Sony’s PlayStation 5 has been selling like hot cakes since it was released back in 2020. With a whopping 10 TFLOPs of raw compute, the PS5 is a gaming beast that has been producing some amazing visuals in current-gen releases, both first-party and third-party alike.
There’s always been this notion about a console being a much cheaper alternative than the PC in gaming circles, how exactly how big is that margin right now? To answer this question, we will try to build a PC that’s just as powerful as the PS5 in an effort to find that out.
Note: Prices mentioned are as of the time of writing and may change.
Ryzen 5 5600X
Starting things off with the CPU, the PS5 comes with a CPU based on the Zen 2 based architecture running on 8 cores and 16 threads at a variable frequency that can reach speeds up to 3.5 GHz. The last generation of consoles really struggled with having strong single-threaded performance, but Sony has catered to those criticisms this time, providing developers with a more well-rounded experience with solid performance across all parameters.
AMD’s advancements in this space also extend to the PC sector, and the Ryzen 5 5600X is the perfect example of that. It has fewer cores with 6 physical and 12 logical units, but the frequency is increased up to 3.7 GHz with a boost clock up to 4.6 GHz. The Ryzen 5 5600X is based on the newer Zen 3 architecture, so the cores are also more efficient than Sony’s offerings. With this choice, we can expect comparable performance, and overclocking also helps in making a more future-proof chip. It retails for around $202 on Amazon.
RX 6650 XT
The GPU is the beating heart of any gaming system, and the PS5 sports a great GPU that’s integrated with the CPU to render some truly stunning results. Built on the RDNA2 architecture, the PS5’s graphics core has 36 compute units running at 2.23 GHz, totalling about 10 TFLOPs of raw compute. One of the biggest advancements over the last generation of consoles is the addition of hardware-accelerated ray-tracing and upscaling solutions that makes rendering at higher output resolutions a lot easier.
For our system, we’re going with the RX 6650 XT, which features 32 compute units running at up to 2.2 GHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. While it’s slightly below the PS5 in a few areas, it still offers hardware-accelerated ray tracing and supports FidelityFX Super Resolution to help boost performance. It retails for around $286 on Amazon.
RAM: Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz CL16
The PS5 comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM, and the resources are shared between the CPU and the GPU depending on the requirements of the games. It’s not a lot by modern standards, but a combination of hardware and software optimizations makes for some solid performance in a wide array of scenarios.
For our PC build, we will be dedicating an entire 16 GB of DDR4 memory to the system because that kind of optimization isn’t possible for this platform. Ryzen CPUs generally perform a lot better when paired with high-speed RAM, so we are going to go with a 3200 MHz kit, which should also help our case – and going dual channel instead of one should also be advantageous. As per Walmart, the Kingston Fury RAM kit is priced at $42.
SSD: 1TB WD SN770
One of the biggest upgrades that PS5 has provided over the last generation has to be in terms of storage. Swapping out the HDD in favour of a PCI-e 4.0 SSD has provided a big jump in load times, significantly reducing the friction in loading a game while also opening new avenues for developers to just use the SSD for the assets instead of storing everything on the RAM.
To match the performance of the PS5 as well as ensure maximum compatibility with current-gen games, we are going to be making use of the WD SN770 which is also of the PCI e 4.0 kind that also provides comparable results. We could cheap out a little and opt for a slower or lower capacity drive (you could still do that if you are operating on a tight budget), but for the sake of authenticity, we will not be making any compromises. Priced at just $70 on Amazon, the SSD is great value for money.
Thermaltake Smart BX1 650W Bronze
One of the most important aspects of a PC build has to be the power supply. Always ensure that the power supply is bronze or gold rated, has enough juice to power up your components while having some watts to spare, and comes from a reputed brand. The Thermaltake Smart BX1 650W checks all these boxes without breaking the bank, which is why it finds itself on the list. You can find the Thermaltake Smart BX1 retailing for around $67 on Amazon.
NZXT H510
The NZXT H510 is a great choice for a case simply because it is compact, sleek and stylish – and most of all, quite affordable. You could always spring up for a better-looking or more spacious case with better lighting options, but we like to prefer function over form – so this is going to be our choice for now. It comes for around $85 on Amazon.
ASUS TUF Gaming B550-Plus WiFi
The ASUS TUF Gaming B550-Plus WiFi is going to house all of our components. Much like the power supply, it’s also important to invest in a motherboard from a reputable brand that ensures compatibility with all of our parts. It supports the AM4 slot and the Ryzen 5000 series right out of the box, features a PCIe 4.0 slot for storage, and has 3 memory channels, ensuring future proofing in case you want to add another stick later down the line. The ASUS TUF is avaiable on Amazon for $149.
LG WH14NS40 Internal Blu-ray Drive
If you’re building a PC that matches the PS5 in media support, this drive gets the job done. It plays Blu-ray discs, supports BDXL and M-DISC, and fits easily into any standard case like the NZXT H510. This retails for 92 USD on Amazon. You can obviously skip this if you are opting for a digital only library.
PlayStation 5 DualSense
For the controller, we are going to go with PlayStation 5 DualSense simply to replicate the playing experience on the PC. In addition to being a solid controller in and of itself, the DualSense also features enhanced haptics, which help elevate the player experience by a significant margin. There are plenty of great games that support the DualSense and its haptics, and it’s obviously a must-have for the sake of authenticity. It comes for around $75 on Amazon, depending on the colour options.
OS: Windows 11 Home (64-bit)
Additionally, we are also going to need a copy of Windows 11 64-bit for our system. It comes for $139, and having to invest so much in an operating system is going to widen the gap between the price of the PC and console by a significant margin but we have to do what we must.
Keyboard And Mouse: Redragon S107 Gaming Keyboard & Mouse
And of course, we would also need a keyboard and mouse for our day-to-day operations and playing games that are not suited for a controller. The Redragon S10 Gaming Keyboard and Mouse combo helps build a complete gaming aesthetic with its RGB lighting, and the quality of those individual components is also quite decent for the price. All in all, it should serve its purpose quite well for a measly price of just $34 on Amazon.
HDMI Cable: Monoprice 8K Certified HDMI 2.1 Cable 3.
The PlayStation 5 also comes with an 8K supported HDMI 2.1 cable, so we will have to factor in the cost of its equivalent as well. For our purposes, we will be going with the Monoprice 8K Certified HDMI 2.1 cable which comes at around $10 on Amazon.
Conclusion
Circling back to the original point made at the start, building a PC by yourself is always going to be a lot more expensive than buying a console. Even manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft sell the hardware at a loss, and turn profits through subscription services and software sales. The total cost of this setup comes to $1,159 for a digital only library or $1,251 if you want a Blu Ray player as well. For context, the PS5 Slim Digital Edition retails for 450 USD and the disc drive version costs 500 USD.
What many viewers might find curious is the fact that this is quite a bit more expensive than our build from 2023, and there are several reasons for this. We also included the exact pricings of Windows 11, DualSense controller, Blu-Ray player, and a better keyboard mouse combo which can quickly add up and spike our total cost.
It would definitely outperform the PS5 in certain scenarios, but in many cases it would continue to provide comparable performance as we move towards the latter half of the generation and developers start to truly squeeze the compute of these consoles.
