I've long been a console gamer, but I switched to PC in recent years and it makes it increasingly tough to go back here's why it could be time for you to do the sameTech16:31, 18 Feb 2025Garish lighting is optional(Image: Lloyd Coombes)The year is 2019. I've just gotten into journalism, and Riot Games is holding a 10th-anniversary event for the studio. The word Covid feels like a misspelling of Trump's 2017 Covfefe. That last one isn't really related, but the point is that it was a different time.In that Riot showcase, the company announced a tactical shooter called Project-A, which would later go on to be named VALORANT. Despite all the talk about its similarities to Counter-Strike, there was something about it that drew me to it but it was only for PC.A console-only gamer, I bristled. PCs are for work, right? Sure, there are PC games, but can they ever be comfortable for people to play games on like lying back on the sofa? I had a computer for work, of course, but it was a MacBook, and I couldn't think of anything worse than trying to play a twitchy shooter on that machine (even if it did run in the first place).When lockdown hit, I had a lot more time at home with an infant son, so started a plan to build a PC build. Hypothetically, of course, or at least that's what I told my now-wife as the price climbed. And yet, with that much time on my hands in between the baby's nap times, I ordered the parts and had a friend put everything together.Now? I've upgraded the machine considerably in the time since, but it's still my favourite way to play.This was the 2020 build. Not exactly portable, but still a great starting point(Image: Lloyd Coombes)It's important to give that context because, as I mentioned above, I had no interest in building a PC, or playing games on one. I love a strategy game (you should subscribe to my Substack, while you're here), but I was playing most of them on Mac.Anything quicker than turn-based and I'd rather be sat on the sofa with a controller in hand, but that bizarre lockdown changed things.Having just broken into the industry, I was able to attend digital previews for the first time, well, ever. I was able to work on a much bigger monitor. And when the day was done and the baby was asleep, I could play, well, anything.Classic old games, newer releases, and everything in between are cheaper on PC. I daresay the money I invested in the original PC build has probably been made up from discounts in things like the Steam Sale, plus free games from the Epic Games Store and titles included on Xbox Game Pass.At a time when the world was increasingly isolated and crossplay still felt like a pipedream, I had a magic key to open up new ways of playing with friends, and whole new games.Then there's the customisation. Switching to a PC has kicked off a bizarre addiction of collecting mechanical keyboards, swapping gaming mice regularly, and rotating my speakers when the mood strikes. It's endlessly tweakable, and that's before we get into performance.Switching between keyboard and mice combos is probably only fun for me(Image: Lloyd Coombes)The 'PC Master Race' meme has been done to death at this point, and while consoles like the PS5 Pro are fantastic, there's something inherently enjoyable about tweaking settings for an ever-higher frame rate count.My telly can support 60FPS, which admittedly isn't ideal for a PS5 Pro, but my PC monitor can support up to 144FPS and it's now looking pretty long in the tooth. New models clear 200FPS if you have the hardware for it, and it can feel a little like magic.So, why am I talking about this now? The GDC State of the Game Industry Survey has confirmed that the PC really is the dominant platform in gaming right now, with 80% of developers working on PC games.Some of that's likely helped by the Steam Deck making the platform more accessible, but given the walls are coming down as far as console exclusives go, grabbing a PC that you can work on during the day and then play pretty much everything on at night might be the way to go.Xbox games, including titles on Game Pass, tend to go to PC on Day 1, while PlayStation megahits like God of War and The Last of Us have jumped to PC after their initial debut.So you get more games, and they can play better what's not to love? Well, the initial outlay on a PC, peripherals, and a monitor (or even a laptop) can be sizeable, plus it's always easier to build a machine if you have someone who knows what they're doing although there's a very good chance you'll find a YouTube tutorial that works for you.NVIDIA's 50-series is finally here(Image: NVIDIA)All of this ties into NVIDIA's new 50-series graphics cards. This isn't sponsored, and they're not cheap, but with all the talk of AI, NVIDIA has done some really impressive things to future-proof its latest lineup of GPUs.One of those is DLSS, which essentially generates frames in between the ones your computer makes. That can turn a respectable frame rate into a drastically more fluid one. It's no 'silver bullet' solution, but it's a really impressive tool that can help you squeeze even more performance out of your GPU.NVIDIA's Reflex tech is also improving, helping reduce input latency so you can more accurately compete in the likes of VALORANT, the game that nudged me to PC curiosity in the first place.With console sales plateauing somewhat (at least until the Switch 2 arrives), you might want to consider picking up a PC instead.With decades of games to play, regular deals, and the option to play at much higher resolutions and frame rates, there really is nothing like it.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.