I’ve always had an interest in owning a gaming PC, but was always intimidated by everything that came along with it. What hardware do I buy? Is the hardware compatible? AMD or Intel? Nvidia or Radeon? What in the hell is thermal paste? This fanatical five is a glimpse at the my experience going from a console gaming to PC gaming.
It’s kinda easy to build a PC
Let’s start with the intimidation that comes along with putting together a PC. Especially, when it is the first time you’ve attempted such a task. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started down this road. The one thing that I did know was that I didn’t want a pre-built. I wanted to build my PC myself. Researching the parts was relatively easy and with a little help from a friend I had my orders in at Newegg and Tiger Direct without too many complication — Tiger Direct sold me a graphics card they didn’t have in stock, because they’re a terrible company.
I settled on an Intel i7 4790k, 16 GB DDR3, 1TB HDD and an MSI R9 390, if you’re wondering.
Once you watch a billion YouTube videos, the daunting task of building a gaming PC starts to seem feasible. Most parts are labeled and completely idiot proof. Static electricity, honestly, was my biggest fear. I ended up putting my PC together in my kitchen — naked. Connecting the CPU power cord correctly was the only rookie mistake I made, but other than that it was a smooth process. There’s a certain joy in seeing something you built come alive. I finally understood why there is a multitude of sub-Reddits dedicated to showing of your “rig.”
So there I was with a shiny, new PC with the entirety of the Steam Library in front of me. I was, uh, overwhelmed.
If you’ve never played PC games before, there is an adjustment
Think of the last time you had to look down at your Xbox One controller or DualShock 4. This was my biggest adjustment. A keyboard and mouse, to me, has primarily been used as a device to enter words into WordPress. Using it to control a character in a three-dimensional space felt incredibly foreign. The literacy I’d amassed throughout years of playing games was completely gone while trying to play Team Fortress 2. WASD isn’t a hard thing to grasp; it’s the muscle memory that makes it difficult. My fingers couldn’t navigate the keys without thinking, which added a barrier to playing games that I haven’t encountered since the first times I picked up a controller.
After a few weeks, the muscle memory developed, and I can hold my own on a keyboard and mouse. I still play a lot of games with a controller, but it isn’t because I don’t speak WASD, it’s because Metal Gear Solid V feels better with a controller. Of course, there’s a ton of games that can only be played competently with a keyboard and mouse. Crusaders Kings II, from Paradox Interactive, comes to mind. This is where my proficiency with an input device did not translate to an ability to play games with a level of complexity I had only read about.
I was in a gaming slump before switching to the PC. I wasn’t encountering anything interesting, and everything I read, or listened to, had these marvelous anecdotes about playing deep systemic games only available on the PC. Unfortunately, owning a race car doesn’t mean you know how to drive it. I was in over my head, at first. I had no experience playing Paradox Interactive games, or any other genre partially exclusive to the PC. Admittedly, it was exciting to try my hand at all of these new experiences, but I found that some of them were just not for me. The fascinating anecdotes I had read or heard about Crusader Kings II will have to stay interesting anecdotes, because that game just isn’t for me.
Steam is a weird, but excellent service
As previously mentioned Steam is overwhelming. Initially it’s the seemingly endless library of games that is impressive, but then the other pros of the service come to light, such as Steam sales: a running meme that Valve has capitalized on. For the sake of my pride I’m not gonna succumb to the Reddit levels of zealotry, and lazily say, “take my wallet.” But the Steam sales are great — so great I’ve purchased 100 or so games since I bought my gaming PC seven months ago.
Steam isn’t perfect. There are issues that are only unique to that platform, and Android. There’s so much content it becomes difficult to sift through them. Valve attempts to curate their library with lists populated by prominent game critics and a queue. Both of these attempts work to an extent with only a couple inconveniences. Curators lists have the issue of relying on a human to serve up recommendation instead of an algorithm, which is fine. My issue is when the curator decides that they no longer want to partake in the program — who curates the curators? I guess I do? The queue is great, but serves up games that seem opportunistic at times, especially, when the games release is imminent. It could be coincidental, but at times the queue is worse than a GameStop employee begging you to pre-order something.
Steam is also great in its functionality. Everything is easy to navigate, and makes me wish that there was an easier way to navigate console interfaces. There are varied ways to organize and display your library, a ton of customization that can be done to your personal profile, and great discussion threads within the service that usually have the answer to whatever question you have. It’s just overall a great ecosystem to be in thanks to it’s value, ease of use, and feature set.
Steam has odds and ends about it too. Greenlight, community market, Workshop, and Steam trading cards are all intriguing in their own right. But like most Valve things, these features seem like the were created, then abandoned by Gabe and his pals. There’s a certain shoulder shrug ethos about Valve. Like the Steam Controller, Valve enlists the community to bring these corners of Steam to life.
Publisher-specific software sucks
If I have to download something that is not Steam to play your game, you’ve failed me as a consumer. Your service is not Steam. I understand you want to save whatever fees Valve charges for having your games on their service, but your frugality just lost you a sale.
Your service/launcher isn’t good; Origin, Epic, Uplay just stop it. This does not apply to GoG, they’re a pretty good service.
You’re gonna miss your console friends
If you’re anything like me and you’re making the transition from console to PC only, you may end up feeling a little lonely. Two of my friends have gaming PCs, but they don’t use them regularly. They prefer console gaming, and that’s completely fine. So I end up playing an insane amount of multiplayer games alone while being in a party chat with Xbox friends using the Xbox app for Windows 10.
This isn’t exactly a fair criticism I can level at PC gaming, because it could be unique to my situation. However, it has colored my experience with my gaming PC so far. Lobbies don’t seem to be filled with talkative people, and most prefer text chat instead of voice. I’ve ran into a myriad of interesting people in Dirty Bomb and Rocket League lobbies, even became friends with some, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my friends — even if they are peasants.
My experiences with the PC gaming over the past year has been an learning experience. This list doesn’t encompass all my experiences with the PC, and I’m sure over the next few months I could find several more things worthy of adding to the pro or con category. But for now I’m happy with my decision to switch gaming solely with a real gaming PC. I don’t need friends to play with. My PC will keep me warm at night.
