It wasn't so long ago that the PC was being written off in the face of tumbling shipments, a widespread dislike for Windows 8 and the rising popularity of tablets.
Mobile computing has undoubtedly changed how people buy and use PCs, but for gamers it's business as usual. For people who need the latest (and best) hardware to deliver eye-popping visuals and face-melting performance, the PC is king. And if it has been away on royal business in recent years, it's back to rule with an iron fist.
While PS4 and Xbox One owners are only just beginning to enjoy the fluidity and clarity offered by 1080p titles running at 60 frames per second, PC gamers are looking well ahead into the future. And boy, does it look good.
Rack 'em up
Gaze into a crystal ball and you'll find a whole host of mouthwatering trends — including high-powered VR (hey there, Oculus Rift), Windows 10 and DirectX 12, 4K and 120Hz/144Hz frame-synching monitors, meaty graphics cards like the Nvidia Titan X and much more.
So plug in your keyboard and mouse, check your water cooling temps and map your key bindings. Even though PC Gaming Week is over, you can spend the next 52 weeks (and beyond) checking out the news, interviews and reviews that emerged from it by clicking on the articles below.
Sunday
- 10 games that shook PC gaming
- Retro-me-do! Digitiser's Mr Biffo on his top PC games of all time
- Build it: the best gaming PC under £500
- Manic Street Platformers: the games that had 90s bands hooked
- Can a Mac be a gaming PC? How the world is changing for Mac gamers
- Twitch and shout: everything you need to know about PC game streaming
Saturday
- The greatest Star Wars games of all time
- How virtual reality could revolutionise PC gaming
- Nvidia G-Sync vs AMD FreeSync
- Why Toki made platform fans go ape
- TechRadar's favourite PC games of all time
- eSports: the latest 21st century phenomenon or a passing fad?
- A design for life: how game designers are shaping entire worlds
- Why Star Citizen could be the best space game of all time
Friday
- What it takes to run the biggest space MMO
- Can today's gaming laptop match desktop PC performance?
- The evolution of PC graphics will blow your mind
- These are the PC games your favourite rock stars play
- Why Mortal Kombat was a brilliantly bloodthirsty fighter
- How does your PC compare to TechRadar's towers of power?
- 5 genres that are always better on PC
- Oculus Rift vs Microsoft HoloLens
Thursday
- How Lotus Turbo Challenge II blended arcade thrills with racing realism
- 9 games that are far better on PC than on consoles
- Is the MMORPG on the verge of extinction?
- 12 crazy peripherals every PC gamer should own
- Console gaming is still dead — and the PC is only getting better
- How does the ultimate PC of 10 years ago compare to the best today
- Anyone can build a PC — here's how the experts do it
Wednesday
- Why you should be absolutely stoked for laptops in 2015
- How Football Manager's creator is taking the beautiful game online
- The Crew: can a racing game really work as an MMO?
- How Star Wars: Galaxies could have changed the world
- How Dizzy's success sent Codemasters into a spin
- Dare to Dreamcast: The indie devs keeping old games on life support
- The 12 best PC zombie shooters of all time
- How to build a Steam Machine for less than the price of a PS4
- Why Micro Machines was a multiplayer miracle for racing fans
- The 12 best PC zombie shooters of all time
Tuesday
- Eve Fanfest: inside PC gaming's most hardcore celebration
- Build your first game using Scratch on the Raspberry Pi
- How to build a monster PC that will play any game
- The anatomy of a graphics card - from overclocking to memory
- How to build a dream PC that will give your wallet machines
- How Syndicate went from clever AI exercise to murderous cyborg mayhem
- How to turn your Raspberry Pi 2 into a retro games console
- Virtually there: how to build your own Oculus Rift PC today
- What was Peter Molyeux's magic formula for addictive Amiga games?
- Build your first gaming PC: 5 tips from a first-time builder
- Are cool PC form factors practical?
- Beyond brutal: why Speedball 2 was a violent delight for PC Gamers
- How MSI designed the insane GT80 Titan gaming laptop
Monday
- Outer Wilds is a game that asks: what if you only had 20 minutes to live?
- Why realistic PC racer Project Cars is the torque of the town
- PC gaming's future rides on these 10 unreleased titles
- Why Parasol Stars was the most addictive platformer of the 90s
- Alienware, MSI and Origin weigh in on the age of upgradable laptops
- What Windows 10 means for Xbox and PC gaming
- Why the secret of Monkey Island was the PC's greatest adventure
- 5 quirky technologies that want to change the way we use computers
- Overwatch: Forget Team Fortress 2, here comes Blizzard's next PC colossus
- Headspace Invaders: does PC gaming help motivate the brain?
- Why the PC gaming renaissance is great for all gamers
- Could a gaming laptop replace your desktop PC?
Sunday
