Depends on where you live and if you are building the pc with all new parts, or used. For example in my country a PS5 costs 530 euros. For that same price I cannot build a pc that will even come close to a ps5 in performance. Even if I buy some used parts I don’t think I will be able to make it better.
ZombieConsultant
This would get you in the ballpark in terms of gaming performance, but obviously would be a lot more useful for tasks beyond gaming. Would not include monitor, mouse, keyboard, windows license, etc.. So the answer is “yes” you can but technically but it’s a build of the cheapest version of every part required to get you there for the performance target. It’s not necessarily a system I would build if building for myself or others. If I were going to actually build for this performance target I’d be looking to spend a bit more for a better case, psu, cooler, motherboard and nvme.
Here’s the thing. If you don’t care about online or all the other features of a pc then a ps5 is better. However, if you do end up paying an online subscription then just a few years of the minimum plan add up to over 700$, and for that budget you absolutely can beat a ps5. So what’s important here is to consider the increased long term costs with a ps5 that you largely don’t have on pc.
dev1anceON3
RX 6700 non XT and RX 6650 XT and Ryzen 5 3600 have similar performance as PS5, so probably u can beat that in 600$
koordy
I don’t know, how much is 3700x + 2070 PC these days?
TerribleQuestion4497
You can match it in raw power for 600$, but PS5 will run the games better than PC of equal power
Top-Jellyfish9557
Depends. If you can budget for a 3060ti it’ll beat it hands down considering you can use a 1440p tv and get 2x framerate. A lot of ps5 titles blur games running at 4k anyways.
Surprise-Fiat
I think so
Should be able to build a 6700XT, 3700X PC for $600 these days
Bought a PS5 for the exclusives a couple months ago (first console since PS2) for 500€. I’m honestly amazed at the performance the console puts out for less money than a relevant GPU. I would no longer recommend PC gaming to anyone even remotely constrained by the budget.
Dizzy-South9352
depends on how you measure the “performance”. usually consoles are already way slower on release, than their desktop counterparts. the secret is, that games are usually optimized for them, so that they run smooth and low specs doesnt show that much. capped frame-rate, lower textures, less NPCs, lower shaders etc…there is loads of tricks that game developers use, to “make” the games run fine on consoles. because if they would release the game, with the same features as it is on PC, it would lag like crazy. that is why, most PC users hate consoles so much, because its just subpar experience compared to PC gaming. everything is washed down and regurgitated as a bare minimum, just so that you could get your 30 or 60 or whatever the FPS consoles run nowadays. that is why you can see, that some games allow you to run 120, while others are locked at 60 fps on consoles. because some games are just more demanding and consoles cant run them.
Mr_Robberz
Why stop calculating at ps plus sub let’s get power bills and internet providers don’t forget your hourly pay rate for pc assembly
NelchaelSS
Yeah, you can get pretty close to a PS5 with 600$ (Ryzen 3600, 6650XT). Taking into account the fact that you’ll pay 80$ per year to play online for 3-4 years until PS6 might come out, so 240-320$ extra for nothing, you could build a much better PC.
For example for 920$ you could get a new PC with a Ryzen 5 5600 and an RX 6800 XT (and quality parts for the rest of the computer). That PC is pretty fucking good, and A LOT better than a PS5.
​
Do I need to mention our lord and saviour Gaben with his Steam sales? Backward compatibility with games released 20+ years ago, without the need to pay extra or pay a lot for overpriced ports?
Mootingly
Just the monitor and gpu alone eat up so much budget it’s insane, if we’re talking beating a ps5 in terms of experience and not just Raster like qualities etc.
regbanks
Spec-wise, unlikely. In cross platform games, more than likely.
Hallo-Person
I think that even with a pc with equivalent components, a ps5 would be better as it would be cheaper and have better optimised games, unless you need the pc’s funtions
RushTfe
Never thought comparing consoles with pcs is fair. For any of the sides.
