People have been debating the merits of PC and console gaming almost since the very beginning of the industry.
The earliest consoles like the Atari VCS (2600) obviously lagged behind computers such as the Apple II. And the advanced graphics of later computers like the Amiga were far ahead of consoles at the time.
But things changed around the time of the Dreamcast. Suddenly gamers could enjoy online gaming and advanced 3D graphics on both console and PC.
Move ahead to the present day and many people who are ready to upgrade to the next generation of gaming platforms find themselves wondering which option is best.
And if you’re wondering whether you should sell your PS4 to buy a gaming PC you’ll soon have your answer.
Should I Sell My PS4 and Buy a Gaming PC?
The question of console Vs. PC gaming may well occur most often among PlayStation 4 owners.
The PlayStation 5 has had a difficult release cycle. Everything from console availability to game selection has posed some serious issues.
Meanwhile, many former console exclusives are showing up on PC. People who’d normally stick with Sony are often considering just how much they’ll need to put up with in order to do so.
One of the first points to consider is price. A PlayStation 5 generally sells for around $500. But the cost of a gaming PC is a lot harder to pin down.
One of the biggest questions is whether you’re willing to essentially put it together yourself. You can save a considerable amount of money by buying the processor, graphics card, motherboard, and other PC components separately.
And there’s a fairly good chance you might even be able to upgrade your non-gaming PC rather than starting from scratch.
However, putting together a gaming PC by yourself typically requires more expertise than most would assume. But it does provide you with an unprecedented level of flexibility.
And when you put together a PC you’ve essentially freed yourself from the worst parts of the gaming upgrade cycle.
After you’ve successfully built a gaming PC you’ll have the skills needed to simply upgrade individual components rather than needing to buy an entire gaming rig on a regular basis.
Likewise, putting together a PC yourself gives you the option of buying used components to save money.
Cost
Unfortunately, money is going to be one of the biggest issues when considering an upgrade from the PS4 to a PC rather than a PS5.
The PlayStation 5 is a remarkable piece of engineering. It’s true that you absolutely can build or buy a gaming PC that performs considerably better. But doing so is going to cost you.
Even a PC with fairly comparable performance to a PS5 will usually cost considerably more. In general a pre-built gaming PC tends to run about twice the cost of a PlayStation 5.
And while you can save a significant amount of money by building a gaming PC rather than buying one pre-built, it’ll still usually be more expensive than a PlayStation 5. At the same time though, PC gaming does tend to have more chances to save money.
Steam sales in particular are both predictable events and come with massive discounts on almost everything other than the most recent releases.
And older games tend to be far cheaper on PC than console even outside the context of sales. And once you own a game on PC you own it forever.
Games Compatibility and Variety
There’s seldom any need to purchase ports or HD remasters on PC just to maintain compatibility with games you’ve already bought in the past.
At this point it might seem like a gaming PC just isn’t worth it. But there are a wide variety of benefits to gaming PCs.
One of the biggest is the previously mentioned upgrade cycle. The PS5 does have compatibility with the PS4. But cross-generation compatibility is always a roll of the dice.
It’s more common for consoles to lack compatibility with the previous generation than to have it. But that’s far from the case for gaming PCs.
A gaming PC that you put together today will generally provide full compatibility with games ranging back to the 1980s.
Sometimes you’ll need to tinker a bit to get older games working on modern PCs. But it’s generally quite rare for a game to just plain not work on newer hardware.
There’s almost always a patch, setting, or compatibility mode that can fix up even the most glitchy games from the past.
Modding
And this type of tinkering is far from isolated to old games. Modding is another one of the huge benefits that come with a gaming PC.
More popular franchises like Fallout or Elder Scrolls typically have a wealth of mods. Some mods can upgrade graphics to make them look far better than any official HD remaster ever would. Others can add a huge amount of extra content including quests and companions.
Graphics and Gaming Experience
PC gaming tends to provide superior graphics if you’re willing to pay for that premium experience. And it can deliver freedom from the normal upgrade cycle if you’re willing to learn about how the PC functions internally.
And finally, it gives you a huge amount of options to play or modify games from the entire history of gaming as a whole. But, again, doing so will usually involve a little extra tinkering.
The general rule of PC gaming is that you can have a superior gaming experience with it. But doing so usually requires a little extra.
This could mean extra effort to tinker with modding, or extra money to get the best video card or pre-built PC.
PC gaming isn’t an inherently superior option as the benefits are primarily tied to subjective preferences. But if you really enjoy exploring gaming options and don’t mind a little tinkering then PC gaming really can’t be beaten.
Selling PS4 for a PC: The Pros
- Freedom from console upgrade cycle
- Higher level of backward compatibility
- Mods
- Frequent sales on older games
- More flexibility and variety of games
- Better overall gaming experience
Selling PS4 for a PC: The Cons
- Gaming PCs are usually more expensive than a comparable console
- Managing hardware is far more complex
- Many older games might require extra tinkering to run
How Much Should I Sell My PS4 For?
At this point you might be thinking about how much you can shave off the price of a gaming PC by selling your PS4.
After all, the PlayStation 4 Pro went for about $400 at launch. Unfortunately, the resale value of the PlayStation 4 went down considerably with the announcement of the PlayStation 5.
You’ll usually see a lot of variation on resale prices for any console. But in general a PlayStation 4 sells for around $170. While a 2 TB PlayStation 4 Pro typically sells for around $325.
Can I Sell My PS4 to GameStop?
GameStop is a solid option when selling game consoles. It has the benefit of offering set, predictable, cash values for your sale. And there’s none of the work and waiting in trying to track down a buyer.
However, GameStop also has the downside of paying less than what you could probably find if you were using eBay or otherwise selling person to person without a middleman.
For example, GameStop will buy a standard PlayStation 4 for around $70.40 and a 2TB PlayStation 4 Pro for around $167.20.
