Why is it not possible to build a PC that delivers the same performance as a PS5 at the same cost? What are we missing?
In: Technology
Seems no one mentioned that a console has straight up less material than computers. It has fewer fans, probably fewer materials for the case (plastic/steel/other metals), smaller total PCB surface, fewer ports. It also has less memory because, unlike computers, console APUs use only GDDR. On PCs, you buy the RAM and then the GDDR is in your graphics card. This has to be so because computer software relies on normal DDR memory, which has lower latency but also less bandwidth, so it’s inadequate for graphics. AMD sold repurposed PS5/Xbox Series chips on premade boards with GDDR and they suffered from this. See here: [https://youtu.be/cZS-4PgD4SI?t=242](https://youtu.be/cZS-4PgD4SI?t=242)
Consoles still get the benefits of scale *and* subsidies, but this is on top of the efficiency they get from custom-made parts that use only the amount of material that is necessary. When they release Slim versions, the material costs is lowered further.
Computer OSs also have features that are mostly unnecessary in consoles. If the OS isn’t second-guessing the game at every turn, it will be more efficient as long as developers put time into optimization. On PC, there are so many layers between the game and the hardware that optimizations aren’t always rewarding. DirectX 12 and Vulkan were made to alleviate this problem.
TL;DR we could probably build a machine with similar cost to a console if we had APUs that could use the same memory for all tasks and this memory was fast enough. Memory would have to be soldered to the motherboard. This may happen in the future as ARM chips are already like this, but until then, PCs will always need more parts and will struggle to meet the same price point even without subsidies until later in the generation unless the console is very under powered on release or suffers from other limitations (like thermals, which is quite crazy now that the PS5 uses liquid metal).
You mean, you still can’t, 4 years after PS5 released?
Aside from bulk discounts on hardware and such that others have mentioned, a PS5 has to do one thing: play software that is written explicitly for it. A PC has to do a million things with a variety of different parts from disparate manufacturers, it has to run software that nobody has even heard of in 20 years because some textile mill’s entire operation can only be run by that software, etc. Basically there is a spectrum between specialized and general, and consoles and PCs sit on opposite ends of that spectrum. That implies trade-offs in both hardware and software, corners that can be cut on a console that wouldn’t fly on a PC.
You can get pretty close with amd
But given the consoles are all amd based and are sold at a hardware cost loss, the licensing and cut of sales are where they make the money.
So you’re not comparing like for like, if you had what the console hardware actually cost Vs it’s mrsp you’d be closer to £700 which covers a GPU fast enough to smoke the Xbox/ps5
Sony sell subscriptions. The profit from the consoles is not the main thing.
As others have said they are able to optimise through economies of scale their bottom line.
Pc usually needs a monitor (and a windows license)
That is a really good question and thank you for asking it. i will study the replies well to try to gain some insight. Thanks again
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