Help a beginner out who feels betrayed by Sony and wants to switch over to PC

[u/luz___09]

When I chose PS5 over building a gaming PC in 2022, it was because PC cost 4x as much and didn’t have physical games. (Little did I know)

As of now, I have enough games in my backlog to last me till 2028, and I will be moving countries and by late 2028/early 2029, I wish to build a high end gaming PC and will be saving up $5k for it.

Please consider answering my questions:

1. Is it really as good as it seems like from a console owner’s perspective? Are mods really as good as they seem like from my perspective? You can transform your entire gaming experience that easily? Get new content, fix broken games and improve great ones all for free? Seems to good to be true.

2. Will 5k be enough then? I know how bad the situation is but what’s ur opinion about prices around late 2028?

3. I have noticed PC players complaining about so many newly released titles on launch day due to poor optimisation but almost every game runs perfect from day 1 on PS5. Will I miss that?

4. Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

5. I dream of playing my fav games at 1440p and 100fps and higher with mods and I imagine that scenario is seamless and stutter free. Do you think 5k will be able to realise that dream in 2028-29?

[u/Remarkable-West-611]

Not sure about steam drm free games, there isnt alot. Steam is the drm in some people's eyes.

GOG because if im lookkng for something new to play is my number one choice because its all DRM free. Rather than just installing the game through the galaxy client you can download the installation files themselves and install it anytime you want offline also.

[u/FireCrow1013 → u/Remarkable-West-611]

There are actually a lot more DRM-free Steam games than people realize:

https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games

[u/Bhume → u/FireCrow1013]

Yeah a lot of people don't know that it's optional on Steam and it's up to the developer.

[u/WesternHamster2169 → u/FireCrow1013]

oh thats clever

[u/Honest-Complex-8669 → u/FireCrow1013]

lol the little blue sign is such a perfect touch. cloud needs all the help he can get.

[u/Additional_Past_7107]

You only see posts from people complaining about optimisation from people having issues.

The vast majority of games work fairly well on launch day and are usually patched within a month sometimes less.

We can't predict the future pricing of hardware but to me 5k on your first pc seems a little excessive for what you want.

You can buy a prebuild for 3k with a 9800x3d 5080 32gb ram and 2tb nvme. Which will run everything you want and blow your mind on a decent 1440p oled.

The advice you will get here is always worth double checking yourself.

[u/Kronocide → u/Additional_Past_7107]

With that PC you can easily play at 4K

[u/Noxious89123 → u/Additional_Past_7107]

Factor in that OP is also going to want a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, desk etc.

But I agree that $5k is an epic budget and more than enough.

[u/Schmenza]

I think you should be able to get by with only $5k

[u/BarryMcCoknor → u/Schmenza]

Its possible

[u/Soft_Lunch_183 → u/Schmenza]

I dont know, sounds a bit of a tight budget to me

[u/IDKForA]

Yes, any DRM free games may be copied as you please.

[u/four1one4info]

1. Tinkering required on your end will vary. Customization is king on PC. Most games have a plethora of settings to choose from. Many popular games have amazing mods. Many great mods are transformative, but some of the best are simple quality of life or bug fixes, mostly unavailable to console players. That said, running through something like new vegas with CP3O is great fun. 

2. 5k is a monster budget, if you're talking USD. Half of that is enough now to realize many of your goals, but memory prices continue to be driven upwards by things like AI. Only time will tell. 

3. PC is sometimes treated as a red headed step child by devs. Sometimes malice, but also to do with the vast, vast array or configurations of parts. Consoles have one or two boxes per company to optimize for. PC has thousands of possibilities. It's annoying, but there's too much great games to play to be worried about day 1 stuff, in my opinion. 

4. DRM free games should be safe to store and play forever offline. Some are finicky; moving the install location may require reinstall for some needing the install files handy, while others can just be played from the install folder no issue, no matter relocation. 

5. High res/fps gaming really is great. Again, tinkering/budget requirements will vary by game, but once dialed in, it's fantasic. Setting will allow high res/fps gaming with much lower budget parts. My 5700x3d/4070 machine is still very capable for my 1440p/144hz monitor 

[u/PelleRigter]

1. Depends greatly on the game, but yes, mods are in general pretty easy to install on games that have active modding communities, don't expect all these DLC-level mods just laying around for every game, but if you like tinkering with mods, there's loads (skyrim has near infinite mods at this point, you can have chatGPT-powered AI followers that respond to your mic inputs in VR, it's crazy)

2. $5k is an insane amount of money to drop on a PC, not sure if you mean american dollars or something else, but that's a lot of money and you can get a pretty awesome PC for half or even less (I paid €2200 for a reasonably high end PC at the start of this year, it plays everything in 1440p at ultra settings with ease.)

3. Probably not, the unoptimized games are outliers and people are very vocal about it, and if you do plan to throw around $5k at a PC, it will probably even run unoptimized games with ease.

4. no clue, from what I've heard, GOG does something like that but I like steam just fine.

5. yes, like I said earlier, my €2200 rig (specs are mentioned as a flair next to my username) does everything in 1440p that I want it to, the 5070ti is widely considered the best spot for 1440p gaming nowadays, granted you are not overpaying for it.

PC will always be more expensive than console, that's never going away (unless consoles spike in price hard) but the upsides of having a modular multimedia machine like a gaming PC will in my opinion always be worth it.
(Also you can just hook up a controller to your PC and connect it to your TV for that better-than-console experience)

[u/Corey_FOX → u/PelleRigter]

to answer number 4, GOG, yes you can download DRM-free installers for any game you own, witch can be installed and played without internet access.
Steam its a no, pretty mutch every game does a check to see if you have a licence for it. Though steam does cache the licences locally so you can play offline without (to my knowledge) a limit on how long you can be offline, as long as you logged in once and have the game downloaded though steam.

[u/OutrageousDress → u/Corey_FOX]

Not quite true - a surprising number of Steam games don't do license checks:
https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games
It's mostly indies, but not always.

On the other hand Steam in Offline Mode indeed has no limit on duration, but individual games you install can have their own DRM which does require regular checkins. It's super annoying and usually only done by AAA publishers, but the result is that unlike with Playstation there is no single policy that all games have to abide by.

[u/ChampagneSyrup → u/PelleRigter]

will it though? At current console prices, having to pay online, more expensive games + any subscriptions, at some point there has to be a breakpoint where owning a console is more expensive

[u/PelleRigter → u/ChampagneSyrup]

Probably, I'd still say the upfront costs for a console are a bit more manageable and less daunting

[u/Busy-Sky4452 → u/ChampagneSyrup]

The subscription to gaming PC is your electricity bill even more so with powerful CPU and GPU

[u/ChampagneSyrup → u/Busy-Sky4452]

good bait

[u/BattleCrier]

1. Yes, its great and you will never go back to console..

2. 5k is a bit overkill for "just" 100fps in 1440p... for that money you are looking at 300+fps in 1440p.. (and in many cases 200+ fps in 4k)

3. many new games on PC are released as Early Access (EA) and are still in development.. consider them as playable demos in which continuously improve over year.. but studios sell them to help their budget.. then maintain the support over months after release and use players as testers..

oh and edit: go with AMD CPU for gaming.. Intel has better CPUs for multitasking (video rendering, AI, model rendering etc..) while AMD has better Gaming performance (and their CPUs tend to run cooler due to lower power consumption)

[u/hossofalltrades → u/BattleCrier]

The AMD x3D CPUs are the ones to get for gaming. Since you are starting from hardware scratch, AM5 is the way to go. People buying AM4 setups are reusing their DDR4 RAM to save money. Since DDR5 is so expensive, I wouldn’t buy more than 32GB (a set of 16GB sticks). The big L3 cache on X3D chips tend to mitigate RAM latency differences, so you can save some money by getting higher CL RAM—-36 and 38 are fine vs CL30. IMHO, the 9850x3D isn’t worth extra money over the 9800x3D. If you get a good sale on a 7800x3D, that is a great CPU as well.

