The PC Master Race is taking heat after the release of the PlayStation 5, with its fire blazing specs sheet. Here’s how you can fight back with a custom PC build that is as powerful, if not more, than the next-generation gaming consoles.
The release of next-generation gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony is always an anticipated event. The Sony PlayStation 5 is poised to be the killer gaming machine with all the firepower to take on high-graphic game titles at Ultra-HD screen resolution. Already up for pre-orders, the Sony PS5 comes with a price tag of $499.99 to rival, not just the Xbox Series X, but PC gaming machines as well.
Heavily betting on earning back the hardware cost from the PlayStation Plus membership seems to be the end-game for Sony. It is an undeniable truth that the $500 price tag makes the SSD-driven powerful gaming console a low-hanging fruit for most. However, the subjugation that comes with a gaming console might be too much for you to bear, especially when you can enjoy the freedom of PC gaming at almost the same cost.
Sony PlayStation 5 Specs
Before we dive into the guide to building your very own PS5 rivaling gaming PC, here’s what you need to know about the hardware that Sony has packed into its 2024 gaming console:
- The octa-core processor is designed after the new AMD Zen 2 architecture rests at the core of the PS5. It is similar to the latest Ryzen 7 3700X chipset.
- Combined with a GPU using Navi architecture, somewhere around 8GB of GDDR6 graphics memory is expected, identical to the PS4 Pro, and uses the XTREME BANDWIDTHZ memory architecture.
- Considering that the PlayStation 4 Pro generates a gross graphic power of 4.2TFLOPS, the new PS5 could offer a dual performance, like the AMD RX 5700. The PS5 also drops the HDD storage to bring in a 1TB NVMe SSD storage drive.
Guide: PC PS5 Build to Rival the PS5
The $499.99 price of the PlayStation 5 is hard to match when building a custom gaming PC. Buying each part separately would always cost more to you as the consumer than it would to a billion-dollar company that grabs them in bulk orders. However, the advantage of a gaming PC and the freedom that comes with is why you’re considering one in the first place, and here’s the hardware you’ll need to build one:
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor
Although the Ryzen 7 series is expected to drop in price with the release of the next-gen Zen 3 architecture, it will be overkill when comparing to the PS5. The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with an overclock speed of 4.2GHz with the 6-core multi-thread processor and should exceed the performance of the PlayStation 5.
GPU: PowerColor AMD Radeon RED Dragon RX 580 8GB DDR5
The custom Navi-based CPU has us all guessing the capacity of the PS5 GPU, but going with the current trends, the AMD Radeon RX 580 would do the trick. If you had more room in the budget, we would recommend the upgraded RX 590 instead for better performance on a 4K monitor, but the 8GB DDR5 should hold well on 1080p and even 1440p resolution monitors.
RAM: XPG Z1 DDR4 3000MHz 16GB Memory
The gaming-oriented brand from ADATA should supply you with plenty of system memory with the 16GB RAM. The copper-infused design not only keeps the system cool with better heat dissipation but should also look cool if you have an open chassis.
Motherboard: Asus Prime B450M-A/CSM Motherboard
The base for all the hardware should be backed by a recognizable brand like Asus, which provides a slimmed-down Micro ATX motherboard that can accommodate the third-generation Ryzen 5 chipset.
Storage: ADATA SU635 480GB SATA SDD
Despite being slower than the NVMe technology SSD on the Sony PS5, the ADATA 480GB SSD should give you reading speeds of up to 500MB/s. We recommend that you install an SSD to host the operating system and primary software files, along with a relatively cheap HDD for the game files.
PC PS5 Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L
Built to support the standard Micro ATX motherboards, this particular chassis from Cooler Master comes with a perforated design with plenty of ventilation, and an acrylic side panel to showcase that gorgeous hardware inside.
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart 600W PSU
There’s nothing too special about the PSU from Thermaltake which comes with a standard industrial design. However, it does a decent job of keeping the system powered up with 600W, which is more than the operational requirement.
Final Words
The final cost of the entire PC PS5 build comes out to around $650, which is a bit over what the Sony PlayStation 5 would set you back. The gaming build above isn’t going to let you play at 120Hz frame rate at 4K resolution. As of right now, it is yet to be determined if the PS5 can either, at least for the more graphics-intensive titles. The benefit to building your own is over time you can add or remove components to fit your needs without having to go out and purchase a whole new system. We believe that this can be an idea worth entertaining for anyone who is serious about gaming.
If this is outside your budget then maybe look at some other additions to your gaming setup (Controllers, Monitors, and Routers) to help improve your gameplay at a more easily manageable price range