Buying my son a gaming PC, help.

[Mr R.]

Well hello gent's, back again. flol

Looking at a gaming PC but not sure what spec he would need, now ive found this one which is local to me.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaming-v...1060-32GB-Ram-256GB-SSD-4k-Ready/163170900064

Billy has spec one on Fresh Tech, anygood?

Total £1191


Is there anywhere else i should be looking to get one built or is there someone on here who can do it?

Many thanks

S.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Did you reverse over the family dog or something?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Build critique:

I think you could build something less GPU limited than that for the money. I'd sack off a HDD, 120GB SSD is a bit small these days, 250GB is about £100. Probably less.

That CPU cooler is lame, the PSU looks weak but then hardware is more efficient these days so maybe it's enough.

If you're building yourself (surely that'd be a great father/son thing to do? especially if you've never done it before) then:

Pick graphics card first, I'm just throwing figures out there, but I'd say if you have £1200 to spend on a machine then try and spend £500 of that on a GPU. Maybe even 600.

I'd rather have a s**t looking case and previous gen mobo/CPU and graphics on high/ultra than a CPU I don't utilise and graphics on medium.

 

[Mr R.]

Did you reverse over the family dog or something?

FLOL. No mate, im just trying to get an idea on price and spec.
I could do with Billy's current PC to replace my 10 year old HP desk top, so Billy's new PC would be an early Christmas present, maybe.

 

[Daz...]

What monitor did you get him in the end? It’s 1080p isn’t it?

 

[Daz...]

.

 

[Mr R.]

What monitor did you get him in the end? It’s 1080p isn’t it?

This one bud.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/compu...2hrF9uenemx0GZKEtjhoCBRYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Daz...]

Nice, I’d get a 1070 minimum for a graphics card tbh.

That’s what I run with a similar monitor and it flys along in every game I’ve tried.

I’ll have a proper look later and do a list if no one else has. You definitely get more for your money building it yourself.

 

[Wilkeh]

With a £1200 budget I'd be spec'ing a 1070/1070Ti. Don't pay £90 for Windows 10, you can get it on eBay for like £5.

Reduce the ram to 8GB for the time being. He'll be fine with 8GB @ 1080p. Some games with utilise more in the near future and you can just chuck another 8GB in then. Stick a bigger SSD in definitely.

 

[imprezaworks]

Starts off with monitor, then headphones.

What ya done lol

 

[Mr R.]

Starts off with monitor, then headphones.

What ya done lol

Mate, tell me about it!

 

[Mr R.]

Nice, I’d get a 1070 minimum for a graphics card tbh.

That’s what I run with a similar monitor and it flys along in every game I’ve tried.

I’ll have a proper look later and do a list if no one else has. You definitely get more for your money building it yourself.

Thanks buddy, building it with Billy will be nice.

When he was 9 we bought him a laptop, I came home from work and Billy had decided to take it apart and couldn't get it back together. Bloody kid's. Lol

 

[Daz...]

Hopefully this works...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor£218.79 @ Kustom PCs
CPU CoolerCorsair - H80i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler£82.00 @ AWD-IT
MotherboardMSI - Z370 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard£99.99 @ CCL Computers
MemoryCorsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory£153.59 @ Aria PC
StorageSamsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive£96.50 @ Amazon UK
StorageWestern Digital - Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive£50.39 @ Aria PC
Video CardEVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card£377.49 @ Amazon UK
CaseBitFenix - Nova ATX Mid Tower Case£28.74 @ Aria PC
Power SupplyCorsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply£87.99 @ Amazon UK

Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts

Total£1195.48

Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-01 22:07 BST+0100

 

[Daz...]

That’s an example of what you can get for your money.

I would get a copy of Custom PC and having a look at what they recommend for different price ranges. Obviously nothing is definitive, but it’s a good guide on what’s worth buying. If you can’t find the magazine then drop me a pm.

 

[Mr R.]

That’s an example of what you can get for your money.

I would get a copy of Custom PC and having a look at what they recommend for different price ranges. Obviously nothing is definitive, but it’s a good guide on what’s worth buying. If you can’t find the magazine then drop me a pm.

