Gaming PC for son

balanceballs

balanceballs

balanceballs

Associate
Joined
26 Aug 2011
Posts
186
I'm looking to build a first gaming PC for my son. I want to teach him how to build an set up a PC. Absolute max budget is £800. Will be used for games like CODMW, Battlefield, Fornite. Also for school work!!

I only need: Case, CPU, RAM, Motherboard, GPU, at least one extra case fan and an SSD (500gb ish is fine for now and I think an m2 makes sense). I have an OS, suitable PSU, various peripherals and monitor already.

A few requirements/questions below...

  • I'd like a case that's quite easy to build in & has some decent airflow + cable management.
  • In terms of graphics card, I would ideally want an NVIDIA one but will consider AMD too if they're competitive performance wise. In my experience though, at this price point, NVIDIA usually wins.
  • I always wonder which RAM to get. There's usually a few that look nearly identical but I dunno which numbers to look at in the timings to get the best RAM.
  • Should I be looking at Intel CPUs? They seem to be quite a bit more expensive. In my own PC though I run an i5-8600k which I'm really happy with.
  • Which cooler is best for Ryzen and/or Intel CPUs? Are aircoolers old hat now? I've got a Hyper 212 in my PC which is from about 10 years ago!! Are those AIO radiator things the ones to get now? I guess in this build, I'd be looking at under £40 or so though...

This is what I have come up with so far. Any suggestions?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £779.11 (includes shipping: £13.20)​
​

Thanks
 

Charlatan

Charlatan

Charlatan

Associate
Joined
23 Oct 2002
Posts
1,067
Location
Liverpool
Not too far off. Ditch the Asus motherboard, they are junk. Swapped the GPU for the Zotac (£50 ish cheaper and 5 yr warranty). Motherboard not in stock, but can be sourced elsewhere. Even the Asrock B450M Pro 4 @ £70.99 would be a better buy

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £520.07 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​
 

Danny75

Danny75

Danny75

Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2013
Posts
8,393
balanceballs said:
  • I'd like a case that's quite easy to build in & has some decent airflow + cable management.
Click to expand...
This model has better airflow, same innards:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £61.09 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​


balanceballs said:
  • Which cooler is best for Ryzen and/or Intel CPUs? Are aircoolers old hat now? I've got a Hyper 212 in my PC which is from about 10 years ago!! Are those AIO radiator things the ones to get now? I guess in this build, I'd be looking at under £40 or so though...
Click to expand...

If you want a better cooler than stock:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £93.63 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
​

The cheaper one is essentially the same minus looks and a slower fan. You could also shop around for the dual fan edition which may not cost much more (out of stock at OcUK).
 

Gray2233

Gray2233

Gray2233

Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2010
Posts
5,350
I'd go for something like this with that budget:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £809.94 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

Better motherboard, although if wi-fi isn't needed you could drop down to the Tomahawk Max.

Much better GPU, the 5700XT is close to the 2070S in performance, it absolutely demolishes any of the 1660's.

Different NvME but the real world performance wont be noticeable.

Cheaper case, but it is a great budget option with plenty of features and fantastic airflow thanks to the mesh front.
 

balanceballs

balanceballs

balanceballs

Associate
OP
Joined
26 Aug 2011
Posts
186
Ooooh I didn't realise a 5700XT would be in budget! Reckon I should have one of those and give my son my current 2060 Super instead? Not sure how much of an upgrade that is.

Thanks all btw - some really useful considerations
 

Charlatan

Charlatan

Charlatan

Associate
Joined
23 Oct 2002
Posts
1,067
Location
Liverpool
balanceballs said:
Ooooh I didn't realise a 5700XT would be in budget! Reckon I should have one of those and give my son my current 2060 Super instead? Not sure how much of an upgrade that is.

Thanks all btw - some really useful considerations
Click to expand...

The 5700XT should have performance equivalent of a 2070 Super so yes, sounds like a good idea
 

balanceballs

balanceballs

balanceballs

Associate
OP
Joined
26 Aug 2011
Posts
186
SDK^ said:
Hi - how old is your son? Did you think about the gaming laptop route for portability?
Click to expand...

13. A laptop would way more expensive and less useful. He's not going anywhere to play games or do school work.

I'm now considering buying myself a few bits - new case, new HDDs and then doing some swaps with parts between his and my PCs. Thinking I might get him an RTX2060 as they seem to just about fit into my budget if I swap him to a Ryzen 5 2600. Thoughts?
 

Smokey26

Smokey26

Smokey26

Associate
Joined
18 Apr 2010
Posts
1,320
Location
West Midlands
Might as well get a 1GB M.2, there only 30quid more, well mine was a few weeks ago....

Ive got a Phanteks P400a with the mesh front and its a nice case, good airflow. The 300 is the same i think just a bit smaller so should be good choice.

X5700XT is hard to beat for the money its as fast as a 2070, slower than a 2070S though, and the 3600X would be great choice.
 

spoiler

spoiler

spoiler

Associate
Joined
18 Mar 2015
Posts
37
Hi, apologies for hijacking this thread, but I have pretty much the same question :) I'm looking for a build for my son who will use it (for now anyway) for Fortnite & Twitch streaming.
I've grabbed the build from above, changed the case (no longer in stock) - but the one thing I also need is a PSU - which one would work?

Here's the build:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £872.24 (includes shipping: £12.30)
​

Any tweaks ? I'm guessing this is the better way to go than a pre-built model??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom