I hate PCs

Oh lord how I hate PCs. I don’t mean Windows computers, I’m specifically talking about the “PC master race”, custom-built, high-maintenance piles of junk we call desktop computers. I used to have the patience for them, back when a Prescott Oven could cause third-degree burns from the exhaust fan. Back when running Quake 3 meant having a $500 video card, not a $25 Raspberry Pi. Even back when playing Exile: Escape from the Pit meant you needed to mail a check to a single developer of unknown trustworthiness.

Almost a year ago, when the world was still hyped up about Watch_Dogs, I rebuilt my PC. I actually built it word for word from the recommended specs list for Watch Dogs so I knew the game would run. Come to find out after launch, the game didn’t work so well on AMD hardware. Recommended specs indeed.

But after I get the hardware in, I notice something that I would have remembered to check for ten years ago, but not today. The motherboard I got is a full-ATX. My case is mid-size. So the motherboard fits, but the PSU doesn’t. For a year now, my PSU has been sitting on top of my case because I was too exhausted to send the mobo back for a smaller one. And then my new motherboard would only recognize two of my three 2GB sticks of RAM. My old motherboard recognized them all just fine. So I lived with just 4GB of RAM until I got a new single 8GB stick in the mail.

After a few months, the PC started to crash whenever I played a CPU-intensive game. That’s when it hit me that I only had a 700 watt power supply. I also noticed around the same time that the power supply fan was failing. Obviously, I must need a new one, and an AMD X8 and an HD R9 270 needs a bit more than 700w. For $175, I got a new 1000w PSU. Still crash. Son of a bitch.

From these troubles, I resolved this: I’m never owning another PC again. I’m done with it. When the day comes that this pile of junk stops working altogether, it’s going to the recycle bin and I’m giving up. Steve Jobs said PCs will be like trucks, and while I don’t own an iPad or a single Mac, I actually believe him. I completely buy into the idea of PC gaming, but not like this. Not like this. There has to be a better way. In the era of sub $200, 10 hour battery life Windows tablets being able to run Skyrim, why even bother with something that needs a 1000w PSU? And when was the last time a video game really even pushed gaming beyond what current-gen PC gaming hardware could offer? Crysis? Doom 3? Yeah, 10 years ago, when I still cared. I can play Civilization or League of Legends on a Macbook Air or Surface Pro just as easily as a $3000 battlestation with bleeding-edge parts. It’s just not worth it anymore.

The days of gaming needing high-power rigs is over. Computers no longer outclass consoles because the consoles won. Still waiting on GTA V? The last-gen Xbox 360 got it on launch day. I want to play it on PC too, but let’s be serious: The game is $30 on an Xbox 360 that cost $500 in 2005. The same game costs $60 on a $1500 PC built in 2015. Have you seen the recommended specs?

Gaming is a hobby. Fixing PCs is a job. And I already have one of those.