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Please, master: what’s PC gaming like these days on a cheap(-ish) computer? - by SUPER BAD ADVICE

15/11/2018

19 Comments

 
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Guest Article by Super Bad Advice
​
​Right, let’s get the contentious issue out of the way first: I’ve always been a console gamer at heart. My first ever games machine was an Atari 2600 – the one with a bit of wood stuck on, no less, which I’m sure my 7-year-old self reallyappreciated (you know, young kids and their love of teak veneer and all that). 
 
And – aside from a brief diversion for the ZX Spectrum and an Amiga (sorry, Biffo) – I’ve stuck with consoles ever since. In fact, I last properly dipped my beak into all things PC about 20 years ago, when I managed to get Tomb Raider 2 running on a horrible beige Pentium 75 tower I had at university.
 
So obviously, I’m the ideal person to do an article about PC gaming!
 
Why the console preference? Well I’m dead lazy, so I like the lack of platform faff with no driver updates, setting tweaks and security updates for one thing. I’m also a big right-on hippy and like the fact that on console, everyone gets the same experience (and yes, that’s slightlyless true these days what with the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro – but only a teeny bit).
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PADDING
​On a more controversial note, I much prefer joypads as a control ‘medium’ too.
 
Yes, I know mouse control is very accurate and FPS enthusiasts swear by it, but keyboards? Keyboards as game controllers is just someone taking a thing that was handy and using it to do a thing they needed done, and it’s now the norm through familiarity even though as soon as you think about it, you realise it is this: well stupid.
 
If they were really such great input devices, the centre console of an F-22 fighter jet would be an Olivetti typewriter.
 
On a personal level I also don’t ‘get’ dedicated PC gaming hardware: it’s mostly still a hideous ‘1980s nightclub’ colour scheme of black plastic with garish red highlights. Throw in rainbow LED light-up keyboards & logos, viewing windows and other nonsense and most gaming rigs look like they’re designed to appeal to either the worst sort of clichéd nerd stereotype, or kaleidoscope enthusiasts. 
 
As a representation of modern gaming? Frankly, it’s embarrassing.

But my main love of consoles comes from the fact I can plonk down my money, safe in the knowledge that in most cases the hardware will be good for every single game on that format for a solid 4 or 5 years with no further outlay (i.e., I’m a tightwad).
 
Even in the rare instances where it isn’t true, such as the Dreamcast or Wii U, 9 times out of 10 if you hang onto your hardware for a decade or so you can sell it on to a daft retro gaming enthusiast at a vastly inflated price! It’s win–win!
 
For PC gaming, even the biggest PC platform enthusiast would have to agree that the quality of your experience ultimately still comes down to cash (and a lot of it), and that towards the top end – like with new cars – the moment you buy a new PC gaming setup it’s already depreciating at eye-watering speed.
 
A few years on, and the 4-figure high-end kit you splurged on is probably worth less than half what you paid. And sure, consoles come down in price too – but the starting point is a hell of a lot lower as well.
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WHY DO I EXIST?
​So if I feel this way, why dis article exist, guv? 
 
Thing is, not long ago I started to get more interested in PC gaming on the basis I had recently picked up a Windows laptop to use for work. So as I had it anyway, where was the harm in seeing what it could do? 
 
(Don’t get me wrong – I’ve owned a computer for years and I’m not some luddite who’s previously been banging out articles on an Amstrad E-m@iler plus. I just couldn’t game on it because it’s a Mac, so woefully underserved in that capacity.)
 
The laptop I now own is by no means a gaming rig, but it isn’t something chronically anaemic like the feeble netbooks of yesteryear either. So do my old prejudices still hold true? Well after 6 months or so, this is what I reckon.
 
The one thing that has vastly improved from yesteryear (yet in another way, has got worse – I’ll get on to that in a minute) is getting games in the first place and getting them running well.
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STEAMER
​Thanks to services like Steam, Battle.net and EA Origin, as well as better hardware autodetection in games themselves, it’s a lot easier to access a lot of titles and get them optimised for your PC without wasting hours twiddling with sliders and performance options to eke out a few more frames per second.
 
But also: it’s worse, because there are a lot of these services all bellowing for attention, and on some (Steam – I absolutely mean Steam) discovering the good stuff is a nightmare because the interface is woeful. Steam’s storefront is akin to a library where all the staff are blind drunk, and they’ve organised the books by spinning round until they’re sick and then kicking them up random shelves.
 
You also have to tolerate updates to the launch platforms as well as the games (an extra layer of downloadery), and they tend to sneak in everywhere and start leaving their ‘dirt’ (icons, shortcuts, auto-startup clients and notifications) all over your desktop too, like a guilty dog with the runs bum-scooting across a rug.
 
That’s all background shenanigans though – what are the actual games like?
 
Here, I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised. You can get a massive array of really good and often fairly recent games at sometimes stupidly cheap prices, and – for the most part – they look pretty decent. The indie selection is also far and away wider and newer than even well-served consoles like the Switch.
 
Granted, you won’t get the benefit of all the graphical bells and whistles in AAA games you’d see with super high-end systems, if they run at all, but the gap between a £500 laptop and a £2500 gaming desktop is much closer these days.
 
For example, my laptop has a midrange processor from 2017 and integrated (i.e. fairly rubbish) graphics rather than a dedicated chip, but can still put out a level of detail I’d consider more than acceptable AND move it about without it being so slow it looks like a powerpoint presentation. 
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VERY FLASHY
​As you might expect I only really struggled with very new and/or very flashy games: I got the PC version of Destiny 2 running, for example, but it was only at console-level refresh rates and horribly grainy PS2-era graphics quality.
 
Something a bit less demanding though, and it was no problem. Mass Effect: Andromeda looked great and ran really well. (Which, ironically, was a bit of a shame as it really allowed the dire gameplay and lousy script to ooze through.) 
 
So am I a convert of sorts? I think so – I wasn’t bothered about PC gaming at all a year or so ago, but now I’m keen to get a minor upgrade just so I can enjoy games at a bit higher resolution. There are also a fair few games I meant to pick up on console I never got round to that are so stupid cheap on PC, it’d be rude not to.
 
In short: what I assumed I could get to run, how much bother it would be, and how good it would look turned out to be well short of reality.
 
At the same time though, there’s no way I’d ditch my PS4 simply because I still want to be able to play the newest games too, and I think that’s the balance: PCs are undeniably the best if you want the absolute cutting edge of graphics quality. The newest games on the newest PC gaming systems blow consoles away, no argument. But that still comes with a huge price tag.
 
And that’s the strength of consoles – that middle ground. Access to the same brand new games a high-end PC can run (and that a mid-range one maybe can’t), but at a vastly reduced asking price with only a small hit to quality. Until broadband-reliant stream-o-game services like NVidia’s GeForce NOW really take off, I can’t see that changing.
 
I still think high-end PC gaming is, realistically, off limits for most because of its astonishing cost and comparatively short hardware lifespan. But a midrange PC will last you years and not cost a lot. Couple that with a console, and that’s the real best of all worlds – and probably still cheaper than one of those awful LED light-up monstrosities to boot.
 
19 Comments
Gaming Mill link
15/11/2018 09:58:52 am

I converted to being a PC gamer quite a few years ago. I think my last console of note was a PS2 (or it might have been a Dreamcast - I can't remember right now). Granted, to be a high-end PC gamer does take a a bit of hit in the pocket but it's the upgradeability that really swung me to that route. Also, getting a big load of cash from blackmail and theft also helped.

(The last sentence was in jest, just to clarify).

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Balaska
17/11/2018 06:33:42 am

I can absolutely confirm that Gaming Mill is not in any way blackmailing me because we did some thefts together, promise.

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CdrJameson
15/11/2018 12:15:38 pm

You can get a game-capable desktop PC for very little money, particularly if you've got some of the bits already.
My monitor cost £10 in 2007 (from a company liquidation) and is going strong. The case, fans etc. are the same vintage.
My 'recent' graphics card is an nVidia GTX 750, that will set you back about £30 now. The motherboard/RAM/CPU were bought in 2014 for about £300 and it still Overwatches and Fortnites with the best of 'em. Certainly beats the crap out of my far more recent laptop. The only running expense is doubling the size of the hard drive every time it fills up with the hundreds of ridicuously cheap games I don't nearly have time to play.

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David W
15/11/2018 01:38:40 pm

I rarely use my PC for gaming, but can suggest the next step for those who have been pleasantly surprised by what Intel integrated graphics can do.

