I want to surprise my son

Posted by Wolfiiiiiiii@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 14 comments

Hey people, so i have no clue about pc parts, i know what it needs, i know how to build one (build mine myself as well). The more numbers and letters are involved in a pc part the more i am confused.

RTX*•random number* Series X*Part Name**Manifactor name*X*Random Numbers* and lastely a V for no reason! (i am joking, i seriously have no clue though)

My problem is my budget is not 4-figures. I can spend like 200€ a month IF nothing else happens. I don't mind saving up 3-4 months so i can spend 600-800€ but i really can't do more sadly.

At the moment hes playing on my old office pc, which can BARELY run games like League of Legends at 20-30fps on the lowest settings. (He does not play League, i am not crazy. This was just an example)

It does not have to be a SAINT of all pc-kind, but it should run basic games at atleast 45-60fps

Hes 7 btw.

A console is not an option.

The main issue i have is i have no clue what graphics card is passible but doesn't require my kidney to be sold.

What else i thought about, waaaas using

Gigabyte B650M Gaming X AX (AM5, AMD B650, mATX)

AMD Ryzen 5 8500G 6x 3.50GHz

500GB Crucial P3 Plus M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 3D-NAND QLC

Noctua NH-D9L Tower Kühler

16GB Kingston FURY Beast schwarz DDR5-5600 DIMM CL36 Dual Kit

(i am using those parts in my pc just with a big graphics)

Then i just need a Power source and a case, but would that suffice?

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VB0101@reddit

Is the old office PC a desktop or a laptop?

If it’s a desktop without a dedicated GPU, adding a used graphics card would unlock a lot of potential, and most games run fine even on older CPUs.

PC parts are expensive right now, so salvaging what you already have is a solid entry point. A GPU also isn’t wasted money, since you can reuse it later if you decide to build a full custom machine.

Just make sure the power supply can handle it and that the case has enough space for the card.

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Wolfiiiiiiii@reddit (OP)

Its like one of those mini-desktop pcs which can't even properly run Word and Excel 😂

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VB0101@reddit

AH okay, not many upgrade paths from there.

Your component list is decent and seems well thought out, but personally I would make a few adjustments.

AMD Ryzen 5 8400F instead of the 8500G. You'll get better CPU performance for about the same cost, but will lose integrated graphics, which won't be needed anyway if you get a dedicated GPU.

Cooler: Noctua is a premium brand at a premium price. I'd recommend something like the ID-COOLING SE-214-XT PLUS. It'll save you some money and is perfectly capable of cooling the CPU.

GPU: I would recommend the RTX 5060 8GB if you're not comfortable buying used parts. On the used market, something like an RX 6750 XT they are almost identical performance-wise and you'd save some money going the used route.

PSU: Something like the Gigabyte GP-P650G is a great budget choice that'll deliver enough power at decent efficiency.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a 7-year-old kid is probably more amazed by cool looks, RGB fans, etc., than squeezing the absolute best performance out of every euro.

JurBank@reddit

I am not expert on PC building, but I am checking market for GPU on which I could run local LLM and I can see that my current GPU RTX 3060 TI is about 200€ or maybe less on second hand markets. It is old GPU but it can still run most of the games like Cyberpunk 2077 in 1080 p even even 1440 p.

Global-Ad5193@reddit

No your 3060 TI can’t run cyberpunk on 1440p

I don't have it installed anymore to confirm, but there are others that say same thing: https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/u1o6dw/1080p_or_1440p_on_a_3060ti/

Winter_Lack9529@reddit

That's so sweet! What kind of PC are you planning to build for him?

MaximumFlounder9110@reddit

I built my son a am4 system - and he loves it, he is 8, runs most games at 1080p medium settings. I bought some parts used to get good deals - AMD 5600g, gigabyte b550 mobo, 32gb ddr generic brand(this might be tougher but 16gb should still work perfectly fine) 512gb nvme + 2TB hdd, gtx1660 super, and a random like 40$ case from micro center. All in all I paid about 550-600$ 2 years ago when I built it, so now with the cost of ram and ssd it would likely be in the 800$ range. But again shop around for parts, my son loves it and does what it needs to for him, there is still breathing room to upgrade the gpu to an RTX down the line. But he has had no issues playing any games he likes at 1080p medium settings at or often above 60fps.

Lord_Hector_Bear@reddit

Sounds good,

You can look for GTX 1080 \~ $200, or 3060ti \~ $310, they should be quite cheap in 2nd hand market rn.

bejito81@reddit

Well you don't need a noctua and you shouldn't use a 8000g series CPU

Now the issue is that looking at the prices of the parts you listed, you're probably already at your budget, still lacking a case and PSU (you can find ok ones for 100€ total) and a GPU which even a low end current GPU is like 200€

tark561@reddit

In cases like these I strongly recommend checking out your local second hand market for good already built PCs. It's not unusual that a gamer wants to get rid of his old rig to fund his new one, or simply quit the hobby and wants to sell.

Just be sure to test it before buying it, any trustworthy seller will let you demo it when looking at it.

I've got some great used parts this way and, while searching for them, stumbled upon many PC offers which made me think "huh, if I didn't have one yet, I'd buy this one".

Thats actually a great idea, i did not even thought about, thanks alot!

aemich@reddit

It is a really bad time to get into PC gaming at the moment (AI bubble+war) especially ona budget...

PembyVillageIdiot@reddit

Honestly, considering your budget you might want to skip buying a dedicated gpu for now. Instead try the 8500G you already have in its intended APU role as it has a budget gaming laptop gpu built into it and see if that’s sufficient for your 7 year old first.