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

[Annoy]

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!

[Annoy]

Thanks @Averyhungrycaterpillar... I’m currently trying to persuade him off the back of this thread! Rather than buy a PC

[Annoy]

@Chickenkatsu

For £600 just buy a new xbox and a TV

Well if it was me I would

[marshmallowfluffy]

Investing in a console now (especially if it's PS5 or Series x) would probably last through his secondary school years if taken care of.

Why is your husband against a tv but ok with a computer monitor? He could watch tv through his computer eg Netflix

[HarrietOh]

Not liking the idea of a TV in his room with OK with a PC is definitely odd. His PC monitor will effectively be a TV!

[TheVanguardSix]

We are a house of PC builders! But it's a pain in the arse to build your own if you don't know what you're doing.

So, I would go online and look at stores like Overclockers UK and scan.co.uk Both sites are brilliant, professional, and not rip-offs. They offer excellent technical support and great advice for gaming PCs (you don't have to break the bank to have a good gaming PC). They sell them, ready-built.

I'd go PC all the way. We've done all the consoles over the years and PC gaming is really where it's at and cheaper in the long-run. You can install Steam... in fact, I'll paste this here for you to read. This is where your DS can go for all of his gaming. filmora.wondershare.com/video-editor/top-game-download-sites.html

You can upgrade over the years and get a better graphics card, which is much cheaper than buying the latest Play Station every 2-3 years.

[TheVanguardSix]

Also, you can put a timer on his PC so that he won't be up gaming at 3am. That's what we did over the years.

[Student133]

Oooo I actually built a pc for arousal thos price point, I'll have a look and see what I can find. As an aside, though it is marginally more expensive initially, hakes are far cheaper than console, and if he gets in to strategic games, it may even be quite educational.

[Student133]

This is the kind of area youd want to look at just for the components, dont worry about not quite knowing what all of it means.

In terms of the CPU, dont bother with anything Intel currently, they are overpriced, instead an AMD RYZEN 3100 is a great option, and very cost effective.
The biggest thing is the graphics card, which is incredibly easy to upgrade and just clicks in like lego, so you want to use as much if your budget towards this as possible.

[Annoy]

@HarrietOh

Not liking the idea of a TV in his room with OK with a PC is definitely odd. His PC monitor will effectively be a TV!

I think it’s because it has an additional benefit of being a work station for school work also... so multiple uses, unlike a TV

[Annoy]

@TheVanguardSix

We are a house of PC builders! But it's a pain in the arse to build your own if you don't know what you're doing.

So, I would go online and look at stores like Overclockers UK and scan.co.uk Both sites are brilliant, professional, and not rip-offs. They offer excellent technical support and great advice for gaming PCs (you don't have to break the bank to have a good gaming PC). They sell them, ready-built.

I'd go PC all the way. We've done all the consoles over the years and PC gaming is really where it's at and cheaper in the long-run. You can install Steam... in fact, I'll paste this here for you to read. This is where your DS can go for all of his gaming. filmora.wondershare.com/video-editor/top-game-download-sites.html

You can upgrade over the years and get a better graphics card, which is much cheaper than buying the latest Play Station every 2-3 years.

Thank you for the website recommendations 😀... this was one thing I was struggling with. Knowing which websites are legit 🙄 My son’s found one on DrMemory, not sure if that’s legit at all!

[Annoy]

@Student133

Oooo I actually built a pc for arousal thos price point, I'll have a look and see what I can find. As an aside, though it is marginally more expensive initially, hakes are far cheaper than console, and if he gets in to strategic games, it may even be quite educational.

I work in an SEN school and many of the smart autistic kids are more in to PC gaming than consoles due to the tech side and building

[Annoy]

I’ve been asking them for advice, they’ve been fab! But tbh a lot of what they say goes over my head 🙈

[Student133]

Oh absolutely I've actually become far more able to handle IT problems since getting in to it, so it could potentially give your son access to a very lucrative career path! I'd second SCAN as a good site, if you have it pre built (which you should, apart from perhaps getting a separate graphics card) expect ot to be £50-£100 for assembly. If you want to save £100 don't buy windows, you actually get 99% of windows 10 from the website for free, you are just paying to be able to change the background.

[Annoy]

@Student133

This is the kind of area youd want to look at just for the components, dont worry about not quite knowing what all of it means.

In terms of the CPU, dont bother with anything Intel currently, they are overpriced, instead an AMD RYZEN 3100 is a great option, and very cost effective.
The biggest thing is the graphics card, which is incredibly easy to upgrade and just clicks in like lego, so you want to use as much if your budget towards this as possible.

Thank you @Student133

I’ve been told not to get anything less than 16gb ram too?

[Annoy]

@Student133

Oh absolutely I've actually become far more able to handle IT problems since getting in to it, so it could potentially give your son access to a very lucrative career path! I'd second SCAN as a good site, if you have it pre built (which you should, apart from perhaps getting a separate graphics card) expect ot to be £50-£100 for assembly. If you want to save £100 don't buy windows, you actually get 99% of windows 10 from the website for free, you are just paying to be able to change the background.

Fab! Thank you

[Annoy]

I might come back with some options 😀

[Student133]

www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-gamer-intel-core-i3-8350k-coffee-lake-8gb-ddr4-4gb-evga-gtx-1650-240gb-1tb-win-10

There is currently a shortage of parts, prices are temporarily inflated, but when this goes back down in price, it'll do everything your son would realistically need.

[NeedToKnow101]

My DP and son are PC gamers. We got ours built at an independent shop for about £400. That included a decent gaming graphics card and processor etc. For £600 you'll be able to get a higher spec. Maybe research them get it built, rather than buy at PC World.

[Student133]

In terms of RAM, yeah you'll be better off getting 16gb, but if you wanted, save now and install some at a later and sell what's already in there. Its easier than installing a sim card, and for any further details 'Linus tech tips' is a fantastic YouTube channel.

[Student133]

But 8gb will be quite fine for most games that aren't brand new hi spec titles, fortnite not needing 16gb.

[Student133]

uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/G2Xjbh

If I were building this PC, this is a solid parts list. Be aware that for at least the next few months there is a global shortage in parts, so once you account for that, it will be around the £600 mark. However, if you are having it built, obviously you will need to account for this.

[Annoy]

Ive looked through the suggested websites, thank you. I’m a little less in the dark now bit also going round in circles and think that i just need to bite the bullet. The major fear is that I’ be never bought a PC before and here we are buying a gaming pc and most of the brands I’ve never even heard of! No typical brands such as Samsung or HP 🤨

So he has his heart set on this one (pic) what do you think?

[Annoy]

I’m worried that there’s no reviews on it!

[NuniaBeeswax]

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

By MN standards letting your child play Fortnite is the equivalent of spoonfeeding them heroin.

[bumblingbovine49]

Well I am very glad that we didn't let DS ( 16 ) have a gaming PC or console in his room. We set up the console in the dining room using a cheap extra TV and have said he can put a gaming PC there if he wants one. He has saved almost £1,000 so far in 2 years but seems less keen on a gaming PC at the moment. The dining room is rarely used as we eat in the kitchen so this works fine for us

That way he still ends up around us a little bit rather than closed in his room never communicating at all. It is bad enough getting him to come off his phone in his room to sleep at night without him having access to console/pc games as well.

Do you have anywhere else to put the PC or the console? I honestly think giving children too many digital distractions in their bedroom can cause a lot of problems . A laptop for school work is one thing and easy to remove if necessary. A gaming PC is another matter completely