Christmas for my son

Posted by yvgenythegreat@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 38 comments

I'm looking to either buy a prebuilt or build a pc for my 17 year old son. He plays a lot of games online and over the last couple years has started modding games and coding on my old laptop. I want to get him something that I know will last and that he can potentially upgrade as his skills and needs improve. I'd like to stay under $1k if possible, but I understand that a good pc can get pricey.I'm going into this pretty well totally blind so any advice is very much appreciated.

[-]

Vannman04@reddit

Build a pc for him man he’ll love it

[-]

redJetpackNinja@reddit

Build a PC with him, and he'll never forget it!

[-]

Nay77444@reddit

And wrap each component up under the tree separately

[-]

TFLizardKing@reddit

OP this is the way. Opening each component will be an epic Christmas morning and then the icing on the cake is building it together. Something you will both remember forever.

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

I was thinking of doing it this way!

[-]

Remster24@reddit

please do it that way, if my parents did that for me as I teenager it would probably be the best day of my life

[-]

StitchSix85@reddit

Teach him to build a PC , he will PC for life 🤔 or something

[-]

Humble_Mix8626@reddit

rule nº1 never buy a prebuilt

its a market made to scam people who dont know what they are doing

[-]

rdclrog@reddit

What if I have 0 clue about a pc? Not good with electronics no shot am I ever building a pc but I want one. There’s no good prebuilt?

[-]

Humble_Mix8626@reddit

no, if u cant dont buy it then

there are places to get those things built after choosing the parts

i for example didnt build mine and just chose the parts

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

Good to know! Thanks!

[-]

Humble_Mix8626@reddit

its good to know that u re going to make the right choice

its a market where u pay 30-40% more for horrible pairing of components, so your 1k pc would be worth 700$ at best

also you mentioned upgrading in the future, and that isnt possible with msot prebuilts since manufactures purposely make their products impossible to upgrade to make you spend 1k every 3-4 years

so its an horrible choice for price, it has horrible components and its more expensive keep in the long run

r/buildapcforme is the correct answer, just enter and make a post with the basic info and u will be treated well

[-]

Capital_Lawyer6547@reddit

ok so what u are going to do, is have him build it. Its fun and a good experience as long as he is careful. Because you want a good pc for under 1k you will need to buy some used parts. I would suggest a used gpu but make sure its not a mining card bc those are mis treated often times. Use AM4 and and ddr4 ram with a not too over the top mobo. You dont need a wifi mobo cus u can get a wifi card for 15 bucks. I would suggest 16gb of ram but 32 is more future proof. A used 3060 ti or even a 2080 super depending on what the prices are right now could be good. I would recommend a ryzen 5 5600x or non x. LMK if you need more help and godspeed!

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

Having him build it himself (or with me) would definitely be the most rewarding part of all of this! At the chance of sounding too naive, is there someone you'd recommend as far as step by step instructions on how to build and what i need to purchase?

[-]

Platt_Mallar@reddit

I normally find Linus Tech Tips to be kind of annoying, but his pc building guides on YouTube are really thorough. You don't need any tools besides a Phillips screwdriver and a pocket knife. You don't need any experience in tech higher than Legos.

You need a motherboard and compatible processor. Processors (CPU) come in different shapes, but motherboard manufacturers will tell you what is compatible with it.

You will also need RAM. this is also dependent on the motherboard, and they will tell you if you need DDR4 or DDR5 style RAM. For DDR4, look for a 16gb kit with 3200mhz speed. For DDR5, you will probably want 32gb and 6000mhz.

The graphics card (GPU) is usually the most expensive component of a computer, with enthusiasts sometimes allocating more than 50% of their budget towards it. It makes the pictures prettier. AMD brand cards tend to be cheaper.

Some CPU's don't come with their own cooler. If it doesn't, you will need one. Your CPU will overheat and shut down in seconds.

Storage. We used to have hard drives. Then we went to SSD's. Now we have NVME SSD's. They're little flat sticks that slot into the motherboard. Get one that is m.2 2280 in physical size and at least 1 TB in storage space. If you have the space in your budget, go for a Gen 4 version, but the slower Gen 3 drives are usually fast enough for gaming.

You need a power supply (PSU). That's what delivers the electricity to all of the different components. Your motherboard will have 2 (maybe 3?) connections, and your GPU will likely have at least 1.

Lastly, you will need a case to mount everything inside. There are a lot of good options for less than $100. I recommend something with a mesh front for maximum air flow to keep your components cool and happy. I would also try to get at least 3 included fans.

