Recommend me a Gaming PC (and to do homework for 11Yo)
Discussion
Hi,
It is rapidly coming up to my 11YO's birthday. We're talking about getting him a Gaming PC. I know there's an issue with Graphics cards being massively expensive at the moment... but we're still talking about a gaming PC for him.
Top budget of £1000 for the PC.. if that includes a monitor for that all the better.
Pre-built, I have built PC's in the past, but don't really want to build another.
My other 1/2 wants to get something like this
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gam...
BUT it's from Currys for goodness sake...(Although I do get 7% work discount from Currys !)
A simple click on Ebuyer and I get another 8Gb ram for the same money and a larger SSD.
https://www.ebuyer.com/1257700-alphasync-gtx-1660-...
So go on... what else is better for realistically not a lot more cash as I still need to get a monitor, flashing keyboard or something equally galling and cheesey...
Thanks
BS
It is rapidly coming up to my 11YO's birthday. We're talking about getting him a Gaming PC. I know there's an issue with Graphics cards being massively expensive at the moment... but we're still talking about a gaming PC for him.
Top budget of £1000 for the PC.. if that includes a monitor for that all the better.
Pre-built, I have built PC's in the past, but don't really want to build another.
My other 1/2 wants to get something like this
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gam...
BUT it's from Currys for goodness sake...(Although I do get 7% work discount from Currys !)
A simple click on Ebuyer and I get another 8Gb ram for the same money and a larger SSD.
https://www.ebuyer.com/1257700-alphasync-gtx-1660-...
So go on... what else is better for realistically not a lot more cash as I still need to get a monitor, flashing keyboard or something equally galling and cheesey...
Thanks
BS
web linky corrected
Edited by blackscooby on Wednesday 28th July 10:59
That eBuyer one is worse spec than the second hand machine I paid £500 for earlier in the year.
Have a look at what a grand gets you on Gumtree.
Realistically it's not going to make much difference one way or another, but if you want the most bang for buck there's always someone nearby that needs to recover some cash after wasting £3k on a new rig.
Have a look at what a grand gets you on Gumtree.
Realistically it's not going to make much difference one way or another, but if you want the most bang for buck there's always someone nearby that needs to recover some cash after wasting £3k on a new rig.
paulrockliffe said:
That eBuyer one is worse spec than the second hand machine I paid £500 for earlier in the year.
Have a look at what a grand gets you on Gumtree.
Realistically it's not going to make much difference one way or another, but if you want the most bang for buck there's always someone nearby that needs to recover some cash after wasting £3k on a new rig.
That's not a bad idea at all actually.... gumtree...Hadn't thought of that at all.Have a look at what a grand gets you on Gumtree.
Realistically it's not going to make much difference one way or another, but if you want the most bang for buck there's always someone nearby that needs to recover some cash after wasting £3k on a new rig.
joshleb said:
Is the gaming for him or for you? Do you know what games will be played?
Might be worth getting a decent PC now without a graphics card, and then in hopefully 6 months time the prices have reduced and be able to get one then and add it into the system.
Not for me no. (unless I can sneak onto it !)Might be worth getting a decent PC now without a graphics card, and then in hopefully 6 months time the prices have reduced and be able to get one then and add it into the system.
Games - goodness only knows.. Currently they're fairly lightweight stuff. I'm sure they'll get more heavy weight, although to be fair he has his Xbox he plays stuff on. He won't be playing MS Flightsim on it (although I might
)I currently run flight sim under boot camp on the iMac... all kidding aside no it will be his and not mine.
I think the best plan is to go with a so-so gfx card and upgrade it when both him and the cards get cheaper at some point.
Prices are coming back down heavily on cards, so that is less of an issue now. Just a lag in greedy / overspent retailers being reluctant in lowering them.
Definitely no interest in building? Not something he'd have an interest in? I know you know it, but you'll get a much better deal!
Definitely no interest in building? Not something he'd have an interest in? I know you know it, but you'll get a much better deal!
