Gaming PC advice

TypeR09 · Friday at 15:42

Hi there, my son is interested in a gaming PC. He is currently into Roblox, Minecraft and is looking at sandbox Steam games, though he's autistic and once he gets into something, who knows where it will end. So I'm thinking something reliable and capable of those games plus a bit more.

I've been looking at second hand and prebuilt PCs but I know it would be better value to build something. Also found prebuilt with refurbed parts but I want reliability so I'm not sure about that. I'm not a PC guy but I'm sure I could put something together with some help from the Internet. Saying that, I have no idea what I need, so could anybody advise what would work well? Happy to pay up to £1k all in.

Gray2233 · Friday at 15:53

Does he need a monitor and mouse/keyboard or is it just the PC itself?

TypeR09 · Friday at 15:54

Yes we need everything

Gray2233 · Friday at 16:22

This would fit the bill and offer plenty of upgrade options via the AM5 platform:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Team Group MP44L 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03128) = £49.99
1 x MSI MAG A650BN UK PSU 650W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: POW-MSI-03345) = £49.99
1 x Kolink Observatory Lite Mesh ARGB Midi Tower Gaming Case - White (SKU: CA-06W-KK) = £39.95
1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
1 x TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Ki (SKU: MY-0AT-TG) = £89.99
1 x Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03859) = £149.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £160.99
1 x XFX Swift 9060 XT Gaming OC Dual Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05433) = £329.99
1 x Logitech K120 USB Keyboard (920-002524) (SKU: KB-204-LG) = £12.94
1 x Glorious Model D USB RGB Optical Gaming Mouse - Glossy Black (GD-GBLACK) (SKU: KB-016-GR) = £21.95
1 x Acer 24" Nitro KG241YM3 1920x1080 VA 180Hz 1ms HDR400 FreeSync Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MO-15K-AC) = £69.95

Total: £1,005.72 (includes delivery: £0.00)

You would need W11, but keys can be found for £10-20, don't pay retail or it'll destroy your budget.

I'd try to splurge a little more on a higher quality modular PSU and better keyboard, but the latter is super easy to upgrade down the line.

TypeR09 · Friday at 16:35

Thank you for putting that together. I presume this would be much better than the performance of a prebuilt of a similar cost?

Gray2233 · Friday at 16:39

TypeR09 said:
Thank you for putting that together. I presume this would be much better than the performance of a prebuilt of a similar cost?

Almost certainly so, you might get on par components CPU/GPU wise but prebuilds often skimp in other areas. People end up getting terrible motherboards, or a poor PSU which could risk damaging your components, cases with atrocious airflow etc.

Zeebedy · Friday at 17:11

Gray2233 said:
Almost certainly so, you might get on par components CPU/GPU wise but prebuilds often skimp in other areas. People end up getting terrible motherboards, or a poor PSU which could risk damaging your components, cases with atrocious airflow etc.

This. I bought a pre build, and decided to build my own again, as the quality of motherboard and psu were not great plus the way the airflow from the fans were directed were not very efficient. Also the RBG weren’t working on all fans AND they made a terrible humming sound under load.

Big company as well, but think I will be sticking to my own builds in the future.

TypeR09 · Friday at 17:30

Thanks for the advice. It seems a little daunting at first but I'd much rather get my moneys worth when spending so much.

Gray2233 · Friday at 17:37

TypeR09 said:
Thanks for the advice. It seems a little daunting at first but I'd much rather get my moneys worth when spending so much.

There's a lot of experienced people on here that are happy to help when it comes time to build, and there's some good visual guides on youtube you can follow.

Building a PC is honestly a bit like an expensive lego set now compared to what it used to be many years ago.

TypeR09 · Friday at 17:44

I'm an engineer and have swapped motherboards in industrial labellers and such. But I haven't paid for any of those parts! I think what makes me most nervous is what happens when it's powered up and the software side. I'll start researching next and look to making an order.

Gray2233 · Friday at 18:03

TypeR09 said:
I'm an engineer and have swapped motherboards in industrial labellers and such. But I haven't paid for any of those parts! I think what makes me most nervous is what happens when it's powered up and the software side. I'll start researching next and look to making an order.

You can install Windows 11 via USB, there's a tool which sets the drive up for you and the installation process itself is very streamlined. The operating system does most of the work for you in honesty, and outside of any potential updates it really doesn't take long.

The only things you want to really install manually are your motherboard chipset drivers and GPU drivers directly from the AMD website, make sure to get the latest releases of both.

TypeR09 · Friday at 18:45

Do you think black Friday would affect the price of this build much? Or is it best to order before, for availability?

tamzzy · Friday at 18:47

The GPU would probably be £300, which was what it was during the last sale in the summer

tamzzy · Friday at 18:48

Rest of the build may be slightly cheaper, but then you're waiting for 2+ months. Is ~£50-60 saving worth the 2 month wait?

Tetras · Friday at 18:52

tamzzy said:
Rest of the build may be slightly cheaper, but then you're waiting for 2+ months. Is ~£50-60 saving worth the 2 month wait?

There are noises about RAM/VRAM and SSDs prices going up too (due to AI/data centre demand), which could eat into any savings.

TypeR09 · Friday at 19:02

If that's all I'm looking at then no, might as well get on with it. Thanks!

Gray2233 · Friday at 19:03

I don't think I'd wait, a few of those items are on pretty deep sale and possibly clearance as is tbh.

I was surprised to find a half decent gaming monitor for as little.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

Total: £88.94 (includes delivery: £3.99)

I would try to stretch to this, more upgrade potential and a longer warranty, plus being modular it'll make for an easier/cleaner build.

Get him a new keyboard for Christmas maybe because in fairness the one I listed is a bit bargain bin and might have issues with multiple key presses at once.

TypeR09 · Friday at 19:44

I think this pretty much covers Christmas and at least a few birthdays! XD

tamzzy · Friday at 19:54

Tetras said:
There are noises about RAM/VRAM and SSDs prices going up too (due to AI/data centre demand), which could eat into any savings.

RAM has already increased 30-40% in the last few weeks already

tamzzy · Friday at 19:59

Gray2233 said:
plus being modular it'll make for an easier

Modular is overrated lol. That case is big enough to make stashing the cables a non-issue.
650w is also overkill for a 7600+9060xt (could even run this on a 450w PSU if desperate)

Unless theres a more than reasonable chance of swapping over to a xx70xt or xx70ti class graphics card...not really worth spending more on the power supply. The ab650n is good enough and the extra outlay for a higher wattage psu is wasted money IMO.