I converted a peasant...Observations after 4 weeks

Fire&Blood

Platinum Member
Jan 13, 2009
2,331
16
81
A little background first. About 3 years ago, I deviated from the typical gaming PC build, I went with a modest HTPC setup. I5 2400 (non K) 2x4GB 1333 MHz sticks, 520W PSU, 128GB SSD for the OS and a 7950 GPU. It served extremely well, even after driving a 1440p monitor with it.

A good friend of mine wanted to get into PC gaming for a long time but couldn't afford a proper PC setup, since he was starting from scratch. He tried to build one a few years ago, even bought a few components but ultimately failed to secure the budget for the most expensive parts. His girlfriend goes on shopping sprees that sabotage his effort to build the PC or just save up money. Eventually he just gave up and sold the parts, doesn't make enough money so it was easier for him to get a 360 even though the 360 and xbox live ended up costing more all these years, he got the console soon after it launched and wasn't buying the cheapest annual membership, was paying monthly fees.

Recently I decided to upgrade and started from scratch myself. I had decided a long time ago to give him the HTPC and to get him started with proper gaming. Wiped the HTPC and set it up for him. Bought Witcher 3 and a couple of other games for him, the most relevant PC titles from the past few years.

Once I told him he's getting my PC, he sold his 360, the games he collected over the years were more valuable than the console itself. He canceled the xbox subscription and bought a decent 1080p monitor and storage. He was playing the 360 games and watching movies on a ancient 720p TV.

Fast forward to a month ago, he texted me to let me know the monitor arrived. I grabbed the HTPC and went over to his place. He had a few people over so after I got there, I went into the other room and set everything up while he was entertaining his guests. After I set it all up, I joined him and the guests, I could tell he was getting increasingly anxious to see the setup. Half an hour later, guests left so I pulled the curtains and "unveiled" the present.

He's a huge RPG fan and the last notable title he played was Dragon Age: Inquisition on the 360. I fired up Witcher 3 and let the game do the rest.
Over the past month, we hung out a few times, he can't get enough of PC gaming now. To be honest, I envy him a little because he's experiencing a few games for the first time and I miss that feel of playing a great game for the first time. He was clueless to many great games that have come out in the last 10 years.

The 7950 and the rest of the HTPC should hold up well for 1080p in the near future. I'll give him my 970 and the 1440p monitor too once I decide my GPU upgrade path. I've also introduced him to trading forums on popular tech sites, that was an eye opener for him too. He's sworn off consoles for good, he's gushing over FEAR, Dishonored and Crysis but he's absolutely hooked on Witcher 3. He did the math, looks like he spent more than a grand total on the 360. Says the biggest regret is not using credit to buy a PC instead.

There was some unpredictable euphoria too, I never knew someone could get so excited about an ad blocker lol. He used to browse on his girlfriend old Apple laptop, it's so old I couldn't figure out which model it is. He's watching E3 coverage and he's all smiles knowing he'll be able to play those games too.

I knew the transition would be hard so I bought him one of those things that are typically plugged into consoles, you hold them in your hands when you play console games and it has buttons you have to mash. It was funny watching him try to play PC FPS's with those. He's learning quick and scrambles to mouse+kb when it's FPS time.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
Awesome...until he gets his first malware/virus or something goes wrong. You are his PC fixer for life.
 

HeXen

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2009
7,831
37
91
I once converted a peasant too. However it turned into a fail and I had to do most of the work to fix any and all issues as they arose. I became the......goto guy. That became a nightmare for me, I hate being that guy.
If a game didn't run right, he didn't want to adjust any settings so he called me. Look, console gamers don't want a PC, they really don't, it's too convoluted and requires too much learning and attention for most of them.


If they don't want to learn, are not an enthusiast, tell them to buy a Steam machine or a PS4 but never...ever talk someone into building a PC.....never.
 

sushicide

Member
Nov 7, 2001
118
0
76
If they don't want to learn, are not an enthusiast, tell them to buy a Steam machine or a PS4 but never...ever talk someone into building a PC.....never.

Yep...I've gotten calls at 2 in the morning because "there's a light blinking inside the case"
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
28,275
19,922
146
What they said. You gave a man a fish; should have taught him to fish instead.

