PC gamers:U$299 PC vs Xbox One / $198 PC vs past gen console

note: this topic is for PC or future PC gamers, not to bash Xbox One, since i dont believe someone that bought a X1 will build a PC

can a U$299 PC beat the Xbox One performance?

my build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/leandrro/saved/sYDkcf

in this $299 build i didnt include the cost of keyboard and mouse, that would add up to $313

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201009&cm_re=keyboard-_-23-201-009-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1WP0NP0061&cm_re=mouse-_-9SIA1WP0NP0061-_-Product

and also didnt include an optional Xbox controller, that would add up to $323

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5H61PS4341&cm_re=joystick-_-232-0004-00006-_-Product

but note that with a kb&mouse + X360 controller you're already far better than with the limitations of only a controller

i also did not include any software costs or gains , this means i did not include a full priced windows 7 licence that would add up to $384, but also did not discount the $50 - $100 worth of free games you usually get with a graphics card, that would lower the cost to $249 - $199 , for comparison, we dont include the cost of online subscripton that would raise the cost of a Xbox One to $459 (1 year) / $699 (5 years) ,also we dont discount a promotional bundled game with the X1 that would get the console cost down to $339 , but this is good for the console and bad for PC, since software costs are much worse on console

this build is similar to that one gamespot did with $550

but they used a more expensive case (just for the looks), a inferior CPU for the same price , a more expensive GPU with little to none performance gain , a worse and more expensive HDD , a windows 8 licence

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/can-we-build-a-gaming-pc-on-a-console-budget/1100-6418829/

the performance of both PCs is much above the Xbox One , for example they got Battlefield 4 to run @1080 high 50fps , to see the performance difference from gtx 750ti to a R7 260x check this:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU14/932

Eurogamer R7 260X review show performance close to PS4 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-r7-260x-vs-next-gen-console

R7260X vs Xbox One equivalent GPU http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044?vs=1079

we know that X1 has a downclocked and downgraded 7790 with DDR3 RAM, check R7 260X vs 7790 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044?vs=1035

CPU performance:

G3220 in worst case scenario, Battlefield 4 multiplayer with a slower 7770 card, medium 1080p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUcXQphx1sQ

G3220 with less CPU demanding next gen title = same performance as i7-4770k http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-pentium-g3220-processor-review_137016/8

PSU requirement 250W, this build has a cheap 400W PSU, 4-pin to 6-pin cable adapter included, CPU + GPU combined require a 14Amps 12V rail

Vram = 1gb, Xbox One has about 2 or 2,5gb of Vram available (depending on system RAM usage) out of 4,5gb reserved for games, but with a slow equivalent of a 7770 card and DDR3 for Vram the reality is that X1 is running games at 720p or low textures requiring less than 700 or 800mb of Vram, even the faster HD7850 (PS4 equivalent) has little to no performance gain from 1gb to 2gb versions

System RAM is dual channel 1600mhz with 25,6gb/s faster than PS4's 20gb/s

since the other tread got locked

U$198 super low budget past gen PC

Before the anguer storm, let me be the first to say that this super low budget PC build has a bad performance-per-dollar relation, just like on the consoles, the extra $200 you expend to get a PS4 instead of a PS3 get you 6x more performance, on PC there is a good performance-per-dollar increase from $400 up to $800, above or below those limits you have diminushing returns

unlike consoles, this PC build is very upgradable, you can put a A10-7850k (faster than many i5 and AMD 6 cores) on this mobo later and also a R9 270X making it 50% faster than PS4, you can use this cheap PC to work and if youre not buying a Wii U just for the mario games or you already have a bluray drive this PC can be a good super cheap option to invest only $200 and upgrade later instead of a cheap console

what kind of PC can we build for U$200?

