Good gaming PC

[Scampersaur]

My 12 year old has asked for a gaming PC for Christmas, several of his school friends will be getting them. I initially thought it would be too big a present as he already has a PS4 and I wouldn’t normally spend loads on his main present. But he’s had a really crap year (months of post viral problems following Covid), so it would be nice to treat him. Please help me if you have any recommendations!

Buy direct from one of the smaller PC builders, but still someone reputable. The major brands tend to be overpriced with limited choice and dubious parts. The smaller builders can offer a lot more choice and use the same parts an enthusiast assembling their own rig would buy. If you aren't trying for a surprise you can get your son to spec it out within the budget.

Scan, PC Specialist, and Cyberpower are three to look at, there are others.

www.logicalincrements.com/ has a guide to well-balanced PCs at all price points. You won't get exactly the same parts but it gives you a good general idea.

For CPU, at the moment both Intel and AMD CPUs are good. AMD are usually better value. For graphics card, likewise either nVidia or AMD are fine (and it's no problem having an Intel CPU with an AMD graphics card). Get an SSD, it's essential for a system that feels fast, and optionally get a hard drive as well for extra storage.

Ideally plan to connect it to your router by a cable, but if you'll have to use wifi then get it included in the PC of course.

I got my DS a Razor Blade gaming laptop - they're pretty good.

Thanks so much for the help @safariboot. I definitely wouldn’t go for a surprise for this sort of thing, so your pointers will be massively helpful as I look into options with my son. Thank you!
And thank you @Claryfairchild, I’ll take a look at that also.

I got Dd a gaming laptop from pc specialist.

I am not technically minded at all, they have an associated forum frequented by people which are. I started a thread asking for a spec....gave them a budget and some information about what she needed it for. Someone did me a whole list of every component to ask for. Pc specialist then built it to those requirements.

Thank you @Jacobreesmodadishu.
It’s nice to know that it was straightforward to order through them without being knowledgeable about gaming PCs.

Chillblast. Found them really helpful and professional, great after support as well. They have tons of 5 star reviews. Prepare to part with £££ though!

Is he technically minded at all? My 14 year old built his own gaming pc with Christmas money then helped build us a new pc and it's pretty easy. We priced up a ready built pc of the same spec and it was 4 times the price.