Considering getting my son a gaming PC for Xmas - Help please.

Queen-Mise

As the title says I am considering getting my son a PC for xmas - specifically for gaming.

Any suggestions or advice please would be really appreciated.

Am I better off getting one built? Is it an automatic rip-off to even consider going near a shop?

What kind of specs would I need for a gaming PC? I know a little bit - but not really enough to make a definitive decision without some help.

Thanks in advance.

thenightrider

Build all the way. What is your budget and what games would he be playing ?

DipStick McSwindler

This post has been deleted.

Queen-Mise

I was looking at this...

Are the specs good enough on this to be gaming PC?

http://www.currys.ie/Product/HP-Omni-1201110-20andquot-AllinOne-PC/313244/7.24

Intel® Pentium® G630 (2.7 GHz, 5 GT/s, 3 MB L3 cache memory)
RAM
4 GB DDR3 (1 x 4 GB) DDR3 Supports up to 8GB DDR3 memory
Intel HD Graphics Integrated
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Shouldn't the graphics card have its own dedicated RAM - is shared RAM upto 8GB enough?

theteal

It's integrated, it doesn't have a graphics card. Nobody will be recommending that as a gaming pc

Answer the below questions and you'll should all the answers you need here

1. What is your budget? [€xxx]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility)

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]

Queen-Mise

thenightrider wrote: »

Build all the way. What is your budget and what games would he be playing ?

I am going to start him off with Minecraft. It seems like a good game as it is not just a straight shoot-em-up. He loves stuff like Assassins Creed, Modern Warfare. He has just hit the stage of being obsessed with weaponry :rolleyes:

He is 11 years year old, so if I build a PC he will have it for the next few years when he will be gaming a good bit.

Price wise - I am going to have to get everything, as in, a computer table & chair for his room, the monitor also. I'd spend upto 1000 if I HAD to - if I was pretty guarenteed the PC would be good enough for the next 4/5 years.

Is that feasible?

Alexidium

Queen-Mise wrote: »

I was looking at this...

Are the specs good enough on this to be gaming PC?

http://www.currys.ie/Product/HP-Omni-1201110-20andquot-AllinOne-PC/313244/7.24




Shouldn't the graphics card have its own dedicated RAM - is shared RAM upto 8GB enough?

I would not recommend buying a PC that you want to use for gaming with an integrated GPU. When looking to buy/make a gaming PC, look at the RAM, GPU and CPU. In your case, the CPU could be better, I mean 2.7 ghz isn't bad but some of the latest games require much more CPU speed, the RAM is fine and I do not agree with the graphics card. In my opinion, I would not consider it a gaming PC by far. Just a suggestion, an i3, nVidia GTX 550 and 6 GB of RAM could be considered a gaming PC as it will allow you to run some of the latest games like Battlefield 3 etc...

Good luck...

DipStick McSwindler

This post has been deleted.

Queen-Mise

1. What is your budget? € upto 1000

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming - Minecraft, MW, Assassins Creed

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? None - as the PC in the sitting room will be staying there. Also it is a Santa present - so it has to seem new (the last Santa year).

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes

5a. If yes, what size do you need. At least 22" if possible.


6. Do you need any of these peripherals? I'll need the keyboard, mouse... I have speakers here.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] - I can't give an answer to this as I don't know what overclocking is.

8. How can you pay? Visa - if that is the easiest.

9. When are you purchasing? ASAP - I like having XMAS sorted early.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Carlow

theteal

Queen-Mise wrote: »

Price wise - I am going to have to get everything, as in, a computer table & chair for his room, the monitor also. I'd spend upto 1000 if I HAD to - if I was pretty guarenteed the PC would be good enough for the next 4/5 years.

from my limited knowledge i'm thinking you could put together a proper i5, 7850 gaming rig for €700-€800 that would more than meet your needs for that kind of period. Such a machine would possibly be overkill for an 11 yr old though

Alexidium

Oh and another suggestion, I would not buy a 2 in 1 PC for gaming. What I mean is, the monitor and hardware are in one build. Consider a Samsung monitor as they are good value, a medium tower for your hardware. Towers are not that expensive. Oh and one more big suggestion, if you can try buying the parts off the internet, it comes out much cheaper.

Alexidium

Queen-Mise wrote: »

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] - I can't give an answer to this as I don't know what overclocking is.

