Gaming on PS4 Pro or Acer Nitro 5 laptop?

[Lockecities]

Hi everyone,

I just joined this community with hopes of sticking around and eventually contributing; so I am not here to ask one question and run!

Recently I have purchased a new laptop, the Acer Nitro 5. I am coming from the desktop world and I must say this little laptop is quite impressive (save for the 3gb vram). I also have an UHD TV for Netflix and I'm hoping to get a PS4 Pro to add to my set up, which I am also happy with. I fiddled with the display settings on Windows 10 and up scaled everything there was in order to improve my laptop to TV decision. I know that it isn't the most powerful in terms of the video card.

My question would be, and I know it might be obvious for some, would I be better off playing cross-platform titles on my PS4 Pro or laptop? Keeping in mind that I won't be making changes to anything. PS4, current laptop, UHD TV. If I were to play something like Doom Eternal, which would be optimal? (I don't mind the game pad btw) Should I leave my laptop for "PC-only" games?

Thanks!!

 

[Oussebon]

Probably the PS4 Pro and let it do the upscaling / native 4k where supported, rather than a 1060 3gb at 4k.

If you have them both already at least you can experiment

 

[Lockecities]

I was thinking of experimenting for sure! I just need a game I enjoy enough to warrant buying it twice. Thanks for suggestion : )

 

[Oussebon]

Does the PS4 subscription keep giving away free games each month or something?

Also lots of free games being given away on PC these days, especially with the lockdown

Also there will be FTP titles I guess - Fortnite and such.

 

[Lockecities]

There are a few free games, if you don't count the subscription fee. I'm probably going to stick to a lengthy game like FFXIV and one shorter game at a time. I'm staying in more because of the virus, so coming up with a schedule was a good idea, imo! Also a new Half-life is out, which I'm interested in.

 

[Oussebon]

You probably know already, but the new half life is PC only and you'll want a better GPU for it, really. Not to mention the expensive VR kit(!).

 

[Lockecities]

Is there a way to upgrade my laptop? Also you'd think it was Half-Life so it can't be too demanding.

 

[Oussebon]

You can't upgrade the GPU or CPU of a laptop - outside of a few models, which yours won't be (I doubt it has an MXM GPU)

It's half life, but it's also a major 2020 release and it's VR, which means high and consistent framerates are way more important than with regular gaming. If you play on a monitor and get 40fps, well, you might be okay with that. if you play VR with a stuttery, frame-dropped mess, you'll get headaches or start broadcasting your lunch, or at the very least find it a pants experience.

Note:

Half Life: Alyx Performance & IQ Review across 13 AMD & NVIDIA Cards

Half Life: Alyx Performance & IQ Review across 13 AMD & NVIDIA Cards using FCAT-VR with the Vive Pro UPDATED again 11:45 AM PDT, Sunday ... Read more

babeltechreviews.com

The weakest card they tested was a desktop version of the 1660 Super, and the experience there was a bit borderline.

The 1660 Super is maybe 60% faster than yours with twice the VRAM (which appears to matter quite a bit for that title too - even the 6gb VRAM was apparently a little sub optimal).

I would not rush out to buy a VR kit for a laptop 1060 3gb anyway, and especially not for HL:A I'm afraid.

 

[Lockecities]

I used to actually have a custom desktop with a 1660 which I found adequate, at best. I mostly made the switch to console gaming, especially with the next-gen being released relatively soon. I was, however, a core PC gamer for years. I do like my laptop and I just was hoping against hope it might be better than a Ps4 in terms of performance haha. Oh and VR kind of makes me consider that there might be long-term health affects from long use, maybe not. It's best to wait and see, imo.

Thanks for all of the info, btw!!!