Call to all geeks out there: I'm facing the choice to either upgrade my aging PC or buy a PS4

"Anima" (anima) 01/23/2016 at 16:12 • Filed to: None

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I’ve build a gaming pc on a budget 3 or 4 years back (and upgraded the RAM and GPU 2 years back) and it’s really starting to show with some newer AAA games. I also play a lot of indies but most often those are not as resource intensive. So I face the dilemma of either upgrading my GPU and CPU and therefore my motherboard. Or spend that money on a PS4 and keep using the pc for the indie games.

The current pc specs are:

AMD A8 3850 2,9Ghz

Asus F1 A55-M motherboard

MSI Radeon r9 270x (piece of sh*t that only works on drivers from several years ago. Really, I’ve had nothing but trouble with this one. So I’d favour giving Nvidia a shot as a graphics card)

8GB Ram DDR3 1600

650w PS

Maximum budget would be around 450/500 dollars/euros. About the price of a ps4 and a couple of games.

The budget would be about the CPU, motherboard and GPU. Possibly upgrading the RAM and HDDs are not included in this budget.

As a found out on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! where I also posted this, take in account a 10-20% price difference for parts from the US to the Netherlands where I live.

TheHondaBro > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:15

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Xbox One.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > TheHondaBro 01/23/2016 at 16:16

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Dis

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:17

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hmmmm... As the owner of a PS4 I can say, you certainly have more CHOICE if you upgrade the PC, but the PS4 is a nice media device and a decent gaming device, as long as you can deal with the selection of games and limits of controllers (not all games support keyboard and mouse, even if the console does)... I still have my PS3, and frankly I use it more than the PS4 because of game selection... And its almost as good a media device... YMMV.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:18

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PS4 plus GTA5 and FO4

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:21

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Pc master race

Anima > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 01/23/2016 at 16:21

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Yeah, the game selection is a factor. Media device is a non issue as it would be hooked up to the same tv my pc is using as a second screen.

It’s tricky.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:21

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I would upgrade the CPU first, GPU second. See what you can get that will fit the socket. It would be worth it to try and troubleshoot the GPU driver issues. That card is decent.

Anima > Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] 01/23/2016 at 16:24

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The problem is that the FM1 socket is REALLY outdated. I don’t have an issue with changing the motherboard as those aren’t that expensive.

I’ve been trying to troubleshoot the driver issues for over 2 years. Trust me, it’s not happening. The card is a piece of crap. It works fine with the old drivers, but if the tiniest change happens, I’m spending the next 2 days troubleshooting and trying to get it to work again. I’ve spend way too much time doing that.

CPU is definitely the biggest bottleneck right now though.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:27

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Your CPU isn’t underpowered, I’d just upgrade the gpu, maybe get more ram.

Sweet Trav > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:36

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Hmm funny I have that exact r9 270 card and have had no issue

The truth is, that at 1080p that card will start to show its age at high settings with modern games. I prefer FPS games on PC and all others on XBONE but that’s mere preference. If you’re going to build a new of I would suggest Intel based I5 quad core, use the carry over video card for now and get an SSD. Or just buy an XBONE and play forza

Sweet Trav > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/23/2016 at 16:38

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All AMD CPU’s are under powered. Literally the worst.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:43

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Yikes, I’m just looking at it now. When I built my PC originally, AM3+ was the thing. Those APU chips really were a giant compromise. I would strongly recommend saving more monies (or upgrading in stages, starting with mobo/processor - I suggest a current or previous gen i5).

A fresh install of Windows may do wonders for overall performance, and maybe even misc driver issues. (and pick up an SSD if you don’t already have one).

Things like Source mods/Skyrim mods/etc mods/the entire RTS genre, and Steam sales are some of the key reasons why I choose to stay with the PC. (and I don’t have to pay for Xbox Live/PSN)

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:45

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BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Sweet Trav 01/23/2016 at 16:46

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For what he’s doing, it’s fine. He doesn’t need a $200+ processor.

