Again define 'gaming PC' if you're looking at pre-builts or used PCs of course your findings are going to be sub-par for that money. I'm mainly writing about building a PC from scratch which these days even for a total beginner isn't that impossible Benchmark videos by the way are one of the ways I've looked at components to buy in the past.
caveat: As long as you stick to Windows from personal experience lol :P
I shouldn't have to explain this but buying a console, plugging it in, and playing a game is obviously a lower bar of entry than buying a bunch of parts and doing your own build. Apples to apples, we have to compare prebuilt PCs to consoles for that reason.
This is an example of Special Pleading. You want to arrange the scenario in such a way that your argument makes sense, but that's not how the world works. Mom and dad go to the store and buy and Xbox for their kids, not a CPU, RAM, Motherboard, GPU, Case, fans, etc. etc.
I can completely agree with the user friendliness aspect, there is that, I do maintain though that overall the learning curve for building a PC isn't that high these days and provides better value for money overall. As an example I often confuse the hell out of normies because I don't even have a television in the house and it's because I can do anything I want on my PC.
I have a friend who builds PCs for a living, and he had one guy pay him $5k and said go nuts. He built the best thing he could imagine, got it all together, and the damn thing wouldn't boot. Took him weeks of messing around to get it figured out (obscure voltage requirements for the GPU and MB drivers). This wasn't some noob either we're talking an experienced pro who does this all the time.
In my experience building PCs there's always some damn thing that gets fucked up. The last build I did took at least two days of tinkering to get it all running properly. Then one of the fans crapped out immediately and I had to spend another weekend taking it all apart and replacing it. That wasn't too bad when I was a single guy but now with a family and three kids there's just no way that's happening. I'm dreading the day this thing finally quits for good but I'll probably pay for a pre-built machine rather than dick around with it myself.
Meanwhile the wife appreciates having a slick PS5 she can jump on and play Diablo or Sandrock and not have to mess with anything.
Again define 'gaming PC' if you're looking at pre-builts or used PCs of course your findings are going to be sub-par for that money. I'm mainly writing about building a PC from scratch which these days even for a total beginner isn't that impossible Benchmark videos by the way are one of the ways I've looked at components to buy in the past.
caveat: As long as you stick to Windows from personal experience lol :P
I shouldn't have to explain this but buying a console, plugging it in, and playing a game is obviously a lower bar of entry than buying a bunch of parts and doing your own build. Apples to apples, we have to compare prebuilt PCs to consoles for that reason.
This is an example of Special Pleading. You want to arrange the scenario in such a way that your argument makes sense, but that's not how the world works. Mom and dad go to the store and buy and Xbox for their kids, not a CPU, RAM, Motherboard, GPU, Case, fans, etc. etc.
I can completely agree with the user friendliness aspect, there is that, I do maintain though that overall the learning curve for building a PC isn't that high these days and provides better value for money overall. As an example I often confuse the hell out of normies because I don't even have a television in the house and it's because I can do anything I want on my PC.
I have a friend who builds PCs for a living, and he had one guy pay him $5k and said go nuts. He built the best thing he could imagine, got it all together, and the damn thing wouldn't boot. Took him weeks of messing around to get it figured out (obscure voltage requirements for the GPU and MB drivers). This wasn't some noob either we're talking an experienced pro who does this all the time.
In my experience building PCs there's always some damn thing that gets fucked up. The last build I did took at least two days of tinkering to get it all running properly. Then one of the fans crapped out immediately and I had to spend another weekend taking it all apart and replacing it. That wasn't too bad when I was a single guy but now with a family and three kids there's just no way that's happening. I'm dreading the day this thing finally quits for good but I'll probably pay for a pre-built machine rather than dick around with it myself.
Meanwhile the wife appreciates having a slick PS5 she can jump on and play Diablo or Sandrock and not have to mess with anything.