my build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/leandrro/saved/VkNgXL

in this $198 build i didnt include the cost of keyboard and mouse, that would add up to $212, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201009&cm_re=keyboard-_-23-201-009-_-Product , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1WP0NP0061&cm_re=mouse-_-9SIA1WP0NP0061-_-Product , and also didnt include an optional Xbox controller, that would add up to $222 , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5H61PS4341&cm_re=joystick-_-232-0004-00006-_-Product , but note that with a kb&mouse + X360 controller you're already far better than with the limitations of only a controller

i also did not include any software costs or gains , this means i did not include a full priced windows 7 licence that would add up to $283 , so you might use an old windows license, get some of the many discounted windows licenses for students for example available by around $30 or stop being a hypocrit and do just like everyone does or use steam OS to play games like Metro Last Light, The Witcher 2, Portal 2, Dota, Trine 2, Rust, Civilization V, Team fortress 2, Left for Dead 2 and hundreds of others , but remember that software costs are much worse on console, so discredting a low budget PC only because it does not include software costs is not a very intelligent move since the moment you buy a windows licence and start buying windows games youre saving big money compared to console

What can this PC do? it is about 60% the performance of a PC with a HD7770 (Xbox One equivalent) and about 2x faster than a PS3 / X360 / Wii U

while past gen consoles run all games on lowest PC settings, 720p and 25-30 fps, this machine gets to run with 1080p and/or higher frame rate and/or higher settings (hardly all at once)

check those GT640 DDR3 + slow dual core CPU videos:

Titanfall PC low settings 1080p 40-50 fps (past gen= below low settings, 20-40fps sub 720p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itAohpTA6GU

Resident Evil 6 maxed-out 70fps 900p (past gen= low, 30fps, 720p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFufLxQPj1I&list=UU3sco92hgx0UGydfEttyEdw

Battlefield 3 high settings 720p 29-35 fps (past gen= sub low settings, sub 720p, 25-30 fps)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl8BaI7jzR4

Grid Autosport medium-high 35-50 fps (past gen=low settings, 25-30fps, 720p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXQle3y_Ju4

Battlefield 4 in past gen machines is a bad idea, this PC medium settings 20-30 fps 720p (past gen= sub low settings, 25-30 fps, sub 720p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXQle3y_Ju4

Crysis 2 extreme graphics 720p (past gen= low settings, 20-25 fps, sub 720p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqTffEaS8ZE

Anandtech review of the GT 640 graphics card:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5969/zotac-geforce-gt-640-review-/10http://www.anandtech.com/show/5969/zotac-geforce-gt-640-review-/10

Tom's Hardware review of the GT 640:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gt-640-review,3214-6.html

Overclockers club GT 640 review:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/ecs_640_gt/10.htm

CPU performance:

just like the GPU the CPU on the A4-6300 is about 2x faster than a PS3 or X360 CPU and is not a bottleneck for this low budget graphics card

PSU requirement: the budget includes a 300W PSU bundled with the case, this is most probably a fake 300W that delivers only 200-250W, this PC build requires 150-170W and needs no 6pin conector for the graphics card

Vram: 1gb DDR3 Ram 4x as much on PS3 and 2x as much on Wii U (Wii U has 2gb, 1gb for OS and 1gb for games video ram + system ram)

System RAM: 4gb= 8xWii U and 16xPS3 with much faster bandwidth

Boy oh boy.

still trying to start house fires I see

I would never ever touch a half assed built PC, you ether go all in or you go home when it comes down to building a gaming rig.

Still don't see why a PC has to be the same price, or cheaper, than a console. Might aswell buy, you know, a console.

gamespot built a very similar PC, also i have a $400 PC and its all joy, sure i would love a $800 PC more if i had the extra $400

I wouldn't limit myself when building/buying a PC.

I've always loved the fact that some pc gamers base a consoles capabilities off its launch titles. A X1 will smoke that PC next year and beyond. A PS4 will outperform it even more.

for me its all about keyboard and mouse in FPS games

plus i like cheap games and emulators

4gb ram and a dual core?

6gb is the min req for Dead Rising 3 and will probably be the same or higher for all next gen multiplats. And this just barely meets the min req for cpu.

xbox one has only 4,5gb for games, this PC has 4gb, but this faster graphics card can really use all the 1gb Vram while Xbox One GPU is too slow to use even 900mb

Their budget was $550, not $299. They also put 4gb of ram into their PC's which I would never ever put less than 8gb.