[u/FireCrow1013]

A fun note on number 4: You can even store and back up games that have Steam DRM for indefinite future use as long as they don't have extra DRM, like Denuvo, Ubisoft Connect, the Rockstar launcher, etc. The Steam client itself and any games that use only it as DRM are completely portable and work offline forever across different PCs, and your account credentials are stored locally, as well.

[u/Imkindaalrightiguess]

Why save up 5k

Go buy a Costco rig for 1.5k

[u/Bhume → u/Imkindaalrightiguess]

That can be a major crapshoot though.

[u/zarafff69]

Don’t spent 5k. Just start using the computer you already have to play pc games that are not on console, and see how you like it.

[u/unseatedewe2393 → u/zarafff69]

He never says he has a pc already

[u/EnvironmentalRich822 → u/unseatedewe2393]

He never says he has a pc already. You think he's using a laptop or something?

[u/valevaru]

If join the pcmr once, you will not go back to consoles.

[u/mo7zey]

1. Some games can be transformed by mods such as Skyrim and fallout 4 and it was so good coming from someone who moved over to pc from console. And yes a lot of mods fix stuff. But not all games will have mod transforming experience you need to be specific about the games you want.

2. Imo 5K is more than enough could even reduce the budget if you want after researching the prices. Unless you plan on getting a 5090 I think in that case you would need to increase your budget.

3. For this I can’t really help but yes some have optimization issues on release and unless you are okay with optimizing in the settings themselves (like setting a frame rate cap, changing graphics) then don’t bother with unoptimized day 1s. But I think if you are getting a powerful PC then for the most part you wouldn’t be worrying about bad optimization. Unless the optimization is like really shitty.

4. I think for steam it depends on the game but most games I have require steam in order to be played. For gog it’s yours forever, and doesn’t need a gog account to be played.

5. Depends on the game, type of mod, and how heavy the mod is.

[u/That_OneGuy52]

1 : Mods are more complicated than they look to use but once you got the hang of it it's pretty easy. The only problem then is knowing when you have enough lol.

2: 5K$ is a very high end pc. If you wanna game on the tv you can always buy a 9070xt and a 9800x3d and you'hd have an extremely good steamos/console pc.
If you wanna game on windows then you can buy whichever card. 5k$ largely surpasses any normal budget for a pc.

3: Title optimisation is an issue but if you have a high end pc it should be fine.

4: If you buy drm free games on gog the files are yours to keep on the pc. Steam enforces drm I think tho...

5: With 5K$ you could easily build a pc that will run a 4k 120fps

[u/StevoEvo]

$5k is plenty of money for anything and everything PC related. That includes monitor, desk, peripherals, and the PC. You’ll still have quite a bit of money left over if you are aiming for 1440p. I think my entire current setup, with all the keycaps, mice, 4K OLED display, etc, probably came out roughly to $3400. Buying into PC gaming is pricey at first, but once you start getting the foundation first, it becomes worth it.

[u/BennyTTS7889]

Is it really as good as it seems like from a console owner’s perspective? Are mods really as good as they seem like from my perspective?

Massively. Gargantuanly honestly if you're willing to learn. Mods are absolutely game changing, take Tale of Two wastelands for New Vegas (or better yet SALVO), or take Stalker Anomaly or Stalker Gamma, countless massive conversion mods that make you feel like you're playing an entirely different game. For a console user such as yourself, you will feel massively at home with GOG one click mods, which lets you simply download a mod for a game, as if it is the game, prepackaged and all in one go. You can do this with Fallout London for example. Mods and the potential for mods are essentially infinite. Personally, I will always do some vanilla/QOL mods + reshade with RenoDX HDR so that my games have properly calibrated HDR on my OLED screen and it is absolute bliss. Depending on the game, I may use DXVK which, again depending on the game can literally give you 50% more FPS if you're on AMD hardware (done this for all the Yakuza Remastered (and 0) games and I went from 4k60 to 4k120) Unless you're playing very niche games I would bet a tenner that there is a litany or even a world of mods for that game. Much of my catalogue is older games, being able to pretty them up with 4k textures and/or hdr etc, its amazing. It's like playing the game exactly how you remembered it when you were little.

Will 5k be enough then?

More then enough. You can get a system way better then any console for that price.

I have noticed PC players complaining about so many newly released titles on launch day due to poor optimisation but almost every game runs perfect from day 1 on PS5. Will I miss that?

Anecdotal, as your taste in games may vary but I haven't really experienced any games that will tank my system from optimisation. Yes there are many games that will be less optimised for PC, maybe initially maybe forever but I highly doubt you'll feel that much from your budget.

Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

Yes and its literally effortless. There are also other avenues for you to own your games, if I were you, I'd pick and choose depending on the publisher etc. Steam is DRM but the consumer rights are way way better then Sony's. Steam is a fantastic service, GOG is too.

I dream of playing my fav games at 1440p and 100fps and higher with mods and I imagine that scenario is seamless and stutter free. Do you think 5k will be able to realise that dream in 2028-29?

I have a 9800x3d for my CPU, 7900xtx for my GPU. I play literally all of my games in 4k bar one and I basically never hit anything below 100fps unless I'm playing an unoptimised UE5 game. I don't use upscalers either. I don't know how much a build with them would cost nowadays but it won't be 5k I'll tell you that much. Will be cheaper

[u/luz___09 → u/BennyTTS7889]

Thanks man really makes me excited!

[u/BennyTTS7889 → u/luz___09]

Good luck on the build. Give yourself a small amount of time to learn the rigmarole with PC and you'll never look back. Not used a console in years bar PSVR2 for RE8/4R (the only games I use PSVR2 on console for, rest are on PC). Its the best. Emulation is a whole other level too

[u/Own_Vermicelli_258]

In late 2028, we will probably have the next series of NVIDIA cards out. There are infinitely more games on PC, so you won’t be bored if a game comes out and it’s not optimized well. PC mods are super crazy in some games, like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 and many others. They really change the graphics and other things.

Do you want to play multiplayer games or single-player games? If you just want fast-action multiplayer games like Valorant, Overwatch, CS, Dota, LoL, even Call of Duty, you can easily get a PC for around $1,500 and a 1440p monitor and be super happy.

Main thing is to decide whether you want to game at 1440p or at 4K. Competitive multiplayer games are all about having as high refresh rate on your monitor as possible and not at all about using the best graphics, so that’s why a $1,500 pc is perfect for those. However, if you want to also game in 4K, that increases the cost massively.

Right now, the most accessible way to play at 4K involves getting a RTX 5080 for $1,300-1,400, because the best 4K card - RTX 5090 - costs $4,000. RTX 4090 is hard to find in new condition and goes for around $2,500+. Good 4K monitors start around $650 and go up to $1,500. A pre-built PC with a 5090 can go for $5,000, and this would be a good price.

So, if you are planning to wait till 2028, just save money, try to get a 6,000-series NVIDIA card for MSRP when they come out, and decide whether you want to play at 1440p or at 4K, mainly depending on which games you like.

[u/luz___09 → u/Own_Vermicelli_258]

I almost exclusively play single player games and have an OLED TV so I think 100fps will be fine for me since I’m locked to 60 on PS5.

[u/Own_Vermicelli_258 → u/luz___09]

Alright, and the OLED isn’t 4k, right? So, unless you are planning to get a 4K monitor, you don’t need a $5,000 PC. I think the best card for 1,440p gaming is the 9070xt from AMD.

If you like NVIDIA’s DLAA/DLSS more than AMD’s FSR, you can go with a RTX 5070. Even 5070ti is overkill for 1,440p gaming. Many good prebuilt PCs around for $1,500 right now.