Calza said:
Definitely no interest in building? Not something he'd have an interest in? I know you know it, but you'll get a much better deal!
Simply not true and hasn't been for years. Building PCs is great, but spec-for-spec there is no way a home PC builder can get components at a price to compete with the buying power of the big boys.The Curry's link doesn't work, so I can't see what it is. If it's a PCSpecialist machine then post the link on the PCSpecialist forum and they'll be able to tell you what motherboard and PSU is in there - so you don't waste your money on a PC that's got no upgrade potential due to a end-of-the-line motherboard and non-modular, underpowered PSU.
However, ANY pre-built is going to be worse than a custom-build, as you won't know where the corners have been cut to meet the price...and you've got 2 profit margins to pay (the builder and the seller).
You may get something better/cheaper/more upgradeable directly from one of the system integrators/builders, like PC Specialist, AWD IT, Overclockers, etc. (AlphaSync is Ebuyer's own system integrator/builder BTW).
Also, AMD 5xxx series CPUs are currently the go to gaming chips as Intel has rested on its laurels for too long, publishing misleading speed/power claims (the Ryzen 5600X is the same core/thread count as the i5 10400F in the AlphaSync build - but uses less power for the same/better performance).
You could configure your own, or see what 'pre-built/configured' systems these offer...
Do you know what resolution your son will be gaming in? If it's 1080p I wouldn't recommend a monitor larger than about 24" otherwise the pixels become visible and make it look worse. The 1660 card is fine for 1080p and possibly a bit of 1440p gaming - but for 1440p you'd want a 24-32" screen, or maybe an ultrawide?
If you're planning on stealing it for a few hours to play MSFS2020 at 4k, then you will need more memory, more disk space, a faster GPU, and a Samsung G9
However, ANY pre-built is going to be worse than a custom-build, as you won't know where the corners have been cut to meet the price...and you've got 2 profit margins to pay (the builder and the seller).
You may get something better/cheaper/more upgradeable directly from one of the system integrators/builders, like PC Specialist, AWD IT, Overclockers, etc. (AlphaSync is Ebuyer's own system integrator/builder BTW).
Also, AMD 5xxx series CPUs are currently the go to gaming chips as Intel has rested on its laurels for too long, publishing misleading speed/power claims (the Ryzen 5600X is the same core/thread count as the i5 10400F in the AlphaSync build - but uses less power for the same/better performance).
You could configure your own, or see what 'pre-built/configured' systems these offer...
Do you know what resolution your son will be gaming in? If it's 1080p I wouldn't recommend a monitor larger than about 24" otherwise the pixels become visible and make it look worse. The 1660 card is fine for 1080p and possibly a bit of 1440p gaming - but for 1440p you'd want a 24-32" screen, or maybe an ultrawide?
If you're planning on stealing it for a few hours to play MSFS2020 at 4k, then you will need more memory, more disk space, a faster GPU, and a Samsung G9
mmm-five said:
The Curry's link doesn't work, so I can't see what it is. If it's a PCSpecialist machine then post the link on the PCSpecialist forum and they'll be able to tell you what motherboard and PSU is in there - so you don't waste your money on a PC that's got no upgrade potential due to a end-of-the-line motherboard and non-modular, underpowered PSU.
However, ANY pre-built is going to be worse than a custom-build, as you won't know where the corners have been cut to meet the price...and you've got 2 profit margins to pay (the builder and the seller).
You may get something better/cheaper/more upgradeable directly from one of the system integrators/builders, like PC Specialist, AWD IT, Overclockers, etc. (AlphaSync is Ebuyer's own system integrator/builder BTW).
Also, AMD 5xxx series CPUs are currently the go to gaming chips as Intel has rested on its laurels for too long, publishing misleading speed/power claims (the Ryzen 5600X is the same core/thread count as the i5 10400F in the AlphaSync build - but uses less power for the same/better performance).
You could configure your own, or see what 'pre-built/configured' systems these offer...
