PLAYSTATION revealed the PS5 Pro yesterday, and while fans didn’t have particularly strong opinions on the improvements, they sure did about the price.
At a whopping £700/$700 without the disc drive or stand it’s the most expensive console on the market, but also the most powerful.
Gamers were quick to point out that this is similar to the cost of a high-end gaming PC, and it seems that most PlayStation exclusives end up on Steam eventually.
Given the advantages that a powerful PC has over a console that only plays games, we wondered if we could build something just as good for the same price.
For our experiment we’ll only be looking at computer components that are as if not more powerful than a PS5 Pro to figure out if this mid-gen refresh is really worth the price.
We can’t look at the equivalent parts from the PS5 Pro as they aren’t all available for PCs, instead we’ll be trying to replicate its graphical fidelity and framerate/performance targets.
The PS5 Pro is built to run games at a native 4k resolution and at 60fps with image reconstruction.
We’ll also aim for the same resolution and fps, while running games on the ‘Ultra’ graphics settings from the menu.
We’ve also matched the PS5 Pro’s 2TB of storage, but we’ve not included the price of the monitor as you have to purchase your TV separately anyway.
Without searching for deals, we managed to build a high-end PC for about $850 / £650.
This is a bit more expensive than the PS5 Pro for US consumers, but cheaper for UK ones thanks to the PS5 Pro’s strange pricing structure.
You can find the list of components we chose below:
There are likely going to be additional costs with a gaming PC over the PS5 Pro, like your OS, mouse, and keyboard, but we think the flexibility gives better value.
While there is a learning curve to building your own PC, once it’s done you can reap the benefits of not only high-performance gaming, but also video and photo editing or whatever you use your PC for.
PCs also allow you to set a custom framerate, so you’ll be able to play games like God of War at 120fps.
With the right settings, Final Fantasy 16 can run at over 200fps on this PC, which is frankly more optimisation than anyone needs.
Gamers can also think about the money they’ll save down the road.
PC gamers have access to a number of storefronts, such as Epic Games Store, Steam and GoG, all of which offer deep discounts and even free games.
By being bound to the PlayStation Store, games are discounted less frequently, and when they are, they are often more expensive.
Overall it’s tough to build a gaming PC for the same price as a PS5 Pro, but if you do, you’ll end up saving far more in the long run.
If you want to read more about the PS5 Pro, check out our PS5 Pro round-up.
Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers.
For Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch, check out our full game reviews section.
