Starter PC for Teenager, loves programming and computer science

[Godno145]

I am looking for some advice and guidance.

We are looking at buying our 16 year old a PC, looking at £500 budget (obviously) cheaper the better, haha!

He does not need monitors or keyboard etc...

He loves programming and computer science, he has created a few of his own basic games. I built my own computers around 20 years ago, (started with 286 and 386s with Windows 3.1, if anyone else remembers them!), therefore the plan is to buy a basic (but good enough) starter PC, but then overtime upgrade components and improve.

He does play some games on his current PC, but nothing that needs a lot of power, (he has a PS5), I think over time he will transfer to a PC gamer.

Any advice, suggested PCs would eb gratefully welcome!

Thanks

 

[Tetras]

You could go for something like this and add a graphics card later if required:

I'd recommend swapping the B650M D3HP for the B850M version.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Six Core 4.3GHz (Socket AM5) APU with Radeon 760M Graphics (SKU: PRO-AMD-01797) = £179.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B650M D3HP AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03566) = £104.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G5600HC40BDC01) (SKU: MY-0B3-TG) = £74.99
• 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 Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
• 1 x MSI MAG A650BN UK PSU 650W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: POW-MSI-03345) = £49.99
  

Total: £526.88 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[NetMan]

Might be worth posting the specs from his current PC, if anything can be reused it might give him more options.

 

[DotA]

You could go for something like this and add a graphics card later if required:

I'd recommend swapping the B650M D3HP for the B850M version.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Six Core 4.3GHz (Socket AM5) APU with Radeon 760M Graphics (SKU: PRO-AMD-01797) = £179.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B650M D3HP AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03566) = £104.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G5600HC40BDC01) (SKU: MY-0B3-TG) = £74.99
• 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 Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
• 1 x MSI MAG A650BN UK PSU 650W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: POW-MSI-03345) = £49.99

Total: £526.88 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

If you can extend your budget to £600 you can get a decent build.

Change the CPU to a AMD 7600 and i agree with changing to motherboard to something newer. And getting a 2nd hand GPU like a nvidea 1050ti or 1060. for around £50-£60 and this will give a better gaming experiance comapared to just the 8600g

The 8600g has less PCI lanes and limited to PCI4.0 and has less L3 cache (This is the stuff you pay extra for in the x3D chips) comapred to the 7600

Im liking the MSI boards currenelty due to how cheap ther are with lots of connectivity. for £15 more there is another MSI board that has Wifi 7 and a 5 Gig NIC.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x MSI B850M Gaming Plus WIFI6E (AMD AM5) B850 DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-05943) = £139.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £160.99

Total: £308.98 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

 

[pre]

Do you know if he has any interest in AI or tinkering with an LLM locally as that might help other people with good recommendations - or considerations for future.

 

[Godno145]

Do you know if he has any interest in AI or tinkering with an LLM locally as that might help other people with good recommendations - or considerations for future.

Thank you, I have just asked him about AI and LLM, this has just led to an hour long conversation and I have no idea what he said! But, he has done very little in terms of these, but clearly has an interest.

His current PC, I will upload specs later, but it is an old PC, one that was passed on from my brother in law about 10years ago, I have added ram to make it 2GB, no graphics card, HDD i added a 128 SSD out of a laptop that the power port melted on and there is a 512gb (I think) HDD. But ideally, I would like to keep this one running so for me and my work.

 

[Godno145]

Thank you for all the suggestions so far!

 

[***F1ZZY***]

Sounds like strtaing fresh is the best option then. I agree a 2nd hand dedicated GPU will be better ultimately if you can include in the budget.

 

[DotA]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £160.99
• 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 Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
• 1 x Lian Li Edge Gold 750W Black Power Supply (SKU: POW-LIA-03766) = £85.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £80.00
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05692) = £129.94

Total: £573.85 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

Something like this + a cheap 2nd hand GPU.

All the components are good enough they dont require a swap out at later date.

The psu is moduler and more efficient and will be able to power all but the most powerfull of GPUs.
The RAM is 6000mhz and has good timings.
The CPU comes with a Stock cooler and no need to upgrade it as its a 65watt cooler.
That motherboard comes with good conectivity for usb, m.2 drives and als good power dilivry for the board.
The case has 3 fans included and can put a furth 6 in if needed.

If its a stock CPU with no GPU thats 10 years old the IGPU on the 7600 will beat it no problem even if you didint get a GPU.