Manny05x > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:48

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Pc.

scoob > Anima 01/23/2016 at 16:49

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I give up on Radeon cards. I have a shit archaic one, but still. My experiences with shit archaic Nvidia cards have been way better.

Recently I’ve been looking at GTX 500-600 cards.

Anima > Sweet Trav 01/23/2016 at 16:53

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You lucky sod. ;) From what I can tell from the (forced and extensive) research I’ve done to fix my problems, the card has about a million ways to go wrong for some reason. Everyone’s problem seems to be different.

But really the MSI card only works on drivers from 2012 or something that came on the cd with the card. ANYTHING newer ends up in a black screen after booting up.

I5 is the way I was thinking as well but as I splurge on a CPU might as well take the hit on a GPU too. I do really feel the CPU is the main bottleneck right now though.

I’m not a big FPS player and mostly tend to play indies but the appeal of playing, say, a Mad Max or a Just Cause 3 from my couch does sound nice.. But then again.. console FPS.. On the other hand: support/investment for the coming 5 or 6 years.

Sweet Trav > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/23/2016 at 16:55

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Buy a $90 AMD crap can now, it will be decent for 2 years, I have had the same i5-3570k for the last 4 years and it runs damned near anything just fine, AMD CPU’s are a giant waste of money.

Anima > Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] 01/23/2016 at 16:57

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Yeah, the game prices/sales (and other unmentionable ways to try out games before you buy them which I of course would never even dream of thinking about) on PC are a huge plus.

Last fresh windows install was 3 months ago. It helps a bit, but not much.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Sweet Trav 01/23/2016 at 16:57

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Yeah, but that’s double the price. Of course it’s going to be better.

Anima > Manny05x 01/23/2016 at 17:01

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Yes, Imagine this useful machine I have that will allow me to do 3d design, graphic design and use as a media centre, browse the web easily and provide, given a certain investment, a superior gaming experience as well!

I’m just kidding here. :) I absolutely get the appeal of consoles and have owned several of the past generations. It’s just what kind of needs one has and which fulfills that the most. For me the PC checks more boxes and seems like the logical choice. However, the buy once and be done for 5 or 6 years of a console is tempting as well.

TheOnelectronic > Anima 01/23/2016 at 17:03

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Do you know what’s limiting your performance? I find very few games are CPU-intensive. Most are GPU-limited.

I don’t know AMD chips well enough to know how good or not good that one is, but my course would be to upgrade the GPU. The RAM is probably sufficient for most things.

As someone who owns a PS4 that is incredibly dusty... there are a few exclusive games for it that are neat, but overall I almost never use it.

Anima > TheOnelectronic 01/23/2016 at 17:10

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As when I bought the CPU it was around 180 euros and the socket type is gone and forgotten, you can make up your own mind about how up to date it is ;). I do feel that is the one of the two (the other being the GPU) main bottlenecks. And let’s be frank, those are the main parts of a gaming pc in the end.

8gb is decent for gaming for sure. And upgrading in the future isn’t that hard or expensive.

That’s exactly what I fear about the ps4. I wouldn’t buy it for exclusives (safe for Silent Hills magically releasing) but just for couch gaming. Pc would still be my indie place to be.

Another point is game price/sales. Even 2nd hand PS4 games are still way more expensive than a pc game on sale..

Manny05x > Anima 01/23/2016 at 17:19

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I was contemplating getting a ps4 but I went with pc mainly because of steam they have sales all the time.

No Prius Needed > Anima 01/23/2016 at 23:16

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Upgrading the PC will cost much more than the $400 to buy a PS4. If you are going the PC route you will need a new CPU, mobo, and GFX card. I’d get an i5 4690k ($229), a Z97 ($150-?), and a GTX 960 or 970($190-350). I wouldn’t go for another AMD CPU or AMD anything. EVER. AMD is just awful. My i7 920 doesn't even bottleneck a GTX 970 FROM 2009! The PS4 is already kind of outdated and I personally hate the controller (they fixed the triggers but they break now). There also isn't a huge library of games on the PS4 and there is really only 1 racing game worth playing which is driveclub. I'd go with the PC.