Should have brought it in parts, and made him build it under supervision. Ok to bring service packs, drivers, etc. but make him do the OS and all other software installation. He should setup steam, everything. Also talk about potential issues, and show him how to intelligently search for solutions. I like to give the basics of where to find everything in windows too. Yes, it takes longer, and you may have to spend a few days with them tutoring, but it is well worth the effort, as it will give you an out if they try to be lazy and lean on you to do stuff later.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
I once converted a peasant too. However it turned into a fail and I had to do most of the work to fix any and all issues as they arose. I became the......goto guy. That became a nightmare for me, I hate being that guy.
If a game didn't run right, he didn't want to adjust any settings so he called me. Look, console gamers don't want a PC, they really don't, it's too convoluted and requires too much learning and attention for most of them.


If they don't want to learn, are not an enthusiast, tell them to buy a Steam machine or a PS4 but never...ever talk someone into building a PC.....never.

me: "Did you install the game ready driver?"
friend: "What is a driver? can you do it?"
me: grumble...
 

Stringjam

Golden Member
Jun 30, 2011
1,871
33
91
Highly recommend creating a system image before he spends too much time with it.

As the goto for both my family and my wife's family (including a sister who downloads anything that looks cool from anywhere), it's the very first thing I do after setting up any new machine and getting it exactly where I want it.

I don't have time or energy to troubleshoot viruses. I restore and go.
 

PrincessFrosty

Platinum Member
Feb 13, 2008
2,301
68
91
www.frostyhacks.blogspot.com
Moral of the story is that people buy consoles because they're poor, which is why the PC master race refer to them as console peasants, the signature quality of peasants is that they're poor.

That's why the console business model exists the way it does, Microsoft and Sony sell their consoles either at cost (which they did this gen) or even at a slight loss like they've done in prior gens, specifically to pull in the people with less money.

Just like other similar financial schemes the profit is made by having a cheap initial buy in but then higher costs to sustain the system over time, this is expressed in console gaming by things such as subscriptions to access online content, royalties for game devs which are then push up the RRP of the games, extensive DLC, etc.

When you drop some decent cash on a medium to high end gaming rig and get to use an open platform instead of a closed one then you get an experience that far exceeds that of a console, some people cannot appreciate that quality immediately but use it for a while and try and go back and it's immediately obvious.
 

Tweak155

Lifer
Sep 23, 2003
11,447
262
126
I don't see anything you described that is PC exclusive experience? Why was he in "awe"?

Anyway, it is definitely a much better platform most of the time. But I try to keep all my options open, so I also have an XB1 for example. It just rarely gets used right now :)
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
I don't see anything you described that is PC exclusive experience? Why was he in "awe"?

Anyway, it is definitely a much better platform most of the time. But I try to keep all my options open, so I also have an XB1 for example. It just rarely gets used right now :)

Well... for one he went from a 360 to a decent PC so that's a pretty big jump in graphics as it is. He also went from a poor 720p TV to a decent 1080p monitor.

Actually now that I think about it, a good chunk of this "awe" is probably just catching up to the current generation. :p
 

Tweak155

Lifer
Sep 23, 2003
11,447
262
126
Well... for one he went from a 360 to a decent PC so that's a pretty big jump in graphics as it is. He also went from a poor 720p TV to a decent 1080p monitor.

Actually now that I think about it, a good chunk of this "awe" is probably just catching up to the current generation. :p

Ah, I'm not a graphics whore really, I just like how much faster the PC is I guess. It's the reason I bought FO4 for PC even though I would have really liked to have it for a console. The load times are just ridiculous if I don't play on my SSD though :)
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
You sound like a good friend. I did the same for a couple of my friends that could't afford it at the time.
 

12andy

Member
Jan 20, 2011
194
0
0
The mark of a true enthusiast, whereby showing others the ropes is a pleasure in itself, rather than a task!
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,563
9
81
Moral of the story is that people buy consoles because they're poor, which is why the PC master race refer to them as console peasants, the signature quality of peasants is that they're poor.

That's why the console business model exists the way it does, Microsoft and Sony sell their consoles either at cost (which they did this gen) or even at a slight loss like they've done in prior gens, specifically to pull in the people with less money.

