re: Best Looking Next Gen Game

quote:

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I wonder if a $500 PC could be configured to perform as reliably and as well as a PS5.

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This silly debate happens every time a new console generation is released. In the first few years of the console cycle (usually about eight years or so), the answer is nearly always "no, you can't build a comparable PC from scratch for that price." Which should make sense to anyone, as the combination of economies of scale combined with the consoles themselves not being the money maker (games and services are) put it in a completely different position than a DIY home PC.

Once we get a few years into a cycle, yeah, it can usually be done, especially if you bring forward "non-compute" components, like your case, PSU, etc, instead of building completely from scratch. In the last few years of a console cycle, a similarly priced PC will usually trounce the consoles.

But with all of that said, I'm not sure if any of that is relevant within the context of "which looks better", because the answer is PC, even at the beginning of a console cycle; it just costs a lot more. Near the end of the console cycle, PC has generally advanced so far beyond the visual capabilities of the consoles that it's silly to even compare them.

Though as we are approaching a point of diminishing returns in regards to graphics, I'm curious if that doesn't hold as true as it has, historically.