Nvidia has finally revealed their new graphic card series, GeForce RTX 3000, powered by the Ampere architecture. The three models that have been announced recently are RTX 3090, 3080, and 3070.
All three cards will be launched in September and October 2020. Meanwhile, Sony’s latest generation console, the PlayStation 5 (PS5), is expected to be released in November 2020.
With that, the same question must be on the minds of all the gamers in Southeast Asia: which of the two is more worth buying - a gaming PC or a PS5?
Even if neither has yet to be released, the answer to that question can be answered easily if you weigh the pros and cons of a PC and a console. This is mostly because the important elements of either option don't change that significantly with each generation.
By listing out the principal factors of both platforms, I’ll try and help you make a decision on whether you should be saving up for a PS5, or a PC.
Let’s start with the most important factor:
PRICE
As of right now, Sony hasn’t revealed the official price of the PS5. So, I’ll take the estimates made by Paul Tassi from Forbes and Takashi Mochizuki from Bloomberg.
Paul believes that the new generation consoles (PS5 and Xbox One X) will be sold for at least US$500. Takashi, on the other hand, claims that the manufacturing cost of one PS5 unit is around US$450. But both believe that Sony should be selling it at US$470 in order to profit on a similar margin as they did with the Playstation 4 (PS4).
We also have to take into account the existence of the digital-only version of the PS5 that doesn’t have an optical disk drive. It will have to be sold at a cheaper price compared to the normal PS5.
If the normal PS5 version should be sold at about US$470, it’s likely that the digital version will be sold at around US$400. I’ll be using these estimates for the sake of this article.
Again, I want to reiterate that all these prices are estimations and not the actual price.
Thankfully, for a gaming PC, we don’t need to guess or make any estimations because the official prices of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 graphic cards have been announced.
However, it needs to be said that Nvidia has only announced the retail price for the Founders Edition, and not the price for models that will be sold by partner companies like EVGA, ASUS, Zotac, and more.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition card will be launched on September 24 and will be sold at US$699. Then, the RTX 3070 card will be released in October and will be sold at US$499.
Does this mean we can compare a gaming PC that uses a RTX 3070 with a PS5? Not necessarily!
We have to remember that every time a new technology is released into the world, the old version of said tech will lower in price. Because of that, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2000 graphic cards like the RTX 2080, 2070, and 2060 will become cheaper, especially if they’re second-hand.
The RTX 2060 is enough to play Triple-A games at 1080p and 120FPS settings. Right now, the price of a new RTX 2060 unit is around US$360 and there’s a big possibility that it will drop to below US$300.
You’d need at least a RTX 2070 Super card for a 4K 60FPS gameplay experience. This card is priced at about US$499 for a new unit. I’m guessing that it’ll fall to around US$400 because I believe the RTX 3070 will be sold for at least US$550 when it arrives in Southeast Asia.
The PS5 has been advertised as a 4K-capable. Because of that, it’s much more fair to compare it with a PC that at the very least uses an RTX 2070 Super card.
It can’t be denied that the price of a gaming PC with an RTX 2070 Super (even if you buy a used unit) will still be more expensive than a PS5.
I’m sure this doesn’t come as much of a shock. Time and again, consoles have been cheaper than gaming PCs and the same conclusion can be made here.
A PS5 is much more likely to be cheaper compared to a gaming PC that has approximately the same capabilties.
GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCE
One issue that makes PC users less fond of playing on consoles is compromises made on consoles to run high-end games. Nearly every game on console this generation (PS4 and Xbox One) is played at 30FPS and uses dynamic resolutions.
Dynamic resolutions means the resolution will automatically be reduced when something visually expensive happens during gameplay. This technique is used to make sure there’s a constant 30FPS when playing.
This isn’t much of an issue for many console players because they’re already used to games playing at 30FPS. However, the difference can be irritating to players who are used to playing at 60FPS or higher.
Sony hasn’t released any statements that corroborate the PS5’s ability to play at 4K resolution and 60FPS, but Spider-Man: Miles Morales is one game that has been confirmed to have a 4K/60FPS Performance Mode.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales uses the same engine that was used for PS4’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, so that isn’t much of a shocker.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, on the other hand, is definitely a next-generation game because it uses a new engine and ray-tracing technology.
According to Insomniac Games, the game will have two settings: 4K 30FPS and 60FPS with a lower resolution (probably 1440p). This proves that the PS5 still needs to sacrifice a few things to be able to run at 60 FPS.
