Please help santa...

Mary.k32

My son wrote his list last night he's looking for a gaming pc, I have no idea about these devises I'm not that great with technology can someone advise me so I can decide if it's a good buy
He currently has a PlayStation 4.. but he tells me this gaming pc can play different games.. his dad is totally against it but I would like to understand

Is there much difference between a gaming PC and his PlayStation??

Where would I get one, And are they expensive?

He will only use it for games I imagine, I only have a laptop there's no actual pc in the house would I need to buy a monitor etc??
He's only 12

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thank you 😊

mordeith

Mary.k32 wrote: »

My son wrote his list last night he's looking for a gaming pc, I have no idea about these devises I'm not that great with technology can someone advise me so I can decide if it's a good buy
He currently has a PlayStation 4.. but he tells me this gaming pc can play different games.. his dad is totally against it but I would like to understand

Is there much difference between a gaming PC and his PlayStation??

Where would I get one, And are they expensive?

He will only use it for games I imagine, I only have a laptop there's no actual pc in the house would I need to buy a monitor etc??
He's only 12

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thank you 😊

In my opinion there's very little games available on PC that are not on the PS4 for someone his age. Purists would say that FPS games (shooting games) are better played on a PC due to more accurate mouse control and higher graphics quality but apart from that I can't see the value in it. Unless he is specifically interested in something like Minecraft which is updated regularly in the PC version but this can be played on a laptop with half decent spec anyway.

Mary.k32

mordeith wrote: »

In my opinion there's very little games available on PC that are not on the PS4 for someone his age. Purists would say that FPS games (shooting games) are better played on a PC due to more accurate mouse control and higher graphics quality but apart from that I can't see the value in it. Unless he is specifically interested in something like Minecraft which is updated regularly in the PC version but this can be played on a laptop with half decent spec anyway.

Thanks for replying

mordeith

I meant to add that expense wise is very broad. You go go anywhere from 600 to 1200 euro. Gaming PCs are generally cheaper to acquire if you buy the parts and self build.
And yes, you would need to get peripherals like keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers.

degsie

Introducing a youngster to a PC can open a whole can of worms re internet browsing etc. Console gaming has really come on and is a more restrictive form of entertainment.

Digital Solitude

You could send a letter back from Santa asking him what games he wants to play etc, saying it'll help him decide how he should make the PC. Will give a better idea of his thinking behind getting a PC

riclad

Most aaa big release games come out on console,
on ps4 or xbox one .
pc games can be bought for 20 euro or less on steam sales .
Steam is a digital game download service ,and theres 1000,s of small indie games
released on steam which will never be released on a console .
Most pc games have a free demo to download.
OF Course you can buy preowned console games in a Shop for 20-30 euros .Theres a wider range of games on a pc and loads of free games
and free demos, which will never be released on pc.
ALot of pc games have free mods which add in extra levels free to download
and change the game ,new levels, new weapons,characters .free .
Theres maybe 5-6 console games which allow free mods to be installed .http://www.moddb.com/mods/top
So you might say gaming is cheaper on a pc if you have a good pc,with a good fast graphics card and 8gig plus pc ram memory .

me_irl

Digital Solitude wrote: »

You could send a letter back from Santa asking him what games he wants to play etc, saying it'll help him decide how he should make the PC. Will give a better idea of his thinking behind getting a PC

This is a genius idea!

Also, it could be a great bonding session and a huge sense of accomplishment if you were to pick up the parts and put together your own PC.

https://pcpartpicker.com/ is a great site for walking you through a bespoke build from start to finish if you're worried.

Agree regarding the need to monitor internet use if you're going this route. But there are parental controls which you can enable, preferably on his own, reduced-access, user account while you would have admin privileges.

Mary.k32

Roughly how much do u think it would cost? I paid €450 last Christmas for the PlayStation
This will only be one of his presents I really don't want to spend an absolute fortune

Also I think I would rather buy it I'm useless with technology so the thought of building a gaming pc scares me

Digital Solitude

They're very easy to build, like lego. I think I was 14 when I built my first, maybe 15. We had a young fella here last year was like 9 or 10 after building one, so your son should definitely be able to build it if he wants one.

