Gaming PC for Christmas (Budget)

Red_42 · 26 Nov 2019 at 21:25

My 12 year old son wants a gaming PC for Christmas. He wants to play fortnite mainly. I have a limited budget around £500-£600 at a push. I don't have the ability to build a Gaming PC so it would have to come ready made. Can anyone help?

KungFuSpaghetti · 26 Nov 2019 at 21:37

Does the budget need to cover things like keyboard, mouse, monitor and headset?

Orbital or someone should be along shortly to advise on most cost effective parts which should even give an upgrade path. All I will recommend hardware wise is that you choose a quality psu and spec over what you need if you think there's a chance that you'll end up spending on a higher spec GPU down the line.

Zefan · 26 Nov 2019 at 21:40

I understand that this may be irrelevant advice, but humour me. Consider giving him the present of not only the PC itself, but the joy of learning how to build it yourselves together. At 12 years old he is at a good age to be learning this. If I could do it at 14, at a time when information wasn't quite as easily accessible as today, anyone can.

If nothing else, it'll be better value, and you and your son will be better placed to troubleshoot and upgrade in future.

Red_42 · 26 Nov 2019 at 21:41

Thank you for your reply, Don't worry about headset or mouse. Will need a keyboard and monitor though.

Red_42 · 26 Nov 2019 at 21:43

Zefan said:
I understand that this may be irrelevant advice, but humour me. Consider giving him the present of not only the PC itself, but the joy of learning how to build it yourselves together. At 12 years old he is at a good age to be learning this. If I could do it at 14, at a time when information wasn't quite as easily accessible as today, anyone can.

If nothing else, it'll be better value, and you and your son will be better placed to troubleshoot and upgrade in future.

It's a lovely idea but just not practicable in this case. Thank you for your suggestion

Red_42 · 27 Nov 2019 at 09:50

Anymore thoughts guys?

chroniclard · 27 Nov 2019 at 10:00

Struggling to get a "decent" system for fortnite off the shelf, with a monitor, for £600.

Given Fortnite is cross platform doesnt he have a console?

Red_42 · 27 Nov 2019 at 10:07

Is a gaming pc really necessary? What sort of games would you have to play to justify it?

joelk2 · 27 Nov 2019 at 11:12

yeah that budget to include monitor & keyboard is quite a tall order. or you'd be using older parts which will quickly become outdated.

buying 2nd hand parts would be a good alternative.

you can "almost" get a 2600 system with a 1660 super for 600. if you substituted some items for bgrade or 2nd hand you could probabily do it.

dropping the super to a 580/590 or a 2nd hand 1070 gets you closer again. although the 1660super at £200 is great value/performance.

Red_42 · 27 Nov 2019 at 11:16

Is the Ryzen 3400 an option?

joelk2 · 27 Nov 2019 at 11:24

Red_42 said:
Is the Ryzen 3400 an option?

yes of course. being 3rd gen you'd need a motherboard which has bios flashback though. which would be a little more expensive than the budget* boards

you did mention pre built though which i missed so that would put my specs above out the window.

check this thread. for some budget builds. https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...ing-pc-for-9-year-old-500ish-budget.18871300/

but honestly, building yourself with child would be a great experience. its well worth doing

Seearbe · 27 Nov 2019 at 13:35

Building a PC really isn't that complex - it's just expensive Lego that you aren't allowed to get wet. I understand there may be other factors that we're not aware of, I'm only trying to say that you shouldn't be put off by the idea if it is something that is otherwise possible.

Have a look at the second video in this thread: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/useful-videos-and-information.18801005/

Journey · 27 Nov 2019 at 13:43

Red_42 said:
It's a lovely idea but just not practicable in this case. Thank you for your suggestion

What if you could get the parts and someone else could help you build it? If it is for a little 'un and you really have no experience or time I am happy to help with some of my time. Obviously you'd need to buy the parts, and live somewhere near to me.

You can do quite a lot with £600 to be fair.

Red_42 · 27 Nov 2019 at 13:47

Journey said:
What if you could get the parts and someone else could help you build it? If it is for a little 'un and you really have no experience or time I am happy to help with some of my time. Obviously you'd need to buy the parts, and live somewhere near to me.

You can do quite a lot with £600 to be fair.

That's really kind of you, whereabouts in West Mids do you live?

Journey · 27 Nov 2019 at 13:49

Red_42 said:
That's really kind of you, whereabouts in West Mids do you live?

Depends on the day of the week! Wolves/Stourbridge. We can find some nice parts that OCUK have and make a Christmas wish come true maybe

joelk2 · 27 Nov 2019 at 14:05

Ryzen 2600 - 124.99
Team Group Vulcan 8gb DDR4 - 32.99
AOC 24" Monitor - 89.99
Mars Gaming Keyboard - 8.99
Powercolor RX590 - 154.99
Kolink Inspire K3 Case - 21.95
Kolink 700w Bronze PSU - 49.99
toshiba 1tb HDD - 32.99
MSI B450M Motherboard - 67.99

total comes to - 598 with delivery.

Red_42 · 27 Nov 2019 at 14:09

Thanks for those prices

joelk2 · 27 Nov 2019 at 14:12

Red_42 said:
Thanks for those prices

edited my post to get it sub 600 for you.

you also get 3 months xbox game pass free and either borderlands or a tom clancy game free.

just a note, it doesnt include windows but this can be bought really cheap if you look around