Is it still worth building a PC for gaming?

[BunFagFreddie]

If you get a really good graphics card etc. Tablets aren't really set up for it, and it's good to have a massive hard drive for games. However, is it still worth building one.

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

It's definitely cheaper than buying an already assembled one, and cheaper than buying a decent gaming laptop, plus you get to pick and choose to your own requirements. Worth it if you're into PC based games (DH plays WoW and DS1 is into League of Legends so we're looking at upgrading our frankly archaic tower PC atm)

[BunFagFreddie]

Thanks. Everyone has gone tablet mad, but DP can build a good one for £420. I'm just worried that everything is going to move to tablets. DP is geekier than me and assures me I am good with a PC.

[MurderOfGoths]

Absolutely!

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

Tablets are fun, but I can't see them replacing a decent PC or laptop no matter what fancy bells or whistles they stick on. They're just too limited imho.

[PedroPonyLikesCrisps]

Personally I'm gonna stick with my PS3. It's designed for games from the ground up, it's cheaper than building a gaming PC, I buy a game and I know it will run and I don't have to upgrade it every 5 mins to keep up with the latest games.

[MurderOfGoths]

Pedro It is and it isn't. The initial outlay of a custom built PC might be higher, but you are likely to get a higher spec piece of equipment, and when the next gen of games come out PC owners can just upgrade some components while console owners need a brand new console.

PC games are generally higher quality than console games as well.

[BunFagFreddie]

You can upgrade PC's easily. We have a couple of Xbox's.

I am probably an old fuddy duddy, but I can't get excited about tablets. I can't type on them, so no good for work, can't run much on them and they are just fancy phones at the moment? I think people want them because of clever marketing. E-readers, fair enough, they are useful.

I could be missing the point though.

I think it's worth shelling out for the PC for gaming though.

[PersonalClown]

Dp built his PC for COD gaming. Cost us about £1000 including a 6 core processor, best graphic card we could get and a 3D screen.

[BunFagFreddie]

DS wants to build one too.

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

Console games are console games, PC games are PC games - there are advantages and disadvantages with either and some games work well on both formats. Is that enough fence sitting? We have both actually let's be honest we have them all as we are sad sad people

Tablets are fabulous for surfing the net in bed - a lot less faff than balancing the laptop on my knees, and a bigger screen than the phone. Disclaimer - I wouldn't have bought one purely for that, mine is a gift from work.

[MurderOfGoths]

MrsDmitri I agree, I think I phrased my post badly. If there is a PC and a console version of the same game, the PC version generally has higher quality graphics.

Is it wrong that I want a tablet pretty much solely to play Little Inferno?

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

Oh yes, PC games look miles better than the console versions. We really need to upgrade ours, there's games I'd love to play but our PC as it is atm is just too slow.

[TrinityRhino]

oh god yes
I built one years ago but it wasn't games orientated, just a more fun and cheaper way of getting a good home pc

I would love to build a gamer one now

[MurderOfGoths]

MrsDmitri What are you looking at playing? Some of the games out recently/soon have got ridiculously high specs! Could never afford a PC that could play them at full quality.

[PedroPonyLikesCrisps]

Well, I can't say I've ever looked at my PS3 games and thought "well that looks shit, I'd better shell out a grand on a PC". I'd rather pay a couple of hundred quid every 5 years. That covers me for 25 years of gaming vs the £1000 PC and that's not including all the upgrading (and probably several new PCs) you'd have to do in that time. I simply can't understand why you'd pay that much.

[flatpackhamster]

PedroPonyLikesCrisps

Well, I can't say I've ever looked at my PS3 games and thought "well that looks shit, I'd better shell out a grand on a PC".

Well that's because you probably haven't compared the game side by side with the PC equivalent. You'd be surprised if you tried it at the dismally low quality of the graphics on a console when compared to a £1,000 PC.

I'd rather pay a couple of hundred quid every 5 years. That covers me for 25 years of gaming vs the £1000 PC and that's not including all the upgrading (and probably several new PCs) you'd have to do in that time. I simply can't understand why you'd pay that much.

