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Original poster

Any PC Gamers on here? Can you help me out please?

76 replies

Annoy · 10/01/2021 15:55

My ds is 11 and has only ever owned a Nintendo Switch. We’ve said to him that he can get a more advanced gaming device before he starts high school.

He’s decided on a gaming pc purely for the fact that it would go in his room. If he was to have say an Xbox it would live in the lounge as he doesn’t have a TV in his room.

I also like the idea of a pc as we don’t have a laptop so he can do his school work on it when he starts high school.

Anyway, we don’t know where to start! Except our budget is £600 for the tower. But looking online I don’t know if it’s worth it getting one at this price? Or whether I should persuade him to get a console?

At the moment he is obsessed with Fortnite. But he’s11. So I’d like some longevity in it and guessing he’ll be in to more advanced games when he’s say 15. I’n hoping it would last him until at least this age.

Please help with with what I should be looking for, any specific brands/set ups etc?

Thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 16:09

If I’m honest i haven’t actually got a flippin clue!!!

OP posts:
marshmallowfluffy · 10/01/2021 16:15

With some games you can play pc vs Xbox vs ps but with some games you need to be on the same platform so PlayStation players can only play against PlayStation players.
I have an older teen boy and in my experience gaming happens on a console so it's important to find out what his friends play on.
I can't comment on what spec you need for a gaming pc but perhaps Google the spec that Steam games can run smoothly on. Steam is like a pc gaming equivalent of the AppStore/PlayStore and very likely then online store that you buy games on,

Nomnomarrgh · 10/01/2021 16:16

Gaming PCs are good, but a wee bit expensive. To be honest, a lot of really good games can be played on a regular PC. I used to do online RPGs that didn’t need top specs. Plus with them being online, you saved on memory on the computer.

I’m concerned about fortnite. It seems to be having some really negative effects on children, and you don’t want to make now any worse than it already is.

Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 16:28

Thanks. Yeah I’m only vaguely aware of consoles, but have no experience with gaming pcs or pcs in general, so thanks for that @Nomnomarrgh I’ll do some research on the differences.

All of his friends seem to play on a variety of different consoles but only one has a pc. He’s only in primary at the moment though, so I guess this will change when he hits high school next year.

What do you mean about fortnite @Nomnomarrgh? I haven’t seen any negative effects in my ds and unsure how it could get worse?

OP posts:
Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 16:30

Thanks @marshmallowfluffy my ds already knows about steam as he downloaded Spell break from there. Another game he likes to play

OP posts:
CressidaTheHeathen · 10/01/2021 16:57

Can you go beyond £600? In all honesty, you are very unlikely to get a decent gaming PC for that, and definitely not one that will keep up with demanding games in 4 years.

Having said that, Fortnite doesn’t require anything fancy so you could definitely get one for under £600 to run that, but other games may not run at all.

If you could go a little further, I got a fairly decent PC for my 15YO for £750 this Christmas.

Agree with PPs about cross platform though - my teens have different console and computer preferences based on what their mates play (most of them are Xbox, only my DD has PC friends). They’d be gutted if they couldn’t play together!

Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 17:20

Thanks @CressidaTheHeathen

£600 is the budget as that’s how much he’s saved so far... 3 months ago he was saving for a PS5 but changed his mind as he realised that it would live in the lounge 🙄

Dh and i don’t have a telly in our room and don’t really agree with it. But I’m more easy to sway than dh. So i might try to convince him to let ds have a telly in his room.I think this would solve the whole pc thing!

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 10/01/2021 19:41

You want to go on r/buildapc on reddit, they love this kind of thing.

I think I would concentrate on prioritising components which will allow for upgrading later. Not sure exactly how that would manifest, DH is the PC builder, not me!

I wonder also about getting some parts second hand. That ought to make it a bit more affordable. And things like the case you just need the right size, the spec doesn't really vary at all.

Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 20:16

Thanks @BertieBotts I’m on reddit so will will have a look

OP posts:
marshmallowfluffy · 10/01/2021 20:59

Are you buying him a smartphone for year 7? Many secondary school kids watch stuff on their phones making them like a tv in their room.

user1471565182 · 10/01/2021 21:38

Gaming PCs can be a real pain in the arse to get started but with that budget you will get something good which is better than a console IMO. Few months back I wanted something that would play 8 year old games and got a gooden for £70 so that might give you some idea. Always check first that whatever you buy will run Steam (this is the program that you run games through, some ones wont install it). A lot of PCs are sold specially as gamers.

user1471565182 · 10/01/2021 21:39

oh sorry missed the steam bit in a previous post. What sort of games is he into? Graphics card and RAM are still the big ones to check with gaming PCs

Unihorn · 10/01/2021 21:42

My husband bought his on eBay for about £750 last year and it seems really decent. He's been upgrading bits then himself over the past few months. He had to have a multicoloured keyboard apparently Grin

Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 22:36

@marshmallowfluffy

Are you buying him a smartphone for year 7? Many secondary school kids watch stuff on their phones making them like a tv in their room.
He doesnt have a phone yet. Yes he was going to get one for when he starts high school.

Although i dont like the idea of him watching films and stuff on it as its so small

OP posts:
Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 22:38

@user1471565182

oh sorry missed the steam bit in a previous post. What sort of games is he into? Graphics card and RAM are still the big ones to check with gaming PCs
Great, thanks @user1471565182

Ive read that nothing less than 16gb is best, but I’m unsure of what graphics cards are... Ive been told anything above a 5. But no idea what that means

OP posts:
Original poster
Annoy · 10/01/2021 22:40

@Unihorn

My husband bought his on eBay for about £750 last year and it seems really decent. He's been upgrading bits then himself over the past few months. He had to have a multicoloured keyboard apparently Grin
Thats my worry with ds. He’s young and has no idea what he’s looking at! He just said it needs to look good with lights on the side 🤦‍♀️

Theres no way we’re able enough to upgrade stuff

OP posts:
MustardMitt · 10/01/2021 22:41

You could get a decent monitor, headset and PS4 for about £350-400 and then a chrome book (or similar) for school work.

You need lots of RAK, SSD hard drive and lots of internal storage - gaming PCs can be super duper expensive. He could investigate building his own, might be a nice project?

Make sure you arm yourself with lots of knowledge about online security and safety if you let him have a pc in his room - it’s much harder to lock down that a console.

Worriedandabitscared · 10/01/2021 22:59

I'd honestly go for the ps5 and a tv in his room, gaming pcs can be really expensive and can be hard to make just right for certain games especially at 11 - my DH (28) and myself have a ps5 and I'd really recommend it and will backwards compatibility he'll have lots and lots of games to play.

user1471565182 · 10/01/2021 23:56

Yeah a thats a fair point, Worried. A lot of the time PC games will just not work for no apparent reason, and you'l never get to the bottom of it, you just have to accept it. Or they might run like crap.

MumandnotMum · 11/01/2021 00:02

If he’s not ‘that’ into gaming, I’d stick with the console. DH bought an eBay one for £650 and there was something wrong in it so it had to be sent back and he build one instead.

But if I’d have been buying it myself I’d have been totally stumped. The console is the safer choice IMO. Grin

Original poster
Annoy · 11/01/2021 06:40

The console is definitely the safer choice! I will do some persuading!

Thanks! I didn’t realise a gaming pc would be so complicated

OP posts:
MinesAPintOfTea · 11/01/2021 06:46

One thing: if you get him a tower then he can have component upgrades for presents for the next 4 years. He can learn how to install these: it's not that difficult.

Are you going to let him have internet in his bedroom?

Original poster
Annoy · 11/01/2021 07:14

Thanks @MinesAPintOfTea

Yes, the plan is to have it in his room... I assumed they ran off wifi nowadays?

OP posts:
Averyhungrycaterpillar · 11/01/2021 07:26

I've built my own gaming PC in the past, unfortunately if you're looking for longevity you will be looking at a LOT more than £600 or will need to learn how to upgrade bits (its pretty easy, I promise!). Games are developing at an astonishing rate at the moment, so by the time your DS is 15 and playing more complex games, he will either need upgrades or a new PC to run them effectively. Consoles on the other hand are built for longevity. We've had our xbox one since its release date, and it still plays the most recent games. My PC on the other hand, is under the bed now as it needs to be upgraded quite a bit to run anything new. IMHO I would try and encourage DS to keep saving for the ps5.

Chickenkatsu · 11/01/2021 07:29

For £600 just buy a new xbox and a TV