Gaming PC help for a clueless father!

[Snowy90]

Buy as good you can afford and hope it's good enough for a few years.

Son built a 3k gaming rig a few months ago, graphics around 1k, latest Battlefield beta wouldn't run on max graphic settings anyway. That's how fast they run out of spec...

So the question i am struggling with is why go down the PC route, PC's have never been any different they go out of date quickly programs and games get more and more system hungry yet games consoles seem reasonably cheap compared to gaming pcs? My sons Xbox one S is about 3 years old now and still plays most stuff he wants.

Yet he wants a Gaming PC?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

So the question i am struggling with is why go down the PC route, PC's have never been any different they go out of date quickly programs and games get more and more system hungry yet games consoles seem reasonably cheap compared to gaming pcs? My sons Xbox one S is about 3 years old now and still plays most stuff he wants.

Yet he wants a Gaming PC?

For me. Keyboard and mouse is the only way to play FPS.
Also find games are dumbed down for consoles. Plus a huge modding community.
Graphics seems to be closer together with the current gen.

Can't upgrade a console.

 

[gaz1]

consoles are 1-2 year old when they came out

pc's are upgradable as much as you like

 

[Snowy90]

For me. Keyboard and mouse is the only way to play FPS.
Also find games are dumbed down for consoles. Plus a huge modding community.
Graphics seems to be closer together with the current gen.

Can't upgrade a console.

I guess that's the point its either £3-500 every 3 years for a new xbox or shell out alot more initially and then its 3-£400 upgrading along the way more outlay and upgrading in stages as and when you need a better componant

 

[Snowy90]

So when i look at adds like this, is this a bad starting point.

He is only 12 and we are quite careful of the age rating on games so he isnt supposed to be playing 18 plus games yet!

Forgive me for quoting the bay but its generally my starting point!

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

So when i look at adds like this, is this a bad starting point.

He is only 12 and we are quite careful of the age rating on games so he isnt supposed to be playing 18 plus games yet!

Forgive me for quoting the bay but its generally my starting point!

View attachment 318207

That's a second gen i5 quite old now. Doesn't actually list the chip in the image. Would limit upgrades depending on the chipset/socket on the motherboard.

Might be better to get a decent motherboard and a cheaper CPU for a easier upgrade at a later date.

Intel® Processor Names, Numbers and Generation List

Understanding Intel® processor names and numbers helps identify the best laptop, desktop, or mobile device CPU for your computing needs.

www.intel.co.uk

Core i5 - Intel - WikiChip

Core i5 is family of mid-range performance 64-bit x86 processors designed by Intel for desktops and laptops. The Core i5 family was introduced by Intel in 2009, following the retirement of the Core 2 family. Core i5 microprocessors are positioned between the high-end performance Core i7 and the...

en.wikichip.org

 

[gaz1]

do not buy from ebay 2 month guarantee buy from a shop i know ccl has a 3 year to 5 year warranty

if i wanted a made pc well id go this way

https://www.cclonline.com/pc/gaming-pcs/?PageID=1014

but im ackward

i like my case my way whats the point in having lights when i hate them

cooling is my option not lights

i want easy access to hard drives so nowadays i install removable hard drive ports in the dvd trays

in my case i had a 6 core and 8gb memory allready so for me dropping back to an older board was fine so bought an older mainboard

it can only be upgraded by the cpu or memory but they will become expensive

the gcard well i can buy whatever i want and it will play heavy usage games

the operating system dosnt matter to me windows 7 is ample enough windows 10 i wont be installing

perecetley capable of playing heavy usage games

 

[mike os]

consoles are always 2 years out of date by the time of release, they stay "current" because the game is coded for that specific hardware set, not the latest and greatest. That makes them nice and simple to work with... unlike a PC which may well have totally new and incompatible hardware to last years variety

 

[gaz1]

i found snowy90

 

[Onoff]

When my lad built his latest from scratch he did the lot from speccing it up & with a load of bits from different sources. (There's a 1080 in there I think). Was putting the CPU in with that heatsink paste etc. He worked into the early hours. He's a grown up, nothing I can really teach him on that front. Now, everything in the case is black, in fact blacker than black. The cables are all black. It only comes alive when powered up.

He switched on and nada, nothing at all. He was crestfallen, his (not so) little face etc.

Dad looks in the mass of cables "D'you think you should connect that one?" I said.

He was more miffed that I found it!