Several reasons. Firstly, an awful lot of games come out on a PC which don't come out on a console. There's a huge, thriving Indie game market for the PC.

Secondly, console games tend to be - how can I put this nicely - somewhat less cerebral. I mean yes, playing Race Through The Checkpoints In An Indestructible Car is lovely for half an hour, but it really is rather limited.

Thirdly, the console controller is less flexible than a mouse, particularly for strategy gaming, an area that is particularly poorly served on the console market. There are several reasons for that, but the most important one is the contempt the console makers have for their customers.

Fourthly, console games are also more expensive than PC games. They sell the console at or below cost and recoup the money on the games. While you're paying upward of £50 per game, the price on the PC is about £10 less for the equivalent game. So yes, the console is cheaper, but (particularly if you buy lots of games) it probably works out about the same in the end.

Fifthly, a console is just a console, even if it'll let you go on the internet. My PC runs my business as well as plays games. Can you run Quickbooks on a console? Can you run Outlook and synch it to your Win8 phone? There's more flexibility.

So there are good reasons for buying a PC, just as there are good reasons for buying a console (such as the ease of use).

[MurderOfGoths]

"I'd rather pay a couple of hundred quid every 5 years. That covers me for 25 years of gaming vs the £1000 PC"

Maybe, but for my £1000 I get fantastic graphics, a bigger range of games, a bigger range of game genres, a variety of other programmes, much better backwards compatibility (thankyou DOSbox and GoG!), any hardware problems are easier to fix, the games are usually cheaper, DLC is usually cheaper, certain control styles just do not work on a console (mouse and keyboard is a much more flexible system), online communities on PC only games tend not to be quite so twattish, I can plug a controller into my PC, I can play games on a PC without monopolising the TV, I could hook a PC up to the TV if I wanted, I can have much more saved onto my PC than you can onto your console, you'll have to delete games long before I do, my PC will likely to run for longer periods and longer in general than your PS3 will, I can run some seriously heavy load programs (eg. 3D rendering, animation, game design)

Don't get me wrong, I like the PS3, I own one, but if I could only have one or the other there's no way I'd pick the PS3! And if my choice was PS3 and cheap PC/laptop/tablet or a £1000 PC, the £1000 PC would win every time.

Here's some images that show the difference in graphics
From Mass Effect
Skyrim
Crysis
GTAIV
COD
Dead Space
Fallout Oh god, the trees....

You may not care about the graphics, but one of the things I love about modern gaming is how amazing a lot of the games look. And on the PS3 they just don't. Which seems wrong considering the PS3 can play blu ray films!

[juneybean]

Unless its for the Sims, nothing is ever good enough for the Sims.

[MurderOfGoths]

Haha, the Sims has ridiculous requirements! I know I waited to upgrade my PC until Sims 3 came out, because I figured that if I could get Sims 3 to play I could get anything to play!

[PedroPonyLikesCrisps]

"Well that's because you probably haven't compared the game side by side with the PC equivalent. You'd be surprised if you tried it at the dismally low quality of the graphics on a console when compared to a £1,000 PC."

Big deal, I should bloody hope that a machine that's 5 times the price would have better graphics, but graphics are trivial anyway. Nintendo have always been a bit behind graphics-wise but their games are so much more playable and enjoyable. Some of the shittist games ever made had incredible graphics. And the PS3 hardly has bad graphics given it's 6 years old now.

" Secondly, console games tend to be - how can I put this nicely - somewhat less cerebral. I mean yes, playing Race Through The Checkpoints In An Indestructible Car is lovely for half an hour, but it really is rather limited."

Sounds like someone hasn't actually seen the range of console games available. Again, some of the best puzzle games of all time have come through Nintendo.

"Thirdly, the console controller is less flexible than a mouse, particularly for strategy gaming, an area that is particularly poorly served on the console market. There are several reasons for that, but the most important one is the contempt the console makers have for their customers."

Wow! You've got some beef here clearly! Firstly, not everyone plays strategy games. Secondly, I'd like to see you playing SSX, FIFA or Assassin's Creed with a mouse, that would be effing hilarious! Thirdly, when it's called for (F1 2012, GT5,etc.) I have steering wheel and pedals. Driving games with a mouse and keyboard just don't really give that 'simulation' experience do they?!

