Build my 7 year old son a PC

snips86x said:
That's a seriously tight budget. You'd be hard pushed to get an Intel build for that price with a GPU and an i5.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £532.95
(includes shipping: £13.20)
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See this kind of suggestion baffles me. It's only £40 less than my build a few posts back but you've dropped from a i5 to an i3 and from a 970 to a 960? If you spend the money in the right places it definately is possible to do i5 and decent graphics for close to this money.
 
BinnsY said:
I honestly disagree with both the above. As much as I love my mechanical keyboard and razer mouse these simply aren't needed for a 7 year old when the budget for the entire system is as close to £500 as possible.

I work in a school where we use those keyboards and mice with our desktop machines and they take plenty of punishment and will do the job perfectly fine. If he wants a better keyboard / mouse later on these make nice birthday / Christmas presents as single items rather than having to push the purchase budget even further.

The same is true with the PSU, yes I'm sure the superflower is better but it's nearly 50% more expensive and that XFX unit isn't going to cause any harm. I'd agree with something better on a more expensive rig, but the increase in cost is nearly 5% of the total budget and just isn't worth it.
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jbh110tdi said:
yea I do agree there is no need for a mechanical keyboard.
My lad will be 10 in October and hes using an old Microsoft sidewinder x4 keyboard and it has taken plenty of abuse and still works fine. ( hes just happy that it lights up!! )
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true, maybe so but the build quality of a logitech office set like that is super weak and not sure it can be said about not being needed for a 7 year old when the specs seem above entry level for a first gaming PC, especially on the i5 above my post. Was just my opinion, considering now you can pick them up really really cheap or even a much more solid membrane KB will be worth it. Plus I wasnt really sure I was saying to get a mechanical keyboard, just saying that they can even be had for good prices now, i was just recommending to go with something a little more robust.

Just like an SSD for a 7 year olds build isnt needed but makes sense to spend a few extra pounds there
 
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chroniclard said:
Budget too low for any kind of future proofing and decent 1080p gaming. Be fine for minecraft mind.......
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Agreed about the future proofing, as for decent 1080p gaming, I dont think the budget makes that impossible.

2nd hand on the CPU, Mobo and GFX cards on MM can easily make it possible
 
richthomuk said:
true, maybe so but the build quality of a logitech office set like that is super weak
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Are you sure about that? http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/k120 The K120 is designed to be rugged and it's even spill resistant.

I assure you the students in my school put our keyboards and mice through some pretty tortourous conditions. It's not uncommon to find the left / right click buttons bent back on themselves. The OEM Viglen / Ergo kit that comes with our PC's dies at a much faster rate than any of our logitech kit and we buy them specifically because they seem to last longer. Just because they are cheap it doesnt mean their build quality is bad. I'd actually wager they are probably better built than the super cheap "gaming" orientated kit where the design budget goes on all the LEDs.
 
BinnsY said:
Are you sure about that? http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/k120 The K120 is designed to be rugged and it's even spill resistant.

I assure you the students in my school put our keyboards and mice through some pretty tortourous conditions. It's not uncommon to find the left / right click buttons bent back on themselves. The OEM Viglen / Ergo kit that comes with our PC's dies at a much faster rate than any of our logitech kit and we buy them specifically because they seem to last longer. Just because they are cheap it doesnt mean their build quality is bad. I'd actually wager they are probably better built than the super cheap "gaming" orientated kit where the design budget goes on all the LEDs.
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I was just putting my opinion forward is all as ive used a lot of low end logitech mice and keyboards and build quality when it comes to being used primarily for gaming just hasnt been there.

I understand what your saying though and normally for a 7 year olds PC I would 100% agree and for general use those sets are great, bailed me out afew times when ive had to go out and pick up a cheap set. Also... LEDs? Pretty sure ive not advised OP to go for RGB, full key rollover keyboard and mice set ups :D:D:D
 
Hi All,

Thanks all for feedback.

I do think Keyboard / Mouse wise he just needs a cheapo set, something i wouldn't be bothered if he destroyed. Then if it really gets into stuff, upgrade him to something when hes older.

I think an i5 is worth the shout, just so it's something i can leave him with for a long time without needing a CPU / Mobo upgrade.
 
I cant think of anything a child at school needs other than an i3 with a GPU south of £150, what could budget components not manage regarding gaming and school work at that age level. I have three kids ages 6yrs 10yrs and 12yrs, and nothing they do fazes the old LGA 775 Q9550 system they share enough to justify a new PC. Though I am at a point where I have a good few spare parts sitting around, and with an unused Gigabye Z97 SOC board and S340 case kitted out with RGB lighting, I am thinking of getting an i3 to get a PC out of it all for them.

If I was building from scratch, it would be an i3 with a 750ti, SSD only, built to be as quiet and efficient as possible. £400 would be the ballpark budget.

Items along these lines in the list below (my kids have that keyboard and mouse and have never had issues with it), maybe a 750ti GPU if they were dropped to around £80 seing as they are old, though they were pretty capable and the most power efficient.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £495.85
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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Of course there is nothing wrong with an i5, but remember, it's a 7 year old kid not a 17yr old ESL inspired gamer, and in a few years even an i3 will most likely still be capable enough for whatever a 10 yr old has gotten into, plenty of old hardware still has more than enough grunt once you let snobbery and benchmarks take a back seat.

The SSD I chose can be dropped, an SSD made a huge difference to my kids PC, an old LGA system with a Samsung Evo, my kids have a 120gb evo and HDD for storage, maybe that would be a better option over a single large SSD. An SSD, better case, maybe even a second hand i5 could all be future upgrades.
 
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I built a PC for my 8 year old at Christmas with about half and half new/second hand parts.

Second hand
i5 3750K
8 gig ram
Second hand MB
250 gb SSD
27" 1080P Monitor

New
390 GPU - black friday sale
Case
Keyboard/mouse
CPU cooler
PSU
Speakers

Spent roughly £450 I think.

He plays all sorts of games, dont think a 750Ti would cut it at 1080p, 960 perhaps. Personally I would be looking at a 970/390/480/1060 minimum else its just too compromised for me.
 
OP, if you're looking to get second hand kit, keep an eye out for a decent board before buying a chip. Good 1155 boards are hard to come by, but the chips are easily found cheap. You might be able to find good clearance deals/b-grade on Haswell boards - but the actual CPU's aren't that cheap pre-owned compared to sandy/ivy.

There's often bundles on that auction site thingy, but you'll need to haggle people down to get a decent price.

I just wouldn't buy a used PSU, ever.
 
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