PS5 or Gaming PC??

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I'm having a hard time making the decision on whether to buy a gaming pc or get a PS5 when they become available (didnt preorder).

I've been wanting to take the leap into the PC world of racing sims for some time now but been hesitant due to lack of knowledge.

How much would it cost to get a prebuilt gaming pc with similar performance of the PS5? Would it really save me allot buy building a PC myself using one of the youtube builds I've seen?

Right now i feel like i have more to gain by going PC since it will also give me several new games to try.

Please help me make my decision.
 
PC gaming is great for simulation games and obviously unlimited power depending on how deep your wallet is, also online play is free.

PS5 would be better for single player experiences and exclusives, have to pay to play online and games are more expensive.

If you like to play online especially shooters the one thing I would say is on PC there are cheaters everywhere.

Basically depends on the size of your wallet and what type of games you are into but as you mentioned sim racing the only top platform for that is PC.
 
I really can't justify spending more than $800 on a gaming PC given how often it would be used. Question is can i get a gaming PC (preferrably prebuilt) to perform as good or better than a PS5 for the same cost?
 
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I was debating on what to do this gen but ultimately decided to preorder PS5. Reasons are the following:

- Cost of a 3070 alone is similar to a PS5, and in my case I would need to upgrade CPU, motherboard, and RAM as well, adding another $400+.
- PS5 exclusives (that may or may not come to PC eventually)
- Superior controller
- I’ve been playing most of my PC games from the couch already using game streaming anyway
- I don’t play online shooter much
- I expect most games to support a 60 fps option this gen. 30 fps target on previous gen is what made me get most games on PC if the option was available. I know 4k 30fps with ray tracing will be the main mode on PS5, but it seems like 60 fps will be there as well. Previous gen consoles marketed themselves as 60fps compatible and some games did offer that option. Now, PS5 and XSX are marketed as 120fps machines. Again, just marketing, but what it most likely means is that we will see 120 fps mode sometimes, but 60 fps mode very frequently. There is now even a menu option in PS5 settings that allows you to prefer the performance mode by default in games.
 
I really can't justify spending more than $800 on a gaming PC given how often it would be used. Question is can i get a gaming PC (preferrably prebuilt) to perform as good or better than a PS5 for the same cost?
No. Just not at all. Maybe in a couple of years of competition between AMD and Intel might get there, but realistically if you want PS5 performance for PS5 money then the answer is PS5.
 
You can go much further than what a console can do with a PC build but if you're just looking for like for like you might end up spending two to three times as much for comparable perforamnce. Certainly this point in time.

I would be looking at what games you want to play and can you play them on a PS5 or not. But then if money is an issue it's not worth going broke over. Bear in mind alos with a PC you can opt for a couple of lower end parts and then upgrade them at a later date when you have more to spend. You could aim for something more PS4 than PS5 for now and upgrade later.

THere are new GPU's from NVDIA already out, new GPUs from AMD due this month and new CPU's from AMD just out. Availabilty of these new items is very limited at the minute but as they become more availalbe you might start to see some last gen stuff going on sale in some places.
 
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I'm a big advocate for PC gaming due to the platform freedom but, we cannot compare apples to oranges. Console vs PC benchmarks are stupid.
Console can have the same result with less horsepower because its a closed unique system and is optimized to do just that. PCs need to have more power as there are endless combinations.

I build them as a side gig, (have built 7 so far this year) I enjoy the build process as much as I enjoy tweaking the bios, adjusting software and seeing the new owners excitement. Component pricing fluctuates often but you could build a nice mid range tower for around $800, probably i5 8400/2060 Super that would outperform a PS5 in some games, and do not as well in others due to console optimization.
 
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I'm having a hard time making the decision on whether to buy a gaming pc or get a PS5 when they become available (didnt preorder).

I've been wanting to take the leap into the PC world of racing sims for some time now but been hesitant due to lack of knowledge.

How much would it cost to get a prebuilt gaming pc with similar performance of the PS5? Would it really save me allot buy building a PC myself using one of the youtube builds I've seen?

Right now i feel like i have more to gain by going PC since it will also give me several new games to try.

Please help me make my decision.

I asked myself the same question and have deceided to go the pc route. Like you I want to get more into sim racing and the pc just has more options when it comes to sims.

I ussualy buy new consoles 2 years after release and when the price has dropped.
 
I asked myself the same question and have deceided to go the pc route. Like you I want to get more into sim racing and the pc just has more options when it comes to sims.

I ussualy buy new consoles 2 years after release and when the price has dropped.

That's great you're going PC and agreed the sim choices alone make the decision easy. I think a lot of guys are just intimidated by PCs and the reality is they're easy to build many youtube videos out there walk you right through it. The prebuilt market is quite competitive with decent warranties and support if you just want plug and play.
 
That's great you're going PC and agreed the sim choices alone make the decision easy. I think a lot of guys are just intimidated by PCs and the reality is they're easy to build many youtube videos out there walk you right through it. The prebuilt market is quite competitive with decent warranties and support if you just want plug and play.
I'm going to build my own even if I have zero expirience:cheers: budget will be in the € 800 to € 1000 range. Al I have to do is convince the wife:D
 
Any "Console vs. PC" discussion usually doesn't have any clear-cut winner. The two are fundamentally different. Any sort of console is good because you don't have to have certain hardware specifications to play certain games. PCs, however, can allow for deeper customization possibilities. If you have a great PC, you won't have as many worries about spikes and lags in performance. Not having a capable PC means you won't be able to enjoy some games.

