How does a €500 PC fare against the PS5 and Xbox Series X?
4.12.2020
Translation: machine translated
The PS5 and Xbox Series X cost 500 euros. I put together a PC for the same money to find out how much performance is available. Little, very little.
Comparing consoles and PCs is not easy. Consoles are heavily subsidised. On the one hand, Sony and Microsoft receive a share of every game sold on their platform. On the other hand, they pay lower prices for their specially designed hardware than if you were to buy an off-the-shelf equivalent. That's why it's a bit unfair to expect the same performance for the same money. On the other hand, as a customer, you may not care. Money is money. With this in mind: let's see how much PC you can get for 500 euros.
What do the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S offer?
Let's first take a look at what the console competition has to offer. Sony and Microsoft rely on very similar hardware. Both are AMD systems with eight-core processors, Navi graphics chips and fast SSDs, which ensure extremely short loading times. This allows the PS5 and Series X to display games in up to UHD resolution at up to 120 fps. The Series S aims for 120 fps at 1440p.
Console specifications [[table:2849]]
500 euros is pretty damn little
By far the hardest part of this test is finding components that don't break the budget. My goal is to get as close as possible to the hardware template of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Every euro counts. An AMD Ryzen 3 3100 and a GTX 1650 form the heart of the system, but a Super is not an option. I also have to limit myself to 8 GB of RAM. Together with the graphics card, that's 12 GB. Of course, it can't be used together like on the consoles and it's still 4 GB less. But more is not possible.
There is also a 960 GB SSD, which is more than the PS5 has to offer. The board is the Mini-ITX MSI A320-A Pro and the case is the inconspicuous Aerocool CS-102. A 420 W power supply unit from LC-Power should be enough to power it all.
Everything together cost exactly 493 euros when I placed my order on 23 November. That might even have been enough for an SSD holder, because the case doesn't have one. Or a mouse and keyboard, which I also "did without" when putting it together.
After assembling and installing Windows 10 (not included in the price), the first thing you notice is the noise level. Even in normal operation, the fans can be heard. A few dB more when gaming. No jet start like a PS4, but clearly audible without headphones. No comparison to the almost silent PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Games benchmark
An exact direct comparison of gaming performance between consoles and PC is very difficult. After all, you can't make the same settings on the consoles. Games usually run in dynamic resolution on consoles. This means you don't get a constant 3840 x 2160 pixels, but the resolution fluctuates - as in Assassin's Creed Valhalla - between 1188p and 1656p. Furthermore, it is also not possible to determine the exact level of graphic detail at which the consoles play. In the past, it was usually somewhere between medium and high. Now simply with ray tracing activated. Unfortunately, the GTX 1650 in the 500-euro PC does not support the latter. I therefore carried out the tests without this feature, but in different resolutions and levels of detail, in order to be able to make the best possible comparison.
| 2160p, Medium | 2160p, High | 2160p, Ultra, HDR | 1440p High, HDR | 1080p, Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borderlands 3 | 21 fps | 9 fps | 7 fps | 22 fps | 33 fps |
| Watch Dogs Legion | 19 fps | 13 fps | crash | 33 fps | 35 fps* |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | 26 fps | 24 fps | 17 fps | 40 fps | 22 fps |
| Call of Duty Cold War | 2 fps | crash | crash | 28 fps | 50 fps |
| Fortnite | 130 fps | 79 fps | 10 fps** | 84 fps** | 62 fps |
As expected, the Ryzen 3100 in combination with the GTX 1650 does not make any great leaps in performance. The graphics card in particular really starts to sweat, even in Full HD. Only Fortnite can actually be played properly in UHD. In all other titles, the framedrops are far too strong for gaming to be fun. 120 fps is also only possible with less demanding games such as Epic's Battle Royale long-runner, but even then only with medium details at best. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is at least a respectable success at 1440p. This means that the budget PC - with reservations - at least beats the cheaper Series S, which only manages 30 fps, but delivers ray tracing.
Some particularly demanding titles such as Call of Duty Cold War or Watch Dogs Legion crashed in the UHD test. I suspect it was due to the low graphics memory, which at 4 GB doesn't offer nearly enough resources for so many pixels.
The Ryzen processor can keep up well with most games and the SSD ensures pleasantly short loading times, which are comparable to the consoles.
Conclusion: No chance
The result is not surprising, but the test was certainly impressive. It is a real challenge to put together a PC that is even remotely comparable to the new consoles - for 500 euros. Although you get a usable device that can run even the latest and most demanding games, the box is a long way from the splendour of detail with ray tracing and UHD resolution of the Xbox Series X or PS5. And the PC is not quiet either.
The test makes it clear how much performance you get with a console for the same price. And in a much more compact and elegant case.
After testing a PC that costs as much as a Nextgen console, I'm building a machine that does just as much. One thing up front: it will be significantly more expensive than 500 euros. <p
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch
