Cheap gaming PC in Japan or PS4

[Moidave]

Hi,

To satisfy my work and gaming needs, I am currently contemplating two options:

1. Really cheap PC for office work + PS4 for gaming
2. Budget gaming PC for 500-600$

Looking online, I stumbled upon this guide:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-budget-gaming...

As for the games I intend on playing, they are mostly offline RPGs, adventure games such asthe upcoming "dragon age", "witcher 3", Far Cry 4 and the next elder scroll, whenever it will come out.
I mostly want to play newer games and I intend on playing on a regular 1080p monitor.

Living in Japan, I could probably find all the components on the list online for 10-20% more than in the US.

Should I make this kind of PC, how long will it run toe-to-toe with the PS4?

Although I really miss the mods and benefits of PC playing and know the PC is a superior gaming device, I am also budget conscious and does not want to spend several hundred dollars every other year to keep my PC running new games.

Any opinions?

Thanks!

 

[nsafreak]

That's a pretty tight budget. But you can build a pretty decent gaming PC, although you might go over a bit if there really is a 20% markup on parts in japan. What would help most would be if you could post some online shops (that have english storefronts) to have us put together a PC for you along with your budget in the local currency. Going on a purely 10 - 20% markup here's what I've come up with:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.78 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($150.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($94.99 @ B&H)
Total: $619.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-29 19:53 EDT-0400

I've gone $20 over unfortunately as is but I suppose bits could be shaved here & there. Insofar as the experience goes I would say that it'll run the games you listed just fine. For the more CPU dependent titles you might have to turn down the detail levels a bit but they should still run fine. Insofar as to how much you might have to pay every other year to update it I doubt it'll be as much as $700. If possible I'd see if you can save up a bit more so that an i5 could be fit into your budget, if that can be done you'll likely be good for a long while on the CPU front and in all likelihood will just have to update the GPU in a few years and that update may cost you as little as $200 to $250.

edit: One other factor that you should take into account when deciding if you would prefer to build a PC or purchase a PS4 is the total cost of ownership over time of either platform. With a PS4 you have the one time investment, however if you purchase all of your games new you're looking at about $50 - $60 per game, used I think they're typically $30 - $40, possibly more or less depending on the title and most of the time you'll pay for any DLC that you might want. There are many PC games that on release are $30 - $40 (some unfortunately are in the $50 - $60 range) and if Steam is in Japan (honestly not sure if they are or not) then you have the Steam sales where you can get recently released games dirt cheap, along with other digital distribution. Not to mention that there are many games where there is additional content provided at no charge either by the publisher and/or the community. So while the initial cost for the PC will likely be higher the cost over time will likely be lower.

 

[Moidave]

Nsafreak, thanks for your detailed answer.

Basically by going to:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/In-English/b?ie=UTF8&node=1094656

I can see the articles in English with prices in yen. In Yen, my budget would be 70,000¥ (Roughly 600$)

Also, I already have a license for windows, and a DVD burner.

Looking at 5 year ownership, I agree it would make more sense to get the PC given that games are cheaper. Using a VPN, I can use the USA version of steam and get the same discounts.

I guess my biggest worry is if the PC will be able to keep up with new games and still have a good visual quality in 5-7 years.

With the configuration you gave me, if I want to upgrade my graphic card in a few years, would I also need to replace the CPU?

I will try to make a budget simulation based on the original cost, possible hardware update and the games.

 

[nsafreak]

With my above configuration if you update the GPU yes you will likely need to update the GPU since it's likely that the CPU that's in the current configuration won't be able to feed the new GPU fast enough. However since you already have a Windows license & a DVD burner that frees up a bit of the budget allowing it to be upgraded to an i5 4440.

That CPU should be able to feed the currently configured GPU just fine and whichever GPU you get in the next 5 years. Running it through the Amazon Japan site went way over budget but I think that may be because I couldn't find the same parts all the time in the list and for whatever reason the site would not stay in english so it wasn't easy to navigate.

 

[mfenn]

A $600 PC that you build today will struggle with new games 3 years from now, and will definitely need a GPU upgrade at that point. The CPU will probably be good for longer than that, but it's notoriously difficult to predict the future. Certainly all the parts (except case, ODD, and HDD) will be outdated in 5 years and need pretty much a full system overhaul.

With and i5 4460 and the R9 280, I went over by about ¥10k.