You have got a SSD, right? If not, then that's the most cost-effective way to revitalise any old PC. Not really a gaming upgrade, but you'll understand when there's no longer time to make a cup of tea while it boots up.

If you have a desktop a few years old, with integrated graphics, then consider adding a GT 1030 graphics card. You can get a tiny, power-sipping fanless version for around £70, and it's twice as good as even the newest Intel integrated graphics. I bought one mainly to soothes my PS2 emulation woes, but it's also transformed games from borderline playable to pleasantly smooth and detailed.

The catch is, there are two models of the GT 1030, because it wouldn't be PC gaming without needless technical pitfalls. Make sure you get the DDR5 version, because the DDR4 offers half the performance for the same price. Economics, eh?

If you don't have a desktop, and are thinking of dipping your toes into mid-range PC gaming, then AMD are now a worthy alternative to Intel. For £90, the Ryzen 2200G features integrated graphics in the GT 1030 league, and the processor will be good enough to support a mid-range graphics card when you inevitably feel the need to upgrade. I seriously considered this before settling on the GT 1030.

Needless technical pitfalls? Make sure you buy two sticks of memory, rather than one. Actually, research the whole memory topic first, because you'll either be enticed by the many tinkering opportunities, or decide that you can't be bothered with such faff and stick to consoles.

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RideableLlama
15/11/2018 03:32:08 pm

I built my current desktop in 2011, it was probably mid-to-high spec at the time. Must have come in at around the £800 mark as I was still able to benefit from the 15% VAT rate. Only felt the need to upgrade the graphics card and double the RAM last year (probably £250 total) and I don't plan to upgrade again for maybe another 5 years providing my venerable i7 2600k keeps trucking. Given the cheaper games too, the price difference between PC and console is negligible, especially as console manufacturers gouge you silly on peripherals and online stuff. I swore I'd never buy another console after the 360's red ring & £60 wireless adapter debacle.

PC gaming has changed vastly since the bad old days where you had to upgrade every 6 months - the rate of change has become pretty slow if you don't care about being on the bleeding fps edge of VR or 4K tech.

I do agree there are some really hideous PC cases out there that look like they've been designed by an idiot child, but the beauty of PC is that you can make it how YOU want it to look. I'd recommend the clean lines of Corsair's cases, I still love my white 600t.

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kamikazemelon
15/11/2018 05:31:53 pm

Very true that the days of constant hardware upgrades have subsided if you don't care about the MAXIMUM GRAPHICS 4K RES. That i7 2600k is a true gem and still competitive despite its age. I'm sure you'll get at least a few more years out of it. I was on an i7-860 and GTX 670 until last year, but that rig is still totally competent so I gave it to a friend who was interested. It's really a great time if you're interested in smaller games or older titles that might have passed you by. The cutting edge is fun to be on, but really the meat of the experience is the ability to boot up anything from the past thirty years if you want.

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RideableLlama
16/11/2018 10:47:03 pm

Ah yes I should've mentioned I'm not overly fussed on the newest AAA titles due to their size - my appalling internet connection means they take days to download. So yes I'm mostly into emulation, indie stuff on Steam and games that are a few years old, it all kind of works out!

kamikazemelon
15/11/2018 05:20:12 pm

I've been a PC gamer basically my whole life, and the last console I owned was the Gamecube. I can see the points here, and the caveats involved with PC gaming still apply with regards to troubleshooting both hardware and software, but as another commenter said it's never been a better time to get a decent rig. Hell, before last year my build was about eight years old, but still managed high/ultra on new games at 1080p. I only upgraded because I wanted to, not because I needed to.

This is all aside from the fact that backwards compatibility on PC is a given, unless it's truly an ancient title. If you missed something iconic, or just want to see what the fuss was about, it's so easy and usually cheap to get your hands on any game you want. Not to mention having a powerful home computer is useful for plenty of things other than gaming. Even low powered stuff like this laptop in the article can manage plenty of gems in the PC world with the countless indie games around that use 2D or cheap 3D.
I understand the attraction to simplicity that consoles allow, but as they get more complicated themselves you have to deal with things like updates and downloads and all of that, just like PC gamers do. Interesting times, and if it really tickled your fancy as others have said you can plop a budget GPU into basically any desktop computer and have something capable.
What a time to be alive.

