Gaming PC for 14yr old

[BlueVelvetine]

…is it worth it? Our 14yr old has not asked for it but I know he’d love it as most of his friends are getting one. We are very on the fence about it as it’s a huge amount of money to spend on one gift. Added to that we simply have no clue what make/model/spec to get. Anyone clued up and willing to share their knowledge? Son plays mostly racing games.

Hi, so I'm quite a bit older than your son, but in to PC gaming. The short of it is that in order to get a PC worth having (lower end components become obsolete as newer games require better hardware) you would have to spend at least £500 on one. Now, I can't comment on whether you can afford/ willing to spend that much, especially of he then doesn't use it for a long time. I got my first wjen I was around 15, but I bought it myself, and spend many, many hours researching the best components. I would recommend you encourage your son to go on YouTube and start looking at the various specs, and then use at least mostly his money to buy it, to avoid it being wasted. Also there is currently a global shortage of semiconductors, so prices for graphics cards ( the bit that powers the games) are around 3 times as expensive as they should ve, so i wouldn't buy one for at least a year anyway. Happy to answer more questions.

That's interesting @Student133 about the expensive bits. My son is also in the market for a gaming PC and we have no idea what to get him.

We've been told if you spend under about £1200 there's no point as it won't be good enough, so my son has been saving up for well over a year and might eventually hit that figure after Christmas.

Do you buy them separately, and if so, how much (ish) would a graphics card cost nowadays do you reckon?

It's so bloody complicated!

Hi fireside, well the only way you'd have to spend £1200 is if you bought graphics cards at the moment, for that figure normally you'd be able to build a PC that could game on a 4k monitor, as opposed to a 1080p monitor you'd normally use.

As a rule you want to spend as much on a graphics card as possible, around 40-50%, but ist important to remember that unlike other components, its VERY easy to upgrade, whereas to upgrade the cpu, may mean you have to build a whole new system.

In regards to buying separately, this all depends who brave you want to be putting things together. PCs are basically like adult electronic lego, it's a bit scary before, but once you've done it it's actually quite fun ( in an extremely needy way!) So go on YouTube and look up PC build guides, in particular 'linus tech tips'.

In regards to price, I bought my graphics card before shortages for £110, they are now selling for £450!!! Because of their you shouldn't bother until they go down, just too much money, in my opinion.

Apologies for the typos, and yes, it is very complicated, so don't feel like you're going mad!

My DS has an Occus VR headset, which he loves. He needs a Facebook account, as that's who provides the content. It cost £300 and you get free content as well as access to paid for games.

Thanks @Student133 this is very helpful. I had heard this about the semiconductor shortage. He currently has a PS4 but this is making a bit of noise lately so we feel it may be on its last legs ☹️ Only considering a PC as I think they this would be a better long term option as can be upgraded (is this right?). If we go for a PS5 then we need to replace all the games and then he’d more than likely want a pc eventually so seems like a waste of money. We would be ok paying £1k as birthday is around Christmas time then son could contribute a few hundred. Would this get a decent pc? What about the monitor, keyboard etc

Yes, over the long term a PC is probably a better option. Generally speaking the games are a lie at least half the price of console ones, not to mention whole genres only available on PC, such as strategy and racing simulation, which are far less brain mush than playing call of duty on repeat.

In terms of budget, the issue is the graphics card cost. Even for a grand, they are so over inflated I'm not sure it would be worth it, I'd strongly recommend talking with your son about just waiting and doing it next year, otherwise I guarantee you will be throwing away at least £300 to a price bubble.

CyberpowerPC Wyvern Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5 3600, Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, 1TB HDD, 550W 80+ PSU, Wi-Fi, Windows 10, MB520 RGB www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CN7DQ1V/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_SQ9Y07BB9S8CA0WZT072?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Having said that, the above has the 3rd best graphics card you can get, which on its own is currently selling for £850! No idea why, but that PC is actually a fantastic deal at the moment. I imagine this is because the PC builders buy in bulk, so if you do buy this year, buy a prebuild like this.

ADMI Gaming PC: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 4.2GHz, RTX 3060 12GB, 16GB 3000MHz, 240GB SSD, 1TB Hard Drive, 600Mbps Wifi, Windows 10 www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077GS751Z/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_3PXV0NTVWJY8ANGYNWBX?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Actually, this one I found is built with many of the components I used, amd by the company I bought some of them from. It has six cores in the cpu (think like cylinders in an engine) and the same, 3rd best graphics card you can buy. Will last him a very long time amd is actually a good deal even before the crazy prices started!

Wow @Student133 thank you so much! Hugely appreciated! 🙌 Will take a look at the links you sent 😊

No worries at all, happy to help!