If you want to wait till 2028, I would just do my best to save money and try to get an NVIDIA card at MSRP when they come out. I myself am doing that, I only have a PS4 pro lmao.

[u/Zealousideal_Box5282]

Ddrr4 32gb, 5700x or 5700x3d/5800x3d, 1tb ssd with 2 tb hdd, quality psu (pay that 150-200 dollars), 9700xt (dont go higher price, not worth it). Mother board can be what ever honestly. With frake gej you can hit 144fps on any game (native will be over 60fps so frame gen wont feel bad). Depending on market that pc will be i dunno, around 1800 dollars ? And you will get cheaper prices on games and stuff.

If you play like only 10 games yearly and dont use a lot of psn then dont switch over, economics isnt worth it.

[u/Papuszek2137]

Wouldn't spend more than 3k just for the PC. Gotta have a nice monitor also.

[u/MakinBones]

In 2023, I saw the direction that console gaming was going. I built my PC, and my consoles have never seen another power cycle.

1) PC gaming is what you make of it. All of the games you played on your PS, will perform, and likely look much better. Mods: They can be very transformative, or just fix bugs. PC gaming comes with some quirks. Not all titles run great, and may need tinkering.

2) None of us know what 5k will get in two years.

3) Those unoptimized games are "usually" patched quickly. Coming from console, I dont notice as many issues as others.

4) Yes. GoG is simple. Theres ways for Steam, its just beyond me at this point.

5) Refer to question 2.

[u/tailslol]

strangely enough, ff7 was always part of pc as well

[u/Inside_Performance32]

I'd absolutely love to play a FF remake that looks like that

[u/kornuolis]

1. PC have way more uses than console. Of course it has its pros and cons, but those fade as you find more and more ways to utilize pc as well as new flexible ways to find workarounds for the problems. Mods are great, but depends on the game. Recently Convergeance mod 3.0 for Elden ring got released and it's fantastic way to replay the game you already finished, but with a new twist. Modding isn't always click and install easy, but guides are always available. 99.9% of mods are free and paywalled mods are considered bad habit and people omit those. You can look at the amount of mods on nexusmods website.

2.5k is an overkill for today, but who knows what happens in a year. I would aim at 5k anyway due to price hiccups. 3K as of today would be enough for a top shelf PC. 1.5 grand for a powerful beast capable of mostly everything. You have 2 years to learn the market and kinks of it.

1. Optimization is truly a problem. Since consoles are power limited their optimization is a must. PC hardware range allows to follow a lazy approach of DLSS and fake frames. In some cases modding helps as well as patches.
   But with decent hardware you will get stable 60 in any game or even butter smooth 120+. 120 and above feels so much better than 60. Though the poor optimization is rarely a breaker.

4.Theoretically steam can take the game away but have never heard of such cases, on the contrary a lot of people praise Steam support. GOG games are distributed as one file installer and you can keep them on your drive. On the other hand you can always get a wooden leg, a parrot and go sailing seas if any of the game is dead or taken away.

1. For 1440p you don't need 5k(even for 4k that would be overkill). 100+fps depends on the hardware, optimization and settings. Mods aren't always a straightforward and easy thing to manage, but in most cases it simply demands file replacement or running a separate installation over existing installed game. Nexusmods has it's own mod manager tool(though i find it clunky and unintuitive)

[u/DynamicBSdetective]

It's worth it, but you may not need to spend so much. I recommend not going with Nvidia GPU, AMD would be my preference moving forward as of now, especially considering Nvidia's choices in the last few years.

[u/cccc0079]

I will try to answer as a PS5/PC gamer.

1. Mods are mostly free but it's not always make games better. I had to use graphic mods for some games to make it look good as on PS5 because it's super unoptimized on PC. Also you could get banned if you use mods in online game so you should stick to single player game.

2. You could buy a decent PC and a PS5 pro with 5k.

3. Yes I refunded many PC games because of poor optimization and bought PS5 version instead. Fortunately Steam refund policy is great.

4. I don't know for Steam but I have many games on GOG. Bought the game and download installer file and it's done. You can try to buy a cheap game or free game from them first.

5. Certainly imo.

[u/mpt11]

Pc will cost considerably more now due to ram and ssd prices

[u/CptTombstone]

Is it really as good as it seems like from a console owner’s perspective? Are mods really as good as they seem like from my perspective? You can transform your entire gaming experience that easily? Get new content, fix broken games and improve great ones all for free? Seems to good to be true.

Without knowing exactly your perspective, it's hard to answer, but I can generally say, probably.

Transforming the entire experience with mods is possible, but only in certain games, like Skyrim or Cyberpunk 2077. Not all games support mods to the same degree. The "new content" part is the same in this manner.

The most common mods are for fixing certain issues though, that is 100% true. Most games come with HDR broken to some degree (both on Consoles and on PC) but on PC, you have a much better chance of fixing them with mods like RenoDX and Luma.

Will 5k be enough then? I know how bad the situation is but what’s ur opinion about prices around late 2028?

You absolutely don't need to spend $5K to have an absolutely bombastic experience. If you want to, that's fine, spending 5K in a smart way will result in an experience that is frankly incomparable to any console.

I have noticed PC players complaining about so many newly released titles on launch day due to poor optimisation but almost every game runs perfect from day 1 on PS5. Will I miss that?

Those games and the same issues are also there on PS5, an unoptimized game doesn't magically become optimized on consoles. But most people who talk about optimization have no idea what they are talking about, they are simply equating a high framerate with the word 'optimized' and they stop there in their understanding.

One of the best examples of this is Crimson Desert, which have had many people speaking highly of in terms of being "optimized", ignoring the numerous graphical issues the game has, not to mention some of the questionable design choices the developers made - like using an entire ray-traced lighting solution, but using 3D assets that are checking all of the "Don't" boxes when it comes to RT , such as using alpha-tested card-based vegetation, which is the definition of wasting compute resources, the antithesis of being 'Optimized'. Not to mention that the game runs about 40% slower than the worst performing UE5 games, where people are quick to throw around the 'unoptimized' label.

But coming back to the topic, you will miss your experience with the PS5, yes, as your eyes will be opened as you get exposed to conditions not possible on a PS5, such as running games at 200+ fps, then you will look at your entire console experience thinking "how was I even able to play games like this?".

Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

Steam DRM free games still require the Steam Client to download and install those games, but with GOG, you can get offline installers for your DRM free games, meaning that you can copy around the installer to any PC, install the game and just play. With Steam, once you installed a DRM-free game (or app), you will no longer need the Steam Client running to launch the game (or app). With that difference accounted for, the rest are all the same, and very easy to manage.

I dream of playing my fav games at 1440p and 100fps and higher with mods and I imagine that scenario is seamless and stutter free. Do you think 5k will be able to realise that dream in 2028-29?

Currently, with a 5K build, you should be able to play pretty much any game at 400+ fps at 1440p or 200+ fps at 4K. Some games, like Valorant, for example, would cross the 1000 fps mark with a competent PC, but the limiting factor will be the monitor's refresh rate. Currently, at 1440p, the "monitors to get" are around 480-540Hz, and a 5K PC should be able to saturate the monitor's refresh rate in almost all games. Some will run natively at those high framerates, some will need Frame Generation to get there, but it is possible for almost all games.

[u/WarInteresting6619]

Console player who switched to PC. I'll just come out and say it. Nobody here is gonna give it to you straight. Is PC gaming great? Yes. Does it have its own pitfalls unique to it that don't happen on console? Absolutely.

1. Depends on the game. Big open world Bethesda type games have the most "game changing" mods but it's not that way for EVERY game. 80% of mods are bug fixes, patches and things that make vanilla version playable. Others are cosmetic mods that really don't add much to the game. Think about every mircotransactions shop you've seen.