"Fourthly, console games are also more expensive than PC games. They sell the console at or below cost and recoup the money on the games. While you're paying upward of £50 per game, the price on the PC is about £10 less for the equivalent game. So yes, the console is cheaper, but (particularly if you buy lots of games) it probably works out about the same in the end."

Complete rubbish. The same games are roughly the same price across platforms. But there's a massive preowned market if you don't want to spend too much. Sure you can buy cheap PC games, but they're not going to be quite the same as the high end big releases are they. Mind you, I do enjoy the odd round of Free Cell.

"Fifthly, a console is just a console, even if it'll let you go on the internet. My PC runs my business as well as plays games. Can you run Quickbooks on a console? Can you run Outlook and synch it to your Win8 phone? There's more flexibility."

So you've missed the point. I have a PC for doing PC things, I just wouldn't dream of playing proper games on it. Just as I wouldn't want to run my expenses through on my Playstation. The console is designed for gaming, the PC just doesn't cut it for me. Not since the days of the Amiga have desktop machines been worth it for games. I simply don't want to have to buy a new graphics card every time a new game comes out, it's ludicrous. This isn't pennies we're talking about, it's hundreds and hundreds of pounds difference. I can buy a lot of full price console games with that money (oh and they never cost £50 if you buy them online by the way, rarely more than £35 if you care to look).

[MurderOfGoths]

"Wow! You've got some beef here clearly! Firstly, not everyone plays strategy games. Secondly, I'd like to see you playing SSX, FIFA or Assassin's Creed with a mouse, that would be effing hilarious! Thirdly, when it's called for (F1 2012, GT5,etc.) I have steering wheel and pedals. Driving games with a mouse and keyboard just don't really give that 'simulation' experience do they?!"

You do know you can use controllers and steering wheels with a PC don't you? Anything a console can do a PC can also do. Can a console game do everything a PC can do? Nope.

"Complete rubbish. The same games are roughly the same price across platforms. But there's a massive preowned market if you don't want to spend too much. Sure you can buy cheap PC games, but they're not going to be quite the same as the high end big releases are they."

The triple A titles are all much the same but there is a massive indie game market. And you'd pay a premium for an equivalent through the PSN.

"Not since the days of the Amiga have desktop machines been worth it for games."

That's so far from true. PC games are doing brilliantly right now, especially since Steam breathed new life into the area! It looked like PC gaming was going to die out a few years back, but it's really come on in leaps and bounds.

I prefer the range with PC gaming, there's just so much more to do, and so many more way to do it. The PC's are worth every penny.

[BunFagFreddie]

Oh no! What have I started?

Steam is the main reason for converting to PC.

Geeky DP is confident that we can build a good one (will use big TV and speakers) for £500. That's an absolute bargain imo.

That will be fine for Mass Effect, Skrim and Dead Space.

[juneybean]

I agree with your DP, my water cooling system (who thought that was a good idea?!) leaked in October killing my graphics card, motherboard and all that malarky and I spent £500.00 upgrading it and it is pretty special now

[MurderOfGoths]

I'm sure you could put together a good one for £500, especially if you've got TV and speakers sorted already. In all honesty £1000 would make a really good PC, but more than most people would need! I'm sure mine was about £350 and that was a few years ago, so some components will have gone up in price.

Aside from Steam, Good Old Games has a great range of older games, and Green Man Gaming has some good deals when they have a sale on. Origin (the EA store) is a bit of a pain in the arse, but there are some games you can only get there.

Also if you like Skyrim you must try The Witcher and Dragon Age!

[MurderOfGoths]

Oh forgot, one other thing the console market doesn't tend to do, it is difficult to add mods and there aren't that many. Whereas mods are huge in PC gaming. While it might not be your thing, you can't deny how huge some mods can get, see Day Z for example.

Oh and I'm never saying goodbye to the PC, I've seen so many PC only games that have had a fantastic UI and great intuitive gameplay only to be oversimplified in a sequel in order to be put onto consoles, to the detriment of the game.