Only $299? Stick to consoles we don't want you anyways.

you mean the mythical "optimization"? aka last gen's secret sauce, dual layer gpu, power of the cloud, dx12, cpu acelerators...

been waiting for that for 8 years now, still nothing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQmTcm5vojY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGW1bk1nmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGLH5gmQc4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjcXKEc7MsE

Fair enough, i love those features too. But that's the point. Even if pc costs more, it offers more for the money. Wheter ones likes it or not is up to them. And yes, i need my K/M too.

Agreed.

i play battlefield 4 almost all ultra with 2x2gb ram and decent 45-60 fps, it only uses 2gb + windows 1gb and i still have 1gb to record gameplay videos

Considering that piece of shit build, X1 all the way.

Xbox 360 has only 512mb for games. Do last gen multiplats run on pc's with 512mb? It's likely that more ram could be freed up as the gen goes on as well.

Dead Rising 3 is the first next gen only multiplat and a good indicator of what requirements will be like. The cpu in you build will require oc'ing. It's also very likely that dual cores will become obsolete as devs try to get he most out of these 8 core console cpu's.

Minimum specs:

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit edition, Windows 8 64-bit edition.
• Processor: Intel Core i3-3220 @ 3.30GHz (or Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz) / AMD Phenom II X4 945 @ 3.00 GHz or higher.
• Memory: 6 GB RAM.
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 / AMD Radeon 7870 or higher.
• DirectX: Version 11.

@leandrro: A PS3 trounces a 7800gtx in just about every game that came out the past 4 years. That's not a myth that's a fact. Go run any AC, Crysis or any other major title over the past 4 years. A 8800GtX still beats a PS3 just as a 780ti will always beat a PS4. But even a 6600 was beating the PS3 at launch and after 2 years it was getting trounced. Optimization is a fact plain and simple but it does have it's limits. These budget cards that are close in console performance won't be for long. However the high end cards will still outperform them.

Why?

no, the second video show that ps3 has exact the same performance as 7800gs in the same games

also a 8800 was 50% faster and 7 years later its still exactly 50% faster, zero optimization ocurred

780 might be 2x ps4 and if it is it will be exactly 2x ps4 in 2019 just like what heppened to the 8800

That processor will be obsolete sooner than later. A dual core can last you....to around next year sometime, but a console can last 7-8 years.

@deadline-zero0: why if I only had that much money I'd still buy a pc over any of the consoles, you have more games from the get go and the option to upgrade in future.

None of the consoles are worth that money

yes just like watchdogs and cod ghosts required 6gb ram and use only 2gb

if you put this game with the same xbox's resolution and settings; it will probably use 1,5 gb of system ram + 700mb of Vram

R U Cray?

That PC will obviously struggle when the newer titles start arriving but then you adjust the graphics presets and untick some of the options.

The Bone/PS4 will still be the same POS except the devs will be doing the latter for you. There's any number of ways they can go about butchering new titles so that they play on that shitty hardware from cheap anti-aliasing, low LOD and drawdistance, 900p (and below) resolution, blocky shadows, few on screen NPC's and the list go's on. With that budget PC at least you have the luxury of choice with regard to what you want in and out.

Obviously there is a slight caveat that the console games will be better optimized for that hardware but that wont make for a vastly noticeable difference this gen.

I wouldn't build one under $800 unless i want to cook eggs on it

That thing can live? Jesus, this is a Frankenstein computer.

How to make a toaster by leandrrro.

That is dangerously cheap for a desktop made to beat an Xbox One.

@7mdma: Except that budget pc will never outperform a PS4 not even now. If optimization is a total myth then why did UC2 look better then UC1 in every way? Why did AC 3 look and run better then AC 1 ? They didn't cut any corners on AC3 to make it look and run better then the original eventhough it was on 6 year old hardware at the time.

Just don't get when it became so much about performance more than which games you want to play . Theres still a lot of games that wont be on PC for a long time and vice versa. If the games you want on PC then sure go PC but if they are on X1 then get that

Why would anybody want to game on that thing? You'll probably need to hook it up to a TV since you probably don't own a monitor, there is no OS (unless you go linux which really reduces your game library), and you will probably need a keyboard and mouse.

