For my computer graphics class, being able to break out my overclocked and watercooled 20-thread behemoth in an era where most processors had far fewer, definitely helped me procrastinate a bit longer, because my renders took a fraction of the expected time :)

The same machine’s GPUs helped me be the first to solve a password brute-force challenge in my computer security class (designed to teach us how to use password cracking tools), though that wasn’t for any credit, of course!

For my machine learning class, I was able to train models much more quickly than other students.

Generally speaking, being able to brute force certain things was just fun.

But yeah, I would agree that there is no practical benefit to a powerful machine in a CS education. These few instances are not worth the cost - buy or build a powerful rig because you want to, not because you think it’ll help. I felt immense pride at watching my system whir to life.