€400 is about the cheapest you can get away with, depends on what he wants to play though, up to about €600 is for a nice PC. You're looking at 50% more to have it built unless you can find someone to build it for free, but it's really not difficult.

It's a lot of money and he probably doesn't realise just how much they cost.

I'd find out why he want's to get it first, if it's just for minecraft or something then he'd be fine with a cheap machine, if he actually wants a fully fleshed out gaming PC then the issues arise.

Digital Solitude

me_irl wrote: »

This is a genius idea!

I saw another boardsie saying it to someone a few days ago :pac: I'm not that shrewd

delly

Mary.k32 wrote: »

Roughly how much do u think it would cost? I paid €450 last Christmas for the PlayStation
This will only be one of his presents I really don't want to spend an absolute fortune

Also I think I would rather buy it I'm useless with technology so the thought of building a gaming pc scares me

I would say you would be starting at around €700+ if you have to buy windows and other bits such as screen/speakers etc., especially if you are not self building. That is only entry level however and won't be too long old before it may not play new releases.

_Brian

delly wrote: »

I would say you would be starting at around €700+ if you have to buy windows and other bits such as screen/speakers etc., especially if you are not self building. That is only entry level however and won't be too long old before it may not play new releases.

Surely we're way beyond what would be "one of his presents" when we're talking €750 for games after paying €450 last year for something to play games.

delly

_Brian wrote: »

Surely we're way beyond what would be "one of his presents" when we're talking €750 for games after paying €450 last year for something to play games.

I would agree, but parents try and get what kids want, sometimes even when they ask for something big. Only the OP can decide if they can afford it, but a gaming pc is not a whim type of present.

If there is interest in other areas such as photoshop or scratch, then it could be worthwhile and lead to bigger things. Again though, only the OP can answer that.

mordeith

Wait, did you say he's 12? Isn't that a bit old for a Santa list?

Regarding the post above I agree. I remember being an second hand Amstrad Cpc 6128 between five of us. It was awesome.

degsie

It can quickly become a drain on the old wallet if the kid decides he wants to upgrade graphics card to play the latest whiz bang game or needs extra storage or ram or a 4K monitor etc.

Mary.k32

Thanks for replies guys I'm so undecided €750 is too expensive
He is really into gaming and has such an interest in watching games on you tube etc but as I said this would only be 1 present he still needs clothes etc I'm just seeing the costs spiralling,
We were casually chatting earlier about his santa list and he was telling me if santa just brings them the gaming pc he can hook it up to his granny's old pc( she doesn't use anymore)
But to be honest it's an ancient thing I'm not even sure it still works
I had a quick look on DoneDeal and the gaming pcs are averaging around €600 without screen and perifials
Would u consider this a good option???

Mary.k32

mordeith wrote: »

Wait, did you say he's 12? Isn't that a bit old for a Santa list?

Regarding the post above I agree. I remember being an second hand Amstrad Cpc 6128 between five of us. It was awesome.

I think he's a half believer half chancer 😂

mordeith

If you mean the old pc you mean just the monitor then it probably will work as long as new PC had VGA out, but depending on the age the resolution could be dreadful.

Mary.k32

mordeith wrote: »

Wait, did you say he's 12? Isn't that a bit old for a Santa list?

Regarding the post above I agree. I remember being an second hand Amstrad Cpc 6128 between five of us. It was awesome.

I think he's a half believer half chancer 😂

Digital Solitude

degsie wrote: »

It can quickly become a drain on the old wallet if the kid decides he wants to upgrade graphics card to play the latest whiz bang game or needs extra storage or ram or a 4K monitor etc.

He can do without all of these upgrades in fairness, if he gets a PC with a GPU it'll be a few years before he explicitly needs any upgrades.

