Gaming PC advice?

[Doug71]

My 15yr old son wants to buy himself a PC for gaming, so far he has saved about £1000 for it.

It's a subject I know nothing about so hoping someone can give a bit of advice or point me towards a suitable model (wouldn't know where to start building one), my son would just go to Currys or somewhere and buy one tomorrow but I like to do a bit of research first.

We already have a PS5 and Xbox series X in the house but he says he would like a PC, I don't know what he will be gaining with a PC, not sure if it's just because a couple of his friends have them.

I'd rather he didn't get one but that's probably because I don't know anything about them, it's his money and he has been talking about it for probably 2 years now so it's not just a passing fad.

Any advice appreciated.........and keep it simple.

 

[artie]

You can get a lot of PC for a grand nowadays, but it would be essential to know what use he has in mind for it.

 

[Kayen]

I would suggest you have a look at PC Specialist - they have standard set-ups that can be customised to your own preference and of course budget. They also have a good forum with a lot of helpful, knowledgeable members. I recently bought a four screen set-up from them which I'm very happy with.

PS. I don't game, so can't help you with any specifics for gaming.

 

[ey_tony]

Try to avoid machines from such as HP, Compaq etc they're ok for general stuff but useless when it comes to actual gaming as they don't usually have decent GPUs to handle the graphics of most modern games and your son will be very disappointed with the performance and invariably the machines they sell can't be effectively upgraded as they're built so that you have to buy another machine rather than upgrade..
I game regularly and built my last PC in 2019 and it's still running modern games even now and I don't see any need to upgrade it.

It's not nearly as difficult as you'd think to build a computer and with YouTube and Google you can solve every problem.

The most important bit for a gaming computer is the graphics card ( GPU). The processor is less important but obviously a higher spec one helps but the GPU does all the donkey work. A decent mid range GPU such as the equivalent of the old GTX 1060 will handle most games without breaking the bank ( around £200-ish)
I don't play it but my computer can play such as Fortnite with ease.

The other thing is put in plenty of RAM to speed things up and ensure that you spend enough on a decent PSU as that is the component which often fails first in most off the peg computers.
The beauty of building your own or having it built for you is that you can future-proof it considerably and still have a decent computer years down the line.

It you don't want to tackle it yourself then 'Overclockers' will build you one to your spec. Over the years I've bought many parts from them so they would help you.
For £1000 you could build a cracking little games computer which should last him a few years of play without upgrades.

 

[Spectric]

The expensive component is going to be the graphic's card or cards . The reason they are expensive is that unlike in say photography where you are looking at still images that require processing power to move the pixels around during editing with gaming it is all about motion and that also requires high refresh rates . This gets more expensive as you go 4K and higher and don't overlook getting a decent monitor.

If he is just starting out then he needs to get involved with some of the gaming forums as they will be of great help in getting the right setup for his needs and reading up on how a Pc works and the interactions of the various systems so as to know what aspect they deliver to overall performance.

I deal with Scan computers and have had great service over many years, these are there entry level machines

https://www.scan.co.uk/shops/pro-gaming/pc-range#group1=tab3

and mid range

https://www.scan.co.uk/shops/pro-gaming/pc-range#group1=tab2

Unlike us with woodworking machines where it is better to get what we want outright as it can be expensive to buy a few machines to get where we want with Pc's they can easily be upgraded and so getting something to get going and then upgrading over time is not as expensive, you are often pushed into upgrades just to run newer software / hardware .

 

[imageel]

I'd 2nd Overclockers and Scan - have used both many times over the years, but would be wary of buying 2nd hand - GPU's get abused playing games, overclocking is common and this leads to premature failures as well as overheating.
To get a feel for what your son might want check what games he intends to play, most will provide minimum specs required and at least act as a guide as to what to purchase - GPU's alone these days can cost £1K+ albeit AI is driving many of the exotics at that end of the market.

