Gaming PC, XBox 1 PS4 Is It Possible?

UnderPressure

Morning All

With the release of the xbox one and ps4 fast approaching along with the also fast approaching xmas time my 10 year old has moved up a shift into super mithering mode!

As expected he wants the jolly guy in the red suit to upgrade his xbox 360 to either the xbox one or a ps4, as a parent whoc is already fed up of sony and microsofts less than fair shenanigans and someone who knows a little bit about technology I am planning on trying to persuade him into a gaming PC rather than another one of these "never ending pinching out of your wallet consoles".

My question.............

Is it possible to build a gaming PC to the same spec or higher of the xbox one or ps4 for the same amount of cash? It would need to run all of the latest and greatest games that will be released for said new consoles.

Also am I right in thinking that any game released on the xbox one or ps4 (apart from the exclusive ones) will also be released onto PC with the same graphics etc?

Thanks in advance


EDIT:

Should add the gaming PC I am capable of building myself so the main costs would be for components, I will also be kind to him and not include the cost of Windows 8.

ifstar

You'll probably pay somewhere like £100-200 more than a console but games will be cheaper and it will perform better.

It will depend on what all his friends have got though. If they all have either of the consoles then he will be less impressed.

UnderPressure

Yeah I have kind of already discussed it with him and explained that he will not have the playground bragging bit, but on the other hand he may be able to educate his friends a little doubtful though most 10+ year olds already know everything anyway!

He loves the idea of being able to use it to go online and surf the internet, he already has a Nexus 7 tablet for this but it will be so much different on his own PC! He can also have MS Office on it for his homework etc so in theory he likes the idea already, so is there no way he could connect via say EA servers to some of his friends playing say Fifa 14 , him on a PC and them on say an Xbox 1? Do they all have to have the same hardware?

Cisco001

No.
With £400, you won't able to build a proper gaming PC

UnderPressure

Cisco001 wrote: »

No.
With £400, you won't able to build a proper gaming PC

Thanks for taking the time to reply I appreciate it

I am open minded to spending a little more, just looking on Novatech now they have some great barebones i3's for £250ish maybe an i5 would be better.

I am going to hav to get the full specs of both consoles and have a good look around for components, I can talk him into it and I am sure in 12-18 months he will be very happy he went the PC route.

Any other input appreciated, or any recommendations for components especially processors and graphics cards

Thanks in advance.

Mankysteve

They sell new consoles at a loss or break even. You'll never match it in spec and price.

Personally I've found second handware a cheap way to upgrade.

UnderPressure

Mankysteve wrote: »

They sell new consoles at a loss or break even. You'll never match it in spec and price.

Personally I've found second handware a cheap way to upgrade.

Thanks for your reply Yes second hand sounds like a good idea, inside a brand new case why not, looking at Novatech I think I may be able to put something just as good if not better together for around 500 quid (ish), I will keep an eye on the old fleabay.

wba31

UnderPressure wrote: »

so is there no way he could connect via say EA servers to some of his friends playing say Fifa 14 , him on a PC and them on say an Xbox 1? Do they all have to have the same hardware?

this is an interesting question (that I cannot answer), but I heard a rumour that with the PS4 and Xbox One, gamers can play each other online regardless of which system they are using? This would be new as PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers couldnt play online together.
If the rumour is true (which ive seen nothing confirming if it is or isnt) then why couldnt PC gamers be involved with that..?

Not sure what "unfair shenanigans" you refer to from Microsoft and Sony, but it's not like they push out a new console every 3 years, these are the first new consoles in a good number of years...

Lum

It really does depend on the games he wants to play.

Some get PC versions right away, some get PC versions much later (e.g. GTA4 or Fez), some get PC versions that are really badly ported over (e.g. Dark Souls) some never get PC versions (e.g. Red Dead Redemption).

A lot of the issues with games that have been badly ported can be fixed by plugging in an XBox controller.

The positive side is that often the games are fixed or improved upon by fans, and new content is available. For example I'd never want to play an Elder Scrolls game on a console.

There's always more hassle getting a PC game to work compared to just sticking in the disc and job done, but this is nowhere near what it used to be, but bear in mind I'm writing this as someone who has been PC gaming since the days of DOS and Windows 3.1.

Also bear in mind that while it's simple enough to build a cheapish gaming PC right now that will run 90% of games on the market, with the new consoles coming out, the hardware requirements for all those console ports is going to go up soon.

Personally I'm all for gaming on the PC, but a lot of this is because I ruined my thumbs with the SNES controller in the early 90s. Consoles do have the advantage of simplicity and being more likely to work first time.

And no, very few games allow multiplayer play between PC and console. Usually one side is at a distinct advantage when this happens.

bluenoseam

Cisco001 wrote: »

No.
With £400, you won't able to build a proper gaming PC

You will be able to build a gaming PC for £400, it just won't be playing many of the more recent games!

Personally I'd lean towards PC, but we're not talking about me, we're talking about a pre-teen with the issues that presents as opposed to a near 30 year old. The consoles might sound like the "expensive" option, but they're also designed with the wider range in mind, controlling PC games is often what puts people off & with a 10 year old that might prove to be major.

But for a "decent" machine that can at worst match PS4/XB1 you're looking at spending probably closer to a minimum of £600 even without the cost of an OS & peripherals.

UnderPressure

Thanks for the replies guys, some great points there for me to chew over

I have just put something together for just under 500 quid without taking too much time to research things, what do you think of this it seems it would have an excellent benchmark and run any of the latest and greatest games now and for the immediate future:

Bare Bones Deal

Nice Graphics card

2 TB SATA HDD to begin with might add an SSD at some stage

Around 500 quid for the lot, the children get an xmas budget of £500 each this would of course use it all however I am happy to say the final cost for his budget will be £300 as an extra £200 now will soon be re-cooped via cheaper games etc.

What do you think?

EDIT

OOPS forgot blu-ray drive