You will also need a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and speakers/headphones, but that's a different post.

[-]

Capital_Lawyer6547@reddit

linus tech tips and austin evans are both great youtubers for tech. they both have step by step videos. As for the buying, its more on you but i reccomend pc partpicker it has just abt every component and it says any compatibility issues. gl!

[-]

vernSdL@reddit

Build a PC for him. My dad bought a PC for me when I was young, I remember forever, love my dad

[-]

untoastedbrioche@reddit

ganna get some hate but you mentioned a pre built and your old laptop.

have you considered a gaming laptop? may I suggest a lenovo laptop? legion or loq.

microcenter has a 4070 legion on sale for 1k.

[-]

W4ves01@reddit

Why is bro talking about laptops

[-]

SoDepresive@reddit

Broo, I'll help you, it's the best thing you can do for your son

[-]

DardS8Br@reddit

Yeah definitely build a PC with him

[-]

thenormaluser35@reddit

I recommend you talk to him as he might know better.
If getting a prebuilt watch out for:
Motherboards with bad upgradeability
DDR4 RAM (Not a dealbreaker, but it'll start showing it's age as opposed to DDR5)
RAM timings
Bad WiFi cards
If he's coding, he might be considering Linux, ask him, as on Linux AMD video cards have better support. Otherwise, just avoid anything with less tham 8GB VRAM. Happy holidays!

[-]

_ZoroX_@reddit

Hi! I would go with a DDR5 PC at this point. Ryzen 5 7600X, and maybe an RX 7700 XT, or and I know I will be stoned for that a 4060 Ti. I know it is not the most budget friendly GPU for the performance, but I am very happy with it.

Nice that you want to do that for your son, have fun!

[-]

Capital_Lawyer6547@reddit

did u see the 1k price point

[-]

_ZoroX_@reddit

Yes that's why I wrote the DDR4 option, you can get that for around 1k dollars.

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

Thank you to everyone for your replies and advice. I'm on the mobile app, so I'm not sure how to edit my post to reflect this, but a sincere thank you to everyone who reached out to help.

[-]

SpritesOfDoom@reddit

You can build good gaming PC with new parts for as low as 500€. This will give you i3 12100F CPU, 16 GB RAM, Radeon RX 6600 8 GB and 512 GB NVMe SSD. Such PC will run all games in 1080p resolution at 60 FPS with medium or better settings. You can add a bit more to upgrade to i5 12400F and 1 TB SSD.

750€ range will give you Ryzen 7500F, 16 GB RAM, Radeon RX 7600 (or Geforce RTX 4060) and 1TB SSD. If you can spend 1000€, then pick RX 7700 XT and 32 GB RAM instead of 16 GB.

These are the recommended specs from one popular PC building site in my country for this month.

Overall keep in mind that a 500€ gaming PC will run every game just fine, but you'll get a Playstation 5 Pro like performance with 1000€ build that has Radeon RX 7700 XT.

Every PC will last for at least 3-4 years and all of them can be upgraded in the future. Better CPU, GPU and more RAM and SSD storage.

If you pick AMD Ryzen CPU on AM5 motherboard, you'll get future CPUs compatible with such PC.

Overall, don't spend too much. 1000 USD is more than enough for decent gaming PC.

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

Thank you for all of the info. I'm shooting totally in the dark on this one, and I figured you guys would be who to ask. I know he's been wanting a real computer for a while, and he keeps talking about ibuypower. I see people pretty regularly correcting people towards just building their own, so I figured I'd start my quest here. I will sound very naive here, but I have been googling the step by step process to build a computer. Is there a specific guide I should be looking for or someone you might recommend for that?

[-]

rockdpm@reddit

Fyi also, Newegg has alot of good pre black Friday deals going that would build a good pc. AM5 combo +DDR5+Corsair RMe power supply and some of the AM5 cpu's either combo with free ram or a SSD.

Then just gotta pick a case and graphics card. But r/buildmeapc would be a good place to start/get advice.

[-]

Main_Knee3683@reddit

Where are you from? USD?CAD? What's the currency?

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

USD

[-]

the_doctor_808@reddit

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hRvFfd

Something like this would be good. Very upgradeable. Id recommend getting all the parts so you guys can build it together. Would be a great experience learning to build it. You could also add some extra case fans since that case only comes with a single rear exhaust fan.

[-]

yvgenythegreat@reddit (OP)

That's great. Thank you. I really don't even know where to start, so this helps a ton. Ideally, I would love to just give him the parts and say, "Let's do this"

[-]

kaje@reddit

/r/buildapcforme