I'm just buying a machine built to my spec. The shop charges 50EUR for assembly and one year system warranty. AFAIK their own configurations are priced the exact same (component price + 50EUR), only the components for them are picked and stocked for higher availability.
(I realize the first thing that comes to mind is that cost must be hidden in the components, but this vendor's component prices are very competetive in our market. Sometimes even the best. They are extremely gaming and enthusiast oriented.)
I did a google for custom pc builders, priced out a gaming PC with an E8200 and a 3850 at one vendor and hit $830. I think it's pretty clear there is another vendor out there that does $30 better than first random google result.
Have you actually tried to find a local vendor who builds to order from a wide range of components, and asked what they charge? I think you might be positively surprised if you do.
My son still thinks it is crap. Again, he has invested a lot more and obvious has a bias for anything less. Anyhow, most of his gaming now is via his XBox. In particular, when his buddies come over and bring their own paddles; which is most of the time and which you can't (multi-player) on the PC.
Now that he is also working, he is beginning to realize that time is money. Spending time setting up and maintaining his PC is taking away from his playing time. He hasn't had to reset, reload, re…whatever or call for support to some computer geek for his XBox. And if his pc does go down, it seems it is always when the 'local vendor' is closed or gone out of business. And when you do find a replacement, it is always, "I wouldn't have used that, or that, or…it's crap."
XBox vs (any) PC: fantastic graphics, significantly cheaper, easier to operate, more fun with his buddies, more time to play and more money to spend on beer.
XBox vs (any) PC: fantastic graphics, significantly cheaper, easier to operate, more fun with his buddies, more time to play and more money to spend on beer.
As general remarks those are biased.
PC's have more graphics horsepower than consoles. That has been the case almost constantly in the past.
Initial cost is significantly higher on a PC - assuming one doesn't use it for anything else than gaming, which I think is rare. But over a certain timeframe, the console will catch up a lot due to higher prices on games, controllers (I have a console too, and I have spent more on controllers than the console itself) and in the case of the XBox, the constant cost for the network play. It all adds up. Of course, if a person doesn't buy many games, never plays on a network, and doesn't invest heavily in controllers, the console will retain the initial price advantage.
Being easier to use and freeing time (a little or a lot, depending on your skill) are legit upsides of a console. So is shared-screen multiplayer. PC, on the other hand, continues to be ahead on network multiplayer. This is also reflected in the game genres that are strongest on each - arcade games are a good fit for shared-screen, and they are well represented on consoles, while the PC has a lot of strategy gaming and FPS which work well in network multiplayer.
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I'm just buying a machine built to my spec. The shop charges 50EUR for assembly and one year system warranty. AFAIK their own configurations are priced the exact same (component price + 50EUR), only the components for them are picked and stocked for higher availability.
(I realize the first thing that comes to mind is that cost must be hidden in the components, but this vendor's component prices are very competetive in our market. Sometimes even the best. They are extremely gaming and enthusiast oriented.)
I did a google for custom pc builders, priced out a gaming PC with an E8200 and a 3850 at one vendor and hit $830. I think it's pretty clear there is another vendor out there that does $30 better than first random google result.
Have you actually tried to find a local vendor who builds to order from a wide range of components, and asked what they charge? I think you might be positively surprised if you do.
My son still thinks it is crap. Again, he has invested a lot more and obvious has a bias for anything less. Anyhow, most of his gaming now is via his XBox. In particular, when his buddies come over and bring their own paddles; which is most of the time and which you can't (multi-player) on the PC.
Now that he is also working, he is beginning to realize that time is money. Spending time setting up and maintaining his PC is taking away from his playing time. He hasn't had to reset, reload, re…whatever or call for support to some computer geek for his XBox. And if his pc does go down, it seems it is always when the 'local vendor' is closed or gone out of business. And when you do find a replacement, it is always, "I wouldn't have used that, or that, or…it's crap."
XBox vs (any) PC: fantastic graphics, significantly cheaper, easier to operate, more fun with his buddies, more time to play and more money to spend on beer.
XBox vs (any) PC: fantastic graphics, significantly cheaper, easier to operate, more fun with his buddies, more time to play and more money to spend on beer.
As general remarks those are biased.
PC's have more graphics horsepower than consoles. That has been the case almost constantly in the past.
Initial cost is significantly higher on a PC - assuming one doesn't use it for anything else than gaming, which I think is rare. But over a certain timeframe, the console will catch up a lot due to higher prices on games, controllers (I have a console too, and I have spent more on controllers than the console itself) and in the case of the XBox, the constant cost for the network play. It all adds up. Of course, if a person doesn't buy many games, never plays on a network, and doesn't invest heavily in controllers, the console will retain the initial price advantage.
Being easier to use and freeing time (a little or a lot, depending on your skill) are legit upsides of a console. So is shared-screen multiplayer. PC, on the other hand, continues to be ahead on network multiplayer. This is also reflected in the game genres that are strongest on each - arcade games are a good fit for shared-screen, and they are well represented on consoles, while the PC has a lot of strategy gaming and FPS which work well in network multiplayer.