Core i5 4460 ¥22,980
ASUS H97 Plus ¥8,054
Elixir DDR3 1600 8GB ¥9,090
Sapphire R9 280 3GB ¥21,598
WD Blue 1TB ¥6,263
Corsair CX500 ¥5,896
Cooler Master Elite 342 ¥6,590
Total: ¥79,571

If you swap the CPU to the Core i3 4150 for ¥13,980 as in the original build, you'll be just a hair over ¥70k.

 

[Moidave]

Thanks! I found similar results looking at various website. I guess that is the least money I need to get a solid gaming PC.

If I buy 1 game a months for 5 years: 3,000$ for ps4 vs 2,400$ for PC.
With the difference alone, I could redo another same budget PC in 5 years.

Factoring in that I always need a PC, for office and document work. Getting a PC seems a sound investment.

Still, for some reason, I dread the feeling of waiting for a brand new a game and not being able to have fun with it just because the hardware is obsolete...

 

[Moidave]

How about the G3258? Would it be future-proof enough if overclocked? It would save me 10,000¥.

 

[nsafreak]

A G3258 would be ok for now, but as much as 5 years down the road? I very much doubt it.

 

[PliotronX]

Comes down to your style of play. If you like the mouse and keyboard at all, go with the gaming PC. Otherwise a cheap laptop and PS4 is a good mix. Cheap laptops are cheaper than any self built PC and also allow flexibility of sitting at a desk or chilling on a comfy chair.

 

[escrow4]

Comes down to your style of play. If you like the mouse and keyboard at all, go with the gaming PC. Otherwise a cheap laptop and PS4 is a good mix. Cheap laptops are cheaper than any self built PC and also allow flexibility of sitting at a desk or chilling on a comfy chair.

Cheap laptops also have horrifically slow 5400RPM HDD's, poor quality 1366x768 screens and may be running IVB or older CPUs. I'd up the budget to an even $1K and do both gaming and office work on a PC that will last longer.

 

[Moidave]

To be honest, the most attractive part of the gaming PC is the community support, mods, and versatility. Also, the thrill of trying to optimize it best.

 

[Moidave]

I have been able to find some pretty interesting combos:

Core i5-4460 BOX + GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H For 280$ for instance

As if haven't built a PC on my own for a few years, I will try to order everything from the same store and have them put it together if possible.

 

[PliotronX]

Cheap laptops also have horrifically slow 5400RPM HDD's, poor quality 1366x768 screens and may be running IVB or older CPUs. I'd up the budget to an even $1K and do both gaming and office work on a PC that will last longer.

Eh, cheapos do fine with office work. You can have a monitor at a desk for serious work and throw an SSD in if desired.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Cheap laptops also have horrifically slow 5400RPM HDD's, poor quality 1366x768 screens and may be running IVB or older CPUs.

If you're lucky. Most entry-level laptops these days are Bay Trail.

 

[PliotronX]

If you're lucky. Most entry-level laptops these days are Bay Trail.

Ah yeah, forgot the neutered notebooks are unusually neutered compared to previous generations. Still, i3 laptops can be had for much less than building a desktop. It hasnt been for a while that one can build a cheaper computer than prebuilt.

 

[escrow4]

I have been able to find some pretty interesting combos:

Core i5-4460 BOX + GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H For 280$ for instance

As if haven't built a PC on my own for a few years, I will try to order everything from the same store and have them put it together if possible.

You don't need a locked i5 with a Z97 board unless you'll actually use the extra slots/ports of Z97. That said, that is an excellent mobo, well built and stuffed with tech.

 

[Moidave]

I am still not sure about the CPU and mobo but the site offers them at a set for a pretty decent discount. I will look more into it.

What would you say is a good value i5 for some over clocking and possibly crossfire in a few years?

 

[mfenn]

I am still not sure about the CPU and mobo but the site offers them at a set for a pretty decent discount. I will look more into it.

What would you say is a good value i5 for some over clocking and possibly crossfire in a few years?

The only i5 that you can overclock to any real degree is the i5 4690K, so that limits your options somewhat. In my opinion, the differences between the Haswell i5's are small enough such that you should get whichever one costs you the least (that combo is good) so that you can allocate as much money to the GPU as possible.

 

[Moidave]

Here is a pre-made tower based on an i5:

http://www.pc-koubou.jp/goods/-1003724.html

The page is in japanese but by scrolling down you can see the description.

For about 500$ it seems pretty decent. I could then add the sapphire R9 280 with boost and OC for about 200$.

 

[Moidave]

I realized that the tower would be too crowded for a full graphic card and the PSU (unnamed 500W) would need to be changed. But in any case, thanks to all for helping make up my mind. My dilemma has been solved.