Basically means making certain hardware work beyond its limits. Very risky as heat comes in to play.

Queen-Mise

theteal wrote: »

from my limited knowledge i'm thinking you could put together a proper i5, 7850 gaming rig for €700-€800 that would more than meet your needs for that kind of period. Such a machine would possibly be overkill for an 11 yr old though

It is definite overkill - I know that.:D I want a PC that will be good enough for the next 3/4 years though.

I can always put an 8 euro keyboard & mouse - there is no problem buying better ones in time. I can get him wireless joy-pads in time also. It is the hard-drive that is the most important though.

DipStick McSwindler

This post has been deleted.

Alexidium

Queen-Mise wrote: »

It is definite overkill - I know that.:D I want a PC that will be good enough for the next 3/4 years though.

I can always put an 8 euro keyboard & mouse - there is no problem buying better ones in time. I can get him wireless joy-pads in time also. It is the hard-drive that is the most important though.

Why hard drive?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Caviar-SATAIII-Internal/dp/B00461G3MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349948116&sr=8-1

Pretty cheap and more than enough memory.

Andy!!

Guys, sometimes it's best not to suggest to someone that they build themselves! :P

While I wouldn't neccesarily suggest that you build yourself, it is a gift, and if you aren't into this stuff, and depending on the age of your son, then I would say just buy one pre-made. But at the same time stay away from a PC like that one you linked to, it's not going to be able to play games at all.

Komplett.ie are a good site for this kind of stuff. But their search is currently borked. Pixmania gave me this, the only thing within your budget, but you'd have to get a screen too then keep in mind.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/9267184/art/sedatech/pc-multimedia-intel-i3-21.html

It's not an amazing machine to be honest, but will do the trick. It has an i3 processor, which they even put in Alienware PC's these days, so it will play games for a few years, just maybe not at very high spec.

There's lots of pre-built PC options on the favoured website for PC builders; just figure out your budget when you include the cost of a screen.

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/538/Desktop-PC.search?rp=0

Plenty of choice there. The only thing with those guys is, it might come with the processor cooler not installed in the machine to avoid damage during shipping. Plus you'll need to arrange for a keyboard yourself.

This is decent, but over 100 euro over your budget before a screen/keyboard. It is a Dell, which will get much hate from this part of boards.ie :P But it is a decent machine.

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d00x8505&model_id=xps-8500&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&

Other than that, keep an eye out on Aldi and Lidl specials. If they still have PC's sometimes, not seen them in a while. These machines are quite often pretty good for gaming.

If you have any further questions feel free to ask There is also the option of having that website that is favoured by PC builders actually build you a PC if you give them a list that we make you, it will cost an extra 20. But then the processor cooler will probably definitely arrive uninstalled.

Queen-Mise

Alexidium wrote: »

Why hard drive?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Caviar-SATAIII-Internal/dp/B00461G3MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349948116&sr=8-1

Pretty cheap and more than enough memory.

Sorry getting my terms mixed up - I meant the hardware (box, cpu, etc.)

Alexidium

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GAMING-COMPUTER-3-6GHZ-BULLDOZER-GeForce/dp/B005I3FZZY/ref=sr_1_21?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349948690&sr=1-21

Seems a good choice and the price is okay too

Genghiz Cohen

On the build side of things.
It's a lot of fun (to me) you could save it for christmas day and try to build with him. If you are not comfortable with that you could get the place you're buying from to build it (€20), or, since I live in Carlow town, I could do it.

Alexidium

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

On the build side of things.
It's a lot of fun (to me) you could save it for christmas day and try to build with him. If you are not comfortable with that you could get the place you're buying from to build it (€20), or, since I live in Carlow town, I could do it.

I love doing the build. Can't wait to start my own one again. I study this stuff so it easy for me but for those that are new to this it can be intimidating.

ED E

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

On the build side of things.
It's a lot of fun (to me) you could save it for christmas day and try to build with him. If you are not comfortable with that you could get the place you're buying from to build it (€20), or, since I live in Carlow town, I could do it.

Building it on the day could be super cool(its just like lego), but in the off chance a part was DOA the disappointment wouldnt be worth risking.


OP: Order from HWVS but getn them to build it for you as Genghiz said. Best way to go about it.


