Current Events > How/Why is PC gaming so popular?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Probably all already said but:

Larger library access due to both Sony and Microsoft releasing their console exclusive content on PC, and a lot of 3rd party AAA support

Free online

Can often be cheaper than a console itself

And this goes understated IMO but the ability to downscale a game's settings to play on older hardware with good performance. Best example for myself is when Mortal Kombat X came out and I didn't have a PS4. My PC at the time was weaker than a PS4 but I was able to downscale the settings to something like a PS3 and still keep a solid 60fps.

Kamil posted...

^ Ah Trumble cool. I still mostly took all integrated graphics being as mostly trash still. I just wanted at least a graphics card in my rig. Going with this gaming laptop probably wasn't the best idea but it was a great price and I didn't need to get a new screen and tower to take advantage of the today age.

I still haven't really played anything intense on it. It was funny to see a indie game run on Ultra to me though.

Youll be able to get higher graphics quality out of a discrete GPU, so its definitely not a waste. It just isnt mandatory if budget and/or form factor preferences rule it out, anymore. Likewise for laptops vs desktops; you can push a desktop further than a laptop but a laptop is still more than enough to play your games these days.

For context, the iGPU in a Ryzen 7840U, 8840U or Z1 Extreme is about on par with a (desktop) GTX 1660 in terms of raw power. The latest generation mobile Ryzen 9 has an even more powerful one.

EDIT: I should also note that while good iGPUs are becoming close to universal on laptops (at least on the AMD side), its still only a few specific CPUs on the desktop side. Ryzen 7 8700G is the best choice there if you want to rely on iGPU.

Mid-range builds from 2020 are still stronger than the PS5 Pro.

And a mid-range circa-2020 PC Build today would be way cheaper than back then, and way cheaper than a PS5 Pro