Why My Powerful PC Spends Most of Its Time Idle (And I’m OK With It)

I did not have a good gaming PC for a lot of my childhood. But I spent a strong six hours a day enjoying video games that my rig might barely run. Now that I’ve a machine that may deal with something, I not often push it to its limits. Surprisingly, I am fully superb with that.

I Don’t Dabble in Useful resource-Intensive Duties and Initiatives

Whereas my previous PC was nonetheless an okay machine with an RX 6600 XT, I simply needed to maneuver on from the AM4 platform and the Frankenstein of components that I slowly purchased over a number of years and put within the machine.

That is why I made a decision to start out from scratch this yr, with out a laborious restrict on my funds, however on the identical time, making an attempt to get one of the best worth for my cash on every particular person half. An AliExpress CPU, eBay RAM and NVMe, and a used GPU later, I had constructed a fairly succesful gaming PC for beneath $1,400.

I will not bore you with the specs of my machine, save for the core elements that energy it: an RX 6800 XT graphics card, Ryzen 7 7700 CPU, and 32GB of 6000MHz CL36 DDR5 RAM.

CPU Mannequin

Ryzen 7 7700

CPU Pace

3.8 GHz

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread unlocked AM5 desktop processor that provides glorious efficiency and effectivity for its value. Highlights embody its robust energy effectivity, overclocking potential, and talent to pair with high-end GPUs with out bottlenecking.

I do know it isn’t some RTX 50-Sequence high-end rig, but it surely’s nonetheless a really succesful all-around PC that may deal with most duties with ease. Nonetheless, I am certain that it is highly effective sufficient to deal with many demanding workloads, reminiscent of video enhancing, 3D rendering, animations, and maybe even a light-weight native LLM mannequin.

Credit score: Justin Duino / How-To Geek

Nevertheless, the easy fact is that I am simply not all in favour of that sort of stuff for the time being. The one sort of undertaking I am vaguely all in favour of is working native LLMs, however I am already fairly proud of the bottom model of ChatGPT.

Additionally, you possibly can inform from the truth that you are studying this that I am a author, and writers have little use for highly effective {hardware}. The truth is, I even labored off a laptop computer with a Seventh-Gen i5 and 4GB of RAM at one level and was principally superb with its efficiency, although it struggled with a number of tabs open.

Most of my work is browser-based, and whereas it is good to know that my 32GB of RAM and 8-core CPU might most likely deal with 50+ Chrome tabs with ease, I not often have greater than six or seven open. Even then, it is normally simply because I neglect to shut them after analysis.

I Hardly ever Play Demanding Video games

The true purpose I needed a superb PC was to play video games. I waved 1080p goodbye, and even with body era and upscaling, I nonetheless need a relatively powerful graphics card to run video games at 1440p and 4K.

Nevertheless, within the ten months I’ve had this PC, I’ve solely truly performed by means of two demanding video games—God of Conflict Ragnarök and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. Even then, I principally blazed by means of the principle story to be completed with it, hardly stopping to get pleasure from all of the graphical constancy that the most recent video games supply.

Do not get me incorrect, I would like to play by means of some famend titles from the previous few years, like Horizon Forbidden West, Ghost of Tsushima, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Doom: The Darkish Ages, Alan Wake 2, and Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2 for the second time, however I simply do not feel like doing it for the time being.

Credit score: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek

Heck, I by no means even completed Starfield, regardless of promising myself I would sink my tooth into it as soon as I bought a greater PC, as a result of my previous one didn’t meet my efficiency expectations. I’ve most likely spent extra hours enjoying Balatro on my telephone than I did enjoying AAA titles this yr.

The overwhelming majority of my gaming time is definitely spent in on-line video games like Battlefield V and Marvel Rivals, in addition to indie titles like Hades II. Contemplating that my previous $400 PC was greater than able to dealing with these at 1080p, I have never actually gained a lot when it comes to graphical constancy, apart from the step up from a 24-inch 1080p 144Hz monitor to a 27-inch 1440p 240Hz unit.

Why I’m Completely Wonderful With It

Whereas I’d’ve undoubtedly gotten extra enjoyment out of this wonderful PC if I’d had one thing of this calibre a decade in the past, the true satisfaction comes from understanding that I now personal a robust machine that may run no matter I would like.

I haven’t checked the system necessities for any video games launched this yr, since I do know my PC will most likely deal with them at a good body charge. I additionally constructed it with a future GPU improve in thoughts, so it ought to stay a succesful system for a few years to return.

Credit score: Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek | Dusan Petkovic / Shutterstock

Plus, it is fairly good to have a robust PC to work on. Whereas duties like doing on-line analysis, typing in a phrase processor, and loading photos aren’t going to push my system to its limits, it does every part instantaneously. This makes it really feel improbable to make use of, even in comparison with my earlier PC or my pretty succesful laptop computer.

Maybe what issues most is that I spent my very own cash on the PC and constructed it precisely how I needed. I beloved each minute of researching the components, discovering one of the best offers, and thoroughly assembling this lovely machine. Although it’s been sitting on my desk for some time now, I nonetheless love it and appreciating the work I put into it.

Credit score: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek

Although I haven’t got a fantastic excuse to personal a $1,400 PC and could be greater than superb with a $500 one, I am nonetheless glad I saved up and bought it anyway. I can play any recreation I would like, so if one thing ever catches my consideration, I can simply decide it up and play it immediately.

And if I ever resolve to pursue my previous ambition of changing into a YouTuber and must edit movies or begin experimenting with random tasks, I will have already got a good PC prepared for it.