PS: I think this whole forum would love you for a mother

marco_polo

Right can't let this thread get to three pages without a build being posted , with the building and shipping about €40 extra this would come to roughly €790 delivered, the main problem with this build is that Hardwareversand are almost completely out of FM2 parts at the moment, so please don't run out and order just yet. All it lacks is a Kb & M, and possibly a wireless card if required.

If nothing else it is a good indicator of how far 700-800 will go at HWVS. And if stock doesn't come back soon you could absolutely swap in an intel i3 board and processor for roughly the same price and performance.

There is a seperate product item you pop in the basket for them to build it for your, but I can't for the life of me find it this morning


Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.19
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€43.33
ASRock FM2A75 Pro4|€74.76
AMD A10 5800K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Box, FM2|€115.25
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€33.48
PowerColor Radeon HD 7850|€167.66
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1TB|€69.29
ASUS DVD-RW|€19.03
Acer LED 21.5"|€109.00
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit|€82,36
Total|€749.16

Alexidium

marco_polo wrote: »

Right can't let this thread get to three pages without a build being posted , with the building and shipping about €40 extra this would come to roughly €790 delivered, the main problem with this build is that Hardwareversand are almost completely out of FM2 parts at the moment, so please don't run out and order just yet. All it lacks is a Kb & M, and possibly a wireless card if required.

If nothing else it is a good indicator of how far 700-800 will go at HWVS. And if stock doesn't come back soon you could absolutely swap in an intel i3 board and processor for roughly the same price and performance.

There is a seperate product item you pop in the basket for them to build it for your, but I can't for the life of me find it this morning


Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.19
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€43.33
ASRock FM2A75 Pro4|€74.76
AMD A10 5800K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Box, FM2|€115.25
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€33.48
PowerColor Radeon HD 7850|€167.66
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1TB|€69.29
ASUS DVD-RW|€19.03
Acer LED 21.5"|€109.00
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit|€82,36
Total|€749.16

Although I am an Intel fan, the above is pretty damn good. Great effort.
Thanks for the .de website...i will surely order some stuff from there from now on...
On a side note, how the hell do you THANK people? I can't seem to find it. I know noob right. hahaha

Genghiz Cohen

Let battle commence!

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€27.68
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP, Sockel 1155, ATX|€79.79
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€82.36
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.99
ASUS DRW-24B5ST bare|€19.39
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€69.29
Intel Core i5-3450 Box, LGA1155|€167.88
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP|€167.98
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.19
Dell UltraSharp U2312HM|€196.35
Logitech G400 Gaming Mouse|€30.73
Cherry Stream XT Evolution Black UK-Layout|€16.92
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€964.54

So that's everything you need.
Plus that monitor is really really nice. I have one, ShadowHearth has 2.


EDIT: Whip down to Currys or the like and spend €20 on a set of headphones, you'll thank me at 2 in the morning.

-( i )- Wicker

Andy!! wrote: »

Other than that, keep an eye out on Aldi and Lidl specials. If they still have PC's sometimes, not seen them in a while. These machines are quite often pretty good for gaming.

I'd also recommend keeping an eye out for the Medion PC's that Aldi gets, they're usually very good for the price. They come without a monitor though.

DipStick McSwindler

This post has been deleted.

marco_polo

Alexidium wrote: »

Although I am an Intel fan, the above is pretty damn good. Great effort.
Thanks for the .de website...i will surely order some stuff from there from now on...
On a side note, how the hell do you THANK people? I can't seem to find it. I know noob right. hahaha

I'd usually stick in an i3 and say upgrade to an i5 later, but if it is something that we don't want to touch again for 3-4 years is which I just ever so slightly edge in favour of the A10.

Noobs can't thank , so I just thanked your post in order to taunt you. I think there is there a minimum number of posts before you can do it but I am not sure what that is. One day you will start to see a thumbs up buttons beside the reply/edit ones.

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Let battle commence!

So that's everything you need.
Plus that monitor is really really nice. I have one, ShadowHearth has 2.


EDIT: Whip down to Currys or the like and spend €20 on a set of headphones, you'll thank me at 2 in the morning.

Touché. Not bad sir, not bad at all

Andy!!

Alexidium wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GAMING-COMPUTER-3-6GHZ-BULLDOZER-GeForce/dp/B005I3FZZY/ref=sr_1_21?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349948690&sr=1-21

Seems a good choice and the price is okay too

I would go with this one. Bonus points for looking awesome, lets remember guys the kid is only 11. Not sure where we're getting these 2AM mornings from!!

marco_polo

Andy!! wrote: »

I would go with this one. Bonus points for looking awesome, lets remember guys the kid is only 11. Not sure where we're getting these 2AM mornings from!!

