I'd wager that the vast majority of us here play pretty much only on Hardcore.
The only time I use another difficulty is when I am testing an object or completing objectives quickly for a friend to get their 1 million boards (Think I've beat the game like 6-7 times now >_<!).
As with skating play the game how it is comfortable to you and if you enjoy HC I'd stick with it.
Hope you get your PC back in order.