Introduction
There's no denying it - PC gaming is the king of gaming. Hardware is at the top of its class (and price range), the games look their absolute best. To top it all off there's the infinitely customizable element of the platform. But friends, it's time to vent.
Letting off steam while playing games on Steam is essential to keeping your body temperature down - even if your GPU temps are flaring up. You won't win online if you sit there quivering with rage no matter what 'smooth gliding' setting your 20 million DPI optical mouse sensor is set to.
So count to 10 slowly and delve into the top things we love to loathe as PC gamers. Think of it as a form of therapy.
Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place.
First published June 2018
1. Console Gamers
Rage Factor: 2/10
The feud between PC and console gamers is pretty much prehistoric, dating back to when Turok himself was still battling dinosaurs. Thought of as the pesky upstarts of the industry, consoles are blamed for diluting gameplay (and not to mention graphics). It even causing the death of PC gaming itself in the noughties.
That turned out to be a load of rubbish, of course, as PC gaming continues to flourish.
The relationship between the two sets of gamers is set for an interesting turn as Sony and Microsoft enters the next age of consoles. Both the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are more like PCs than ever with bumped up specs and letting users tweak their graphics settings.
Does that make them PC gamers? Man, hating is so confusing in 2018.
2. Expensive upgrades
Rage Factor: 6/10
Ever wondered why your shoes have holes in? Or why you never have enough cash to go out?
That's because you're a PC Gamer and all of your pay packet has been spent on upgrades. This isn't just a one off spend either, it's incremental.
Perhaps you want to install an Nvidia GeForce RTX Titan to game in true 4K. Oh wait, you can't, because you spent all of your money on the GPU already and have nothing left for the new processor to really reap the benefits.
Of course, all of the above is also a benefit of PC gaming, but having to spend a month's wages on a handful of components to get the best experience going is never going to be ideal. Upgrading is never-ending, so you'd better hope your wallet is too.
3. Driver issues
Rage Factor: 9/10
Windows is a a lot more stable since the heady days of Windows 95 and Direct X is friends with most hardware, but occasionally there'll be one jigsaw piece in your elite gaming machine which has some sort of driver issue with a game.
Just as a boss appears, or even before the game begins, a critical error will inevitably pop up across the menu screen. Whatever it is, Device Manager will be a reluctant friend for a few hours.
Compatibility issues are as old as PC gaming itself, and they don't seem to get better over time. If you've ever experienced an stubborn problem that you can't solve after spending weeks reading websites and forums, downloading a game to a console and playing it off-the-bat with no issues almost makes you want to turn into a filthy casual. Almost.
4. NOOBS
Rage Factor: 5/10
NOOBs (always capped) come in all shapes and sizes, and they're always annoying. Whether they're participating in eSports or clan warfare, PC gamers are mostly a skilled bunch that don't take kindly to these newcomers in games.
Certain malicious (or bored, one of the two) PC players enjoy nothing more than trolling with NOOBs. Like cats play with their prey, which can greatly reduce the amount of rage they feel when having to share the same server with them.
5. Lag
Rage Factor 10/10
Despite having several boa constrictors length of fiber optic cables snaking into your house, there always has been (and always will be) lag.
One minute you're next to a friend in Overwatch and the next they've warped to the other side of the map before you can say, "Cheers love..." It's not big, it's not clever and now you've been dumped off the server too.
Lag is particularly rage-some as, if you're living with other people or parents, it can be very difficult to do anything about your stuttering internet connection. Maybe it's time to get three paper rounds and start saving up for that studio.
6. Desktop Clients such as Uplay, Steam and Origin
Rage Factor: 3/10
OK don't get us wrong, desktop clients are fantastic, mostly.
There's the convenience of not having to leave the house to buy a new game, and there are constant bug fixes and online support. But much as people miss vinyl when compared to MP3s, there's something comforting and exciting about opening a game box.
Yes: they clutter up the house, but having an actual physical map for the whole of Skyrim is a little bit magical. The other issue is the need to be constantly online to play, and the numerous niggles when downloading.
Sometimes there's no beating a physical product.
7. Building a PC
Rage Factor: 6/10
The ultimate way to display your PC gaming prowess is by constructing your very own dream machine. However that dream can quickly turn into a nightmare. And it's not just the cost, but the painstaking amount of time and effort just to get it to actually boot up.
Whether it's attaching the cables to the motherboard correctly, getting freaked out by how much thermal paste to apply to the processor or merely losing an important screw, PC building can take a few years off your life with stress.
And don't talk to us about buying pre-built rigs - what do you think we are, rich?
8. Lack of party games
Rage Factor 3/10
If there's one thing PCs lack it's interaction between several people in the same room. There's nothing quite like playing bowling together on a Sunday afternoon or flexing your dance moves to the sound of Beyonce.
PC games may encourage human interaction in online gaming but there's a level of jealousy (perhaps not rage) that can be levered at our sociable console brethren.
Check out our list of best PC games to play in the living room article if you're seeking a tasty slice of local multiplayer action.
9. Other PC Gamers
Rage Factor: 9/10
Everything's not all sweetness and nice in the world of PCs: trolls lurk everywhere and not least online. FPSs are fertile ground for them. They'll teabag you, diss your playing style, camp like it's going out of fashion and try to rile you until you rage quit.
And it's not just that – PC gamers can be hardware snobs too. Maybe they've been snooty about which type of RAM you decided to buy or have slated the fact you've downloaded a GameBoy emulator. Steer clear of all of these types as they will only make you rage.
10. What backwards compatibility?
Rage Factor: 4/10
Upgrades are great when they work, and it's even better to revisit an old game to see the frame rate go through the roof.
This particular writer remembers never being able to play Wing Commander 3 (yes, I'm that old), so when I finally upgraded to a hallowed Pentium processor I revisited the then-ancient game to find out it was no longer compatible.
Error messages were flying around, and I wasted a few good hours on something I was destined never to see. So, perhaps just resign yourself to never ever witnessing over 60 fps in The Witcher 3, not even in 2020.