First gaming PC spec advice please...

[Big Rig]

I've agreed to help a good friends son either build/buy his first gaming PC. He's 10.
He's adamant it needs to be 4k gaming capable, he needs a monitor, mouse and keyboard as well. He also wants the case to be RGB lit.
Budget is £2,000-£2,200 max.
I've only ever built 1 PC in my life, I'd rather get him a pre built one as he's an impatient little sod and I don't get a great deal of spare time to help him build one.

Can anyone recommend some good set-ups/companies to use please?

[Silverbullet767]

At 10 years old, they won't need a £2k gaming PC. The best thing to find out is what games they'll be playing. I'd suggest that a 2K display rather than 4K is more than enough. I game on a 2K (1440p) display and you can get much higher refresh rates. FPS is greater than resolution at that distance.

Scan computers are good for pre builts IMO.

[Ikemi]

I agree on the 2K monitor, which also means you can choose a less powerful, less expensive graphics card. If you don't want to build it yourself, I'd opt for www.pcspecialist.co.uk. They allow you to tailor the build more so than some other custom PC build sites, imho. Essentially, you get to choose your specs and someone builds it for you!

I just threw this together, which was similar to a build I was planning earlier this year, but more RGB ...



This build comes to £1900 inc. VAT, so spend the rest on a 2K monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Go AMD for gaming. The X3D chips are excellent for gaming. The Thermalright Peerless Assassin has a great reputation for an air cooler, and it's cheaper than a liquid-based AIO unit. That said, lots of new gaming computers have AIO coolers, so he might appreciate one, if just for the aesthetics. If so, Be Quiet! Light Loop 360, or a DeepCool Mystique 360 (it has a screen!), or one of the Corsair ones ...

If you don't need Windows, you can save £110. You could also get a much cheaper case, but the Be Quiet! Light Base 900 has tons of customisable RGB, comes with lots of RGB fans, and is large in size, so easy to build and upgrade.

Some people love Nvidia graphics cards and some people love AMD graphics cards. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, mainly in ray tracing, which may not be that important.

Also, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are on the horizon, so there might be deals on components if you're interested in building it yourself.

Otherwise, yeah ... www.pcspecialist.co.uk

[vaud]

Would a Dell outlet Alienware be an option?

https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearc...

[mmm-five]

vaud said:

Would a Dell outlet Alienware be an option?

https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearc...

I wouldn't touch anything with a 13/14th gen Intel CPU.

[mmm-five]

You may get more for your money out of an equivalent-priced AMD GPU - unless you intend to use RT (which tanks performance on both Nvidia and AMD, but AMD is much worse).

Equivalent in price to the 4070 Super is the 7900GRE - but has much better native FPS (worse RT performance though).

I'd also recommend one of the newer ATX3/PCIe5.0 PSUs (in the Corsair range that means 2023+ versions of the 850RMe or 850RMx) as they offer higher power from the PCIe rails, which means less cabling and better protections for transient power spikes from the GPU.

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 5th November 11:12

[captain_cynic]

Scan is my go to store and it looks like they've some decent pre-built systems, go for their mid range for your budget. A 4070 will be able to handle 4K.

+1 on going AMD and avoiding Intel. The current intel processors are lacklustre at best and AMD are doing well.

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/gaming

Other stores are available of course.

Also full disclosure, I've never bought a pre-built gaming boxen.

[Ikemi]

mmm-five said:

You may get more for your money out of an equivalent-priced AMD GPU - unless you intend to use RT (which tanks performance on both Nvidia and AMD, but AMD is much worse).

Equivalent in price to the 4070 Super is the 7900GRE - but has much better native FPS (worse RT performance though).

I'd also recommend one of the newer ATX3/PCIe5.0 PSUs (in the Corsair range that means 2023+ versions of the 850RMe or 850RMx) as they offer higher power from the PCIe rails, which means less cabling and better protections for transient power spikes from the GPU.

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 5th November 11:12

Yes to ATX 3 ... I just noticed pcpartspicker selected a 2021 version instead! Plus, the same graphics card I chose is £50 cheaper on EBuyer!

https://www.ebuyer.com/2269996-asus-nvidia-geforce...

