When Sony announced the $700 PS5 Pro, the company reignited debates between PC and console gamers. The high price of the new console caused PC gamers to laud the value presented by PCs and some shoppers who had never considered a gaming PC to consider the option. Curious to see if there were gaming PC comparable to the PS5 Pro within the same price range, I dove into the web. While the PS5 Pro and the following gaming PCs have strengths and weaknesses, I believe the real cost of the PS5 Pro is reason to give the following systems a long look.
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PS5 Pro vs gaming PC
Each of the gaming PCs above has a higher price than the sticker price of the PS5 Pro, but I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. Sony is charging $30 for a stand for the PS5 Pro. Each of the gaming PCs highlighted here can stand up without additional hardware. A disc drive for the PS5 Pro also costs $80. Of course, none of the gaming here have a disc drive, but I’d argue that physical media is more relevant when console gaming than when PC gaming.
Console gaming also comes with hidden costs, such as PSN subscription, which is needed if you want to play multiplayer games online. I know that subscription comes with other perks, but a lot of people only get it to play online with their friends. If you get a PS5 Pro with a disc drive, a stand, and a year of PSN, you’re looking at $890 for the first year. That price doesn’t account for the fact that PC games are often discounted more heavily than console games.
Of course, there are ways that a console is better than a gaming PC. If PC gaming were universally better than console gaming, consoles wouldn’t be so popular. The PCs I’ve listed here will play many of the best PC games at respectable frame rates and resolutions, but they aren’t going to deliver the 4K performance the PS5 Pro can.
If all of your friends are on PlayStation and you want to play with them, it’s probably worth picking up one of Sony’s consoles rather than a gaming PC. Cross play across platforms exists for some titles but is far from universal.
The elephant in the room, as is often the case when comparing PlayStation with anything, is games. PlayStation gets exclusive titles on a regular basis, many of which are enough by themselves to get people to purchase a PlayStation over an Xbox or PC. Even though some of those games, such as Spider-Man Remastered, God of War, and Ghost of Tsushima, became available on PC eventually, the best games are often day-one exclusives to PlayStation.
For a large number of people, a gaming PC will provide a better overall experience and come at a better price than a PS5 Pro. Sony introducing a console with such a high price makes the console vs PC argument more worth having than ever.
