Gaming PC advice

[Foulthrow]

My lad (age 10) keeps going on about wanting a gaming PC. I have very little knowledge of what these entail so I really don’t know where to look and I was a bit shocked by prices of more than a grand.

He isn’t going to do much with it apart from play some of the common, popular games. With this in mind, where do I start looking? What is a good price? What should I be looking for spec wise?

[ClaretAndJew]

Depends what he's looking to play.

Things like Fortnite etc can run on an i5 processor at medium spec so long as you have a decent enough graphics card.

Also depends on how handy you are at putting stuff together yourself, some companies do a "barebones" bundle which is the processor and motherboard/power supply etc all plugged in to a case and you buy the RAM and a graphics card separately. Can often work out much cheaper.

Again, it all depends on what he wants to play on it, the new games can be quite power heavy and need both high processing power as well as graphical useage.

£1000+ is the tip of the iceberg for gaming PC's.

[TommyJohnson]

Depends what he's looking to play.

Things like Fortnite etc can run on an i5 processor at medium spec so long as you have a decent enough graphics card.

Also depends on how handy you are at putting stuff together yourself, some companies do a "barebones" bundle which is the processor and motherboard/power supply etc all plugged in to a case and you buy the RAM and a graphics card separately. Can often work out much cheaper.

Again, it all depends on what he wants to play on it, the new games can be quite power heavy and need both high processing power as well as graphical useage.

£1000+ is the tip of the iceberg for gaming PC's.

Have you ever heard of females ?

[JohnMac]

10 years old?

Give him an elastic band, half a matchstick, a slice of candle and an empty cotton bobbin and tell him it's a retro Tank.

[ClaretAndJew]

Have you ever heard of females ?

Never. Could you please elaborate on what you mean? That word is not in my lexicon.

[burnleymik]

My lad (age 10) keeps going on about wanting a gaming PC. I have very little knowledge of what these entail so I really don’t know where to look and I was a bit shocked by prices of more than a grand.

He isn’t going to do much with it apart from play some of the common, popular games. With this in mind, where do I start looking? What is a good price? What should I be looking for spec wise?

If all he wants to do is game you can easily get a decent spec gaming PC for around 600-700. It won't be top of the range, but shouldn't have an ok processor, RAM and Graphics Card.

Something like this for a full setup would probably be enough. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fast-Gaming- ... r&LH_BIN=1

The processor is of an older generation, but I just bought my son, 11, something similar last year for Xmas and it does all he wants to do (He loves fortnite).

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Have you ever heard of females ?

PC gaming is cheaper.

[TommyJohnson]

Never. Could you please elaborate on what you mean? That word is not in my lexicon.

You know what I mean Rick

[Jakubclaret]

If all he wants to do is game you can easily get a decent spec gaming PC for around 600-700. It won't be top of the range, but shouldn't have an ok processor, RAM and Graphics Card.

Something like this for a full setup would probably be enough. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fast-Gaming- ... r&LH_BIN=1

The processor is of an older generation, but I just bought my son, 11, something similar last year for Xmas and it does all he wants to do (He loves fortnite).

It's acceptable & adequate for it's purpose as a startup, when you start off doing that you gradually upgrade all the components as you are going along as there age & advancements are needed, you tend to sell the outdated components to younger gamers starting out & that cycle goes on.

[ClaretAndJew]

You know what I mean Rick

Oh it knows my name.

[JarrowClaret]

Hi Foulthrow

Not sure what exactly he will want and what games he would like to play in it but I got my 12 year old son his from this Company

https://www.scan.co.uk

It was a good service and you can get it built and delivered or You can collect from them, they are in Bolton!!

They have a lot of PCs to choose from and they will build it once ordered.

It may be worth getting him a Laptop rather than a PC though, also please be aware if you buy from scan you may need to get a keyboard and monitor separately, it may not come with WiFi as standard either so make sure you read what it includes if you use scan.

[PeterWilton]

My lad (age 10) keeps going on about wanting a gaming PC. I have very little knowledge of what these entail so I really don’t know where to look and I was a bit shocked by prices of more than a grand.

He isn’t going to do much with it apart from play some of the common, popular games. With this in mind, where do I start looking? What is a good price? What should I be looking for spec wise?

Learning to build your own pc will save you a fortune going forward, and all you need is one linus tech tips video to watch, and then to follow while you build this gaming pc that'll handle every game going while being upgradable very easily.

