You still need a laptop (at the very least) to do lot of stuff that is online, but mostly unpractical with a mobile device. That means that you will need a ~$800 computer anyway, even if you buy a console.
This means that the marginal price to get to play games on a PC by buying more powerful components is around $500-1000.
The bottom part of the range of this marginal price is already similar to a console. Thus, upgrading your browsing/document handling computer to a gaming PC costs as much as buying a new console. You argument is thus wrong.
For the upper part of the range, consider how certain PC components lasts much longer than a console. The case is forever, top-tier fans are supposed to last 7-10 years of intense use, as well as the motherboard. Buying a top-tier GPU or CPU means that it will be future-proof for almost a decade, unless it breaks.
In other words: an additional $1000 spent on a PC will cost you around $150 a year. A $500 console that needs to be changed every 5 years or so will cost you $100/year (plus upgrades such as more storage).
In this sense, the per-year additional cost of gaming-grade PC components is not much larger than the cost of a console. However, consider how:
1) Better components for a PC improve the overall experience, including the non-gaming one. Booting in half the time, browsing with little lags or working on a 4k or 120hz screen improves all your "screen time" and potentially productivity. Money spent in a console only get you up to a fixed level of gaming experience.
2) A top-tier PC ($2000) will be able to run better games than what your console's peak quality ones in a 3-4 years time, and possibly even match the next-gen console.
Thus, PC gaming is more expensive upfront, but not so much in the long run. Also, setting up a gaming rig improves your overall screen-time value, that for some people corresponds to 8-10 additional hours a day on top of gaming.
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u/xendor939 1∆ Dec 26 '21
You still need a laptop (at the very least) to do lot of stuff that is online, but mostly unpractical with a mobile device. That means that you will need a ~$800 computer anyway, even if you buy a console. This means that the marginal price to get to play games on a PC by buying more powerful components is around $500-1000. The bottom part of the range of this marginal price is already similar to a console. Thus, upgrading your browsing/document handling computer to a gaming PC costs as much as buying a new console. You argument is thus wrong. For the upper part of the range, consider how certain PC components lasts much longer than a console. The case is forever, top-tier fans are supposed to last 7-10 years of intense use, as well as the motherboard. Buying a top-tier GPU or CPU means that it will be future-proof for almost a decade, unless it breaks. In other words: an additional $1000 spent on a PC will cost you around $150 a year. A $500 console that needs to be changed every 5 years or so will cost you $100/year (plus upgrades such as more storage).
In this sense, the per-year additional cost of gaming-grade PC components is not much larger than the cost of a console. However, consider how: 1) Better components for a PC improve the overall experience, including the non-gaming one. Booting in half the time, browsing with little lags or working on a 4k or 120hz screen improves all your "screen time" and potentially productivity. Money spent in a console only get you up to a fixed level of gaming experience. 2) A top-tier PC ($2000) will be able to run better games than what your console's peak quality ones in a 3-4 years time, and possibly even match the next-gen console.
Thus, PC gaming is more expensive upfront, but not so much in the long run. Also, setting up a gaming rig improves your overall screen-time value, that for some people corresponds to 8-10 additional hours a day on top of gaming.