Calculating this is actually similar to figuring out the monthly electricity bill for a PC; usually, it just crosses your mind and isn’t worth a detailed comparison. Taking the opportunity to remember this question today, I’m free and thought I’d do a simple, fun calculation for you all. It simply involves converting the hours spent gaming into money and comparing that with the cost of purchasing a PC.
*To have data for this calculation, we need to get the configuration of a typical internet cafe setup today and the amount of money you spend gaming at that cafe. First, let’s start with the cost of gaming.
Cost of Gaming and Basic Configuration of Internet Cafes
It’s been a long time since the days when internet cafes charged 3,000 or 5,000 VND per hour. Currently, even a low-end internet cafe charging 5,000 VND/hour is almost non-existent; you’d need to pay at least 7,000 VND to just play PUBG or Apex Legends.
However, at 7,000 VND per hour, you’re only just able to play; the graphics would be quite poor and the FPS wouldn’t be high. I won’t use that as a benchmark since there are fewer players at such low-end cafes now; I will take the price of an average machine in major internet service provider systems, which is around 12,000 VND/machine/hour.
With this price, you have the right to demand a configuration that is sufficient to run most eSport titles at medium to max settings, and new AAA offline games should be playable at least at medium settings.
At this point, they would provide you with a configuration similar to the following (the components may differ slightly but not much in performance):
– CPU Core i3-9100F (2.2 million VND)
– GPU GTX 1650 Super (5 million VND)
– RAM 8GB (1 million VND)
– Monitor: Full HD 144Hz 32-inch curved, from major brands like Asus, Acer… (8 million VND)
Cost to Build a PC with Internet Cafe Configuration
Now, if you want to buy a PC with components similar to those in a 12,000 VND internet cafe, along with some additional items to make a complete case, you would spend around 10 million VND just for the PC case. With this setup, you’d be able to game without worrying about specifications. I can’t guarantee max settings, but medium or high on the currently popular offline games would be quite fine.
Adding a nice 144Hz 32-inch curved monitor would set you back another 8 million VND. If you also get a budget gaming gear set from Rapoo, Dare U, or Fuhlen, you’d need about 1.5 million VND more.
The total cost would be around 19.5 million VND to achieve a configuration as powerful as an internet cafe and enjoy the same experience if all components are purchased new.(Actually, it’s slightly more powerful than the internet cafe setup because I’ve upgraded some components.)
How Many Hours of Play is Equivalent to the Cost of Building a PC?
Since different configurations will have different prices and costs, I’m only providing a sample calculation; if your setup differs, you can use this as a reference to calculate accurately for your case.
Below is the sample calculation
The numbers are already there; you just need to enter them into a calculator. We will take the cost of building the PC and divide it by the cost of gaming at the internet cafe for one hour to get the result.
19,500,000 / 12,000 = 1625 hours of play
If you want to convert this into the number of days you can play for the same cost of building a PC, you’ll need to take the number of hours played equal to the amount spent building the PC divided by the number of hours you play each day.
Hours played = Cost to build PC / Hours played per day
For example, if I play for 4 hours a day, then the result is that with 20 million VND for building the PC, I would be able to play for:
1625 / 4 = 406 days
I will calculate for you with different daily play hour scenarios:
Playing 2 hours a day: Play for 821 days Playing 3 hours a day: Play for 541 days Playing 4 hours a day: Play for 406 days Playing 5 hours a day: Play for 325 days Playing 6 hours a day: Play for 270 days Now, we’ve been discussing regular configurations; what about higher-end setups?
Similarly, I’ve also checked the configurations of major internet gaming service chains and obtained the following general price list:
Configuration 1: This is the configuration I’ve been talking about all along
Configuration 2: Enough to play most games today at full HD resolution at the highest settings – 14k/hour
CPU: Core i3 9100F (2.2 million VND) GPU: GTX 1660 (6 million VND) RAM: 16GB (2 million VND) Monitor: Full HD 32-inch 144Hz Curved (8 million VND)
Configuration 3: Can handle the highest settings for all current games at full HD resolution – 17k/hour
CPU: Core i5 9400F (4 million VND) GPU: GTX 1660 Super (7 million VND) RAM: 16GB (2 million VND) Monitor: Full HD 32-inch 144Hz Curved (8 million VND)
Competitive Configuration: Slightly stronger than Configuration 3, with a 240Hz monitor – 25k/hour
CPU: Core i5 9400F (4 million VND) GPU: RTX 2060 (10.5 million VND) RAM: 16GB (2 million VND) Monitor: Full HD 240Hz 27-inch (averaging around 9 million VND)
From there, we can deduce how many hours you can play equivalent to the cost of a PC
| Configuration | 1 | 2 | 3 | Competitive |
| Hourly Rate | 12k/hour | 14k/hour | 17k/hour | 25k/hour |
| Configuration Cost | 19.5 million | 21.5 million | 24 million | 28.5 million |
| Equivalent Hours of Play | 1625 hours | 1535 hours | 1411 hours | 1140 hours |
With this table and applying my calculation method, you can deduce how many days you can spend at an internet cafe for the same money spent on building a PC!
This is a simple calculation method for you to compare the costs of gaming at an internet cafe and building a PC. I hope you find it useful and interesting!
According to Gearvn