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Post by FRSTDWN on Sept 21, 2020 23:26:39 GMT -5
My son who is 12 is wanting one to be with his buddies. I'm a console guy so a little clueless on what would be good. Looking at 800 to 1200. Looking for something plug and play? Not sure that is possible.
I know a lot you guy run pc so any help would be appreciated.
Also I think you can go right to a 4K hd tv right?
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Post by ErixonStone on Sept 21, 2020 23:44:01 GMT -5
Is this going to be a desktop or a laptop? If a laptop, how mobile does he need to be (i.e. will he carry it out of the house, or does he just need to move from room to room occasionally)?
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Post by FRSTDWN on Sept 22, 2020 1:25:23 GMT -5
Desktop
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Post by Cecil Harvey on Sept 22, 2020 1:32:56 GMT -5
Hope you don't mind me hijacking...
I would also be interested in this as my PC that I built in 2013 is becoming dated. I am able to build my own, but not counting out a pre-built system either. Am not looking to upgrade my monitor at this time as the move to 4K isn't in my interest.
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Post by ErixonStone on Sept 22, 2020 8:33:28 GMT -5
Some pre-built options at Best Buy, so these are, more or less, guidelines, but this will give you a good idea of what's out there for your money.
Also, the price of a monitor is not included.
Top end: $1200 Intel Core i7 16 GB RAM 240 GB SSD + 2TB HDD GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6GB VRAM)
Low End: $850 Intel Core i5 8 GB RAM 480 GB SSD or 256 GB SSD + 1TB HDD GeForce GTX 1650 (3GB VRAM) or GeForce GTX 1660 (3GB RAM)
The GTX 1660 Super sits in between the GTX 1660 and the GTX 1660Ti.
The larger the Solid-State drive (SSD) is, the faster the computer will run - accessing files on SSD is much faster than on HDD. The better the video card is, the smoother that games will run.
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Post by AFCTUJacko on Sept 22, 2020 8:58:35 GMT -5
I am able to build my own, but not counting out a pre-built system either. Am not looking to upgrade my monitor at this time as the move to 4K isn't in my interest. The lower budget end that Patrick posted will run pretty much everything in high quality 60fps+ at 1080p.
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Post by scajjr2 on Sept 22, 2020 9:46:33 GMT -5
My son who is 12 is wanting one to be with his buddies. I'm a console guy so a little clueless on what would be good. Looking at 800 to 1200. Looking for something plug and play? Not sure that is possible. I know a lot you guy run pc so any help would be appreciated. Also I think you can go right to a 4K hd tv right? If you can use a screwdriver, take your time and follow a YouTube video you can build a better system vs buying a pre-built. You have any friends who do their own? If so have them help and have your son involved, he may end up having a knack for it.
That said are you in the US? If so are you within driving distance of a MicroCenter? They have great motherboard/CPU combo deals but they are in-store only.
Here's an example: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU & a B450 chipset motherboard $280 16 Gb DDR4-3200 memory $70 512Gb nvme ssd $70 2Tb hard drive $60 750 watt power supply $100 small tower case $75 decent keyboard & mouse $50 RTX 2060 6Gb video card $320 OEM Windows 10 key $20 Total $1045
You can get away with a less expensive video card by running the game at 1080p or 1440p instead of 4K (your 4K TV may do some upconverting) but video cards are expensive right now. A 1660 runs $230-$300 depending on version, AMD Radeon 5600 series can go up to $300. A Ryzen 3 cpu will be a bit cheaper than a Ryzen 5.
I've been building systems for almost 30 years so if you happen to be within an hours drive of southeast NH I'd be glad to help.
sam
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Post by dime5150 on Sept 22, 2020 10:20:14 GMT -5
Don’t handicap yourself with a small hard drive, go for a 1 TB solid state drive, www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Fall-Special-IThat’s just over your top but it comes with a 1 tb drive which nothing else in that range includes, They make these systems with a 256 gb ssd drive, and after you install 2-3 modern games your full
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Post by BourbonGamer on Sept 22, 2020 12:14:27 GMT -5
I'm a huge fan of the AMD Ryzen line. If your son finds a better deal on a processor he can upgrade backwards or forwards with generations. From my understanding you cannot or this is harder to do with intel and their boards. I pieced together a few builds for a friend who was interested. Entry build here is $713 right now (prices fluctuate frequently) and mid-high end here is $940 Either one should cover 1080p gaming needs. The entry level build could stand a higher core processor if he plans on doing streaming or anything of the sort on top of gaming (add 50-75$ for a better processor). If your kid is any sort of tech savvy and can watch youtube he could probably build on his own with a little help. There is also some kid or pro in town who could build with all the parts for you for $50-100 fee. I still think you're better off building or having someone build it for you as you just have better control over what goes in it and get more bang for the buck obviously. Let me know if you have any questions, I'm no pro by any means but have built two rigs and usually can get a pretty good bang for my buck. Also for prebuilts check slickdeals.net and put a notification for any that pop up, they have good deals from time to time.
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Post by BourbonGamer on Sept 22, 2020 12:18:47 GMT -5
Don’t handicap yourself with a small hard drive, go for a 1 TB solid state drive, www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Fall-Special-IThat’s just over your top but it comes with a 1 tb drive which nothing else in that range includes, They make these systems with a 256 gb ssd drive, and after you install 2-3 modern games your full While prices have come down on these significantly I'm still a firm believer of getting a 240-500GB for your OS and a 2TB HDD for games. 75-125 extra cost for a bigger SDD can be budget breakers for many people who are trying to keep it under a certain amount. Heck the majority of my games are on my 2TB Seagate HDD.
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Post by FRSTDWN on Sept 22, 2020 12:37:58 GMT -5
Wow thanks guys. I will text him a link to this.
I do not think I would want to build one at first.
I may have missed it but he could go right from the PC to his TCL TV right? There must be a HDMI adapter?
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Post by bassman70 on Sept 22, 2020 12:42:32 GMT -5
You may want to serious consider buying the parts a la carte and having a computer shop build it for you. I just bought the parts for my son's computer a few months ago, took it to a computer shop and they built it in 24 hours and only charged a $100! Well worth it and it's guaranteed in case something goes wrong. Well worth it in my opinion.
I did a lot of research and prebuilts ALWAYS cut corners somewhere!!
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Post by BourbonGamer on Sept 22, 2020 12:45:49 GMT -5
Wow thanks guys. I will text him a link to this. I do not think I would want to build one at first. I may have missed it but he could go right from the PC to his TCL TV right? There must be a HDMI adapter? I can't speak to the TV as I use a 1440p monitor. Maybe some of the other guys can chime in. I'm sure it can be used but it won't be true 4k resolution (these graphics cards mentioned here would have a hard time doing anything respectable at 4k res).
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Post by BourbonGamer on Sept 22, 2020 12:47:30 GMT -5
You may want to serious consider buying the parts a la carte and having a computer shop build it for you. I just bought the parts for my son's computer a few months ago, took it to a computer shop and they built it in 24 hours and only charged a $100! Well worth it and it's guaranteed in case something goes wrong. Well worth it in my opinion. I did a lot of research and prebuilts ALWAYS cut corners somewhere!! This x 100. The 900 build IMO is way better than the $1200 best buy prebuilt. Add $100 to build it and its still $200 cheaper and a better computer IMO. It can get overwhelming researching but there are plenty of people here to bounce ideas off of im sure.
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Post by bassman70 on Sept 22, 2020 12:50:53 GMT -5
Oh...and GET a 1 TB SSD and like a 2 TB hard drive..both are very affordable and will really make the computer FAST
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