Entry level gaming PC

[Oily Oily Oily]

I am after a gaming computer for my son for Xmas, he is 11 and plays Fortnite, Roblox and wants to use steam for gaming.

Have no idea what I should be looking for, Is it better to buy a computer or build one yourself?

Also what monitor would you recommend?

 

[PTR]

I am after a gaming computer for my son for Xmas, he is 11 and plays Fortnite, Roblox and wants to use steam for gaming.

Have no idea what I should be looking for, Is it better to buy a computer or build one yourself?

Also what monitor would you recommend?

"wants to use steam for gaming"

That's the unknown from what you've said - that could mean literally anything.

Also, what's the budget?

 

[Oily Oily Oily]

"wants to use steam for gaming"

That's the unknown from what you've said - that could mean literally anything.

Also, what's the budget?

He will mainly just use Roblox and Fortnite, he mentioned using steam as well, I don’t even think he is sure what games he would play on there.

I am keeping an open mind regarding a budget, what do you think I should be aiming for?

 

[PTR]

He will mainly just use Roblox and Fortnite, he mentioned using steam as well, I don’t even think he is sure what games he would play on there.

I am keeping an open mind regarding a budget, what do you think I should be aiming for?

Thing is, Steam is nothing other than a market place to buy any game from - so in theory, he might want to buy the absolutely most demanding games out there. Steam is the defacto #1 marketplace for every game ever made.

Still a really shitty time to buy gaming PCs I'm afraid, as graphics card prices are still awful, and the normal sweetspot in the range (would be the 4060/4060TI) are hobbled this generation.

Probably looking at at least £800 for the PC + a monitor on top, if not more. Unless its really really not for top end games, then a last gen system will do the trick - something like an 12th Gen i5 and a 3060.

 

[Oily Oily Oily]

Thing is, Steam is nothing other than a market place to buy any game from - so in theory, he might want to buy the absolutely most demanding games out there. Steam is the defacto #1 marketplace for every game ever made.

Still a really shitty time to buy gaming PCs I'm afraid, as graphics card prices are still awful, and the normal sweetspot in the range (would be the 4060/4060TI) are hobbled this generation.

Probably looking at at least £800 for the PC + a monitor on top, if not more. Unless its really really not for top end games, then a last gen system will do the trick - something like an 12th Gen i5 and a 3060.

Could you recommend any pc’s to buy or any websites to use?

What’s the reason for the graphics card prices being high?

 

[PTR]

Could you recommend any pc’s to buy or any websites to use?

What’s the reason for the graphics card prices being high?

Demand outstripping supply - was originally due to crypto mining, but now its all AI demand.

Sorry, Can't recommend somewhere to buy - I built my own, but that was 2 years ago and everything changes every 6-12 months.
I see this company a lot of hotukdeals, and people seem to like them - Search for "Palicomp"

 

[Oily Oily Oily]

Demand outstripping supply - was originally due to crypto mining, but now its all AI demand.

Sorry, Can't recommend somewhere to buy - I built my own, but that was 2 years ago and everything changes every 6-12 months.
I see this company a lot of hotukdeals, and people seem to like them - Search for "Palicomp"

How hard is it to build your own? Is there any websites to help or to check the parts are compatible etc?

 

[PTR]

How hard is it to build your own? Is there any websites to help or to check the parts are compatible etc?

overclockers forum is a good place to ask.

Its not hard to build. But if something goes wrong its tricky to fix if you're not experienced.
Its also not much cheaper - BUT you do get better control of the parts that are not the headline bits - such as picking a better motherboard, power supply, RAM speeds etc.

 

[Oily Oily Oily]

overclockers forum is a good place to ask.

Its not hard to build. But if something goes wrong its tricky to fix if you're not experienced.
Its also not much cheaper - BUT you do get better control of the parts that are not the headline bits - such as picking a better motherboard, power supply, RAM speeds etc.

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated.
Any gaming monitors you could recommend?

That website you sent earlier looks good, plenty of info and loads of different build specs. Do I basically want to go for 4060 and 4060TI minimum?

 

[RYHOPER1]

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated.
Any gaming monitors you could recommend?

That website you sent earlier looks good, plenty of info and loads of different build specs. Do I basically want to go for 4060 and 4060TI minimum?

Hot uk deals is awesome for finding good deals from loads of different retailers

PC Parts Deals ➡️ Get Cheapest Price, Sales | hotukdeals

Latest PC Parts ➤ deals & offers - January 2024 ☑️ Get the best discounts, cheapest price for PC Parts and save money on hotukdeals.

www.hotukdeals.com

Is it for Christmas or sooner ? Black friday is coming up so there will probably be more deals and offers on.

The PC market is weird and often changes depending on availability and recent trends. So one month it might be more cost affective to build your own then the next better to buy pre built.

Its also worth looking at the larger companies now who have become allot more competative. Years ago they were terrible but Lenovo in particular tend to have some decent priced pre builts. They often have discount deals on and then discoutn codes pop up on hot UK deals to get a further discount.

Legion T5 (R7-16GB-512GB-RTX 4070)

www.lenovo.com

dont pay for windows, they charge you around £100 and you can guy keys from grey sites for £10-20 and install it your self. Aslong as you have access to another PC to download the windows usb tool to a USB stick.

 

[PTR]

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated.
Any gaming monitors you could recommend?

That website you sent earlier looks good, plenty of info and loads of different build specs. Do I basically want to go for 4060 and 4060TI minimum?

No idea on monitors, not my thing (I have a cheap 49" 4K TV for my PC - its more for work though tbh).

From what I understand, the 4060/TI range is dead in the water due to RAM constraints. I'd ask on OC if nobody here can help.
But really, depends on what games he's going to play - AMD onboard will play some things and save you £400+

Hot uk deals is awesome for finding good deals from loads of different retailers

PC Parts Deals ➡️ Get Cheapest Price, Sales | hotukdeals

Latest PC Parts ➤ deals & offers - January 2024 ☑️ Get the best discounts, cheapest price for PC Parts and save money on hotukdeals.

www.hotukdeals.com

Is it for Christmas or sooner ? Black friday is coming up so there will probably be more deals and offers on.

The PC market is weird and often changes depending on availability and recent trends. So one month it might be more cost affective to build your own then the next better to buy pre built.

Its also worth looking at the larger companies now who have become allot more competative. Years ago they were terrible but Lenovo in particular tend to have some decent priced pre builts. They often have discount deals on and then discoutn codes pop up on hot UK deals to get a further discount.

Legion T5 (R7-16GB-512GB-RTX 4070)

www.lenovo.com

dont pay for windows, they charge you around £100 and you can guy keys from grey sites for £10-20 and install it your self. Aslong as you have access to another PC to download the windows usb tool to a USB stick.

That PSU looks a bit weak for a 4070?
And 0.5TB storage is really cheaping out, isn't storage mega cheap these days?