Its like comparing a car with a plane. Yeah, they both will take you from a to b. But apart from that, they’re completely different and cover different needs.
With a console you can game, same with pc. But that’s the only reasonable similarity.
PC is more expensive, always will be, but it comes with a whole lot of stuff that console doesn’t offer, because it’s not its purpose. It’s not only fps or resolution stuff.
Its retro gaming, emulators, productivity (photoshop, video editing, programing, servers…) and a os that you may have to buy anyway. If you got a ps5, you probably need a PC apart. If you own a PC, you probably don’t need a ps5.
And, as I said before, it doesn’t mean pc is better. It’s just different, and cover another needs that console doesn’t have to. Same with a plane, which is more expensive than your car, but it doesn’t means it’s better. Or even comparable.
Working_Building_29
The thing people often don’t think about is game prices as a whole. How often are you having to shell out full price on a game in the PS store? I’m sure it’s a lot more often than when I’m buying them on a Steam sale that happens 38 times a year. Not to mention having to pay for online privileges.
So, while you may not be able to build a PC that has the same or better performance for the same money I would argue that the value of a PC is higher even if the performance isn’t the same. I would take a $600 PC over a PS5 any day. Would I recommend a PC to someone with these budget constraints and just wants to game? Probably not.
lordfappington69
Most likely no.
UnsureAssurance
For me it’s worth alone for the exclusives, eventually my PC probably won’t be able to run newer games as well so it’ll be nice to play a super optimized PS5 version instead (looking at GTA 6)
kontenjer
CS2
PC 150 fps
PS5 0 fps
Checkmate
usernamesarehated
It’s kinda unfair to compare pc to PS5 in this manner. PS5 is sold at a loss/minimal profit since you’re forced to buy licenced games and it can be sold as a loss leader.
There are many games you can get for steep discounts or even for free on pc through epic store or other places. The more games you wanna add to your library the cheaper the PC becomes while the PS5 would become really expensive.
pantherghast
Both Microsoft and Sony sell these consoles at a loss or near cost as they know they will make their money back as games sell in the store. If Valve sold a PC but you could only run games from Steam on them, I’m sure they would do the same, bringing down the cost of a “PC” to that price point, because they make that money back through other channels.
Sleetystatue
The days of building a stronger PC than the current gen consoles for the same or lower cost is behind us. The consoles likely sell at a loss so it would be incredibly difficult to beat them for a similar price. Additionally, I feel the PC community has been growing in recent years, driving up the price of components.
Milli_Rabbit
No, not possible except maybe getting lucky with used parts.
The problem stems from Sony being able to create a custom build that is highly efficient due to their high volume of sales. Building a PC is limited by having parts that are compatible but not necessarily optimized to work together and ultimately Sony probably has their connections also being highly efficient and streamlined while a typical motherboard has to be built with compatibility in mind making connections not optimal but reliable in a variety of build configurations.
Then you add on that they are allowed to sell at a loss or close to a loss because they have a longer term profit strategy and that they probably get the parts cheaper than you and I due to economies of scale.
TheFlashOfLightning
There’s no point in arguing console vs. PC anymore
If you spend very little time playing games or watching shows/movies or doing computer work, just save the money and get a console.
If you spend significant time (>20 hours/week) doing any of these, you are better off in the long run building or buying a PC.
That’s all it comes down to.
amypond420
Pc will always be more cost effective because everything else besides the pc itself is way cheaper and you aren’t locked into a proprietary ecosystem
frogpittv
Realistically, no. Not until GPU prices become much more reasonable. If you want to play the newest games at a decent performance level the PS5 is the best bang for your buck still. Of course, a PC has more options and a much larger catalogue of games to choose from but specifically talking about recent titles, the PS5 wins price:performance by a mile.
Substance___P
For the last time, consoles do not cost the $499 or $599 sticker price. They cost that PLUS the cost of Xbox Live/PS plus if you want to play online.
For PlayStation, that’s like $80 a year. If you expect a machine to last five years before replacement, your PlayStation costs $900. If you add the cost difference between pricing in PlayStation store’s walled garden and the competition between PC storefronts that regularly bring PC gamers steep discounts, the difference becomes wider.
So yes, you do get better bang for your buck from a PC in the long run if you want online services and buy a lot of games.
Example parts list that’s what you’d realistically spend over the life of the console, but with much more performance and room to grow and upgrade:
If we take just the hardware part then no. You cant match the PC and PS5 in this price range. However what needs to be strongly considered is the price of PS5 games. That is from where Sony gets the money.
Successful-Giraffe29
Basically, a good graphic card costs more than a ps5…a good processor is about the same price as a ps5… so no…ps5 and series x are a great bang for your buck
Effective-External50
Why do people act like computers only play video games?
ewatangier
Most pc’s are without discs too. A ps5 digital is cheaper. So in that case. Probably not
Significant-Sock-149
With the ps5 u have to pay to play online.
Can that yearly subscription money be added to the pc budget.
ItsMeSlinky
Still no.
Dry-Shoe-237
No. But it evens out with games pricing.
duckforceone
you have to realize the true price of an xbox or ps is not the sale price…
it’s having you locked into their eco system and buying their high priced games.
FOO_duke2k4
Always the same debate.
Console hardware/software is very optimized for their purpose. They can, because only their certified games will run on it.
Throw in a game and be happy.
Don’t compare a PC with thousand more possibilities to a console.
montgomerygk
With the price of video cards doubling in the last 4 years you’ll probably never be able to build a system comparable to a console at the same price ever again.
bald_danish
We also have to remember it’s not the same thing.
1. PS is a console, only meant to play games
2. PC is a personal computer, that has always had multiple purposes. It can be for work and pleasure. Text, editing and printing was one of the things that stood out when talking about them in the past.
So a PC can go online, brows, watch movies, edit videos, program, play video games, etc. it’s built to do all these things so you pay more.
Never understood the discussion but fair enough. I’m sure you can build a PC for 600 that can play games. But maybe compare it to older consoles.
41 Comments
Depends on where you live and if you are building the pc with all new parts, or used. For example in my country a PS5 costs 530 euros. For that same price I cannot build a pc that will even come close to a ps5 in performance. Even if I buy some used parts I don’t think I will be able to make it better.
This would get you in the ballpark in terms of gaming performance, but obviously would be a lot more useful for tasks beyond gaming. Would not include monitor, mouse, keyboard, windows license, etc.. So the answer is “yes” you can but technically but it’s a build of the cheapest version of every part required to get you there for the performance target. It’s not necessarily a system I would build if building for myself or others. If I were going to actually build for this performance target I’d be looking to spend a bit more for a better case, psu, cooler, motherboard and nvme.
[https://pcpartpicker.com/list/D8BYfy](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/D8BYfy)
Not quite, you’re looking at around $650.
Here’s the thing. If you don’t care about online or all the other features of a pc then a ps5 is better. However, if you do end up paying an online subscription then just a few years of the minimum plan add up to over 700$, and for that budget you absolutely can beat a ps5. So what’s important here is to consider the increased long term costs with a ps5 that you largely don’t have on pc.
RX 6700 non XT and RX 6650 XT and Ryzen 5 3600 have similar performance as PS5, so probably u can beat that in 600$
I don’t know, how much is 3700x + 2070 PC these days?
You can match it in raw power for 600$, but PS5 will run the games better than PC of equal power
Depends. If you can budget for a 3060ti it’ll beat it hands down considering you can use a 1440p tv and get 2x framerate. A lot of ps5 titles blur games running at 4k anyways.