Alternatively if the games will run on Apple kit then the newer ARM based processors have insane memory bandwidths that largely obviate the need for high-end graphics.

 

[Doug71]

Thanks everybody, some useful info there.

I think one reason he wants a PC is to access the Steam game platform.

He plays a real mix of games and tells me he is wanting a PC more to complement his Xbox rather than replace it, apparently some games like Elden Ring will run better on his Xbox than a on a PC unless it is a real high end PC.

@Kayen my son is in awe of your 4 screen set-up

 

[Hugh M.]

People have already suggested Overclockers and so will I. My geeky son and his equally geeky friends spent many a happy hour planning his perfect PC. They may not be the cheapest but warranty and advice count for a lot.
They spent ages on a website called userbenchmark. Com
He has tempered his opinion on the above (thus the not direct spelling) as he thinks they are rather intel centric.
Don’t forget the obvious things. They may have agonised over every last byte but they all forgot how it was going to connect to the internet.
His little face when he realised they hadn’t specified a WLAN port…

Luckily I had a property long Ethernet cable.

 

[ey_tony]

I access my gaming via the Steam platform. Very reliable and secure.
Join the forums on Overclockers and go to the new build forum and type in "Spec me a new gaming computer with a budget of £xxx.xx " and you'll get some really good advice with different combinations of itemised components. Building computers is the hobby of many of the forum members so they know just what would be suitable from a complete novice to a gaming enthusiast.

Some people spend literally thousands of pounds on gaming machines using cutting edge components ( more money than sense but each to their own) but it's quite possible to build a very good gaming computer for under £1000 and still have headroom for future upgrades.
I just did a quick tot up of the cost of the basic components to build a machine that would run most modern games at vey good frame rates and I could build a very decent games machine in an adequate case for as little as £850.00 plus a gaming keyboard & mouse which are most reliable if they're wired rather than bluetooth.

 

[AJB Temple]

Been down this route a lot with offspring. We've been building computers for 17 years. The screen needs to be premium as well - very important.

 

[Ollie78]

Build your own, get windows off cdkeys or somewhere for a tenner. Steam is great, I never pay much for games they have amazing sales quite often.
He will be gaining a machine that does more than just play games and it will play them better than an xbox in general.

By building it yourself you will then have to understand it and be able to fix it and upgrade it in future.

PCpart picker and others will show you parts compatibility. There are loads of how to build a pc youtube videos.
If you buy carefully and keep your eyes peeled on ebay and sales you can get a machine for half what a manufacturer will offer ready made.

If you pick well it will give you longevity. I built on an AMD AM4 motherboard when they were new with a ryzen 5 1600, 16gb ram and a gtx 1060, as time went on I upgraded to a 5600x and a radeon 6750xt gpu and extra 16gb ram, this pc is not blisteringly fast but will do everything I need on a 1440p screen.
I will probably get another year or two on this before I need to move to a new motherboard platform. then this one will go in the workshop to run the cnc.
Also I sold the old cpu and gpu so clawed back a few quid.

Right now AMD am5 offers a vast range of cpu options so I would go for this option.
Always check prices on many places, sites like Overclockers and Scan can be expensive though sometimes do have bargains.

Building pc`s is actually easy. For a grand you should be getting a great machine.

 

[TRITON]

PC Specialist. Use the code TRMZ24 will get you £30 off.
Not a lot off really, but anything is better than nothing.

I watch a number of streamers on Twitch(Playing DayZ) and PC Specialist is the place most of them have bought their systems from.
Of course these are top end machines for streaming on a professional basis, but with computers unless you are doing that kind of thing will give you top performance for less outlay.

 

[Eshmiel]

My 15yr old son wants to buy himself a PC for gaming, so far he has saved about £1000 for it.

It's a subject I know nothing about so hoping someone can give a bit of advice or point me towards a suitable model (wouldn't know where to start building one), my son would just go to Currys or somewhere and buy one tomorrow but I like to do a bit of research first.