I reckon you can take €600 as an absolute max budget OP, you could get him a €350 or €400 PC and set him up with Indie games and the likes of Minecraft will run perfectly fine on a €300 PC. Most stronger games will be available on the PS4, and if he decides he wants to move to the PC full time you can get him a €120 or so upgrade for his birthday, should set him for a couple of years.

Where are you located? You might get a boardsie offer to help build for cheap if someone is nearby, otherwise we can give help picking out a pre built, a lot of chancers on Done Deal and Adverts selling 10 year old PCs for hundreds more than they're worth.

Mary.k32

Hey I'm In Sligo
Omg that would be great

riclad

Say your budget is 500 euro , someone on boards will build the pc for you for a small fee ,if you buy the parts from a online store.
You,ll need at least at least a quad core cpu, with 8gig ram main memory.Also get a
hard drive at lease 500gig-1000gig, dvdrw drive ,4 button mouse with scroll wheel .

mordeith

Mary.k32 wrote: »

Hey I'm In Sligo
Omg that would be great

Just before anyone pulls the trigger here, you said the boy's father is against the idea. Should ye not come to some agreement first?

jester77

As you are not so techy, this might be difficult to achieve. But I would get him something that can be expanded on later, give him all the pieces and let him build it himself. It would be a great experience for him to learn that, and later he can get more memory, better cpu, graphics card, etc for birthdays, xmas and so on in the future.

Plus you could also open the world of game/app/web development to him. At his age I would have loved to have had that possibility.

BamesJond

I honestly can't help but feel he's both too old for a santa item and too young for a gaming pc. Epically when the ps4 was bought this time last year. Maybe a discussion on how the ps4 is only a year old and maybe next year the gaming pc would be more of an option. I know everyone wants the best for their kids bit you said yourself you see the costs spiralling out of control.

Digital Solitude

mordeith wrote: »

Just before anyone pulls the trigger here, you said the boy's father is against the idea. Should ye not come to some agreement first?

Aye sort it with Papa first op, if you get the go ahead find out what the young lad wants it for and get back to us with a budget

mach1982

Green IT in Naas do custom built Gaming machines



https://www.greenit.ie/

Digital Solitude

mach1982 wrote: »

Green IT in Naas do custom built Gaming machines



https://www.greenit.ie/

Piss poor pricing, €1000 for a 6300 and an R5? €1300 for an i5 with a R7 370?

The €600 one would be reasonable if the GPU wasn't a 7 year old piece of crap. Where do you even find enough of them to sell like that?

TerrorFirmer

mach1982 wrote: »

Green IT in Naas do custom built Gaming machines



https://www.greenit.ie/

I think they deserve an award for the worst prices I've ever seen. 1K, apparently on sale, for an FX6300 and an R5 230...

You would struggle to run Minecraft on that. I'm all for retailers to make a profit of course but that is taking the absolute piss, a €300 machine being sold for 1.2k.

2nd hand isn't necessarily a bad options if you find a decent seller. The thing to remember is the price you see on a retail website is the price - whereas the price you seen on Donedeal or Adverts may not be the final price or even close.

I know personally from selling PCs on both places you often have to tack on 20% more than you actually want in most cases to deter ridiculous, crazy offers.

400 would get you a very solid 2nd hand gaming PC.

human 19

It depends on what type of games he wants to play, which he cant already do on the PS4. If you had an idea of what games he is missing out on,but wants to be able to play, you could check out the computing requirements of these games (should be available on the games websites).
Then you use these benchmarks to decide what the price would be for a computer which had these graphics card specifications and memory specs . I know it sounds difficult now but memory is usually a matter of a minimum number and there are really only 2 types of applicable graphics cards, and a higher number generally means a better performance.

Alternatively, if he is happy with the games on the PS4, maybe you could just look at getting a better sound system and a nice big, good quality, monitor that he can plug the PS4 into.

Digital Solitude

human 19 wrote: »

there are really only 2 types of applicable graphics cards, and a higher number generally means a better performance.

This is how people end up parting with money for machines with 8800's in them