Well then, what if you plan to use a 1080p television screen or a 1440p monitor?
In that situation, I’m confident that you won’t have to worry because you’ll definitely be able to play games at the highest resolution paired with the highest frame rate. 1080P 120FPS? I’m confident the PS5 can easily handle that.
It’s true that you won’t be using the full power of the PS5 in this situation, but 4K televisions aren’t exactly a cheap commodity and I think the gameplay experience at 1080p resolution is already satisfying enough.
The power of a great gaming PC lies in its ability to play almost every video game at the highest graphical settings while keeping the frame rate high and smooth.
There’s also the added benefit of being able to add modifications (mods) into PC games which can make gaming a much more interesting and entertaining experience. For example, you could put in a new car of your choice into Grand Theft Auto (GTA) V or add revamp mods into any Total War game that totally changes the way you play the game.
There are a lot more examples of fun mods and many PC gamers never forget to list down modding as a big upside to playing on a PC.
The experience of playing at 4K 60FPS is much easier to achieve in video games if they’re played on a gaming PC. Though, to get a high-powered gaming PC like that would require you to invest a lot of money.
I estimate you’d need to build a PC (using new components) that costs at least US$1,200 to play at 4K 60FPS settings. If you get used parts, the price of that PC might go down by between US$250 and US$500.
To those who don’t mind playing at 1080p 60FPS or 1080p 30FPS settings, you can build a PC that’s about US$850 using new components.
If you’re able to find good used parts, you could also build a 1080p 60FPS gaming PC at a price tag of US$700 or even lower.
The verdict is that you should follow your own preferences. If you prioritise a smooth gameplay experience and the added bonus of insane customization above all else, the right choice is to put some cash into your own gaming PC.
For those who are there to just play the games and aren’t interested in all these details, choose a console - and not necessarily the PS5 either. The PS4 Pro is already a good enough choice if you’ve yet to own it.
GAME CATALOGUE
The last factor is the most important one to some people; it doesn’t matter to them if the PS5 or PC is more powerful. The question is, which platform has the more enjoyable selection of games?
Each platform has its exclusives that makes them more popular in some way.
It’s basically a requirement for Spider-Man fans to buy the PlayStation console because of Sony’s agreement with Disney with regards to exclusivity rights.
Sony also has released a bunch of amazing PlayStation first party titles like Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn (which has been ported to PC), and many more.
There are also some cases where Sony acquired year-long exclusivity rights for games like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Death Stranding. Sony is sure to do the same for the PS5 in the future for the sake of making it more appealing exclusivity-wise.
PS4 owners don’t have to worry about the games they’ve bought either because it’s been confirmed that the PS5 is backwards compatible with PS4 games.
On the PC side though, exclusive games are based on genre rather than development studios. The clearest example of this are strategy games like Total War, Sid Meier’s Civilization, and others.
A lot of simulation games, too, are more compatible with PC gaming. Examples of popular games include Microsoft Flight Simulator, The Sims series, Cities: Skylines, Zoo Planet, and many more.
Another important factor to consider is the price of these games. In this era, PC games are almost entirely sold digitally. This makes the majority of the games sold on platforms like Steam and Epic Games Store much cheaper compared to console games.
As an example, the recently launched Wasteland 3 is sold at RM265 on PlayStation Store Malaysia. On Steam however, it’s only RM95.
If you’re a fan of collecting physical versions of games, then the PS5 and PS4 are without a doubt the better choices for you there.
PC gamers are also spoiled, in the sense that Epic Games Store still puts out free games every week while Steam has sales everyday. It’s extremely easy for PC gamers to get a lot of games, new and old, for under RM100.
As a person who owns both a gaming PC and a PS4, I wholeheartedly believe that a PC player will save more money when it comes to buying games.
Overall, I’ve managed to jot down all my opinions on this topic. There are still other aspects I didn’t include, but the three factors above should be enough for you to make a decision.
It’s true that getting a PC would add another big advantage in the fact that it can be used for work and miscellaneous activities, including editing photos and videos. But I just feel like that point would already have been clear to all of you, so I didn’t need to put any focus on it.
In conclusion, buy a PC if you’re able to and get a machine that can play video games smoothly while also being able to do much more than that.
But, if you only want to play video games and don’t really mind things like resolution, frame rate, and other details, then buy a console.
This article first appeared on MyGameOn in Bahasa Melayu.