Many thanks for your time mate, is the one you've spec alot better than the one I posted for around the same money?

 

[Daz...]

It’s got a better graphics card, cpu cooler and power supply. There’s also more than double the storage space.

Like I said, you can still look through and change some bits for cheaper if needed.

I also haven’t put a copy of Windows 10 on the list.

 

[Daz...]

Just noticed the motherboard hasn’t got WiFi built in so that’s something to consider. I’ll blame the football, I was half watching it whilst doing the list ?

 

[SharkyUK]

I'm crap at this... I'm struggling to get the spec below 4 grand... FLOL! Just how much do you love your son?

 

[Wilkeh]

Hopefully this works...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor£218.79 @ Kustom PCs
CPU CoolerCorsair - H80i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler£82.00 @ AWD-IT
MotherboardMSI - Z370 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard£99.99 @ CCL Computers
MemoryCorsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory£153.59 @ Aria PC
StorageSamsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive£96.50 @ Amazon UK
StorageWestern Digital - Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive£50.39 @ Aria PC
Video CardEVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card£377.49 @ Amazon UK
CaseBitFenix - Nova ATX Mid Tower Case£28.74 @ Aria PC
Power SupplyCorsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply£87.99 @ Amazon UK

Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts

Total£1195.48

Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-01 22:07 BST+0100

Good list that is mate, pretty much spot on. All I would change is to reduce the RAM to 8GB and use the savings on a better case imo personally. Other than that though this is where you want to be looking op

 

[Simon998]

Good list that is mate, pretty much spot on. All I would change is to reduce the RAM to 8GB and use the savings on a better case imo personally. Other than that though this is where you want to be looking op

16gb is about the minimum you want these days. That said, it's always easy to add more at a later date. I'll knock one together on pcpartpicker at lunch.

 

[Simon998]

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/XmnMTB

CPU
Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler
Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler

Motherboard
MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Memory
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage
Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive


Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card
MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB DUKE Video Card

Case
Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply
Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply



This machine would demolish anything you throw at it. £1100 all in. Could save £50-60 by purchasing a non-K CPU as I doubt he will be overclocking the system.

 

[Wilkeh]

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/XmnMTB

CPUView attachment 1378682
Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU CoolerView attachment 1378683
Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler

MotherboardView attachment 1378684
MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

MemoryView attachment 1378685
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

StorageView attachment 1378686
Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive

View attachment 1378687
Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video CardView attachment 1378688
MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB DUKE Video Card

CaseView attachment 1378689
Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power SupplyView attachment 1378690
Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply



This machine would demolish anything you throw at it. £1100 all in. Could save £50-60 by purchasing a non-K CPU as I doubt he will be overclocking the system.

Bargain that

 

[Simon998]

I regrettably changed my NH-D15 Noctua cooler for a H115i Corsair All-in-one watercooler. Takes up 4x the space and my temperatures under load went up by 4-7 degrees. Don't be fooled by the D15 being an air cooler, research shows they are beasts.

500GB M2 SSD As the boot drive (m2 plugs directly into the board and is generally a little faster than SATA and takes up less space/no cables) and for storing the games he plays most, the 1TB Platter drive for long term storage/movies/music etc.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I regrettably changed my NH-D15 Noctua cooler for a H115i Corsair All-in-one watercooler. Takes up 4x the space and my temperatures under load went up by 4-7 degrees. Don't be fooled by the D15 being an air cooler, research shows they are beasts.

500GB M2 SSD As the boot drive (m2 plugs directly into the board and is generally a little faster than SATA and takes up less space/no cables) and for storing the games he plays most, the 1TB Platter drive for long term storage/movies/music etc.

It's not that the Noctua is a beast (it should be given the size). Corsair stuff is just guff.

 

[Simon998]

I had a full corsair build previous to my current build and it was flawless. I just think AIO's are shite. I had a custom twin loop system about 6 years ago, whilst temps were great it wasn't worth the effort it took to maintain it. I also had a dodgy fitting and it ended up leaking over my GTX 680's.

I'll end up buying another D15 eventually but this Corsair will see me through the winter as ambient temps aren't going to be too bad (I've a 5930k @ 4.7ghz, was 4.9ghz on the d15, it's like an oven.)