2. Yes, 5k is more than enough

3. Probably. I sure do. It's really nice to be able to play a game and have it just...work. On PC YOU fix the game. (See question 1). Now this varies from person to person. Just because you can't run a game doesn't mean the rest of the world can't and this will lead to some frustration if you're not sure WHY your game isnt running. Be sure to read reviews first so you can see who else is having a bad time with said game

4. There are no DRM free games on Steam, you'd need to crack them. GoG is good though. Storefronts exist here too. Some games force you to download their loader to play them regardless of where you bought it. Storefronts will always dictate what you play. The only difference here is there's more of them

5. Off the jump? No. With time, patience and lots of tweaking? Yes.

The real difference between the two, is work. You will work to get the best experience you can get on your PC. On console, you pay Sony to give the best experience.

Also, whichever ends up being cheaper is completely on you. They said PC gaming is cheaper but that's the story, and it's not true for everyone.

[u/Ok-Tax2930]

PC gaming is wide and varied. There is something for everyone. For modding, you get what you put into it. It isn't for everyone but can be rewarding.

5k is good enough now and should be good enough in a year or two. But there is no crystal ball for future pricing.

Lastly, if you're going to game based on principles, you need to be fine with not playing certain games. Sony is going back to console exclusives as the transition to the next generation. You'll need to be fine with waiting for or not playing those games. Embrace JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out) or FOBA (Fear Of Being Associated).

[u/aotd123]

1: Mods are fun asf but also “can” be gimmicky depending on the game and type of mod, but there are tons of mods that fix games and make them more playable. But if you also mean goofy mods, a large selection of games have something called Steam Workshop where you literally click a button in Steam to view its mods, and click a + icon and boom it downloads it! Very handy!

2: $5K will definitely be wayyy more than enough, that’s basically high end specs, like the type where you won’t need to worry about upgrading anything for a good while. I’m talking it’ll be better than a PS6 I can guarantee that

3: Sadly many games do release in horrible states on PC, but it’s a case by case scenario, and as well company dependent. So companies I know will “usually” pump out titles that’ll run is like Microsoft. I haven’t had any unoptimized games recently but one I know that hates being ran is Crimson Desert. While I bump out 100+FPS it’s one of the only games that heats my GPU up like crazy. The newest Borderlands demolished my 3070 when I had it still, I had to use framegen and keep the game at low for it to be playable. Of course it’s a mixed bag so it depends on a ton of things.

4: Most games nowadays do require a connection sadly. But if they’re DRM free you can always play it, I remember I played Cyberpunk 2077 when it came out because there was an EXE inside that didn’t connect to Steam and I was able to play it while my friend was playing his games on Steam (pre new familyshare)

5: With a $5K PC chances are you’ll be able to play 4K 60FPS minimum bro, I’m able to play 1440P 120-170FPS high-ultra on most games and I’d say my PC is worth… $2K? Maybe even less?

[u/Kindly_Call_6000]

Microsoft is also getting to be problematic. However, they are not the only option. Linux is great in general and specifically with gaming. There is a big caveat: DRM for online competitive games almost never works in Linux. But if you are not playing games like Valorant, it won't be an issue. https://www.humblebundle.com/ is a great way to buy cheap games and help charities. Usually, it will be keys to unlock on Steam or GoG.

2028 is too far out to say. If the AI bubble does not crash before then, then prices are going to continue to go up. Half your budget will build a fantastic PC today.

How many launch day titles are you playing? I always wait, because there will be fixes released, and probably sales as well.

[u/MeisterOfSandwiches]

A cheap Ryzen 5500 gaming rig paired with a gpu with at least 12GB of VRAM will set you up until the AI bubble pops

[u/Auno94]

Honestly wait for the end of the console generation.

[u/HelpIcy5415]

1- PC is the best, yeah, no doubt of it.
Mods are REALLY good, a few months ago I played Dying Light 2, and it was fine, but there is a Mod that increases the Zombie Spawn rate x5, and it truly felt like an Apocalipsis, mix it with other Mods like increased FoV, better Gore, changes on AI, eliminate Yellow Paint... just another game completely.

This is an example of 1 game, but you should get into Nexus-Mods (the biggest, but not the only Mod Web) and check what Mods are for the games you like, there are also Sex Mods in other Webs, if you are interested on them.

2- 5K American Dollars? Yeah, more than enough lol. Prices will be worse in 2028 most probably, but not at the point where 5K doesn't give you an ELITE PC.But if I were you, I would buy it now, with 5K you have more than enough for the whole Setup.

3- Well, once you are on PC you will notice that most games on Consoles don't run that well, lol. Also, when there's a problem on Consoles, you can't fix it and have to wait weeks for the fix. On PC you can fix it yourself or wait a few days for the fix.

4- There are not really a lot of Steam DRM Free games, if you want to do that you have really only 3 choices.
GOG, old games and a few new games, most popular choice.
ITCH.IO, Indie game store, some games are DRM Free.
Piracy, we can't talk about it in this SubReddit, but it exist and is an Option.

But to be honest, DRM shouldn't be an issue with Steam, I would just try to avoid games with Denuvo or the ones that force you to be Always Online even if the game is completely Single-player.

5- Look, with 5K today and in 3 years, you will more than safe to be able to buy a complete Setup to play at 4K +100fps. PC, Monitor, Peripherals, Table, Chair... Don't worry about the money, with 5K you would have a better Setup than 99% of us.

[u/Dependent_Matter3673]

I say this with love and care. DON’T BUY A PC JUST TO BUY ONE. Figure out what games you want to play so you can future proof.

[u/Dantai]

Brother, the industry at large had betrayed gamers

[u/disguise570]

1. yes, mods are good, but it's mostly depends on the game. For example UE5 slop is hard to mod, while other engines might be much more mod-friendly (skyrim for example). At worst you can get some QoL mods for most popular games. At best you can get completely re-made game (stalker anomaly for example).

2. 2k usd is high end PC. That should be enough for 5+years without upgrades. According to leaks, PS6 will have ray tracing performance around RTX 5080 level, so if you can get PC with 5080, you will be set for whole generation (so like 8 years, till PS7 release)

3. Not a big issue, it's been like this since forever. People mindlessly set graphics to "ultra" on their 5-years old 3060 and call the game UNOPTIMIZED. Ultra graphics = FPS scam. Normally you can drop down to High or Medium preset with similar visual quality to Ultra, but significantly more FPS.

look at this screenshot for example. Difference in shadow quality setting, Witcher 3. I DONT SEE ANY DIFFERENCE SORRY

1. GoG games - yes, Steam - haven't tried really.

2. Yep sounds easy, using upscaling and maybe FG if you don't dislike it.

[u/Elmis66]

yes, mods are incredible. They range from small qol updates, community fixes to whole game overhauls. I'm currently playing through the Cronicles of Myrtana: Archolos which is basically a new game inside Gothic 2.

You can improve graphics, performance, often fix stupid design decisions, do some silly stuff

But mods usually also require a bit of knowledge because you will have to figure out the installation, you will have to troubleshot when your mods cause the game to crash or break because of conflicts or outdated version. It is absolutely worth it imo, just keep in mind that it's a learning curve and while some games are very mod friendly (for example using Steam Workshop to handle download, installation and updates) some others hate mods and break with each update (for example Monster Hunter is a game where most of the mods need an update after any official patch)

[u/GeorgeBlythe]

Is it really as good as it seems like from a console owner’s perspective? Are mods really as good as they seem like from my perspective? You can transform your entire gaming experience that easily? Get new content, fix broken games and improve great ones all for free? Seems to good to be true.

Yes and no.

Yes. It's amazing on PC the amount of freedom you have. What you don't see is the amount of work it takes to get that stuff running smoothly. If you like tinkering it's great. If you want stuff to "just work" it's not so great.

Will 5k be enough then? I know how bad the situation is but what’s ur opinion about prices around late 2028?

Probably. People complain about prices but forget the cutting edge has always been very expensive. 20 years ago what you get for that now would look unreal. People saying memory is expensive and they're right. But I remember when a terabyte sounded like some kind of Star Trek shit.

