PC for the price of PlayStation 5 – is it even possible?. Build your own PS5 from PC parts

A fan render of the new PS5. I wouldn't mind if the console looked like this. Source: vr4player.fr.

So, we have a rough estimate of the price of the entire set. Ok. So, below, you will find a detailed overview of potential PCs that could equal the PS5, considering the estimated price.

PC in the PS5 price range in 2020

*Expected components.

A PC assembled in 2020 for the price of a PS5 won't be faster than the console. It's neigh impossible. It's closer to PS4 Pro, so I recommend postponing the purchase until 2021. The main difference will be the power of the GPU, which is the centerpiece of any gaming system.

2020 computer equal in performance to PS5

*Expected components.

A computer able to reach comparable performance should cost above $1000 in 2020. Presumably twice as much as PS5. The bulk of the budget is spent on the CPU and GPU.

2021 computer equal in performance to PS5

*Expected components.

As you can see on paper, it will be difficult for the user to assemble a computer with the expected performance of the PS5, even given the potential price drop in 2021. Also, in this case, you need to add the price for the peripherals (such as mouse and keyboard), thereby increasing the price of the kit even further. Although this area is generally easiest for economic choices.

This is also the most optimistic scenario, although, as I mentioned earlier, history likes to repeat itself, and prices are likely to fall to a more acceptable level soon after the release. We also don't know the actual performance of PlayStation 5, there's a fair amount of speculation here. We shall learn in about a year.

SSD should be the biggest novelty in PlayStation 5. Source: LetsGoDigital.

Assembling a PS5-equivalent PC in 2020 makes no sense. It will not be a machine with the same or even similar parameters and is rather closer to the PS4 Pro than to the next-generation. Of course, this is the natural order of things – otherwise, PS5 would have been obsolete right at the launch. AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a very popular twelve-thread unit. It has more than enough power. It's similar with AMD Radeon RX 570. Also in this case, it is the most cost-effective component on the market. It has some drawbacks, of course. Video card is usually the crucial component in gaming, and it is most often the GPU that's the bottleneck. Medium settings at 1080p is all we can hope for if we want 60 frames per second. Then you obviously don't get proper ray-tracing support, which is allegedly one of PS5 secret weapons.

What happens if we use the components supposedly found in PS5? Things are even more complicated. At the beginning of 2020, we can hardly build a computer that will have the same components and cost less than $800. With RX 5700 and Ryzen 7 3700X on board, the price increases much beyond the set budget, to around $1000-1200. Even replacing the RX 5700 with the RX 5600 saves no more than $100. However, if everything goes analogically to the last generational shift, a PC of these specs should drop to about $800 around the premiere of PS5, which seems a more acceptable sum. Of course, it's still more expensive than the Sony's gaming box, but it will provide significantly greater performance and quality. Remember that the computer is not just for entertainment.

When only considering price to performance ration, the console will almost invariably win. That's been the case for a long time, and this won't change any time soon. However, none of them comes without any drawbacks. On one hand we have additional features and overall quality, on the other, years of support, exclusive games, and better price. Our recommendation is simply restraint. In less than a year, you'll be able to make a much more informed decision.

Source: LetsGoDigital.