 

[Goodj]

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Some AIOs are actually quite good. Yes it's anecdotal but everything Corsair I've ever had has broken apart from the case. Infact that's not even true the HDD tray handle snapped way too easily.

H100i developed a bad pump rattle within a year (within warranty, they gave me a replacement eventually AFTER I sent them the faulty one)

SP2500 speakers popped after 2 years (no warranty, they said f**k off)

One out of 2 sticks of RAM became bad after 3 or 4 years (didn't bother pursuing)

PSU died after 5 years (didn't bother pursuing)

Like I said. I know it's anecdotal but that is every piece of Corsair hardware (minus some laptop memory and a USB stick). Dog s**t build quality.

 

[Simon998]

@Phase1sr If you want a hand to build it, hit me up and I can talk you through it. I would say to ship it to me and I'd throw it together but postage to N.Ireland is usually two-fortunes.

 

[Mr R.]

Thanks for all of the replays gent's, I'll read them all later with Billy once I'm home. ?

 

[Greeny.]

Its the best dad ever again.

As above, a 1070 will be good for a few years and perfect for a 1080p monitor, 16GB RAM really should be standard on any gaming PC these days, 8GB doesn't cut it anymore, especially when running Windows, using this will cause regular paging to disk so is best avoided imo.

 

[Simon998]

If you buy the parts, it would be a good fun to build it together with your son. It'll teach him (and possibly you) a few things too.

 

[Goodj]

Its the best dad ever again.

As above, a 1070 will be good for a few years and perfect for a 1080p monitor, 16GB RAM really should be standard on any gaming PC these days, 8GB doesn't cut it anymore, especially when running Windows, using this will cause regular paging to disk so is best avoided imo.

Relevant video content:

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

16GB isn't even enough if you use Chrome and like to leave it open whilst playing games.

 

[Greeny.]

16GB isn't even enough if you use Chrome and like to leave it open whilst playing games.

like it

 

[Mr Trailer Man]

Don't be tight and stick him an Nvidia P6000 in ?

 

[Goodj]

16GB isn't even enough if you use Chrome and like to leave it open whilst playing games.

There's a cheaper solution to the problem than chucking 64GB of 3200 memory at the problem though.

I appreciate that CS Ballers would rather chuck another £200 into their motherboard than go through the arduous torment of closing a browser they wont be looking at for an hour, but the majority of sensible PC users who aren't using CAD, Adobe and such, 16gb is fine.

I don't know the boy in question here, but I'd say for the price point we're talking about here, an upper-level GPU with 16gb of fast RAM is going to cope fine, especially if the C: is an NVME.

 

[Wilkeh]

I'm still rocking 8GB of RAM and I game @ 3440x1440. Never had a single issue in any game so far. I guess it's worth sticking another 8GB in soon though, it's pretty cheap these days I guess. Although my PC is literally just a gaming PC, so there's no rush.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

^ Yup I imagine 8GB is enough if you just boot Windows and then open Steam. Though back in my Eve Online days I could use 8GB running multiple clients but you could easily argue that's not a game... Didn't think RAM contributed to resolution? VRAM yes, RAM ?

Right now I have about my typical amount of Chrome tabs open and my PC is using 5.5GB. I actually experienced memory errors on FarCry5 recently when Chrome was running in the background.

 

[Greeny.]

I'm still rocking 8GB of RAM and I game @ 3440x1440. Never had a single issue in any game so far. I guess it's worth sticking another 8GB in soon though, it's pretty cheap these days I guess. Although my PC is literally just a gaming PC, so there's no rush.

I upgraded to 16GB when GTA5 came out as was paging out a fair amount, very game dependant though but with Windows 10's bloatware it makes sense if you're building a new machine to put 16GB in it, why would you compromise on a new build? Fair enough if you have an older machine with 8GB DDR3 or whatever and don't want to waste your cash on old tech but for a new build its a no brainer.

 

[Daz...]

I remember trying to start up Forza when it first appeared on Windows 10. I had 8gb of RAM and it wouldn’t let me open the game, I had to set up a decent sized page file on the HDD to get it to run.