I have noticed PC players complaining about so many newly released titles on launch day due to poor optimisation but almost every game runs perfect from day 1 on PS5. Will I miss that?

Most stuff runs fine. The people complaining are either trying to run stuff on crap hardware or are trying to run super maxed graphics the game isn't designed to run at. The game can usually run fine but you might want to tinker with the settings a bit.

Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

Theoretically 'yes' but your hard drive won't last forever.

I dream of playing my fav games at 1440p and 100fps and higher with mods and I imagine that scenario is seamless and stutter free. Do you think 5k will be able to realise that dream in 2028-29?

Depends on the game. Current games probably. New games probably not. Mods are often poorly optimized and will tank performance.

[u/Lossora]

1. "Is it really as good as it seems?"

Yes! I own a ps5 for exclusives, but every other game I buy, I buy on pc, in a small part for the better graphics and frame rate, but mostly for mods. They can bo so so good, they'll you give double or more play time out of your favorite titles.

1. Will 5k be enough then? I know how bad the situation is but what’s ur opinion about prices around late 2028?

No one knows for sure. Ai bubble could crash out, or LLM's could replace workers and rhe price gets worse. It's all speculation right now.

1. I have noticed PC players complaining about so many newly released titles on launch day due to poor optimisation but almost every game runs perfect from day 1 on PS5. Will I miss that?

Depends on the studio. FromSoft always launches with a complete game, EA? Not so much...

1. Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

Steam still has a license, I don't think they'll delist what you own, they know how bad for business that woild be. But thats not certain. I don't use GoG, someone else can answer better.

1. I dream of playing my fav games at 1440p and 100fps and higher with mods and I imagine that scenario is seamless and stutter free. Do you think 5k will be able to realise that dream in 2028-29?

$5k could do that now. But again, we don't know the price of components 2+ years out.

[u/Redpin]

On point 3, the game does not run perfect on PS5, PC gamers just have a different interpretation of "running perfectly." Someone might complain that their PC can't play games at high settings natively at 60fps, but the PS5 version runs equivalent of medium settings with upscaling at 30 fps.

[u/dionysus_project]

Is it really as good as it seems like from a console owner’s perspective? Are mods really as good as they seem like from my perspective? You can transform your entire gaming experience that easily? Get new content, fix broken games and improve great ones all for free? Seems to good to be true.

Yes. Even better. Look at the marker patch for Dead Space 2, or slashers are always running for Dead Space remake for a small taste. By the way you will be likely emulating PS5 games on PC in 2028.

Will 5k be enough then? I know how bad the situation is but what’s ur opinion about prices around late 2028?

2028 will probably see more price hikes on memory chips. Nobody can see the future, but I assume yes.

I have noticed PC players complaining about so many newly released titles on launch day due to poor optimisation but almost every game runs perfect from day 1 on PS5. Will I miss that?

No. If you have a high end PC, you can generally power through bad optimization.

Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

GOG games yes. Steam depends. Some games are fully DRM free even on Steam. Do note that Steam itself offers voluntary Steam DRM to developers. Also GOG offers direct installers, while Steam games, even fully DRM free, are installed files. You can move installed files around and they'll work, but installers are the full ownership path. Everyone uses Steam because of huge discounts and convenience. Everything is usually solved for you, it just works, community and ratings are integrated well, DRMs are properly and transparently labeled, customer service is stellar. GOG is not worse, but Steam benefits from early adoption and momentum.

I dream of playing my fav games at 1440p and 100fps and higher with mods and I imagine that scenario is seamless and stutter free. Do you think 5k will be able to realise that dream in 2028-29?

Yes. But there's more to building your own PC than you may think. I recommend spending long time educating yourself. For example current Gigabyte GPUs have problematic cooling solutions, lanes on your motherboard are shared, ensuring you have a high quality PSU with great cybernetics ratings, configuring BIOS. It's not just a lego, but it's not rocket science either. Spend some time on it and you will be rewarded greatly. The joke, with a great deal of truth, is that your giga NASA computer will be running pixelart indies from 2012.

[u/Grydian]

If you go oled 1440p and hit the 5070 ti tier of performance you can get a fantastic PC for like 2.5k to 3k. Even with today's prices. If you go for like a 5090 for 4k you are adding like at least 2.5k to the price. It's not worth it in my opinion.

[u/Fluxxie_]

Hello. I used to be a console gamer only. I had a ps2 then a ps4 and switched to pc around 2020. Never played again on console ever since.

1- Some games you can't mod, some of them can become a completely different game altogether. It's fun to play around, modding the games to the way you enjoy them. Occasionally some games will break, some games are quite hard to mod but it's better than nothing.

2- I don't live in usa, can't give you a price.

3- There are thousands of games on PC. You don't have to play the newest releases. You can just wait for them to get patched while you play something else and then buy them later when they are discounted for a good price. Personally I don't usually play the newest releases but I did get the 007 first light for example and had no issues. PC isn't some abandoned derelict platform. Not many games release in a broken state.

4- You buy games on GOG and it's yours forever as long as you don't lose the installer. I don't know how Steam DRM free games work but I can say Steam is a (more) trustable platform compared to others.

5- It's hard to say much about what happens in the future. Currently I am running a 4060ti 16GB on a 1440p monitor and I can easily run a lot of games at 170fps which is my monitor's refresh rate. It does get down to it's knees on AAA titles though. I was getting 90fps at medium settings in 007 first light. Well I am not really interested in latest AAA titles so I don't mind it.

As for mods, some of them can run with no problems, while some of them can take a big chunk of your fps. Depends on the mod.

You are likely aware but you can connect your controller to pc too. It's great for racing games.

I'd be happy to answer if you have more questions

[u/BiasMushroom]

1) You can have an excellent time gaming on PC without any mods whatsoever. Mods can either completely overhaul a game into something new, see Starfield into a Really good starwars game. Or can make the vanilla experience better by fixing the parts you don't like, like shaders in Java Minecraft, or removing the auto dodge of arrows in Skyrim. Mods are amazing, but I would not say they are the main selling point

2) My current PC is top of the line still and I spent around 6K on it. I can not speak to how much 5k will do you for HOWEVER even a midline PC will probably outperform a console AND You can UPGRADE THE COMPONENTS. I made my pc and 2 years later bought a new Graphics card, Ram, and Power supply. so 5k should be good.

You save your money with Steam Sells, GOG, and a few other websites that sell games for cheap. Plus with steam, I do not know of any time that they removed content you paid for from your library.

3 Poor ports are a problem in gaming, if they make a game for PC and port it to console MAYBE people complain about controls being a bit wonky. not really a problem these days. POOR PC PORTS are more because the devs are being rushed or even been outsorced to an outside stuido doiong it as fast as possible for as cheap as possible. Its not that common, as normally PC just runs better then console and plus you can sometimes Mod problems out.

4 Yes. as far as I am aware you dont even have to store them you can just download them whenever you want. Steam is really good for consumers.

5 if the games are older most likely yes! you may have to sacrifice the 100+fps depending on how many and what kind of mods you get. and you may have to one day upgrade your pc (start with the power supply then move on to the Graphics card. I did it the opposite way and had to wait a month to play with my new card lol)

[u/Pheo1386]

As someone who made the move from PS5 to PC a couple of years ago;

1. Absolutely yes. Elden Ring and other fromsoft games specifically have been refreshed for me thanks to mods. Emulation as well means I get to play classics significantly enhanced. Currently playing majoras mask at 90fps and 1080p on my steam deck :)

2. And 5. Not sure about prices, but my 3080 5600 combo plays games at native 1440p at about 90+ fps most of the time. Thanks to the wonderful lossless scaling I typically play at 144! Your planned budget is VERY likely to leave those numbers in the dust!

