PCs vs Consoles For Online Gaming (Which Is Better?)

PCs and consoles have been at war for a longest time, and even though they are both ultimately serve the same purpose, they are constantly put against each other in terms of which one is better than the other. The comparisons have been around for the longest time and just don’t end.

One such comparison is the PCs vs Consoles for online gaming are something that people ask us about all the time, and in this post, we are going to make things easier for you by looking at all the options and that too, without any confusion that might come the way.

So, let’s not waste time and start looking at all the ways both gaming systems can be compared, and which one comes out on top. Let’s have a look.

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PCs vs Consoles: The Pros & Cons

To make things easier for you, we are going to start the comparison in perhaps the simplest way, and that is by comparing the pros and cons of both the PCs and consoles.

running modern warfare 2019 on ps4 — Credits: Fabio Magalhaes

I do understand that this might not be something that is on your mind, but hey, it wouldn’t hurt if you were looking at this in the first place.

Even though the decision is, in most cases, entirely subjective, our readers prefer if they have a proper understanding of what they should be doing and what they should be avoiding.

Below are some of the pros of having a PC.

Easy upgradeability
Limitless customization
Massive library of games
Most of the exclusives are now on PC, with more to come
Can do more than just play games
Free online gaming
Extensive peripheral support

As far as the cons are concerned, you can see some of them listed below for your convenience.

Upgrades can be expensive
Exclusives take a long time to release
Needs advanced knowledge to build a PC or troubleshoot

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There you have it; the pros and cons of PCs have been listed above. You can see that the pros alone easily outweigh the cons and for all the right reasons, too. So you won’t be facing any issues.

Now that we are done with the PC, we can move to the consoles and look at all the pros that you can get.

Inexpensive at retail
Simply plug and play
Great quality of exclusives
No upgrading needed

As far as the cons are concerned, let’s have a look at them.

You’ll have to pay separately for the multiplayer
No customization possible
Games don’t always run at the best possible performance
The game library is not as extensive

PCs vs Consoles: Performance, Durability, Flexibility

Moving on, we are going to start looking at the performance, durability, and flexibility when it comes to PCs and consoles.

You would be surprised that the answer is a lot easier than you might think, but still, we are going to look into what you are getting your hands on.

running cod cold war on pc — Credits: Amr Taha

For starters, the great thing about PC is that the performance is as good as you want it to be. If you are looking for the highest PC, you will have that option, and you will be more than happy to know that performance is never a concern on the PC.

Moving onto durability, PCs are generally more durable and are a lot easier to troubleshoot. Considering how you can replace every single part on your own once you have diagnosed what’s wrong, it barely is an issue.

Last but not least, flexibility is another great thing with PCs, as you can use your PC for a lot of things, including writing something like this.

For consoles, you do get good performance, durability, and flexibility enough to deliver a serviceable experience, but it is not at all something that is consistently there, therefore, you should keep that in mind before going forward.

There is nothing wrong with all of this, but the more you know about this, the better.

PCs vs Consoles: Ease-of-use And Membership Pricing

Another important thing that you have to understand whenever you are going for the PCs vs consoles debate is the fact that both gaming systems, although they serve the same purpose, the way they service their users is slightly different, to be honest. It all comes down to the experience and how it works for different people.

For PCs, you are looking at perhaps the most ease-of-use experience as far as gaming is concerned. For starters, you just have to buy the game you want, download it, and start playing.

For the membership fee, you are not required to pay for anything other than the game itself. If the game has multiplayer, you are free to play it.

On the other hand, the ease of access on the consoles is the same, but there is a membership fee that you will have to pay for in order to play online.

This, of course, isn’t applicable to games that are exempt from this, but for the most part, you are going to have to pay a membership fee.

PCs have come a long, long way in terms of the overall experience they provide and have easily become a great choice for those who want the best experience.

PCs vs Consoles: Game Options And AAA Exclusives

Next up, we are going to focus on the game options along with AAA exclusives or offerings.

