Posted 15 February 2024

First Gaming PC for son any help please?

Hi just after some advice please.

My son (13) has asked for a gaming pc for his birthday. To be used for gaming and school work. Main games he plays are Rust, Fortnite, Rocket League etc. I've tried reading up on PCs but finding it so confusing as don't understand any of the specs and what he will need.

Ive found someone local to me who seems to build and sell but don't know if the specs are any good?

I7 6Gen
16GB DDr4
120GBSSD
1TB
Graphics MSI Nvidia GTX 1650 4GB

Many thanks to anyone in advance who can advise this clueless mother
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  1. sidesey's avatar
    Sorry can’t help with specs. Generally the more you spend the better as it will last longer though. Also the longer you wait the better spec you will get. The main thing is what’s your budget. From reading the threads on here you should get something decent for around 1000. Maybe less. You also need to decide between a laptop or a desktop too. Maybe you know all that, but hopefully others can help more.
    aLV426's avatar
    It really depends on the resolution and the games you want to play. £500 will buy you a PC capable of playing plenty of modern games at 1080P with >30fps. No need to spend £1000 unless you want to play at greater than 1080P with >100+fps.
    A laptop is best left to office/school work unless you want to spend >£1000, otherwise game play will be compromised.
    What I would suggest is buy a cheap laptop for school work (second hand laptops can be had for around £100) and spend around £500 on a desktop PC. That removes the temptation to play games when doing school work.
  2. BargainHunter34's avatar
    Author
    Okay thank you all, was a little shocked when I saw needing £1000, as out of my budget. It doesnt need to be top specs as not sure whether just going to be a novelty purchase which he will get bored of as already has the new Xbox.

    I'll try link the item, it's £370 and includes monitor, keyboard mouse etc which he will not need as already have. So would drop the price.


    I7 (6th Gen) Gaming PC Setup ⚠️ BARGAIN ⚠️ | in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire | Gumtree

    Thanks again for the info, it seems I have a lot to learn. (edited)
    Willy_Wonka's avatar
    That is pretty much all junk.
  3. Mydealz_Barney's avatar
    If that PC is more than 200 pounds, it is a complete rip-off. The processor is 9 years old and the graphics card is the absolute bare minimum which could still be considered sufficient for the games you mentioned.
  4. aLV426's avatar
    Well the specs are really old, the GTX 1650 came out in 2019 and the CPU came out in 2015.
    The good news is it will play (at 1080P) Fortnite (and the other games listed too!), the question to ask is for how much?
    I wouldn't pay more than £200 for that spec (edited)
  5. abigsmurf's avatar
    That CPU isn't fully supported by Windows 11 which makes it not great. As the poster above says, this would need to be really cheap as it's a bit of a dead end system.

    Really need to know how much you're hoping to pay before recommending anything
  6. BargainHunter34's avatar
    Author
    Sorry forgot to say was hoping to spend around £500, but monitor, keyboard etc not needed as he already has these for his Xbox (edited)
    Mark_Hickman's avatar
    Dont get the package above its terrible, what monitor is he using is it higher than 60hz ? If you could stretch closer to 500 you could get him something that will last alot longer so long as hes sticking to 1080p and not expecting 2k or 4k resolution and high frames per second
  7. dcx_badass's avatar
    Generally local facebook sellers are a scam, normally old rubbish with a big mark up, the 6th gen CPU's are 9 years old now and you can get much better budget ones like the Intel 12100/12400/13100/13400 etc, or AMD even something like a 3600 for £50 will easily beat that.
    adam.mt's avatar
    3600 is a £90 chip unless you're talking second-hand
  8. adam.mt's avatar
    To be fair, it's NOT junk. It will do the job, okay. The ssd and graphics card are a little weak, and given it's all second-hand, as everyone has said, the price is too high.

    Lots of places do the same - package up old kit (recycled business machines) with a new case, and 'look at me' rgb lighting, then list as a 'Bargain Gaming PC'. They're not. Just the same as the "Genuine license" software isn't either.
    aLV426's avatar
    For what they are asking for it is junk - it's nearly 10 years old, you can get better spec at that price point...
    Also I don't think your software analogy works.
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