Finally! So much BS above this I can't believe it. There's no such thing as "Future proof". I paid 1500$ for my PC in the fall of 2011 (I built it myself so it was maximised spec wise), I can really feel its age already. It's also why its so stupid to buy let's say a Titan card today, in 2 years a card that costs a 5th of a Titan will outperform it. Computer technology doubles its performance every 2 years (Moores law), this was already a fact in 1965.

None of this however means you can't build a good gaming PC for a decent price, you just wont be able to run the next big thing at Ultra in 1080p or above. You will run it better than any console though.

Yeah, technology moves so fast you can't. The wisest decision is to buy what's affordable to you now and play what's coming out now, then when you need an upgrade, get one.

while I do agree with you, my mate has my old pc q9550 and 5870 and is running battlefield 3 at high settings 1920 x 1080 so I guess what I am saying is that if you buy fairly high end at the time then your pc will last longer (still not future proof by any means but still a game capable machine)

I use my 42" tv for both my PC and PS3. Virtually all console ports support gamepads too. ex. PC hooked up via hdmi and I can play tomb raider with my Xbox or PS3 controller.

You don't need a monitor.

May aswell just get a PS4 then. PC Gaming is mainly for monitor games with mouse and keyboard, if you want to play gamepad games, then you mayaswell just go with the console version for the UI etc.

If you have a decent graphics card from the past 8 years it's going to have hdmi man lol. Anything a console has or can do a pc can also...with no restrictions. Use basically any controller, game on any settings, backwards compatible with the history of gaming and the list goes on.

Well the I5 is a darn good choice and will last you a long long time.

The next thing you should be looking at is the GPU. I would recommend you wait 3-4 months before deciding on the GPU. Since a new gen of GPUs is almost upon us.

I would pick something like a GTX 770 when its out, will perform very close to GTX 780 and be quite a bit cheaper.

Thanks for the advise im not in too much of a hurry ive bought the case a nzxt phantom 410 and the motherboard a msi g45 or something after hearing what you said ill leave the gpu till last.

an i5 is good enough for gaming as long as it is quad core

You do realize that the Titan is 3x more powerful than the PS4, right? Multiply that by 4 and you've got straight overkill. The PS4/720 will probably last around 7 years, and by then the next generation will be almost as powerful as 1 Titan, still the PC will be much more powerful. (they have to keep it affordable enough for consumers.)

That being said, I'll still buy a PS4 for exclusives, but I'll play every other game on my PC.

Trust me, I've grown up around tech, I know how fast it evolves. Though rate has slowed ever slow slightly. Anyways, 10 years was a maybe...perhaps a BIG maybe. 5 years is realistic, IMO. Yeah probably in 5 years time, 1 card will be as powerful as 4 titans, but the thing is, whether there will be any games to utilise ALL that power in the first place. And do away with the graphics card? Integrated solution only? Not anytime soon, I think.

We will have videocards as fast if not faster than Titan in the next 3-4 years.

Of course I am talking about mainstream flagship cards and not niche for the benchmark enthusiast.

The 3980x is part of the Intel Core Extreme range, Sandy Bridgh. The Haswell i7 range, being newer, uses a 22nm, compared to 32nm of Sandy Bridge, so it's more efficient.

Haha I agree. I was making a point that if you truly future PC, it IS possible. Whether the it is the right thing to do or not is a different issue. And the machine I was talking is based on one of Origin PC builds, and the final build retailed around $12k. So yes, you'd be pretty stupid to go for it.

'I usually build a new one ever other generation and give the old one away.'

Why don't you just upgrade the one you've got? What's the point in completely building another one when you can just upgrade a part here and there as the years go on?

Well there's always someone I know who needs a PC and my old PCs are way more powerful than what most people need.

But also there is a limit to how much you can upgrade. New sockets mean you can't just use your old motherboard. And once you need to upgrade the motherboard you might as well just build a new PC.

Are you serious? For one, most people already have a tv. Why would they buy a tv to get into console gaming? Most people don't have a monitor just laying around unless they are already into PC gaming but we are making the assumption that they aren't, so they'd need a monitor unless they want to connect their PC up to their TV which most won't because they want a dedicated monitor(s) for their gaming.

So, in that instance, a monitor is an extra that is needed. A tv is something you'd likely already have before buying a console to play games on because you can watch tv.

HDMI cables aren't standard with PCs either, so I don't know why you brought that up.

A controller comes with a console. Since multiplayer is mostly geared towards online now, a second controller is not likely to be necessary and is a choice. A keyboard and mouse are NOT a choice for PCs unless you don't want to actually USE the PC.

If you factor in the NECESSITIES of what you need for console gaming, and the NECESSITIES of what you need for PC gaming, the price of PC gaming will remain much higher than console gaming for a significant portion of time until the admittedly cheaper (only by $10 most of the time) PC games end up making the cost of console gaming more expensive. But we're talking a significant amount of time.

We'll say that person built a "mid-range" gaming PC for $600 and a different person bought a PS3 for $600 at launch.

PC gamer wants a decent sized monitor, we'll say 17" with an average cost of $150 (I know that sizes and prices are a variable, just bear with it). HDMI cable for $6. Keyboard for $10 and a mouse for $13 (gaming mouse, and all prices are from Amazon.com). And we'll say the most inexpensive version of Windows 7 which is $90. Also 1 game for $50 brand new.

