Spent years building gaming pc, now I don't use it.

Jamok23

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Dec 26, 2014
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Hey guys, quick question. I have spent the last 3 years perfecting my gaming pc (somewhat) every Christmas present, birthday present and any saved money has been pc parts. I have realistically gotten my pc to where I want it, however, I don't use it any more.

I was living with my partner and her parents, and I used my pc for gaming every single day without fail. Time I didn't spend gaming was spent researching how to make my pc better and faster.

Fast forward a few months, my partner and I now have a baby (8 months old) and we have gotten our own house. I started spending less and less time on my pc, only going near it when I was upgrading something it. Whether it was a new graphics card, new mobo, new cpu, new case.

Now that my pc is "finished" I don't use it. It's not that I don't have time to, but when I have any free time, I just want to relax and watch TV. Ironically, by "watch tv" I mean watch youtube on the laptop in the living room, that is hooked up to the main tv.

So my question is, has anyone else gone through this? If so, did you ever get back into gaming? I have a 3 year investment of time and money (and arguments) sitting in my bedroom, that is wasting space, but because I put so much time and effort into it, I don't want to get rid of it.

I'm pretty sure there were questions in there haha.

Thanks guys, and I look forward to hearing your stories
 
Solution
It's quite natural to have a change of heart sometimes. I tell myself that hobbies are about the journey, not the destination. I have built a few PCs over the years, and things which I treasured or valued have sometimes just been given away some years later. Building PCs is a satisfying pastime.
As for gaming, I will be 48 years old this year! I loved BF4 but noticed that I was getting a little hair loss. A few online gamers experiencing the same thing were often suggesting that their hair loss was because of their headphones. I've used headphones on the PC for maybe 20 years. Nobody was considering that their hair loss was related to gaming stress, which I got sometimes in BF4.
It's all about balance, I suppose.
I don't have kids, but...
I have actually been gaming less and less on my PC. I got an R9 390 and games quite a bit, but these past some months I've been doing other stuff it seems, almost feeling like it's going to waste. But, at least I know that when I do want to play a game, it's there for me.
 
I used to be quite the gamer, and I did like you and spent almost all my money on PC upgrades... I recently got a new heatsink for my VRMs and a second R9 280X to put in crossfire, but I'm at the same point where now that it's evolved to where I want it to be, I don't really use it anymore. About all I use Big Blue for anymore is YouTube, Netflix and Tom's Hardware. Sometimes I play a little Rocket League, once a week or so.

I wouldn't sell it though, not until you're sure that it's completely useless to you.
 

Jamok23

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Dec 26, 2014
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Thanks guys for sharing all your stories, I'll be honest I was expecting a lot of "nope, I use my computer for gaming, every single day" so I'm glad that I'm not the only one
 

USAFRet

Titan
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So my question is, has anyone else gone through this?
Yeah, that would be everybody.
Priorities change. Your new baby occupies a large part of your brain power, that would otherwise be in the game.

This is absolutely normal.

Get back into...? Yes...Playing Minecraft with my grandson. Or showing him some old school Quake and Unreal, and wiping his ass all over the floor. :bounce:
 
May 7, 2016
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It's quite natural to have a change of heart sometimes. I tell myself that hobbies are about the journey, not the destination. I have built a few PCs over the years, and things which I treasured or valued have sometimes just been given away some years later. Building PCs is a satisfying pastime.
As for gaming, I will be 48 years old this year! I loved BF4 but noticed that I was getting a little hair loss. A few online gamers experiencing the same thing were often suggesting that their hair loss was because of their headphones. I've used headphones on the PC for maybe 20 years. Nobody was considering that their hair loss was related to gaming stress, which I got sometimes in BF4.
It's all about balance, I suppose.
I don't have kids, but I expect that having them comes with a lot of stress or feelings of responsibility which would certainly affect the balance of our previous lifestyles. I teach English in Japan and I sometimes talk to fathers who talk about their kids and the need they now have to build a man cave in their homes, just for themselves, so that they can relax and switch off.

Anyway, as turkey3_scratch said, it's good to know that the PC is there when you want it.

We can always help others, and maybe that PC will help in other ways that you don't realize yet.

Enjoy the journey Jamok23.

I like YouTube too. Maybe you and your family can be on YouTube, as opposed to just watching it.

See you.
 
Solution

Jamok23

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Dec 26, 2014
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Thank you for your help everyone, I must admit, I do play castle crashers with my nephews on the laptop once a month. As to Computers-for-beginners, you mentioned being ON YouTube, that was actually the goal of the pc, I have high end headphones, xlr microphones, audio boards, tube amps, cameras, everything for the best quality videos, I just don't have the free time, or the energy to try it :/ as much as id live to
 
I've actually been playing so many console games because

1) on modern day consoles my friends are on there, and nothing beats playing with your friends. I don't care if I have a $10000 PC, I'll enjoy games more on my $300 Xbox if I have my friends to communicate with.
2) New games these days don't interest me as much. I find myself platying old PS2 and PS1 games.
3) I like Nintendo. Still play a lot of GCN.
 
May 7, 2016
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It's funny. The more we help others, the more we help ourselves. Making YouTube videos will bring with it it's own energy. Even 1 subscriber - right there - is one person you might be somehow helping. The second video - could be just for them.

 

Ambular

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Mar 25, 2016
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Babies ruin everything. -_- More seriously, they're tiny energy vampires, but as they grow more self-sufficient they eventually start to become less exhausting. You'll want to game again at some point, by yourself and/or with your kid, or with friends who are also parents and their kids. The question is more how capable your current rig will be by the time that happens.

I think custom PCs are also kind of like classic cars. Building, upgrading, tinkering and caring for the thing and being able to point to it and say, "Check this out. Is this not cool? I did that! I made that" is half the fun and half the point, even if you only take it for a spin once in a while.
 

Rafael Mestdag

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Mar 25, 2014
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I've been using PC's since I was 13(1993) basically for gaming, especially in the beginning. I still use my PC for a bit of everything and I probably will for the rest of my life, I've always loved gaming on the PC and I still do, but there are days when you simply don't feel like playing, just watching videos is enough for those days, and it could last for a few days then I'll be back on the 'gaming-mania' again. Also playing online is generally a lot more fun than playing offline, I remember a few years ago I used to spend hours on end simply chatting with Grand Prix Legends players on the net, a lot more than actually racing with them. And I don't even have kids to 'consume' my energy, lol ;-).
 

Rafael Mestdag

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Same goes for me.
 

Ambular

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Yes.