[Silverbullet767]

mmm-five said:

vaud said:

Would a Dell outlet Alienware be an option?

https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearc...

I wouldn't touch anything with a 13/14th gen Intel CPU.

I also wouldn't touch Alienware with a bargepole either. Proprietary parts, zero airflow, penny pinching e-waste IMO.

[captain_cynic]

Silverbullet767 said:

I also wouldn't touch Alienware with a bargepole either. Proprietary parts, zero airflow, penny pinching e-waste IMO.

You could probably get the equivalent from Asus for the same price or less.

[mmm-five]

captain_cynic said:

You could probably get the equivalent from Asus for the same price or less.

I probably wouldn't go for ANY big name gaming brand pre-built (Corsair, Dell Alienware, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, NZXT, Lenovo Legion) if you can't specific individual level components - and by that I mean a specific wattage/rating/quality/brand of PSU, GPU, motherboard, RAM, etc.

Scan, Overclockers, PCSpecialist, et al I'm okay with as the choice (even if it's limited to what suppliers they deal with) is your's.

[Big Rig]

Thanks everyone. Have found a pretty decent pre built at over clockers for £2,000...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk-gaming-khopesh...



Can anyone recommend a 2k monitor please?

[Silverbullet767]

Big Rig said:

Thanks everyone. Have found a pretty decent pre built at over clockers for £2,000...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk-gaming-khopesh...



Can anyone recommend a 2k monitor please?

On that selection, I'd remove windows, add a 7800x3d processor and up the memory £+0 to the 6000 kit.

Windows licences can be bought very cheap elsewhere.

In terms of monitors you want at least 27"-32" 120hz IPS. The higher Hz the better.

[mmm-five]

Silverbullet767 said:

On that selection, I'd remove windows, add a 7800x3d processor and up the memory £+0 to the 6000 kit.

Windows licences can be bought very cheap elsewhere.

In terms of monitors you want at least 27"-32" 120hz IPS. The higher Hz the better.

I'd not be buying one this week as the 9800X3D comes out in a couple of days, and it means you'll have the choice of a potentially faster CPU at the same price, or a 7800X3D at a cheaper price - especially as it's an 'upto 2 weeks build' anyway.

I'd also want better than a unknown B650 motherboard at this price point. The pictures show a Asus TIF B650, but I don't know if that's for illustration purposes only.

Can't see any mention of the make or ATX spec the PSU is either.

I don't know anything about 'Kolink' components, so can't comment on the case or cooler (or the PSU if it is also Kolink).

[xeny]

Silverbullet767 said:

On that selection, I'd remove windows, add a 7800x3d processor and up the memory £+0 to the 6000 kit.

Windows licences can be bought very cheap elsewhere.

They can. They occasionally stop working. I'd not want the risk of hassle on a build for a good friend's son.

[Ikemi]

Big Rig said:

Thanks everyone. Have found a pretty decent pre built at over clockers for £2,000...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk-gaming-khopesh...

As mentioned, www.pcspecialist.co.uk is better. I just configured this ...



In comparison to the one you've found, it has:

• Same processor
• Possibly same motherboard, but at least this is known to be an ASUS TUF B650 board ...
• RAM has RGB
• Known brand PSU
• Same level of GPU
• Faster NVMe drive
• Better/known brand of AIO cooler
• £32 less ...

If you remove Windows 11, it's £1854 including VAT. It'll be built for you in 5-7 working days.

My two pence. Ultimately, it's up to you!

Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 5th November 22:22

[essayer]

All that money to play Fortnite or Roblox, either of which will run on a potato

Edited by essayer on Tuesday 5th November 22:22

[MustangGT]

All this for a 10-year old?

[mmm-five]

MustangGT said:

All this for a 10-year old?

Some 10 year olds have £1000 iPhones too!!!

But it's probably a £500 PC for the kid, and dad's 'man maths' to juice it a little so he can run MSFS2024

[.:ian:.]

Needs a keyboard and mouse, also a headset so he can receive and send racist and homophobic abuse in online games

https://uk.hyperx.com/collections/gaming-keyboards...