheap gaming service as well.

Tricky question that probably hinges on how badly you need a computer.
 
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