PC vs Console gaming: can PC compete with Xbox Series X/S & PS5 in 2024?

Console vs PC gaming has become much more of a fair fight with the latest release of next-gen Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles. Now gamers can play in 4K at a fraction of the price

Table of Contents Table of Contents

In the olden days of gaming, it was all about the Console Wars. Nintendo vs Sega. Nintendo vs Sony. With the turn of more recent generations, the Console Wars have become something closer to Sony vs Microsoft, with Nintendo focusing on providing its own experiences… but now, consoles aren’t the only fighters in the area.

PC has entered the fray. PC gaming has existed for decades, of course, but with the turn of the PS360 Generation and the emergence of Steam, PC has suddenly started competing with consoles in a way that hasn’t been seen before. The console war has calmed (well, for the most part), and is more or less over.

Now… it’s PC vs Xbox vs PlayStation.

PC vs Console gaming: pricing

A new PC with gaming performance on par with the Xbox Series S and PS5 is going to cost you $1000. A new PC on par with the Series is going to cost you $1,900. The PS5 costs $500, and the Series X also costs around $500, so consoles win, right?

If we’re talking new, yes, even if you get a lot more out of a PC but does cost a lot more.

However, if we take used hardware into account… not quite. If you buy, say, a used pre-built office PC off of eBay for $300 and a console-equivalent GPU for another $200 (which you very much can do, check out our used GPU guide), you can get console performance for a lower price. Used consoles will retail for lower too, of course, but generally, you won’t get as-good deals out of them.

We’re leaning toward a used PC here, with a used Console in a close second and a New PC in last. Upgradeability (discussed below) means that PCs can cost a lot more, but at that point, you are choosing to invest in the diminishing returns seen at the higher end of a niche market; a higher end that consoles can’t compete with, mind you.

However, the price of the system alone isn’t all there is to take into account.

Exclusive games

We aren’t going to pick a winner in this category. In terms of pure numbers, PC offers the most and has the advantage of not being as harshly segregated by generation. PS5 comes in second, with Switch in third, and Xbox Series in fourth.

You get the idea. There is no objective measure of game quality. For a lot of people trying to determine,” Should I get a console or PC?”, it will somewhat reasonably come down to this. If exclusives are the deciding factor for you, you need to determine which games you want to play the most and what platform they’re on.

Considering you can get the majority of Xbox games on PC with Game Pass, and even now some Sony games are coming to PC, with the likes of God of War or even SpiderMan available on it. That just leaves the Switch as the last exclusive option.

PC vs Console: VR Gaming

VR gaming is the newest trend on the market. And both console and PC have their own fronts in this market, sorta. Amongst consoles, only PS5 actually offers a VR headset, PS VR 2, while PC has several possible headsets you can use, although the Valve Index and the Oculus Rift are the most popular and most strongly supported.

Technologically speaking, the PS VR 2 is inferior to the PC offerings, both because of its outdated tracking technology and the PS5 itself just being less powerful. Moreover, there are fewer games for PS VR 2 making it less appealing as a product overall.

However, PS VR is also significantly cheaper. It is recommended that you use a more powerful PC for VR and this will set you back by a decent chunk of change. Moreover, the PS VR 2 can retail under $550 while the Index is about $1300 and the Rift is sitting at $260. However, peripherals, like controllers, will probably cause you to spend nearly an extra $100 on any that you choose.

None of these are future proof though. At the end of the day, it’s best to try one out at a store (Best Buy, GameStop, etc). You might save on the PS VR 2, but its lower quality might be the difference between needing to keep a garbage can handy and having a revolutionary gaming experience.

PC vs Console Gaming: Upgradability

You probably see where this is going, but we’re going to do it anyway.

Upgrading Drives

PCs and consoles (sans the Switch), can upgrade their internal hard drives. As of the most recent console generation, they can also use external hard drives. (Sans the Switch, again.)

However, consoles have a limitation here, at least in terms of internal storage: they can only take 2.5-inch drives. Not only are these usually more expensive for the same amount of storage, but they’re also slower (in the case of 3.5 HDDs) or vastly more expensive per gig (in the case of 2.5 SSDs).

In terms of upgrading your drives, PC has much more options for internal storage. In terms of everything else…

Upgrading Everything Else

Yeah. PC wins on this front, hands down. Aside from storage, you can’t upgrade anything inside your console, much less open it up without voiding your warranty. You can repair and upgrade and change your PC all you like– you can even build one from scratch if you want!

PC vs Console Gaming: Backwards Compatibility

Let’s say you want to play older games on your modern system. Who offers the best backwards compatibility?

PC Backwards Compatibility

PC is pretty great on this front. Thanks to built-in compatibility modes, user-made fixes and outlets like GOG (which make broken old games work on modern systems), your PC library spans back farther back than the existence of Nintendo consoles. With the addition of emulation and the right hardware, you can emulate just about any old console as well, up until the PS3/Xbox 360… for now.

Nintendo Backwards Compatibility

Here’s something sad: Nintendo used to do awesome in this category.

With the Wii’s Virtual Console and the Wii U/3DS Virtual Consoles building on top of that, Nintendo had all of its greatest games playable on their modern systems.

Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch offers no backward compatibility to speak of… except for emulated NES games. They score a hard last in this category as of 2019.

Click here to see a list of NES games available on Nintendo Switch online.

Check out our best Wii to HDMI converters here

PlayStation Backwards Compatibility

Similar to Nintendo, PlayStation used to do pretty well in this category. The launch PS3 could play PS2 and PS1 games, but later models of the PS3 removed PS2 compatibility to cut down on prices.

The PS4 has no direct backward compatibility to speak of, only PS Now, a subscription service that offers access to streaming PS3 titles. PS2 games can also be purchased from the PS Store and emulated, but as of now, there are only very few PS1 titles with the same treatment. PS5 and Xbox Series do let you play one older-gen option at least to enjoy.

Click here to see a list of PS Now games.

Xbox Backwards Compatibility

Xbox is doing the best of the consoles here.

While limited, Xbox One does offer backward compatibility with a large number of original Xbox and Xbox 360 games. Some of these games even have enhanced resolution and performance on the Xbox One X! That is the case for Xbox Series consoles too with some level of backwards games you will be able to enjoy.

Click here to see the full list of compatible Xbox/360 games.

PC vs Console Gaming: Warranty and Repairs

Life happens, and when it happens it can often result in a damaged or lost gaming setup. What recourse do you have for this?

PC Warranty and Repairs

With PC, you can open up and upgrade your system without voiding your warranty. You or independent shops also have full license to replace or upgrade any component inside your system, so long as it’s compatible. Even if an individual component can’t be repaired, that component usually can be replaced without voiding warranty.

Speaking of warranty, warranties are pretty strong on the PC platform. If you built your own PC, each of your individual parts have their own warranties and return policies, usually covering you for anywhere from 2-3 years. With prebuilt gaming PCs, this span of time is usually lowered to 1-2 years.

Console Warranty and Repairs

All three mainstream consoles offer a 1 year warranty.

Repairs are… fuzzier. You’re definitely allowed to upgrade your internal drives (at least on PS5 and Xbox Series– on Switch, you’re limited to an SD card), and until recently all console manufacturers restricted you from making your own repairs. After a notice from the FTC, Sony and Nintendo now allow third-party repairs, but Microsoft will still void your warranty unless they’re the ones responsible.

We think it’s fair to say that PC wins here, especially self-built PCs.

PC vs Console Gaming: Control Methods

What can you use to play your games? How many options do you have?

Console Control Methods

Console control methods are limited to the current-generation controllers for those consoles and, occasionally, fleeting mouse and keyboard support. There are a few exceptions to the current-generation rule– for instance, the GameCube controller will soon be usable on the Nintendo Switch– but these are few and far between.

PC Control Methods

All of the above, plus the past generation controllers, and honestly just… just about anything you can think of. People on PC have figured out how to beat Dark Souls with an Xbox 360 Rock Band Guitar for god’s sake.

PC vs Console Gaming: Accessibility

Now, let’s talk accessibility. We’re going to tackle accessibility on two fronts here: software and hardware.

Console Accessibility

Software-wise, console has a definite advantage in accessibility. You don’t need to worry about driver installs or game patching or anything like that– you plug, you play, you occasionally have to download updates. There is almost nothing between you and the game, from a software perspective, when you’re playing on console.

Hardware-wise is a different story. Most console games don’t offer the ability to rebind in-game controls (you can remap OS-wide controls in PS5 and Xbox Series accessibility settings, but there is no way to apply these per-game), and neither Nintendo offer adaptive controllers for disabled gamers. Xbox does, though, with the Xbox Adaptive Controller… which can also be used on PC! Even Sony is doing on enow.

PC Accessibility

Software-wise… PC loses, hard. Even in the best case scenarios, you’re still going to eventually need to tweak and fix something. That’s the price of PC’s variety and freedom: a lot of extra tweaking.

Hardware-wise, PC wins. In addition to the Xbox Adaptive Controller, almost every PC game out there offers control rebindings, and you can really play with… well, just about anything.

PC vs Console Gaming: Final Verdict

Let’s wrap this up.

Pricing

• Winner: Used PC Hardware
• Runner-Up: Used Consoles

Exclusive Games

• Winner: N/A (personal taste)

VR Gaming

• Winner: PC (power), PSVR (price)

Upgradability

• Winner: PC
• Runner-Up: PlayStation and Xbox Tie

Backwards Compatibility

• Winner: PC
• Runner-Up: Xbox

Warranty and Repairs

• Winner: PC
• Runner-Up: Nintendo and Sony

Control Methods

• Winner: PC
• Runner-Up: Nintendo

Accessibility

• Winner: PC (hardware), consoles (software)
• Runner-Up: Xbox (hardware), PC (software)