PC is really the only place where you get super high end framerates+resolution+graphics-fidelity combinations. It's only really cost effective if you upgrade slowly—a new cpu here, a new GPU there, amortizing the costs over the years. And the nvidia xx80/xx90 models are never the ones you'd buy if you are trying to be cost-effective. They are high end damn-the-money-just-give-me-all-the-graphics cards.
[1] maybe back in the era where the PS3 was $600, but even then a xbox 360 was cheaper and mostly just as good fidelity-wise.
Roughly the same time as the 360 era I built a PC for uni, and the extra cost to get console-beating parts (and adding in that PC games were cheaper or pirated) was way better value.
Now Im not sure what I would do in the same position, a laptop and console costs significantly less than a PC that even matches it, and unis mostly stopped having any focus on CAD
No it doesn't. An RTX 3060 brand new is under $500. So is a 6700 XT. If we're talking used, RTX 2060's are $200.
Now, are consoles cheaper if all you care about is playing games and nothing else? Sure. But that's always been true. Usually the pro-PC argument is either because you want the flexiblity of PC gaming (that is, your games last longer, you've got things like steam sales, mod support, you want better-than-console quality & performance, etc...), or you already were going to have a PC at which point take the money you would have spent on a console and just add it to the PC in the form of a GPU. In a world of increasingly fewer PCs as a household item, being replaced with laptops & phones, that's less true than it used to be. But ymmv.
> With GamePass (currently $1 first month), I get instant access to a large library of games.
You get that on PC, too https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass/pc-game-pass
Yeah, but as far as I know that requires making your Windows login a Microsoft account, and frankly I'd rather risk giving piracy malware. I already pay for Game Pass Ultimate but I've long since excised Microsoft's tentacles from my desktop.
What's not computing for you?
PC Part Picker doesn't seem to think so: https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/#X=0,70000&sort=price
Console optimizations these days is mostly just dialing in the settings & using liberal amounts of up-scaling (which the PC versions also often support, but is disabled by default)
For perspective, a PS5 is about the performance of a GTX 1070, give or take. So a 3080/4080 are far far better performance than that.
If you already have PC parts, you could potentially upgrade to a 3060Ti for $400 (minus whatever you can sell your current GPU for) and get better perf than a console.
Otherwise, you're right. Starting from scratch, consoles are a better value, unless you really really want the best performance.
I don't mean to sound ignorant, but how is any GPU comparable to a console.
For $500, I can get: a Series X and a controller, ready to play out of the box. With GamePass (currently $1 first month), I get instant access to a large library of games.
A current GPU (20, 30, or 40 -series) costs more than that, and I also need to purchase the additional components to put it all together.
I built a PC in college because it used to be the most cost effective option. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. These 40-series prices will define the cost for the next generation of cards, and IMO its too much to justify for casual gaming.