Do you know what resolution your son will be gaming in? If it's 1080p I wouldn't recommend a monitor larger than about 24" otherwise the pixels become visible and make it look worse. The 1660 card is fine for 1080p and possibly a bit of 1440p gaming - but for 1440p you'd want a 24-32" screen, or maybe an ultrawide?
If you're planning on stealing it for a few hours to play MSFS2020 at 4k, then you will need more memory, more disk space, a faster GPU, and a Samsung G9
Web linky corrected for Currys.However, ANY pre-built is going to be worse than a custom-build, as you won't know where the corners have been cut to meet the price...and you've got 2 profit margins to pay (the builder and the seller).
You may get something better/cheaper/more upgradeable directly from one of the system integrators/builders, like PC Specialist, AWD IT, Overclockers, etc. (AlphaSync is Ebuyer's own system integrator/builder BTW).
Also, AMD 5xxx series CPUs are currently the go to gaming chips as Intel has rested on its laurels for too long, publishing misleading speed/power claims (the Ryzen 5600X is the same core/thread count as the i5 10400F in the AlphaSync build - but uses less power for the same/better performance).
You could configure your own, or see what 'pre-built/configured' systems these offer...
Do you know what resolution your son will be gaming in? If it's 1080p I wouldn't recommend a monitor larger than about 24" otherwise the pixels become visible and make it look worse. The 1660 card is fine for 1080p and possibly a bit of 1440p gaming - but for 1440p you'd want a 24-32" screen, or maybe an ultrawide?
If you're planning on stealing it for a few hours to play MSFS2020 at 4k, then you will need more memory, more disk space, a faster GPU, and a Samsung G9
To be honest it will probably be 1080p. I'd love to do a bit of MSFS2020 on it, as it would probably be quicker than my 2018 iMac, but I'd more than likely get my wrists slapped for "clogging up his PC"
I will have a look at those links.
Thanks
BS
The Currys/PCSpecialist machine is using an old AMD Ryzen CPU (it's not bad, just a bit out of date). The Tornado R5 machines were introduced early 2020...at least it comes with one of the 'higher' level PCS cases so that you've got some RGB and airflow.
It will also be using a slower PCSpecialist SSD (1500mbps vs a decent branded one offering double that)...it's also a very small SSD unless it's only going to be used for the OS/apps (i.e. not game installs).
The 1TB HDD may not hold a lot of games, as some game installs (without mods) are over 100GB.
The standard AMD Wraith CPU cooler is fine for keeping temps under control, but can get a bit noisy.
It's a basic/bottom-of-the-line Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard and has no spare slots for upgrading RAM, so you'd have to throw away what you have if you need more, and is only PCIe 3.0 (not hugely important for your use).
However, the current guidance on the PCSpecialist forums suggests you'd need to spend over £1200 to get decent gaming performance without buying a 'throwaway' system (i.e. one that can't be upgraded enough to last more than a couple of years). This may be exactly what you're looking for though, as the requirements (gaming/schoolwork) of a 11 year old may have changed substantially in 2 years.
I'd suggest something like this for a better experience, and a bit of room for upgrading:
Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE (same PCSpecialist case as the Curry's one)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Price: £1,246.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...
It will also be using a slower PCSpecialist SSD (1500mbps vs a decent branded one offering double that)...it's also a very small SSD unless it's only going to be used for the OS/apps (i.e. not game installs).
The 1TB HDD may not hold a lot of games, as some game installs (without mods) are over 100GB.
The standard AMD Wraith CPU cooler is fine for keeping temps under control, but can get a bit noisy.
It's a basic/bottom-of-the-line Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard and has no spare slots for upgrading RAM, so you'd have to throw away what you have if you need more, and is only PCIe 3.0 (not hugely important for your use).
However, the current guidance on the PCSpecialist forums suggests you'd need to spend over £1200 to get decent gaming performance without buying a 'throwaway' system (i.e. one that can't be upgraded enough to last more than a couple of years). This may be exactly what you're looking for though, as the requirements (gaming/schoolwork) of a 11 year old may have changed substantially in 2 years.