It does come without windows and a monitor though which would push it from €570ish by another 200 or so.

Andy!!

Ooh, didnt notice the lack of windows. Shame.

Genghiz Cohen

Andy!! wrote: »

Not sure where we're getting these 2AM mornings from!!

Minecraft doesn't care how old you are. Minecraft is nice like that.

Keep in mind, I'll be happy to build whatever you order. It's like a hobby.

Andy!!

Thankfully Minecraft is a game and not a parent lol.

Gumbi

I definitely like the idea of the father building it sit his son on Christmas Day. If the Dad can educate himself on the basics beforehand, and perhaps have a friend on standby if needed (I know I needed some help over the phone putting together my system), I think it's doable. Remember, he wants it to be reasonably future-proofed.

ED E

Gumbi wrote: »

I definitely like the idea of the father building it sit his son on Christmas Day. If the Dad can educate himself on the basics beforehand, and perhaps have a friend on standby if needed (I know I needed some help over the phone putting together my system), I think it's doable. Remember, he wants it to be reasonably future-proofed.

Or the mother! Seems she's the one putting the leg work in here.


But as above, not really worth the risk.

Gumbi

ED E wrote: »

Gumbi wrote: »

I definitely like the idea of the father building it sit his son on Christmas Day. If the Dad can educate himself on the basics beforehand, and perhaps have a friend on standby if needed (I know I needed some help over the phone putting together my system), I think it's doable. Remember, he wants it to be reasonably future-proofed.

Or the mother! Seems she's the one putting the leg work in here.


But as above, not really worth the risk.

Sure!

You mean the risk of putting one together?

DipStick McSwindler

This post has been deleted.

Gumbi

IrishFeeney92 wrote: »

how about putting it all together and leaving one piece of ram out, tell the kid it wont work until he puts it in, put the ram in then...

BOOM!!

Power it on and the kid feels great!!

Maye a bit more difficult than that :P How about putting in the PSU, connecting it to the mobo, and Lear the child to connect up the RAM, GPU, and CPU. Have the diskdrive set up already, hard drive too. 'Twould be great!

Andy!!

Gumbi wrote: »

Sure!

You mean the risk of putting one together?

The risk of one of the parts being dead. Like the mobo, RAM, whatever.


EDIT: My 1,000th post. Thankfully, it was informative, poignant and beautiful ;_)

marco_polo

It been a while since I was a nipper but I'm pretty sure the last thing I would have wanted to do was make my own present on Christmas morning .

It would be a bit of a disappointment to find a problem on Christmas day, and then not be able to resolve anything until the new year, so from that point of view I think it better to buy/build as early as possible.

Gumbi

Andy!! wrote: »

Gumbi wrote: »

Sure!

You mean the risk of putting one together?

The risk of one of the parts being dead. Like the mobo, RAM, whatever.

Ah. Can't they be solved by pre-checkin the build?

subway

and the fun of installing windows (+assorted "updates") on christmas day? almost as good as watching the turkey roast...

get someone else to build it or buy prebuilt or, if you want to save some money, buy a new case and stick second hand innards into it. im sure someone on here will stick a santa hat on and help you build it between now and december

Andy!!

Gumbi wrote: »

Ah. Can't they be solved by pre-checkin the build?

Lads theres no point lol. Just have the PC working and ready for him in the morning. The kid is 11. He just wants to scalp American colonists with a tomahawk and stuff himself full of turkey and pudding.

... I think this kid is onto something, personally.

Gumbi

subway wrote: »

and the fun of installing windows (+assorted "updates") on christmas day? almost as good as watching the turkey roast...

get someone else to build it or buy prebuilt or, if you want to save some money, buy a new case and stick second hand innards into it. im sure someone on here will stick a santa hat on and help you build it between now and december

The budget is up to 1k, that's not an issue. Second hand parts can save a lot of momey, though.. Like I said, that can all be pre-done. All that needs to be done is connect the GPU, CPU to the mobo and to the PSU, connect the RAM and if it in. 20 mins.

