Hang on, I think I have a cookie for you!

Windows 10 key $5 ... buying VLK keys on ebay is piracy and illegal

At around $300, this seem like a really good PC for mid to lower tier gaming.

By the way, based on the comments, why does it seem like the usual suspects have so many problems with this article?

Does the person who wrote the article think they've walked on water or something or solved nxt level rocket propulsion?

No pics that contrast the size to a real life object. The only reason I clicked the link. I kinda wanna build a tiny emulation box.

Why purposely limit your build to the budget of a console? May as well buy a car with no wheels.

that's cute.

This is such a weak article. No pictures of the actual build/building proces, No performance metrics, and barely a discussion on the difference between this desktop and a console device.

Where is keyboard and mouse? When you buy a console you get s controller.
Where is Blu-ray drive? Both PS4 and xbox have optical drive
Where is hdmi cable and headset?

Poop

If you want a gaming PC that can outperform a base PS4 or Xbox One. Then buying a second hand Dell optiplex system with a 4th gen i5 and throw in a 5500 xt inside it or a second hand gtx 1060.

Or if you want all modern tech. Something like this: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com... better than PS4 and PS4 Pro and Xbox One and Xbox One X at 1080p for £402. Plus it's all upgradable so if you want to buy in a better CPU inside and a better GPU or add more RAM you can to compete with a XB SX or a PS5.

@iammason
I don't see Half Life Alyx coming to PS4 🧐'' Isn't that a VR game? ''Enjoy paying to play online 😊'' but then people like you beg for PS exclusives to be on pc lmao

I've been thinking of doing the same, but just for high end emulators.

A good graphics card costs about as much as a console. A great graphics cards costs as much or more than both high-end consoles.

Ya I got the Ps pro or 200$$ last year.(craigslist angry girlfriend) and an xbone x for 205 thanks to kohls weird black Friday deals,so 400$ and some change, and both destroy my alienware alpha r2 (unless I spring for the external gpu dock and a gpu go put in the dock

This seems like a cool little project but the grey market $5 Windows 10 key seems sketchy.

Yeah that's nice but you still get better performance from a console at that price point

That's an htpc, not a gaming pc. This is a good budget gaming pc https://pcpartpicker.com/li...

its not really the same thing. Consoles often customize the cpu/gpu/soc for maximum efficiency and performance. They can do this b/c the console is a closed system that really only has 1 or 2 main functions: run games and run media. The configuration will never change in its lifetime so they can squeeze out power down to the metal. that means more performance in console hardware when using the exact same chip and price point. Thats also why DX11 didn't really affect xbox performance. It was already achieving those efficiencies. A PC you build is non-customized, off the shelf components that have to maintain maximum compatibility with a variety of other components and configurations - you lose efficiencies here to maintain compatibility. You can make up for it with better, faster hardware, but now youre getting into more money. That brings me to my next point:

Consoles can sell hardware at a cheaper price b/c of supply chain deals from component manufacturers that are set up long before the console is even built. RAM is cheaper if you're buying millions of dollars of it at a time, vs the marked up retail price this guy here paid. The console gets your more for your money. Again the advantage of a PC is just always upgrading to better hardware but thats also why a superior gaming pc costs way more than a good console. Its also probably important to factor in that console hardware usually loses money the first couple years of production. This is ok b/c they make up the difference in software and services. PCs don't have this additional discount mechanism.

long story short: its useless to compare the performance of a gaming pc built at the same price point of a console.

What cost the most when building a gaming pc? I'm not familiar with PC gaming.

I will always appreciate a self build PC, but to call this a gaming pc with it only having a APU......I personally would have gone with a slightly bigger case and a low profile graphics card

Wow, this hasnt never been done before....

I don't think this can be really classified as a "gaming" PC... the GPU is significantly less powerful than a base Xbox One. A used RX 570 (about 80 bucks) would get it in the area of a PS4 Pro at least.

Ok, and?

This PC won't play most new games beyond medium settings at best. I'm all for PC gaming, but lets be real. If you're starting from scratch, and you want a PC that will be capable of 1440p or 4k, you're spending around $2000.00. Lets stop with the nonsense already.

So none of the advantages of a console or a good PC. Cool?

That's a pleb machine, not a gaming one. For anyone that wants to build their first PC, that is a real gaming machine for newbs to PC gaming, then this is the build I recommend for good price/per ratio for 1080P:

Ryzen 3600 non X $180
MSI B450 Pro-VDH MAX motherboard $80
16 GB FlareX F4-320014D-16GFX Ram $120
Samsung 500GB 970 EVO Nvme M2 SSD $88
CORSAIR CX-M Series CX650M 650W 80 PLUS $80
AMD RX570 video card $120
Cooler Master MasterBox MB600L ATX Mid-Tower computer case $50
Microsoft Windows 10 Home - Full Retail Version (USB Flash Drive) $140
MX518 gaming mouse $55

Total = $913

You will have to get some of the parts from Newegg and some of them from Amazon. I did not include a monitor because all modern TV's have HDMI ports and I use a TV as my monitor and it works well. I did not pick a keyboard because any generic crap $5 to $20 keyboard that's USB will work. FInally, I picked the RX570 video card because although it is a bit dated, it still plays all games well at 1080P from my experience as that is what I use. I have not found one game I could not play. Do not fall for the crap where people tell you that you need some uber $300 to $1000, newest released video cards to play games. That's hogwash. Finally, I did not pick a DVD or Blu-ray drive because that's a dead technology on PC now. If you really want one then I would buy a USB powered external one.

Although, it's a bit pricey starting out, the only things that will need upgrading in about 3.5 years will be the video card. Everything else will last a while for performance. Don't believe all that crap where people tell you you need to upgrade other components every 1 to 2 years. You don't. The power supply and computer case and SSD are all staying the same for pretty much to the time you get tired of your PC and want a total new build. The AMD 3600 CPU will last 6-8 years as it's mostly the video card that determines your gaming performance, and games on PC use 4 cores mostly and this is a 6 core CPU with 12 threads. If you want 8 cores, then the 3700X is good option, but will raise the price a bit more.

Holy crap! Thats really low end pc. No chance.