I'd suggest something like this for a better experience, and a bit of room for upgrading:
Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE (same PCSpecialist case as the Curry's one)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Price: £1,246.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 28th July 13:33
mmm-five said:
The Currys/PCSpecialist machine is using an old AMD Ryzen CPU (it's not bad, just a bit out of date). The Tornado R5 machines were introduced early 2020...at least it comes with one of the 'higher' level PCS cases so that you've got some RGB and airflow.
It will also be using a slower PCSpecialist SSD (1500mbps vs a decent branded one offering double that)...it's also a very small SSD unless it's only going to be used for the OS/apps (i.e. not game installs).
The 1TB HDD may not hold a lot of games, as some game installs (without mods) are over 100GB.
The standard AMD Wraith CPU cooler is fine for keeping temps under control, but can get a bit noisy.
It's a basic/bottom-of-the-line Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard and has no spare slots for upgrading RAM, so you'd have to throw away what you have if you need more, and is only PCIe 3.0 (not hugely important for your use).
However, the current guidance on the PCSpecialist forums suggests you'd need to spend over £1200 to get decent gaming performance without buying a 'throwaway' system (i.e. one that can't be upgraded enough to last more than a couple of years). This may be exactly what you're looking for though, as the requirements (gaming/schoolwork) of a 11 year old may have changed substantially in 2 years.
I'd suggest something like this for a better experience, and a bit of room for upgrading:
Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE (same PCSpecialist case as the Curry's one)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Price: £1,246.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...
Thanks mmm-five, I looked at the Currys spec and ordered exactly the one as spec'd by yourself. I tweaked the storage slightly, but nothing more than that.It will also be using a slower PCSpecialist SSD (1500mbps vs a decent branded one offering double that)...it's also a very small SSD unless it's only going to be used for the OS/apps (i.e. not game installs).
The 1TB HDD may not hold a lot of games, as some game installs (without mods) are over 100GB.
The standard AMD Wraith CPU cooler is fine for keeping temps under control, but can get a bit noisy.
It's a basic/bottom-of-the-line Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard and has no spare slots for upgrading RAM, so you'd have to throw away what you have if you need more, and is only PCIe 3.0 (not hugely important for your use).
However, the current guidance on the PCSpecialist forums suggests you'd need to spend over £1200 to get decent gaming performance without buying a 'throwaway' system (i.e. one that can't be upgraded enough to last more than a couple of years). This may be exactly what you're looking for though, as the requirements (gaming/schoolwork) of a 11 year old may have changed substantially in 2 years.
I'd suggest something like this for a better experience, and a bit of room for upgrading:
Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE (same PCSpecialist case as the Curry's one)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Price: £1,246.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 28th July 13:33
Job done. Thank you.
Looking forward to paying MSFS on it... ahem... not that I would... much....
blackscooby said:
Thanks mmm-five, I looked at the Currys spec and ordered exactly the one as spec'd by yourself. I tweaked the storage slightly, but nothing more than that.
Job done. Thank you.
Looking forward to paying MSFS on it... ahem... not that I would... much....
Well, in theory, if you wanted to play at higher resolutions/frame rates...and GPU prices came back to the original RRPs...the only bit you'd need to upgrade for MSFS would be the GPU (maybe to a 3070/3070Ti for 1440p or 3080 for 4k) and double the RAM for MSFS2020.Job done. Thank you.
Looking forward to paying MSFS on it... ahem... not that I would... much....
The RTX3080 would be pushing the limits of the PSU though, so you may want to ask for further advice on the PCSpecialist forums. They will ask for the gaming/monitor resolution and other uses to help them - so if there's any suggestion of wanting higher GPU performance within a year or so, they may recommend a RM750x/850x PSU for more overhead, better components, etc.
They may also recommend one of the Corsair iCUE cases as these come with decent fans included (the PCS ones are functional, but basic).
But then you could spend a fortune 'tweaking' bits here & there...although you have the option of changing your build (at no cost other than the upgraded parts) up to the time it goes into 'building' on the website.
I've got the relatively small/cheap 220T iCue, but the 465X is a good case too.
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