Great for a kid who's into Lego/building challenges. It's only a suggestion....

subway

the stretch budget is up to 1k with desk, chair, OS, monitor etc so im just giving an alternative idea

also, not suggesting the build idea is bad or wrong, just pointing out that a windows install will also be needed which is not nearly as much fun as assembly & build.
then follow that with driver downloads, configuration, game install, game updates, game config... :pac:

Gumbi

subway wrote: »

the stretch budget is up to 1k with desk, chair, OS, monitor etc so im just giving an alternative idea

also, not suggesting the build idea is bad or wrong, just pointing out that a windows install will also be needed which is not nearly as much fun as assembly & build.
then follow that with driver downloads, configuration, game install, game updates, game config... :pac:

Can all be done beforehand

Queen-Mise

In Graiguecullen there is a Holy Angels Charity Warehouse - it is HUGE with loads of really good quality stuff. I have seen computer tables for 15 euro, and probably get a chair for the same. If they are in good nick - give them a good clean and they would probably look new.

Thanks so much for all your help so far. I think build is the way to go.

Queen-Mise

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Minecraft doesn't care how old you are. Minecraft is nice like that.

Keep in mind, I'll be happy to build whatever you order. It's like a hobby.

I'll definitely take you up on the offer to build. I like having xmas done early so I can forget about it.

I think the most important thing for me - is that the PC will be able to game for the next few years. I don't want a game coming out in 12 or 18 months time that this PC wouldn't be able to play.

I'd like him to have the option of playing some of the online games also in a few years. He is too young yet for something like WoW - I might play it though

Queen-Mise

Gumbi wrote: »

I definitely like the idea of the father building it sit his son on Christmas Day. If the Dad can educate himself on the basics beforehand, and perhaps have a friend on standby if needed (I know I needed some help over the phone putting together my system), I think it's doable. Remember, he wants it to be reasonably future-proofed.

And it would most definitely be ME that would be doing the build in that scenario. My hubby still tries to type in web addresses in the google search bar :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Eboggles

Thought I might throw my hat into the ring; there have been a few suggestions here by other posters that aren't exactly accurate...

Item|Price
ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€69.29
Club 3D Radeon HD 7850 royalQueen, 1GB GDDR5|€149.00
8GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€28.09
Samsung SSD 830 64GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€66.73
WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s|€55.56
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€43.33
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.19
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€111.20
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€82.36
Cooler Master CM Storm Inferno Mouse, USB|€39.99
BenQ GL2450|€139.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€835.73

All you need is a keyboard, and desk/chair. Don't get the keyboard from that site as it'll be in German layout.

Anyway, the specifics:

• Extremely well balanced, HD7850 + i3 3220 are what would be considered of mid-range gaming quality
• 64GB Samsung SSD for super-quick bootup
• 8GB of RAM - pretty standard nowadays
• 500GB hard drive for storing the crap he will undoubtedly pick up over the years
• Pretty standard motherboard
• High quality power supply
• Nice, clean budget case
• Very flashy mouse ( I have it myself)
• 24" Monitor so Minecraft looks really nice!

If you want the company (hardwareversand) to build the PC for you, throw all the items into your basket and then add this. Many of us here on the forum would happily build it for you for free (It's a hobby ). I'd do it for you, but I don't drive so I wouldn't expect you to come up to Meath .

Have you picked out any desks/chairs yet? I saw these on IKEA, might be suitable? I don't know your budget for them so IDK. Anyway, it's this, this, and this

That company normally takes bank transfer, but they can do PayPal at an extra 3% charge. Credit cards aren't that popular in Germany.

I think that's everything. You just need to download Windows 7 from here and use the product key that comes with the disc that I have in the basket. There's no English versions in stock so I had to put in a German version. That's why I'm asking you to download it separately, so you can still use the English download with the key that comes in the actual box (the key works on any language).

Tea_Bag

this is one of the few cases that I would recommend against getting an SSD. an 11yo isn't going to manage space very well, and you'll have used that 64gb up in a matter of days. they download EVERYTHING. the hassle of explaining that some programs and games will need to be installed onto the extra drive isn't worth it. I'd put the saving into a bigger hdd (for the same reason) and a set of headphones (thank me later)

if you need speakers, I can vouch for these being bloody good value for money.

I'd also try and squeeze in an i5 if possible.
also this mouse pad

Genghiz Cohen

Tea_Bag wrote: »

this mouse pad

+1

I have a huge mousepad, it kicks ass!