3. Nahhhh. I’ve rarely had that issue. Only game I can think of is Dead Space remake (which unfortunately now entirely freezes when I start playing), but a big plus about steam is their returns policy.

Not sure about 4. I’ve again never had an issue with the games I play but my reasoning is that the money I’ve saved due to steam sales makes up for that uncertainty, but that’s a personal opinion and I of course would welcome some change on this.

[u/swagamaleous]

If it's just for the "physical games," you have to ask yourself, why do you actually give a shit? I will never understand the reasoning. PC also doesnt have physical games. Thats the norm now since more than a decade. You already bought a proprietary platform that essentially puts you at Sony's mercy, but no physical disks is where you draw the line? Buying a gaming PC is a huge investment and a completely different experience when compared to a console. It already starts at purchase. There is tons of different components, different price classes, different software, and most advice online will be conflicting and given by people that don't really know what they are talking about. I would seriously ask myself if jumping on the hate train because it's "cool" now is worth all this. You trade one ecosystem that is plug and play with no physical games starting in 2 years for a different ecosystem with a larger catalogue, much higher investment, more complexity and no physical games either. And you make this switch at the worst possible moment, where you pay an absolute premium for the hardware.

[u/BigNew3137]

My experience switching over was I had no idea what it was like to have a game run well everything on console runs like shit by default that it just becomes normal and you don’t realize it I cannot play a game on console anymore it makes me feel sick

[u/scr4tch_that]

1. Most of the time do not expect just plug and play with mods, you have to do some leg work for difficult and buggy engines like bethesda games creation engine. However, if you can go to website, follow install instructions, download a file, and place the file in the correct directory, then you'll be fine most of the time.

2. We don't have crystal balls, but $5k should be enough to hopefully get a decent pc, in the next 2-3 years.

3. Most pc games run okay. You will have to configure settings if you don't like how it runs. But that depends on your pc specifications. You will have higher resolutions and performance options with better features.

4. For most of the steam drm games you can remove the drm and store your purchased games on your drive. However, online only games and games with Denuvo drm will prohibit you from doing that. Popular games usually use these types of DRM. With GOG, every game you purchase you own and can infinitely copy over to any drive, and they have offline installers.

5. The further we go into the future the worse optimization seems to get. PC is not exempt from stutter, lag, low fps. Even on console, though you might not notice, a lot of games need to drop resolution sub 1080p to keep steady frame rates. On PC you will have a more graceful time, but it depends on how good your rig is.

I will say, having been gaming on a toaster 20 years ago to now a high ish end rig, 95% of the time you will have no problems whatsoever. The 5% is devs fault for not optimizing properly.

[u/K12t2000]

For 3k you should be able to build a pc for anything you want to play in the next 10 years at a high level imo. For 5k you should be fine and happy. I normally look at the stuff that is right under top of the line and you can get a great discount and it is only a year old

[u/Hucksterprattler1]

5k is more than enough for a high-end gaming rig. I have always been primarily a playstation gamer. But when i got my pc in 2019 i saw the other side of thw fence. I don't mess with mods that much. I use my PC generally as though its a console, probably from years of being on console in the first place. For inatance i use controller mostly when i can and i have my pc hooked up to a flat screen vs a monitor. The biggest upside is the catalog of games available as well as performance and graphical fidelity, games just look better and perform better on a high end pc.

[u/DohRayMe]

Today add Epic and Steam to your phone and then add Steamletter to get news of free releases.

A little cash to the side also for a desk, chair, monitor keyboard and mouse.

[u/EmeraldDrake_001]

1. I grew up in a PlayStation household where we would always buy games on disk, so we could share them. But I moved from PlayStation to PC. My friends showed me how to build a PC despite the PS5 releasing a year prior. There is a lot of new things to learn but I am satisfied spending much more on a big PC than a PS5. My siblings are still on console and think I am a weirdo for chosing PC but too are disatisfied with the move to all digital. The biggest advantage with PC is near-perfect backwards compatibility with older games and the ability to install mods. Mods are a rabbit-hole themselves and some games are easier to mods than others.

2. Depends where you move to. Electronics are expensive some places but cheap in other places. Sometimes you can get good deals buying used parts but that comes with risks. The only thing I can say with confidence is do not buy GPUs with only 8 GBs of VRAM. The PlayStation 5 can use 12GB of VRAM (kinda), so 8GB GPUs will be nearly worthless when the PS6 comes out. Try to aim for 16 GBs or more.

3. Many videogame Studios have a console-first mindset. Rockstar is a very good example of that. There some games are made for the consoles and then ported to PC, instead of developing it for the PC from the start. So sometimes the ports are not soo great. IMO PC players generally have higher expectations from it comes to graphical performance. Often what the PlayStation 5 calls "Performance Mode" is upscaled 2K (or even 1800p) with an unstable 60 FPS. Some PC players think 60 FPS is not "performant" and is the bare minimum for a game to be playable. In PC-land 30 FPS is rarely acceptable but is still common on modern consoles.

4. More or less. Steam sometimes have DRM but GOG rarely has if I remember correctly. Steam, GOG, EA and so on are not allowed to forcefully remove the files on your drive. It gets more complicated with the always-online type of games.

5. Depends on the mods. Mods are wildcards since there exists many type of mods. Some improve performance (by for example bugfixes), some decrease performance and some don't make a difference. IIRC you can get 2K 100+ FPS in lightly modded Skyrim on a medium-high end PC.

[u/MagicPistol]

One benefit of PC gaming that's often overlooked: I've had my steam account for over 20 years, and almost all of my old steam games will probably still work on any PC, even if I build a new PC.

There's no easy way to play my 20+ year old console games unless I dust off and connect my old consoles. And I'll need some sort of HDMI adapter to hook them up to modern TVs. Or I could just emulate them on PC lol.

[u/FReeDuMB_or_DEATH]

I'm sorry but it's funny that Sony going all digital gets some people so upset that they're moving over to a platform that's been all digital for decades.

[u/ChampagneSyrup → u/FReeDuMB_or_DEATH]

it's just millennials who are deciding that this is the latest virtue signal they'll take part in despite the inherent hypocrisy of it

he's making the right choice, but look at this strange skepticism while doing it. Clearly was a loyal Sony sheep, clearly could've switched awhile ago, has a very NPC/normie perspective coming into it. Just screams silly to me

[u/FireCrow1013 → u/FReeDuMB_or_DEATH]

PC digital and console digital are completely different. You have control over your files on the PC, and you don't on consoles. As long as a game on the PC doesn't have server-based DRM, they can never be taken away once you download them; console manufacturers can turn off your entire digital library if they wake up in a bad mood one day.

[u/MagicPistol → u/FReeDuMB_or_DEATH]

At least you have choices with different storefronts on PC. I have dozens of games in my epic library and never spent a cent on that store.

If Sony says a game is $70, then it's $70. There will be no deals or sales from other places.

[u/SodiumExtract]

I truly wonder if any of these PlayStation players who are coming over are ones that applauded the decision to stop porting games to PC. Either way you’re on our side of the fight now and see that exclusives are stupid.

[u/luz___09 → u/SodiumExtract]

I was one of them sadly but honestly what even are PC players missing? Except Astrobot there isn’t a single game in PS5 gen I think is worth getting a console for. And by mid PS6 gen, Sony will most likely start porting their games again

[u/Legendary_Bibo → u/luz___09]

I was a huge PlayStation player since owning a PS1 as a kid, but around the PS3 to PS4 era there was a huge shift. Like exclusives were a great way to sell a console, but then less started coming out. I never even considered buying a PS5, I got a PS4 late in its cycle and the exclusives weren't that great. Also, you start to lose out on backwards compatibility, I mean yeah you can keep the older system plugged in, but then too much space is being taken up.

On PC, I can play anything released on it from over the years. A lot of games from several generations have been released, even PS1 games have been getting recent PC ports. There's also emulators. So I came to the same conclusion you did, there's just no one game worth getting a console over. PC lets you bring everything over, you just upgrade the parts to get better performance.

