This is a question that has plagued gamers ever since computer gaming became a thing. Do I spend £2000 on this beast of a battlestation and play games in ultra-high detail, or do I spend a fraction of the amount and get a games console? Let’s have a discussion.

In this day and age, the games console is a far more popular choice when deciding how to game. But there are downfalls to making the choice. Do you just want to game or do you want to have the ability to be productive? Do you prefer playing with a controller over a keyboard and mouse? How much money do you have? There’s so much to take into consideration. Luckily for you, I’m here to explore the options for you so you don’t have too.

I’m purely going to be making a comparison between the PS4 Pro and a computer system that is also able to support 4K gaming. I will also be assuming you already have a monitor or TV that can support 4K. Not already having a 4K display can completely change it being worth going for something that is capable of those resolutions. If you’re not worried about how the game looks and you just want to play games, the answer is obvious, a second-hand original PS4 or slim will give you exactly what you want. The first thing to do is to work out your budget. If your money only stretches to a few hundred pounds, then the answer is pretty simple. A second-hand PS4 Pro can be found relatively cheaply if you look in the right places.

Cash Converters is a good place to keep checking. Otherwise, your local CEX or independent trade in store may have a console at a decent price. I would suggest avoiding Game; their focus is no longer on being a place that games can be bought and traded – They’re more about gaming apparel and merchandise now. While they still do consoles and game trade-ins, they have the worst rates for buying things off you and then charge more than anywhere else when buying from them.

If you have the ability to save up a little money or have more available to you, a Gaming PC may be a good idea. There are many benefits other than just being able to play games when you own a computer. You can be productive with the hardware which can even out the value of the cost. Of course though, the primary way to play games on a PC is with a keyboard and mouse. You can use a controller but you will be at an immediate disadvantage by not being able to be as precise with your movement. If you already feel confident playing on keyboard and mouse then the issue isn’t there.

One of the other benefits of a PC is that there is a bigger range of games that can be played, a style of game that isn’t popular on consoles are Real Time Strategy games. These are games that generally involve interacting with lots of individual objects or items; being able to select groups of characters or objects just isn’t possible to be made elegant when using a controller. That being said, consoles have a major selling point, especially the PS4; exclusives. Games that are only available on the PS4 like God of War, Spiderman, and The Last of Us; games that have incredible stories and look incredible as well – Especially with the power of the PS4 Pro being able to push these games at 4K while still holding a stable framerate. If you haven’t played these games yet, they are 100% worth getting a PS4 Pro for.

So to sum it all up, in my personal opinion, if your purely wanting to game, I wouldn’t build a PC. I would get a PS4 Pro – Value wise, its way cheaper for what you get out of it… But I am also a computer enthusiast; I love the tech behind everything and enjoy playing with the hardware. Just the idea of building a computer excites me (Nerd alert), so I can see the reasoning for going the other route.