I have been out of this loop of modern gaming for quite some time, so I can't speak to any level about whether or not to be as excited about the PlayStation 5. Consider how much money you want to spend on hardware, certain games, and things of that nature as you make your decision between a PlayStation 5 or a gaming PC/laptop.
 
I'm going to build my own even if I have zero expirience:cheers: budget will be in the € 800 to € 1000 range. Al I have to do is convince the wife:D
There's plenty of helpful videos out there and websites to help you with parts and the building process. We also have a whole section of this site dedicated to computers and technology so don't be shy about asking anything in there about a new build if you aren't sure :cheers:.

I find not telling the wife how much I've spent helps, just a "it was mid-range-ish" sometimes does the trick :lol:.
 
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You need to keep in mind that the PS5 will be sold at a loss even with Sony's purchasing power for components, so for less than 1,000 you are not going to be able to do it.

However what I can share is my experience of late, as I needed a new personal Laptop, as work keeps locking down our company laptops. So I dropped around a grand on a gaming laptop, specs are I5 9750h, 16gb RAM, 1660ti GPU and a 1TB SSD (to which I added a second 1TB SSD for less than £90).

The experience has seen my time spent on PS4 plummet, as I can easily hit 60fps at 1080p (which via my TV is enough) on every racing title currently on the market, in most cases at far higher graphics settings that I would be able to on my PS4 Pro (the only titles I can think of that I can't run on pretty much the highest settings are BeamNG and ACC, and ACC still looks and plays better in the settings I have than on my PS4 Pro). It's even allowed me to play Forza titles again and pick up older titles such as Race, GT Legends, RBR, etc.

Steam sales are frequent enough that I have re-bought the core titles on PC for little extra expenditure and also bought titles that simply will never make it onto a console, but are stunning simulations (R3E and Rfactor 2). Add in the mods you can use to expand the likes of AC, RF2, AMS, even PC2 and it has, for me, been well worth the investment. Right now I have no interest at all in heading to the PS5 until it gets a lot cheaper and, even then I find it likely that the money I put away between now and then will go on a desktop gaming rig instead, as the only title I'm going to miss out on is GT7, and I can personally live with that.
 
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I build them as a side gig, (have built 7 so far this year) I enjoy the build process as much as I enjoy tweaking the bios, adjusting software and seeing the new owners excitement. Component pricing fluctuates often but you could build a nice mid range tower for around $800, probably i5 8400/2060 Super that would outperform a PS5 in some games, and do not as well in others due to console optimization.

It would definitely be almost exclusively for race sims. I would be happy if i could just get PS5 performance for the $800 budget just to be able to gain access to sims that are PC exclusive.
 
It would definitely be almost exclusively for race sims. I would be happy if i could just get PS5 performance for the $800 budget just to be able to gain access to sims that are PC exclusive.
I think around a thousand USD will get you about PS5 performance. I would say that if you don’t mind not having the absolute best graphics and you are targeting below 4k resolution, you may be able to get slightly below for around 800-900.
 
I think around a thousand USD will get you about PS5 performance. I would say that if you don’t mind not having the absolute best graphics and you are targeting below 4k resolution, you may be able to get slightly below for around 800-900.

I would definitely like to get to 4k at 60fps. Might need to rethink the budget and wait for tax time for some extra cash to blow.
 
You cant come anywhere near the same specs with a PC for the price of the new consoles.

Thats one of the biggest arguments for buying a new console at launch. You get a lot for your money compared to buying a PC.
 
You do save quite a bit by building your own PC and you don't end up with all the preinstalled garbage that comes on prebuilt ones. If you do want to get a gaming PC, look into used parts. With the new round of graphics cards being released, there are plenty of high-end last-gen GPUs on the market right now for a good bargain. Tom's Hardware has plenty of guides as well for various budgets, they also provide you links to the place with the components best price. PCPartsPicker also has a tool where you can put in your budget and see what others have built for the same amount of money.

One place where things get really spendy when they don't need to be is with things like a case and peripherals. You don't need a case that does RGB or a fancy keyboard, anything will do if you're looking on a budget. I think my case was like $30.

Honestly, I get way more mileage out of my PC than any of my consoles since PCs are capable of so much more. In terms of gaming, you're also going to get indie titles you can check out and with many of the racing games, you also get a whole host of free mods you can download.
 
Having finally jumped on the gaming PC slippery slope with a modest i5, 8GB of RAM and a 4GB GTX1050Ti, I've been opened up to the likes of car games I just don't see coming to console anytime soon such as Beam.NG, Automation etc.

Rather than get a console with fairly samey launch titles, I think getting a PC whilst they iron out releasing new games over two generations of console and adding variety to the games catalogue might be a wise idea.
 
I've bought a second hand desktop just for car games. It's my first PC since the late ninties, (showing my age), it's a i5 9700, 2060 graphic card, 16gb memory. So far all I've played is AC but straight away I can see & feel a difference. Easier to drive, more feeling & many, many graphical options & improvements, and AVG FPS of 129 !! I know it's not the best rig out there but it's good enough for the driving games I want to play. I think it's easy to get caught up thinking you need really high specs but really you don't. This only cost me £500, including a monitor.
 
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