I think so
Should be able to build a 6700XT, 3700X PC for $600 these days
A PS5 equivalent PC is ~$650:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dbNTFs
Bought a PS5 for the exclusives a couple months ago (first console since PS2) for 500€. I’m honestly amazed at the performance the console puts out for less money than a relevant GPU. I would no longer recommend PC gaming to anyone even remotely constrained by the budget.
depends on how you measure the “performance”. usually consoles are already way slower on release, than their desktop counterparts. the secret is, that games are usually optimized for them, so that they run smooth and low specs doesnt show that much. capped frame-rate, lower textures, less NPCs, lower shaders etc…there is loads of tricks that game developers use, to “make” the games run fine on consoles. because if they would release the game, with the same features as it is on PC, it would lag like crazy. that is why, most PC users hate consoles so much, because its just subpar experience compared to PC gaming. everything is washed down and regurgitated as a bare minimum, just so that you could get your 30 or 60 or whatever the FPS consoles run nowadays. that is why you can see, that some games allow you to run 120, while others are locked at 60 fps on consoles. because some games are just more demanding and consoles cant run them.
Why stop calculating at ps plus sub let’s get power bills and internet providers don’t forget your hourly pay rate for pc assembly
Yeah, you can get pretty close to a PS5 with 600$ (Ryzen 3600, 6650XT). Taking into account the fact that you’ll pay 80$ per year to play online for 3-4 years until PS6 might come out, so 240-320$ extra for nothing, you could build a much better PC.
For example for 920$ you could get a new PC with a Ryzen 5 5600 and an RX 6800 XT (and quality parts for the rest of the computer). That PC is pretty fucking good, and A LOT better than a PS5.
​
Do I need to mention our lord and saviour Gaben with his Steam sales? Backward compatibility with games released 20+ years ago, without the need to pay extra or pay a lot for overpriced ports?
Just the monitor and gpu alone eat up so much budget it’s insane, if we’re talking beating a ps5 in terms of experience and not just Raster like qualities etc.
Spec-wise, unlikely. In cross platform games, more than likely.
I think that even with a pc with equivalent components, a ps5 would be better as it would be cheaper and have better optimised games, unless you need the pc’s funtions
Never thought comparing consoles with pcs is fair. For any of the sides.
Its like comparing a car with a plane. Yeah, they both will take you from a to b. But apart from that, they’re completely different and cover different needs.
With a console you can game, same with pc. But that’s the only reasonable similarity.
PC is more expensive, always will be, but it comes with a whole lot of stuff that console doesn’t offer, because it’s not its purpose. It’s not only fps or resolution stuff.
Its retro gaming, emulators, productivity (photoshop, video editing, programing, servers…) and a os that you may have to buy anyway. If you got a ps5, you probably need a PC apart. If you own a PC, you probably don’t need a ps5.
And, as I said before, it doesn’t mean pc is better. It’s just different, and cover another needs that console doesn’t have to. Same with a plane, which is more expensive than your car, but it doesn’t means it’s better. Or even comparable.
The thing people often don’t think about is game prices as a whole. How often are you having to shell out full price on a game in the PS store? I’m sure it’s a lot more often than when I’m buying them on a Steam sale that happens 38 times a year. Not to mention having to pay for online privileges.
So, while you may not be able to build a PC that has the same or better performance for the same money I would argue that the value of a PC is higher even if the performance isn’t the same. I would take a $600 PC over a PS5 any day. Would I recommend a PC to someone with these budget constraints and just wants to game? Probably not.
Most likely no.
For me it’s worth alone for the exclusives, eventually my PC probably won’t be able to run newer games as well so it’ll be nice to play a super optimized PS5 version instead (looking at GTA 6)
CS2
PC 150 fps
PS5 0 fps
Checkmate
It’s kinda unfair to compare pc to PS5 in this manner. PS5 is sold at a loss/minimal profit since you’re forced to buy licenced games and it can be sold as a loss leader.