 

[Snowy90]

This is more than a can of worms! Lego is looking enticing

 

[Onoff]

You'd best nut up on Steam:

Parents' Ultimate Guide to Steam

Is your gamer obsessed with Steam? Here's everything you need to know about the popular but permissive PC gaming platform. Advice from Common Sense Media editors.

www.commonsensemedia.org

 

[AndersK]

If it was just a gaming issue I would say go for console (I can't play them but the young ones learn anything,fast).
With the PC there's no limit what he can do with it really, perhaps dad's wallet though.
Most likely need to know how to use them for school work and later, employment. That a console can't replace.
Don't forget capability to do 3D design for 3D printing

 

[ukracer]

So the question i am struggling with is why go down the PC route, PC's have never been any different they go out of date quickly programs and games get more and more system hungry yet games consoles seem reasonably cheap compared to gaming pcs? My sons Xbox one S is about 3 years old now and still plays most stuff he wants.

Yet he wants a Gaming PC?

Beware the word "gaming" in relation to a PC.
It's rather like buying a car for "racing"
Any car can be raced but it depends what you need to be competitive.
Relating to a computer as indicated above. Stupidly high speed and "currently" at least extremely expensive Graphics cars a lot of RAM and Fast processor covers most things.

An SSD (large one) is useful but not all games need all 4 or some any of the 4.
The experts will explain about Nvram and other latest stuff and that's where it gets interesting as boards have evolved so have the connections etc.

We have a 7 year old who calls himself a gamer but I posted a list of what he plays mainly and none of them need much in the way of a powerful computer . Although it IS nice to have.

My motto when I had money was to buy 1 step below the latest as a compromise to getting good performance but not paying to keep up with the Joneses.

 

[gaz1]

This is more than a can of worms! Lego is looking enticing

its easy as its all plug and play

hardest part is selecting what parts you want at the prices that you want to pay

the advantage here you can upgrade when the prices come down no point buying top of the rage as the prices drop

holding at moment but will come down

He is only 12 and mainly plays Minecraft Fortnight etc but your not building to a vr gaming system

minecraft is capable to be played on onboard gcard on mainboards i use them for films or online use

adding a gcard later will give lots of games as he moves up them

 

[daedalusminos]

All these games have detail settings/graphic options etc. You can usually play the latest games in a moderate PC with these options turned down. The problem is, will your son be happy with that?

At the bottom end, you'll probably find an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G (built in graphics Vega 11) graphics is your best bet.... budget about £450 all in.

Google it and you'll find plenty of reviews. They've also released the Ryzen 7 5000G series you're probably looking at £150 more.

 

[skotl]

This is more than a can of worms! Lego is looking enticing

I hear you!

To be honest, right now is a terrible time to be buying anything more than a basic PC. Chip shortages and distribution problems mean that new silicon is costing twice what it did a year back.
If I was building a gaming PC I'd start with the graphics card - CPU and memory is important but graphics card is where most of the performance comes from nowadays. Current gen cards, though, are ruinously expensive so looking for a 2-3 year old one like the GTX970 or GTX1080 already mentioned would be the best route, costwise.

If you could really see him using a gaming PC then I'd be looking at what Scan offers and then just buy to suit the budget: you can always upgrade components when prices get more sane.

Gaming - PCs | SCAN UK

Or... stick with the xbox for now and get him better controllers.

 

[gaz1]

tell us your budget and go from there

 

[RonMig]

My lad (28) is still into PC gaming, also from age 12 & must have spent a fortune on it over the last 10+ years...
His current setup consumes about 1Kw per hour when running in play mode
- and as he works from home thats about 18hours a day... Keeps the room quite warm.
Its water cooled but in the summer, needs a room fan running too!
At least he's worked from age 16, so specifies and pays for it all himself.

 

[Joe 90]

I guess that's the point its either £3-500 every 3 years for a new xbox or shell out alot more initially and then its 3-£400 upgrading along the way more outlay and upgrading in stages as and when you need a better componant

Xbox ps5 etc will hold their value and after 3 years you'll find you'll sell it at Christmas with a few games and get a lot of it back. The ps5 now new is £450 and you'll find in 3 years it'll still be the same price new and that's the reason it'll still be worth plenty second hand. Where as your gaming pc will be out of date.
I dont get spending thousands and always upgrading.
Your console will work out costing about £50 a year.
For the 2 games he mostly plays it would be madness.
My youngsters play them games on the console and its perfect. I dont see why you need more.