We already have a PS5 and Xbox series X in the house but he says he would like a PC, I don't know what he will be gaining with a PC, not sure if it's just because a couple of his friends have them.

I'd rather he didn't get one but that's probably because I don't know anything about them, it's his money and he has been talking about it for probably 2 years now so it's not just a passing fad.

Any advice appreciated.........and keep it simple.

I'll add Chillblast to the list of good places to buy a PC - good value, lots of choice (especially for gamers) and excellent after-sales service. I've bought from them over the last 16 years.

Avoidance of Curry shops, Amazon and similar for PCs is advised. All sorts of poor examples at too high prices for what they are. No real after-sales service either.

 

[Jameshow]

My son's used ccl for there gaming pcs.

Great service and vfm.
https://www.cclonline.com/pc/?cq_sr...GJ5bTihH4zHrWjqUbMz74HrTOvfJqy7kaAqrSEALw_wcB

 

[pe2dave]

Your lad would learn a lot more and finish up with a better machine if he bought parts and assembled it himself.
Sites such as Crucial and Kingston ensure a memory / CPU match. As above, the graphics card is likely
to be key, perhaps think 1/3 of the price for that.

 

[mg123]

I bought many components from Amazon for my last build which was only couple of months back. Overclockers for the others.
Currently the absolute best ganing processors are the Ryzen X3D processors, 7800x3d last gen, 9800x3d is the current gen (both use AM5 platform). They're out of budget now, but its good to consider the upgrade path as these really are amazing CPU's
Motherboard - I'd suggest a b650 (AM5 platform) motherboard, my pick was the tomahawk b650 wifi, a great board at a fair price when i purchased it, but there are a ton of options so it all depends on the current offers as to which would be the best value. Definitely avoid
CPU - Ryzen 7600 circa £190, or if you're inclined to save a few £££, ali express sell the 7500f for around £110 delivered. Its basically as quick but for a lot less money.
RAM- a pair of 16gb (total 32gb) of 6000mhz with CAS 30.
PSU - depending on what the future plans are, you can use a reputable 600watt with a moderate GPU. If you're looking tp upgrade to a top of the line graphics card in future, you'd want to consider 850 watts or more. Go for a gold rated, preferably modular.
GPU - the intel Arc B580 are a probably the best price to performance pick right now. However, next gen graphics cards are just coming out so advice would be to wait at least another month before committing.

Case - there are so many options here, you can go full flashy lights for very little money if that's your sons thing (most people seem to favour it). Just check compatibility for motherboard size (ATX, micro atx, mini itx, or the even more rare E-ATX). I always opt for standard atx, it gives the most options. But you still have quite a few for the micro atx standard if wanting a smaller form factor.

Never buy windows from one of the system builders, they usually charge £100+, but you can buy the same thing from SDC keys for approx just over 11 euros as of now.

Any pre built machine will add circa £200 to the cost so I would try the self build route. They also often cheap out on inferior power supply or slower RAM, so you can get a better PC for your money if you can do it yourself.
There are a lot of videos on YouTube to guide you here. It really isn't as scary as it might seem.

PC gaming has so many advantages over PlayStation and Xbox. The modding scene for example, you find way more mods. Old games become almost unrecognisable and appear like an entirely new game for free (fallout 4's "Fallout London" for example)
The textures are also far superior with better refresh rates (obviously you have to get the right components which is costly)

If you want updated advice, the youtube channel geekawhat is very good and has many videos on the subject. He often shows different price point PC builds with the recommended components.

If your son is serious, and it sounds like he is, learning how to build would benefit him longer term as he can get a lot more for his money. Plus it's quite exciting putting it all together. Maybe it could be a nice son and dad task?
A decent monitor is also needed and can be very costly.
1k is a good starting budget for the PC build. You're 100% right on doing your research, curry's are OK, but they're selling older spec models which don't stack up well on a cost to performance ratio in my opinion.

I wonder, will your son be looking on the Bank of Dad to support him.........