Saving can be made by removing the 2tb hdd, dropping to 8gb ram, or going wil a smaller monitor, but they'll be upgrades you'll be wanting to make fairly soon so if your budget can handle it I'd try to at least keep 2 of these.

Build it with your kid. It'll be a very useful skill for hiim to hame.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/kHyCGc

[Foulthrow]

Thanks for all the replies. I don’t know if I would have the confidence or the technical nous to try to build something myself. Looking at the prices being mentioned it does seem expensive, especially when he already has an Xbox.

[PeterWilton]

It's expensive when you think of it as just a gaming machine, but it'll also be a homework/schooling machine and possibly a household Internet machine.

And the games for it are far cheaper, and far far mor numerous than for the xbox.

[PeterWilton]

And honestly, building them is really easy. Watch a video. You'll see how easy it is.

[Foulthrow]

Thanks Peter. Appreciate the advice. He might have to wait till Christmas.

[ksrclaret]

When I was 10 years old I was delighted to receive a £30 Playmobil set at Christmas that I'd had my eye on for months.

How times change.

[SammyBoy]

I sell refurbished IT hardware for a living, but ex-corporate business machines rather than gaming stuff. If you’re going to buy something I’d recommend doing it properly, some of the lads at work who are into this kind of thing recommend Scan, Novatech and PC Specialist, with Amazon and eBuyer being worth a look.

It’s not uncommon for me to get parents ringing up trying to get a gaming PC for their kids on the cheap. On a few occasions I’ve tried to cobble together a spec as best I can from our stock but it doesn’t usually end well, you need the processors and graphics cards that’re designed for gaming. Nowadays I just tell them to go to somewhere that specialises in these machines. Better paying a bit extra instead of Little Jimmy being upset because his games lagging

[ClaretAL]

Apparently the new X box coming out in november for around £500 wipes the floor with any gaming PC at the price range of £1800. Thats according to my son of course who wants 1.

[Jakubclaret]

Apparently the new X box coming out in november for around £500 wipes the floor with any gaming PC at the price range of £1800. Thats according to my son of course who wants 1.

It probably will do until the specs are advanced, with the price of the game differences it’ll turn itself around in no time.

[CombatClaret]

If the lad is used to HD (1920 x 1080) gaming on a TV that will be far easier to achieve from a PC than anything more advanced.

If your not confident enough to build yourself I'd recommend someone like Scan or PC Specialist, about 6months ago I speced a PC for a friend from Cyberpower Pc as it had most aggressively priced parts. One thing with these system builder interfaces is try a few combination from different starting points, oddly there up to £100+ difference for exactly the same parts.
I would avoid eBay an maybe Amazon. These often have good headline prices and specs but you dig a little deeper and there's always a couple dubious items intended to save money or they don't list exactly what kind of parts they are. Also if something goes wrong you want the company to be there, not just a username or marketplace seller who can up and leave.

As already suggested an i5 system with an nVidea 1050 or similar should be fine. The Ryzen's perform slightly better but open games don't utilize the multi threading well so go with an intel if it's a little cheaper.
But the most important rule is the more garish RGB lighting is has the better it will perform.

[CombatClaret]

Apparently the new X box coming out in november for around £500 wipes the floor with any gaming PC at the price range of £1800. Thats according to my son of course who wants 1.

The best thing about PC is the mod-ability and all the wonderful indie & niche games available. If you want to play the new Assassins Creed game that hasn't changed it's fundamental gameplay in over a decade or get sucked dry by huge companies flogging you random drop crates containing content which should come with the game in the first place, then go for a console (meow)

Also the amount of people who have a laptop for working which never leaves a desk, for the price of a half decent laptop & a console you could have a decent gaming pc and a far better work ergonomics/functionality.

[HollandsPies]

My son got his from here:
https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

They aren't cheap and wouldn't think a 10yr old understands his gaming specs?

[GodIsADeeJay81]

My son got his from here:
https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

They aren't cheap and wouldn't think a 10yr old understands his gaming specs?

Probably understands it more than some parents

[HollandsPies]

Probably understands it more than some parents

Absolutely, after buying him his desktop he apparently required:
Upgraded concave monitor
Fancy keyboard
Fancy mouse
Expensive headphones
A 'Gaming chair'

[Pstotto]

Avoid that Chinese dynasty.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Absolutely, after buying him his desktop he apparently required:
Upgraded concave monitor
Fancy keyboard
Fancy mouse
Expensive headphones
A 'Gaming chair'

My lad has just never been into PC gaming, disappointingly.

He stayed with PS4 and Xbox one X.