Just like other similar financial schemes the profit is made by having a cheap initial buy in but then higher costs to sustain the system over time, this is expressed in console gaming by things such as subscriptions to access online content, royalties for game devs which are then push up the RRP of the games, extensive DLC, etc.

When you drop some decent cash on a medium to high end gaming rig and get to use an open platform instead of a closed one then you get an experience that far exceeds that of a console, some people cannot appreciate that quality immediately but use it for a while and try and go back and it's immediately obvious.

LOL, this is some classic internet right here.

I play WoW on my PC, otherwise everything else I play is on 360 and Xbone.

I manage an IT department with a multi-million dollar budget. After a day of dealing with a corporate network and running the team that keeps it all going, the last I want to do is go home and screw around with a video card driver.

P.S. If you're going to call console users poor, you should do it someplace where it isn't regularly pointed out that "Console games cost too much, you can get every game ever made on a Steam sale for $2." It would seem that PC gamers are the poor ones, with their welfare Steam games.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I completely understand where you are coming from Boberfett, however I can't recall the last time I screwed with a video driver or much of anything.....my system...just works....Twiddling is for the picky people, if you are content with playing on a console, then in most cases a PC will be just fine if not better (but by god on the few instances where I have issues, I am not happy).

Oddly, I have so much PC gaming to catch up on, I don't know where I would have time to have a 'new' console at this point.
 

VashHT

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2007
3,058
865
136
Personally it feels like a blessing to use my PC at home after the crap we have to put up with at work, it's just nice to have something that actually has decent hardware and has been kept up to date. I really don't find it that much maintenance to keep a gaming PC going nowadays, I install a new driver every now and then and everything just works fine for the most part.

I used to build some PC's for my friends but most of them are uninterested in PC gaming nowadays or they just buy pre-built systems, but it's nice to get someone to try it and find out they actually enjoy it later. I have a couple friends who started building their own stuff after I helped them with their first build, that's the best case scenario because they actually fix their system on their own.
 

Subyman

Moderator <br> VC&G Forum
Mar 18, 2005
7,876
32
86
I've set up many friends and they hardly ever call me asking for help. The only time I get a call is when they are upgrading and need some advice. I usually come over and have some beers as we swap parts out once they arrive. I enjoy building, so that is fine. The only debacle I get is with my aunt and her family. Every time I visit they have a tech "crisis" that they need solved. Once she got one of those viruses that locks the computer and has the user call a number. She actually called them and was about to fork over money until I got a call from her... Instantly wiped the HDD and set it back up.

Sounds like your buddy is having a great time. I envy him as well! If he's a good friend, then fixing a couple of problems isn't a big deal at all. That's part of being a good friend :)
 

PowerYoga

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2001
4,603
0
0
P.S. If you're going to call console users poor, you should do it someplace where it isn't regularly pointed out that "Console games cost too much, you can get every game ever made on a Steam sale for $2." It would seem that PC gamers are the poor ones, with their welfare Steam games.

Sounds like being smart with your money to me. Why spend $60 on a console title that you can get on a sale for $45 or lower on release?
 

sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
3,656
60
91
Also sounds like calling console users poor is still a wrong argument. Prior two posts do nothing to refute the point.
 

MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,751
3,068
121
What they said. You gave a man a fish; should have taught him to fish instead.

Should have brought it in parts, and made him build it under supervision. Ok to bring service packs, drivers, etc. but make him do the OS and all other software installation. He should setup steam, everything. Also talk about potential issues, and show him how to intelligently search for solutions. I like to give the basics of where to find everything in windows too. Yes, it takes longer, and you may have to spend a few days with them tutoring, but it is well worth the effort, as it will give you an out if they try to be lazy and lean on you to do stuff later.

Two people in the world I do this for.

1) the wife

2) my sister-in-law, because she is cool and makes good Lasgna and Stuffed Shells and Chili in payment :)
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
P.S. If you're going to call console users poor, you should do it someplace where it isn't regularly pointed out that "Console games cost too much, you can get every game ever made on a Steam sale for $2." It would seem that PC gamers are the poor ones, with their welfare Steam games.

How are Steam games welfare? Even if it's not full price it is paying for a game. The PC market is just more competitive on distribution.