Son's first build: £550-£600, spec please

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 21:00

My family and I are clubbing together to get my son the bits for his first build for his Christmas. My last build was about 2 and a half years ago so i'm completely out of touch. I've had a look through the recent threads and i can't find a pretty similar request to this one so here goes.

My son is about to become a teenager so games are pretty important to him. Am looking for a good bang for buck budget gaming system. It will need everything including monitor, OS, and to be wireless ready. Doesn't need huge storage. Will not be overclocking unless he does it on the sly. If it could also be upgradeable in a couple of years time then that would be a bonus. Upgradewise i'm thinking of no more than possibly additional RAM, graphics card. CPU at a push too. I'm planning to be buying in about 2 weeks or so.

One other thing, he's getting to the age where i'm starting to become worried about what he'll be looking at. Anyone know some good parental control software?

Any help/knowledge is greatfully appreciated.

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 21:22

stulid said:
Do you want speakers/keyboard and mouse also?

Sorry, yeah, i should have said. He'll be wanting some speakers. Doesn't need to be surround but a pair with woofer would be cool. And yes, a cheap keyboard and mouse combo would be good, preferably corded.

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 21:57

That looks good to me Stulid. Thanks for the help although it's going to make me envious as it'll be better than mine! Can't buy it just yet so will miss out on the Black Fridays. I'll keep an eye on the This Week Only's to see if anything comes up that could swap in. That power supply looks quite cheap for a Corsair. Am guessing though the quality is still pretty good.

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 21:58

Tibbz2 said:
Good tip: Make sure you block 4chan...

Noted.

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 22:06

Any other questions?

Will still need a separate wireless networking card? I'm a corded all the way man myself but i'm not running cables through the house for him.

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 22:28

Are USB dongles any better than they used to be? Just a little worried about the latency.

Lovemonk · 25 Nov 2011 at 22:43

stulid said:
What about those mains lines network adapters?

Just tried reading that. Blew my head up a wee bit. Think i will go with a cheapish card and see how it goes. Might work in my favour as I could own him in a game due to his latency and gain bragging rights.

Wait a minute, can't believe i just said i'd own my own son. I'm off to ponder if that's a good or bad thing. Thanks again for all the help.

Lovemonk · 26 Nov 2011 at 08:12

stulid said:
Hmm, difficult as you want upgrade ability.

Woke up thinking about this this morning. What if i wanted to restrict the upgrade potential to RAM and GPU only? Could i save a fair bit on the mobo? Maybe CPU savings to be made also?

Lovemonk · 30 Nov 2011 at 23:18

Thanks for the help so far. Have had a go at it myself and the system isn't as powerful, nor as upgradeable. Compromised a bit here and there as wanted to get better speakers as son likes using a headset and the ones i picked he can plug straight into them. Any thoughts? Will it all work together? What amendments could be made in the graphics card area? That card i picked any good?

Lovemonk · 1 Dec 2011 at 07:48

Thanks Stulid. Am happier that that's better for not too much more. Will be ordering this coming week. Thanks again.