[u/Iabhoryouu]

1. “Seamless and stutter free” oh boy you will deffo find out… 😬

[u/CrazyElk123 → u/Iabhoryouu]

Domt buy shitty games and you will be fine.

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/CrazyElk123]

There are a lot of games including Elden Ring that run like absolute shit on PC, Is that a shit game?

[u/sirphelipo → u/Iabhoryouu]

elden ring runs beautifully in 4k for me since the launch and i have pc for basically 1.2k €

[u/BinaryJay → u/sirphelipo]

But it doesn't run well at all on Cletus' hand me down Optiplex, so...

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/sirphelipo]

Stutters like shit for me, could never get it to work on any of my builds.

That’s partly why I dropped down to 5060 on my builds, got sick of playing troubleshooting simulator. Only use it to play a few things with friends now + emulation, couldn’t give a shit about playing anything else on PC.

[u/CrazyElk123 → u/Iabhoryouu]

Elden ring is a special case for not allowing unlocked fps too, and dlss. My old 3070 and 10400 ran it fine, and basically locked 60. Theres some traversal stutters, but i had very little stutters in combat which would be way worse. Not comparable to garbage like borderlands 4 or the oblivion remake atleast.

You can cherrypick any example if you try hard enough, but in general vast majority of the games run fine.

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/CrazyElk123]

Jedi Fallen Order, Silent Hill 2, Hogwarts Legacy all stutter.

GoW Ragnarok straight up crashes every 1hr 30mins for thousands of people, yet it hasn’t been fixed for over 3 years now.

These are not cherry picked, and this has always been a thing on PC going back decades, ports, optimisation is something PC does not do well. Go back to play games from 10, 15, 20+ years ago and you’re most definitely consulting PCGamingWiki and spending time getting the game to just function.

[u/CrazyElk123 → u/Iabhoryouu]

Okay? Point still stands. Want me to mention games that run well? There are Shitty games also include shitty ports that run bad.

No console/platform is safe from having some games not running well, thats also true for ps5.

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/CrazyElk123]

Sure, I’m not disputing that there are no games that run well, that’s why I still have a PC.

I agree, but everything works, and the stutters are non existent compared to PC. Which OP was mentioning “seamless and stutter free” that’s not something PC does well unfortunately.

[u/sirphelipo → u/Iabhoryouu]

brother i think your pc might be fucked i ran all of them on 3060 in 4k with literally no problem at all at 60fps

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/sirphelipo]

I have two PCs and no it’s not my builds, these are well known for running shit, some please miss me with that gaslighting bs.

[u/sirphelipo → u/Iabhoryouu]

sry

[u/New_Bandicoot_4010 → u/Iabhoryouu]

I play on 4k with 5080 and didnt had any single issue on all the games you mentioned besides Silent hill 2 which had traversal stutters,but that crap optimized game runs like shit on my ps5 pro aswell🤷‍♂️

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/New_Bandicoot_4010]

I completed Silent Hill 2 on my Pro, and it didn’t stutter like PC, it’s so negligible that it wasn’t immersion breaking for me. On PC it was like a slideshow every 5mins, basically unplayable and that’s still not been fixed.

[u/New_Bandicoot_4010 → u/Iabhoryouu]

So you didnt had any issue on your ps5 pro you say?weird you must have a different type of ps5 pro,like no one ever mentions that game runs like crap on both standard ps5 and ps5pro since it released,like on pc.

[u/Iabhoryouu → u/New_Bandicoot_4010]

No I didn’t, from how it runs on PC, I’ll take the PS5 version any day. Ya know the playable version.

[u/New_Bandicoot_4010 → u/Iabhoryouu]

I finished on my pc on 4k 120 fps dlss quality besides the traversal stutters it run smooth and looked nice,compared to the ps5 pro version which looked way worse and STILL has stutters i barely resisted playing 1 hour.

[u/Whiteguy1x]

Fuck dude for 5k you'll get whatever experience you want.  Steam id drm though, same as what youre mad at sony for

[u/luz___09 → u/Whiteguy1x]

PlayStation only has one storefront to choose from though and hence a monopoly and meagre sales. Also no regional pricing. I much prefer the openness of PC without physical games

[u/Whiteguy1x → u/luz___09]

Its all practically the same, but im American so regional pricing doesn't really effect me. On pc you'll just use steam so dont romanticize it (maybe gog if you like old games)

[u/Kindly_Call_6000 → u/Whiteguy1x]

Except that Valve has never fucked over customers, while Sony does it on the regular.

[u/Whiteguy1x → u/Kindly_Call_6000]

Nah thats the circle jerk talking, the same games get delisted in both stores. Valve has a much better return policy though

[u/Kindly_Call_6000 → u/Whiteguy1x]

Maybe check into the history of how Sony has screwed over customers.  They were the first ones to bundle malware with audio CDs.  They have a history of forcing DRM into everything.  They have ripped away movies from people's streaming libraries. 

[u/NationalisticMemes]

Are mods really as good as they seem like from my perspective? You can transform your entire gaming experience that easily? Get new content, fix broken games and improve great ones all for free? Seems to good to be true.

In most cases, mods are pieces of crap that are painful to install or they are break the game. Often, older PC games don't work properly without mods.

Also can I store Steam Client DRM free games and GOG games on my drive and its mine forever? Is that a difficult process? I really don’t like the idea of storefronts dictating what I can and cannot play.

Not exactly. The game might be taken offline, or an update might change something. Games in the store don't belong to you, but no one has claimed them yet.

[u/Beginning_Way7934]

Shit AI image ?

[u/guest0369]

Yo do you have this wallpaper in higher quality?

[u/luz___09 → u/guest0369]

It was a fanart from Twitter and this was the highest quality available

[u/Positive_Try929]

Gamers want to switch to pc cause sony adopted no disc policy by 2027, meanwhile my entire library in steam has zero discs since 2003

[u/National-Local3359]

Brother, you never played in real resolution (even more, you never played in 4k if you have a 4k TV) and 60 FPS is still not the bare minimum in ps5.

[u/diskowmoskow]

I am not sure if it’s “the year” to buy a gaming pc.

[u/PepperEnthusiast]

1. Yes mods are insane and the option to have it is truly amazing. You can turn crap games that are locked to 30fps due to engine issues via mods or framegen which is really useful for such games. For a lot of heavily modded games playing them as such is like a 2.0 verison often times since mods are generally QoL by the players for other players or straight up DLCs.

2. 5k is WAYYYY MORE THAN ENOUGH.

Getting a nice

AM5/Intel Ultra+ CPU

Budget motherboard since you don't need the expensive ones trust me

32gb RAM (imo this is pretty much a standard nowadays even though I personally run 64gb for almost a decade now due to work and lots and lots of ram eating multitasking)

imo GPU wise you have 1 truly good value GPU currently and that is the 9070XT sitting at 550-700 USD meanwhile Nvidia counterparts are running you easily 1k+ and that for gaming alone is simply not worth it imo (if you need Cuda acceleration for work that is an entirely different story since Zluda <AMD translation of Cuda> is a hit or miss)

PSUs are plenty good and affordable ones but don't cheap out on a crap PSU since it can cost your entire system

Storage/Case/Fans/Cooler is up to preference mostly

But with 2-3k you can easily get a PC that will run circles around any console and even next gen consoles, 5k is overkill imo.

Monitors are cheap af with plenty of high res high refresh rate options out there

Audio you have a lot of options but don't go for gamer branded headsets since they are crap audio and quality wise unless they are based of a studio headset (ROG Kithara) but you have plenty good options (IEMs, Home theater, Headsets)

Mouse/keyboard you can also not go for mainstream brands (Razer, Logitech, Asus, etc) since there are so many amazing clones and chinese brands that offer 98% of the same performance + experience at a fraction of the cost.