[Foulthrow]

Probably understands it more than some parents

In my case, very much so.

[CombatClaret]

Absolutely, after buying him his desktop he apparently required:
Upgraded concave monitor
Fancy keyboard
Fancy mouse
Expensive headphones
A 'Gaming chair'

Yeah me too, for my... kids, yeah that's right. My kids...

[claretabroad]

Overclockers do some good gaming rigs.

Building one yourself is by far the best way to get good specificiations at a reasonable price although it does take a little bit of research to make sure the different components are compatible.

[Zlatan]

A colleague spends his money on gaming PC(s) - he just spent over a grand on a VGA card so he can fully utilise 120fps on a 4K screen... he plays the same games as I do on my Xbox One X which also displays 4K resolution, but I can’t tell the difference between them if I’m honest.

It’s akin to audiophiles swearing by vinyl and analogue amps over digital music (probably bad example and inaccurate) but it’s the belief that that 1% difference is worth spending a fortune for

[PeterWilton]

Apparently the new X box coming out in november for around £500 wipes the floor with any gaming PC at the price range of £1800. Thats according to my son of course who wants 1.

Your son will be wrong.

Maybe it'll match a £1000 system. Maybe. But there's a reason you pay through the nose for console games compared to pc games. And it's jot like youre not going to have a PC anyway. So comparing a £500 console to a ~£1000 gaming pc isn't a like for like comparison until you also factor in the cost of the pc you're going to have anyway.

Maybe he means an £1800 gaming laptop. That'd make more sense.

[PeterWilton]

A colleague spends his money on gaming PC(s) - he just spent over a grand on a VGA card so he can fully utilise 120fps on a 4K screen... he plays the same games as I do on my Xbox One X which also displays 4K resolution, but I can’t tell the difference between them if I’m honest.

It’s akin to audiophiles swearing by vinyl and analogue amps over digital music (probably bad example and inaccurate) but it’s the belief that that 1% difference is worth spending a fortune for

Too Much Money Syndrome.

Now not the right time to be spending that kind of money on a video card with Ampere being launches in a week or so, and Big Navi around the corner.

[PeterWilton]

A colleague spends his money on gaming PC(s) - he just spent over a grand on a VGA card so he can fully utilise 120fps on a 4K screen... he plays the same games as I do on my Xbox One X which also displays 4K resolution, but I can’t tell the difference between them if I’m honest.

It’s akin to audiophiles swearing by vinyl and analogue amps over digital music (probably bad example and inaccurate) but it’s the belief that that 1% difference is worth spending a fortune for

Too Much Money Syndrome.

Now not the right time to be spending that kind of money on a video card with Ampere being launches in a week or so, and Big Navi around the corner.

No one who is serious about gaming gives a **** about playing in 4k. But it is fun to flex on console users and their 4k tv's that they can barely play games on at its full resolution, and when they can its a slide show at 30fps.

[ClaretCraig]

Wait until after the next gen consoles land. You could spend a thousand on a decent gaming rig now and find that the consoles outperform them for half the price.
I haven't gamed on the pc for 10 years but for the next gen I've decided to go back to pc. Fancy using mouse and keyboard again and also fed up of trying to fit an hours gaming here and there between the missus and child hogging the tv.

[claret2018]

Are PC games that much cheaper? Aside from the dross you can buy in the Steam sale for 49p.

New games on the PlayStation drop to around £20 a few months after release now.

[Untinted Glasses]

Scan & Overclockers if you want to spend quite a bit of money but get a quality build.
However for fortnite, csgo and games like that , look for a used one, an i5 processor would be great. Something like this eBay item number:124306706269 would be great for those games until he's a little older and wants to spend more on a setup.

I have a pc that is surplus , plays fornite, csgo etc, prob worth 300 on eBay , I've got a little monitor with it as well but its only a 60hz ( good enough to start out before you go 144hz or 240 )

You could have them for 120 if you're local. It has hyper x fury ram, a good looking gaming case, decent enough gfx card etc , like I say on ebay it would sell for 300 + I would think .

csgo btw is possibly the only game he will ever need

[Untinted Glasses]

Are PC games that much cheaper? Aside from the dross you can buy in the Steam sale for 49p.

New games on the PlayStation drop to around £20 a few months after release now.

csgo is free and possibly the best game ever made.

[ClaretCraig]

Are PC games that much cheaper? Aside from the dross you can buy in the Steam sale for 49p.

New games on the PlayStation drop to around £20 a few months after release now.

Exactly. The cost of games is not much different.