There are many games you can get for steep discounts or even for free on pc through epic store or other places. The more games you wanna add to your library the cheaper the PC becomes while the PS5 would become really expensive.
Both Microsoft and Sony sell these consoles at a loss or near cost as they know they will make their money back as games sell in the store. If Valve sold a PC but you could only run games from Steam on them, I’m sure they would do the same, bringing down the cost of a “PC” to that price point, because they make that money back through other channels.
The days of building a stronger PC than the current gen consoles for the same or lower cost is behind us. The consoles likely sell at a loss so it would be incredibly difficult to beat them for a similar price. Additionally, I feel the PC community has been growing in recent years, driving up the price of components.
No, not possible except maybe getting lucky with used parts.
The problem stems from Sony being able to create a custom build that is highly efficient due to their high volume of sales. Building a PC is limited by having parts that are compatible but not necessarily optimized to work together and ultimately Sony probably has their connections also being highly efficient and streamlined while a typical motherboard has to be built with compatibility in mind making connections not optimal but reliable in a variety of build configurations.
Then you add on that they are allowed to sell at a loss or close to a loss because they have a longer term profit strategy and that they probably get the parts cheaper than you and I due to economies of scale.
There’s no point in arguing console vs. PC anymore
If you spend very little time playing games or watching shows/movies or doing computer work, just save the money and get a console.
If you spend significant time (>20 hours/week) doing any of these, you are better off in the long run building or buying a PC.
That’s all it comes down to.
Pc will always be more cost effective because everything else besides the pc itself is way cheaper and you aren’t locked into a proprietary ecosystem
Realistically, no. Not until GPU prices become much more reasonable. If you want to play the newest games at a decent performance level the PS5 is the best bang for your buck still. Of course, a PC has more options and a much larger catalogue of games to choose from but specifically talking about recent titles, the PS5 wins price:performance by a mile.
For the last time, consoles do not cost the $499 or $599 sticker price. They cost that PLUS the cost of Xbox Live/PS plus if you want to play online.
For PlayStation, that’s like $80 a year. If you expect a machine to last five years before replacement, your PlayStation costs $900. If you add the cost difference between pricing in PlayStation store’s walled garden and the competition between PC storefronts that regularly bring PC gamers steep discounts, the difference becomes wider.
So yes, you do get better bang for your buck from a PC in the long run if you want online services and buy a lot of games.
Example parts list that’s what you’d realistically spend over the life of the console, but with much more performance and room to grow and upgrade:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/x7MgZJ
If we take just the hardware part then no. You cant match the PC and PS5 in this price range. However what needs to be strongly considered is the price of PS5 games. That is from where Sony gets the money.
Basically, a good graphic card costs more than a ps5…a good processor is about the same price as a ps5… so no…ps5 and series x are a great bang for your buck
Why do people act like computers only play video games?
Most pc’s are without discs too. A ps5 digital is cheaper. So in that case. Probably not
With the ps5 u have to pay to play online.
Can that yearly subscription money be added to the pc budget.
Still no.
No. But it evens out with games pricing.
you have to realize the true price of an xbox or ps is not the sale price…
it’s having you locked into their eco system and buying their high priced games.
Always the same debate.
Console hardware/software is very optimized for their purpose. They can, because only their certified games will run on it.
Throw in a game and be happy.
Don’t compare a PC with thousand more possibilities to a console.
With the price of video cards doubling in the last 4 years you’ll probably never be able to build a system comparable to a console at the same price ever again.
We also have to remember it’s not the same thing.
1. PS is a console, only meant to play games
2. PC is a personal computer, that has always had multiple purposes. It can be for work and pleasure. Text, editing and printing was one of the things that stood out when talking about them in the past.
So a PC can go online, brows, watch movies, edit videos, program, play video games, etc. it’s built to do all these things so you pay more.
Never understood the discussion but fair enough. I’m sure you can build a PC for 600 that can play games. But maybe compare it to older consoles.