Right off the bat the PC gamer paid $919 without taxes or delivery fees if everything were bought online. -$150 if the person intends to connect it to their tv for a price of $769.

PS3 gamer already has a tv because, you know, he watches tv. PS3 comes with a controller so he already has something to play the game with. It comes with the OS so he doesn't have to buy one. $6 HDMI cable and one $60 game brings the price up to $666 without taxes or delivery. Making a difference of.. Max. = $253, Min. = $103.

Assuming a buying habit of 1 game a month it would take the PS3 gamer 4 months to equal the max price of that PC and almost 2 months for the minimum price. And that's only if the PC gamer doesn't buy any games in that time period. Eventually if the buying habits remained true, the PC would overtake the PS3 in value, but it would still take time.

Keep in mind that these prices are if both individuals knew only the most basic things they needed to start gaming. Obviously there are deals everywhere for both sides to take advantage of but this is assuming that both individuals had exactly the same knowledge, which still gives the PC individual credit for being able to build a $600 gaming PC.

"Are you serious? For one, most people already have a tv."

Most people already have a monitor.

"Why would they buy a tv to get into console gaming?"

Again most people have a monitor...

"HDMI cables aren't standard with PCs either, so I don't know why you brought that up."

HDMI reference wasn't directed toward PC gaming...

"A controller comes with a console. Since multiplayer is mostly geared towards online now, a second controller is not likely to be necessary and is a choice. A keyboard and mouse are NOT a choice for PCs unless you don't want to actually USE the PC."

Most PC games are made for M+K by default, and again who DOESN'T already have a set?

"If you factor in the NECESSITIES of what you need for console gaming, and the NECESSITIES of what you need for PC gaming, the price of PC gaming will remain much higher than console gaming for a significant portion of time until the admittedly cheaper (only by $10 most of the time) PC games end up making the cost of console gaming more expensive. But we're talking a significant amount of time."

I don't think so...

"PC gamer wants a decent sized monitor, we'll say 17" with an average cost of $150 (I know that sizes and prices are a variable, just bear with it). HDMI cable for $6. Keyboard for $10 and a mouse for $13 (gaming mouse, and all prices are from Amazon.com). And we'll say the most inexpensive version of Windows 7 which is $90. Also 1 game for $50 brand new.

Right off the bat the PC gamer paid $919 without taxes or delivery fees if everything were bought online. -$150 if the person intends to connect it to their tv for a price of $769.

PS3 gamer already has a tv because, you know, he watches tv. PS3 comes with a controller so he already has something to play the game with. It comes with the OS so he doesn't have to buy one. $6 HDMI cable and one $60 game brings the price up to $666 without taxes or delivery. Making a difference of.. Max. = $253, Min. = $103."

I paid around $1000 for my TV BECAUSE I want to play my $400 console purchase on a very nice HDTV otherwise I would been stuck with my dumpster TV, and I don't watch TV, I only watch YouTube but that is just me. I paid roughly $1400 for my gaming setup excluding the additional controllers and an HDMI cable (which these cables were more expensive back then). Plus I paid $60 game after game for my $400 console. On PC I could have easily paid 700 for my system (including the OS, M+K, but excluding a monitor) 40 and under for a game that is originally 60 on console, and a $150 monitor...and still be under a 1000 budget as opposed to my 1400 TV+PS3 setup. But I chose the console route because I simply don't like to game on a PC. I like my consoles for the games made specifically for console, say jRPGs. PC has tons of exclusives, but I am just not interested in most of them because RTS, Simulators, MMORPGs, etc. are not my kind of games. I want my platformers and jRPGs. Nontheless I paid more for my choice of gaming platform than I would have with PC.

"Most people already have a monitor."

You're trying to tell me that, all things considered equal and two individuals are both starting to get into gaming on these platforms at the same time with the same knowledge, that the chances of a person having a monitor is equal to the chances of someone having a tv? Because if that's what you're saying then that's pretty delusional.

"HDMI reference wasn't directed toward PC gaming..."

Irrelevant. HMDI cables or their equivalent would still be necessary to gain the necessary picture quality on a PC monitor.

"Most PC games are made for M+K by default, and again who DOESN'T already have a set?"

What's your point? Most console games are made for controllers by default and they come with the console, KB+M doesn't come with a PC, you have to buy one separate. And your "who doesn't have a set" example is the same as your monitor one, it doesn't hold up.

"I don't think so..."

Math doesn't lie.

As for your last paragraph your changing the argument. If we're talking about the best experience then a $700 PC won't cut it. But we're not talking about that. We're talking about what all the PC elitists claim anyone can build with $500 to $700. We're talking about equal knowledge and equal funds. You're talking like someone with experience when that point isn't being discussed. Anyone with experience can find all kinds of deals and loopholes to shift prices in their favour, but people with only the most basic of knowledge just looking to get into something right away won't have that kind of experience.

Your $1000 tv can be matched with a $1000 Titan graphics card or 3 monitors, etc... PC will always have a higher initial cost to get into than consoles will. Always.

These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse

Its like the final episode of the Sapranos. You gonna go to make a comment and when you click add th-

Timezone thing maybe.... RIP