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Bren-Fu
15/11/2018 06:10:12 pm

Having a console and mid-range PC is the most economical way of having best of both worlds. High end PC gaming is prohibitively expensive for the average gamer. I can't see myself ever spending £500 on just a graphics card. You could buy a used PC that's maybe 2 years old for that money and immediately have a huge selection of cheap games available that look as good as consoles.

I spent €1000 on a good mid-range PC, six years ago, and still use it to play modern games today. I've spent maybe €100 more on it over the years adding RAM and upgrading the graphics card. Even now, I prefer to play some cross-platform games like Sea of Thieves on my 6 year old PC than my Xbox One - happy to lose a little graphical detail in favour of a silky smooth frame rate and mouse controls.

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Marro
15/11/2018 10:49:20 pm

That's my set up too. Although I almost always play AAA games on the Xbox One and I use the PC to play smaller games on Steam like Invisible Inc.
The only reason I might want to play high end games on PC is I've heard the multiplayer community is more mature and not just a bunch of spotty kids high on Monster Relentless and Ritalin who all need to be sent up chimneys for sniping me on Battlefield 1...

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ChorltonWheelie
15/11/2018 06:25:19 pm

"I’m also a big right-on hippy and like the fact that on console, everyone gets the same experience" I think that's the daftest defence of console gaming I've ever heard anywhere.

If you want freedom and a truly scalable option open to all you need to be looking at a PC mate. Consoles are super controlled, even more so than Apple.

You speakin' for da Man.

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Super Bad Advice
15/11/2018 07:21:18 pm

Given the frequency variation in a single model range from a single manufacturer, and how that can affect what it can handle, this is clearly a hatful of wrongulence, dear.

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Super Bad Advice
15/11/2018 07:22:24 pm

As wrong as me writing frequency when I meant frequent, in fact...

Geebs
16/11/2018 09:58:07 am

I’ve just put built my first PC with a i5 9600K and a (second hand) GTX 1080 for just over a grand:

1) it’s much quieter than a modern console
2) it makes games look very pretty
3) games are usually at least a tenner cheaper than on the consoles
4) that’s only the cost of two Xbox Wunnixes
5) building a PC really is just making Lego these days
6) ship of Theseus effect means I should be able to keep upgrading it piecemeal at least until we all get brain jacks forcibly installed by Facebook and desktop PCs stop being a thing

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Pete Davison link
16/11/2018 11:11:44 am

I'm torn. In some respects I very much like PC gaming -- particularly the "open" nature of it, giving developers and publishers considerably more freedom to put out exactly what they want to put out without interference from platform holders. With Sony's recent bumfuckery over Japanese PlayStation 4 games and visual novels, this is becoming a particularly relevant concern for me.

On the other hand, as a collector of video games, PC gaming's lack of physical editions is something I find myself struggling to engage with. I don't value a digital game in the same way as something I have on my game shelves -- something I can admire the packaging of as well as put in a disc drive or cartridge slot to play the game itself. There's something pleasant about the physicality of actually having to "put a game in" to play it.

These two considerations often find themselves in direct conflict with one another, though there are ways around it -- DRM-free games can be burned to a disc or flash device and archived physically that way, for example, and I've done this for a number of titles I want to make sure I don't "lose". For Steam-only titles, this can be a bit of an issue, however, depending on how "baked-in" the Steam support of any given game actually is.

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kamikazemelon
17/11/2018 01:39:45 am

Yeah, I get that. And I definitely wouldn't tell anyone that cracking Steam DRM to back up "copies" at least for singleplayer games is as easy as a couple readily available .dlls in the right place.

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Dung Beetle
17/11/2018 07:37:51 pm

Steam has a very handy “backup and restore” feature that I’ve been using for a few years now. I’ve almost filled a 2tb portable hard drive with Steam games using their backup system. It works surprisingly well too, much better than manually copying files to back them up and you can make as many copies as you want.

Mark M
20/11/2018 01:37:20 pm

PS4 Pro for exclusives and PC for the rest in my case. Just can't beat that juicy PC framerate goodness. :)

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Bilstar
20/11/2018 08:53:22 pm

I got into pc gaming a while ago and I think that last paragraph there perfectly sums up how I do my gaming. It gives you a lot of choice.

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