At this point you're better off just getting a console if you're going to go that cheap. Unless you really want to play PC exclusives of course. If you just want to play modern games and not spend a lot up front just get a console right now.

People buy consoles for more than just their price too. With a PS4 or Xbox One you're getting a much better deal than that PC.

If you're that desperate to have a PC that is just a bit more powerful than a PS4/Xbox One for that price, you're better off not even going into video gaming. This is more of a fun experiment than a legitimate gaming solution.

Why? Why bother with a shit PC like that? If you are limited to $300, buy a fucking PS3.... A fucking Diblotek PSU? Are you fucking mad? Do you want to kill people? Do you want to start house fires?

x86 architecture. It's not new and developers have been using it for years before these consoles were made...

Of course they cut corners, how did you think they got games to look that good on those old consoles?

There's probably a more substantive argument when it comes to optimization (or maximizing potential in terms of visuals etc) on first party titles. The likes of Naughty Dog used every inch of the PS3's potential to make TLOU for example. But shit like that takes alot of hard work, money and skill and that's why those exclusives are so few and far between. If you compare the vast majority of console multi-plats to a simlar spec PC they're all essentially doing the same thing and running games at around parity throughout any given generation. It's not like the newer games will suddenly melt the PC just like they wont be at their full potential running on a console.

So you're using cross gen multiplats as a defense for an inadequate pc? You don't think any game in the near future will truly need a pc with at least 6gb? You think devs are going to take extra time to recode the pc versions of multiplats for people with low ram?

you can't run PCSX2, SSF, NullDC, or Dolphin with the shitty CPU you have there. Stuff like Snes9X runs even on a toaster though.

Gpu, cpu and ram in this build are all below min req of the first xbox one port Dead Rising 3.

@leandrro: one of those videos was COD3 . That ran at half the framerate on the PS3 as it did on the 360. Once again that was a shitty launch ports. A 7800 gs can't beat a PS3 on anything in the last 4 years.

in the present you have no game that uses more than 2,5gb ram and most next gen games like NFS rivals, Tomb Raider using 800mb up to 1,5gb of system ram

in the near and distant future multiplats you be based on PS4 and X1 that both have 4,5gb for games, this means they only have 2 or 2,5gb to use as system ram, if they dont recode anything at all PC multiplatform games you be using 2,5gb max of system ram and 1gb for win8 so with 4gb you still have spare room

all gen 7 multiplatform games still use average 300mb on PC in 2014, thats bcause ps3 has only 256mb and lazyness on PC devs make then use 300 - 350

it could in 2011 but the developers almost forgot about dx9 now, if not for that 7800gs would still run tomb raider as good as a ps3, just like a dx10 8800gs still runs tomb raider 50% faster than ps3 just like it did with 2006's games

you telling me that optimization worked miracles for the 7800gs on the ps3,but did nothing to help ps3 against the 8800gs?

I like how fanboys on all sides (PC included) are tired of TC's bullshit

@walloftruth: Thats not what the devs are saying. There are currently bottlenecks in the processor that should see significant leaps. Looking at the games coming out next year they have already made a pretty significant leaps.

@leandrro: The GPU in the PS3 was crippled on multiplats as few devs used the spus. It took years for then to utilize it and when it did no PC with a 7 series could hold its jock. When they did a 8800gt they had new features and better drivers. That doesn't change the fact that a PS3 smoked a 7800gs just as a PS4 will soon trounce a 7850.

Tomb Raider? A last gen game remaster is the example you're using?

Out of curiosity I just tested Arkham City and it was using 890 mb ram.

This pc here has a total of 5gb which is the same amount that the xbox one has for games alone. Except that pc also needs to run windows and pc games have always been known to use more ram for games than consoles. Why would you think this gen will be any different?

Oh and the r7 260 is below the Dead Rising 3 min req too.

i know, the fact that PC is less expensive day one is against all what fanboys (PC included) want to believe

but thats only the case for gamespot, in hardware sites like tom's hardware or anandtech this fact is old news

yeah, still waiting for significant leaps on my ps3 just like xbox fans are waiting for significant "that cloud powa" leaps