After all, when you are paying a hefty price for either of these gaming systems, you would want to have the best experience going for you, and without either of that, there is not really a point in getting anything, right?

PCs have a massive library of games that is ready to play for you. You can find any game you want on any store of your choice, pay for it, and start playing without any issues that might otherwise plague your experience considering how we are talking about consoles as a unified term and not a specific console.

The same can be said about consoles. As long as you have the console for it, any game that you want can be played without any issues.

Moving onto the AAA exclusives, consoles still get these before anyone else does but considering the success of Sony exclusives on PC, these exclusives have slowly started making their way to the PC, but the release is never day-one, and it takes some time to finally become available.

PCs vs Consoles: Upgradability & Backwards Compatibility

We are now looking into the upgradeability and backwards compatibility when it comes to either PCs or consoles.

After all, if you are about to spend your money, you would want to know just how far your money is going to take you in terms of performance and overall experience.

Not to forget, the idea of backwards compatibility is a godsend for anyone who is looking for some retro gaming.

With that said, PCs are the best when it comes to upgradeability because you will get the chance of being certain that you are getting the best experience you possibly can.

You can easily get the experience you have been looking for, and that will just work for you. Consoles, on the other hand, cannot be upgraded.

The most upgrades you can do in a console just go ahead and add more storage, but that is as far as it would go for you.

As far as the backwards compatibility is concerned, PCs are still winners here because they can run pretty much any game that was on the PC, but consoles have limitations in terms of backwards compatibility, which can cause an issue for those who want to play older games because it is not as convenient as it should be.

PCs vs Consoles: Accessibility Options

Accessibility is one thing that is very important for all gamers. After all, without a proper chance of using different hardware, or controllers, or even peripherals, a lot of gamers would just want something else entirely.

With PCs, you have limitless options for what you want to use. Everything ranges from some of the oldest and even weirdest controllers to modern-day classics, the options are truly limitless, and allow you to do whatever you wish to do without too much confusion coming in the way of your experience.

For consoles, however, it is not the case, and while that does not break the experience, PC gamers do get the chance to enjoy more because consoles are simply not getting the same limelight that they deserve, and that can often be an issue for a lot of people.

Is a gaming PC better than an Xbox?

Honestly, this is a question that we get all the time, and the answer to that is a lot simpler than you might imagine.

A gaming PC is most certainly better than Xbox, but it largely depends on what parts you are using on the PC. If the PC is made using average or entry-level parts, then the performance is not going to be the same.

Do PCs run better than consoles?

Again, this largely depends on just how well-equipped the PC is. If you are running affordable parts, you might notice a lot of performance issues as compared to something more expensive.

So, this is one thing that you must always keep in mind before spending your money on a PC. A $500 is not going to perform at the same level as a console.

Is a console or PC better for FPS?

If you are looking for something purely on the basis of how many FPS you can get, then I don’t think I can give you a better suggestion than getting your hands on a PC.

However, even then, you are going to run into a lot of factors, especially your graphics card, because if you have something that is average at best in terms of performance, then you might not get enough frames per second. But overall, PC is definitely better for FPS.

Is it worth switching from console to PC?

Considering how most exclusives are slowly making their way to the PC, it definitely is a great idea to switch from console to PC as you are going to get a much better performance overall on PC and a great experience as you would be able to take part in more than just gaming.

Do PC players have an advantage in the warzone?

If you are someone who aims better using a mouse as compared to a controller, then you clearly have an advantage. Not to forget, the higher performance is another thing that will help you a lot in terms of the gameplay experience.

Are there more PC gamers or console gamers?

Theoretically, yes. But people often forget that most PC gamers also have consoles that they regularly use, so the correct statistics are a bit tricky to understand, but in most cases, there are more PC gamers than there are console gamers.

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– My Final Verdict:

Simply put, if you have been trying to figure out if you should go for a PC or a console, that honestly depends on your budget.

If you do not have a super high budget, I would highly advise you to invest in a console because if you buy a budget-oriented PC, you might not get the same level of performance.