Is everyone's home PC just an internet and gaming machine?

Don't game as much as I used to. I have a good pc as it's a hobby though I guess. Also gets used as a media server. The ultra wide monitor comes in really handy for work productivity too.
 
My PC is well over specced for what I use it for. Other than my 32" 4k screen which is lovely to work on.

We have a BOYD policy at work, so when I'm at home I just login to a work profile on my PC which makes it easier to work on than a laptop.

I rarely game these days (honestly I get bored quite quickly) however, it's just for those moments of "just in case". Probably ridiculous to have this pc for that, but also it's nice to have decent kit sometimes.

My vmware server and synology and plex set up is again such a silly luxury and probably unneeded - but it's also a bit of fun - although since I spent 90% of my free time with my children it's not really something I worry about much these days.
 
I keep thinking about an upgrade to my now quite old system, but tbh I spend the vast majority of my computer time browsing on a Chromebook.
I want to get back into gaming again but, you know, life...
 
my rig gets used for for work (engineering, so CAD etc in addition to the usual office stuff), gaming, internet browsing, and to some extent as a tv.

one of the things i've had to do a lot over the past few years for my phd is effectively video analysis (using uncompressed image sequences) and using the m.2 drive was an absolute godsend for getting things done with a time measured in hours rather than weeks even if it meant removing half my steam library to get enough space.

certainly i feel like i've gotten value for money at least insofar as having easy access to decent horsepower has let me do things that wouldn't otherwise have been practical.
 
I assume the OP is young - If so he has no idea what a basic PC is - I had my first PC about 30 yrs ago from PC World - It was slow and connected to dial up it was snail pace.
Over the years I got BB and better Pc's and then in 2013 I spent £1k on this PC -built it myself and all I do is surf the net but you have no idea what it was like to hit enter and poof up came the page instantly - This is why I spent the money.

After I built this my next project was to build one for £100 - it cost me £105 -I also had bit's left over that went in but you can certainly tell the difference in speed -it's not such a satisfying feeling like the big one.

Like cars speed counts.:D
 
I built mine a few years ago but don't game much on it anymore. I just don't have the time or motivation now.

With a 3900X, 32gb RAM, a Radeon VII, several terrabytes of SSD and a 34" ultra wide monitor, it's a bit over specified for what I use it for now, which is just a bit of browsing and connecting to my work PC remotely over a Web browser. I really should sell it and replace it with a laptop. I'm certainly not going to upgrade it with current prices and the relative lack of use nowadays.
 
Internet
Streaming
Working From Home
Music Production
Video Editing
I've never played games on a PC, in fact I had a PS5 last year and that's the first games I've played since the 80s.
 
Good question to be fair, and being honest I probably don't get the full value from my PC (I guess the PC components excluding peripherals probably added up to around £2k) although I think it's worth it for me.

I use my PC for some Internet and Youtube etc (although mostly do that from the sofa), General life 'admin' emails etc, some hobby video editing (having some grunt definitely makes this a much more pleasant experience Tbf) and a bit of gaming (although recently I've mostly been playing 10+ year old games!).

I use my mouse, keyboard, screen for working from home with a docked laptop (much nicer than the rubbish work provided) so they definitely get enough use to justify.

It is definitely a 'luxury' item, and I could do basically everything with a pc that cost half as much (and could still get the enjoyment of putting it together, choosing components etc which I like). However I do think it makes some of my gaming and video editing more enjoyable having a more powerful PC, so is worth it to me.

I certainly get more enjoyment out of it that I would from spending the same amount of my disposable income on fashionable clothes, a moderately nicer car (would get me a 4.5 year old second hand car rather than a 5 year old one I guess?) , expensive holiday (£1000 would get you what? 3 nights in a moderately nice hotel as opposed to spending £100 a night on somewhere perfectly reasonable that still lets you travel to and see a nice destination) etc. NB a powerful PC will last for years too, outlasting many other luxury purchases you could make imo. All comes down to personal choice.
 
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No, we use iPads for most internet tasks.

One PC is my gaming machine which I built some years ago.

The other PC is a Lenovo Desktop used for business/official tasks which I don’t mess with.
 
Yes, trying to render on a potato is painful. Even on my 2080 the full size image used for my sig took 20-25 minutes, so a couple of hours to render out a few different camera angles.

Plus having the hardware for 3d modelling and rendering has a nice knock on that it performs well for games and sim racing in VR.
 
Eventually we'll all just have a terminal with a screen, keyboard, and mouse.

It'll be like the old Unix days.
 
I use mine for a bit of everything, just looking at the last 2 weeks, in order (most used first)

- Developing code (from Visual Studio to Arduinos)
- Web development
- Running front end software for Oscilloscopes/Spectrum Analysers and other engineering devices.
- Gaming
- Work (Documentation)
- Web surfing.

It cost me around £2k all in with water cooling / RTX 3080 (luckily had one at early RRP) etc, mainly as I use quite a few second hand parts.
 
Built mine back in 2017 this is the longest I have ever not upgraded and it's a bit of an eye opener for me that o didn't need to change graphics cards Every 2 years and a new system every 3. So for me I got a lot of value out of it and do enjoy my gaming time.
 
I spent a few thousand on my PC and I just use it for internet and gaming. We have a server that handles multimedia and other more general usage.

I thoroughly enjoy gaming and like being able to just max all the settings and crack on, so it feels worth it to me.
 
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