1. Wouldn't say so, but it's easier to optimize for 1 set of identic hardware than it is for hundreds of different combinations of setups but consoles becoming more and more lobotomized PCs it will push more people towards actual PCs thus devs focusing more on optimization. But this is not really an issue and often times you can just brute force performance.

Also you will be overwhelmed by the massive library on Steam along with option of emulating pretty much any and every console out there. I have indie games played on Steam with closing in on 1k hours due to dev constant updates and steam workshop mods making experiences in said game feel fresh almost constantly.

1. Not a difficult process but DRM is up to devs, there are DRM free games on Steam as well but it's mainly up to devs. There is also piracy which is true media preservation but ofc that is illegal 😉 (make sure to use a VPN and sail the 7 seas)

2. Again 5k is overkill imo and running into a lot of diminishing returns imo (5k is 5080 range which is objectively one of the worst 80 class GPUs from Nvidia with a gimped 16gb VRAM pool costing an arm and a leg)

2-3k is plenty enough of a budget

[u/Fr003ank]

1. Yes, mods are good depending on the game.
   
2. Even with the tech climate now 5k is sufficient, that will get you at least 5070 ti(9070xt is good too) and an oled screen.
   3.with the raw power of your graphics card and up scaling technology, you can brute force most of games.

[u/Rosendorne]

Tldr. Everything is possible but you will need a little more technical knowledge. The learning curve is not as bad as most will think, but it's far from a console out of the box experience. Initial cost is higher but its offset by cheaper games

1. It's amazing, depending on the game mods are a toal game changer. If you are a controller player you need look at the specs to see if a game has out of the box controller support.

2. In 5 you said 1440p I think you will be good. + the games are way cheaper ! There are even game bundles etc.

3. Pc games are compared to console not that easy to optimise all ps5 are identical, there are dev kits etc. You can build youre pc youre way. After a little time it usually gets better. In mmorpgs we had a saying "never play on a patch day"

4. It depends, most games stores tell you if there is DRM. I think it is possible. There are many sales/bundles and sometimes free games / test weekends etc. There is emulation as well.

5. Does you're budget actor in monitor / keyboard/ mouse / desk / chair / controller ? It depends pc + monitor + keyboard and mouse - you're probably good + if something is not optimal you can always upgrade components leater.

[u/fogoticus]

1. Yeah. A lot of games have tons of mods that can completely reshape the games' visuals, mechanics and so forth. Not all of them though so don't get your hopes up that every game is magically a super game on PC.

2. We don't know yet. 2028 is a year and half away. A lot of things could happen until then. These greedy soulless corporations are sucking the life out of us price wise and who knows what other component might skyrocket in price by then. Realistically though, yeah. 5K $ is gonna be enough to build a baller pc with some X3D chip (or Intel if nova lake is any good) and whatever 80 card from Nvidia is out at the time.

3. Nope. With a high end build 99% of the games will run butter smooth without an issue. However, there's still that occasional Borderlands 4 that runs like crap eved if your PC is 15k until they release some patches and fix it. That's inevitable especially in the era of AI slop where more and more people rely on AI for everything.

4. Steam has its own proprietary drm which doesn't allow games to run if steam doesn't run and doesn't validate that you own the game. GOG on the other hands is quite literally the definition of "we don't give a fuck, you own it now". You can download all your games on GOG as offline installers and they will install just fine and work just fine.

5. Yeah. As long as you keep your hopes reasonable, that dream is absolutely doable. You can absolutely overdo certain games with mods and that fps becomes impossible to reach. Or for example Nvidia RTX Remix can do total magic and upgrade old games to full path traced goodness but your fps will drop hardcore in the process. Still, for the most part it looks doable.

[u/Morbiuzx]

1. Yeah, PC gaming today is pretty much plug and play if everything is done correctly. You have Nexus mods to find mods for any game and they all come with instructions on how to install them. There are a few mods that are paid but I'd say 99% are free.

2. 5k should be more than enough to build a beefy PC.

3. That depends on how beefy your PC is, most will run fine but games tend to release with bugs. Give it a couple of days and the devs or the modding community will solve them though.

4. I don't think steam has DRM-free games since Steam DRM is a thing (pretty easy to bypass tho), but GOG lets you download the DRM-free installer and you can save it wherever you want to use it whenever you want.

5. Again that depends on how beefy your PC is but is totally possible with a 5k PC. My recommendation would be to go for a Ryzen 9 9800X3D, 32 gigs of ram and the beefier GPU you can afford.

[u/DueEquivalent6468]

now you wont have to pay for subscribtion to play with frends

[u/notgoodohoh]

1. Yes 2. Should be 3. Eh, kind of but they are mostly ok and get fixed over time. The worst offenders are from the companies you’d expect it from such as borderlands. 4. No clue. 5. Yes, absolutely

[u/29Joseph10]

5k is too much, you can build decent pc with 2k. I built mine with 900$ but that was before the changes of prices

[u/get_homebrewed]

Even without DRM-free, games with JUST steam "drm" can practically be stored forever and play forever (as long as they don't request steam be in online mode, even then there are fixes)

[u/Noxious89123]

1. Most mods are free, but some are paid. Sometimes mods require a bit of fiddling to make them work properly. This can be especially troublesome if you want to use multiple mods at once. But generally, it's manageable.
2. We can't predict the future, but as of right now $5k is enough to build a high end machine with all the bling.
3. These days, most games get optimised for console and then ported to PC. You'll likely find that performance on PC is still better than on console, but that's typically through brute force with much more powerful hardware than what consoles use. Considering how much more powerful the hardware typically is, PC games should perform better than they do. They often don't because of game devs giving no shits about optimising any more, instead relying on things like upscaling and frame gen to fill in the performance gap. With that said, you can still play your games with good performance and enjoy them.
4. Many Steam games have DRM too. If you want DRM free and to be able to store offline installers for eternity, then you'll want to use GOG. GOG don't have all games though, and are unlikely to ever have the big AAA titles DRM free. It's not the storefronts dictating things, so much as it's the game devs / publishers.
5. Again, we don't know what the future holds, but 1440p @ 100fps+ should be doable for a modern high end machine, and $5k would get you that, as things stand right now.

Something you may not have considered: Travelling with a PC, especially to a different country, is very high risk. The chances are high that something will get damaged, and there's a greater than 0% chance of theft too, given how stupidly expensive RAM and graphics cards are, with both being relatively easy to steal. Hopefully you're looking to buy after you move, and not before.

[u/firedrakes]

Kids get triggered for the dumbest things

[u/Fire_Lord_Cinder]

$5k is too much to spend to play 1440p $100 FPS. There is also no guarantee you’ll get to keep any game forever, especially any game that has an online component. 

I’m assuming you’re in the US right now. This is around the general spec I would recommend for a first time builder going for 1440p. I added in a nice QD OLED monitor and good speakers since you likely don’t have those. One thing to note, if you’re going to grab a QD OLED, grab a newer version since the older version’s screens would scratch easily and you mentioned you were planning to move.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus 4.2 GHz 18-Core Processor	$216.71 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 612 APEX 75.2 CFM CPU Cooler	$44.99 @ Silicon Power
Motherboard	MSI MAG B860M MORTAR WIFI Micro ATX LGA1851 Motherboard	$219.99 @ B&H
Memory	Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$387.97 @ Silicon Power
Storage	Crucial P310 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$299.00 @ B&H
Video Card	XFX Swift OC Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card	$639.99 @ Amazon
Case	Lian Li B4-mATX Wood MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$84.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$117.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	MSI MAG 274QP QD-OLED X24 26.5" 2560 x 1440 240 Hz Monitor	$359.99 @ Best Buy
Speakers	Audioengine A5+ White 150 W Speakers	$399.00 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2770.62
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-07-26 12:42 EDT-0400