[Technology] Gaming PC advice

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

As others have said use the pc parts picker website to check compatibility etc. GPU is certainly important, you'll also want some decent speed RAM as well. CPU is still important but not as much as the other two components, try to budget for a decent sized SSD if you can, maybe back that up with a larger capacity HDD for saving stuff. If you are nowhere near your router and can't run ethernet to the PC you'll need to consider a wifi card as well, unless the motherboard comes with built in WIFI. Another thing to cost in if you are building it yourself will be the Windows OS cost. Forget about things like RGB fans etc, they are only gimmicks for showing off your kit at LAN parties and alike, certainly not something to worry about in a home gaming rig.

One important aspect to consider is what games your son is likely to want to play in the future. He won't want to stick to Roblox forever so you'll want something that is capable of running more as his gaming tastes will change, he'll be wanting to play Cities Skyline, GTA and COD before you know it. Can I run it? is a great website that shows the spec games require to run at different settings.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

It's only really important for hard-core gaming at the absolute top end of performance. For literally anything else you want cores, cores, and more cores. The full CPU benchmark is better for comparing. Also if gaming is your main concern you want to funnel as much of your budget as possible into the GPU.

IMO.

IMO, nope.

Its important for every written piece of single threaded software. Roblox has a fair bit of code which wont use GPU or multiple cores. As such single thread performance is a constraint. Just recomending that if there is a choice at the budget level its worthwhile to choose one which will offer best performance.

 

[Rowdey]

Ok, the MBP has now keeled over making new 'puter more urgent as he cant do school work just on phone.. and i'm blown if he's going to use my 10 year old Macbook..

Wife nearly went out and bought this https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/pc-specialist-tornado-r3i-gaming-pc-amd-ryzen-3-gtx-1650-1-tb-hdd-120-gb-ssd-10203761-pdt.html today but i managed to stop her, and i think this https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/novatechcoreember.html is a better bet..

Thanks for all input so far.

 

[beorhthelm]

Ok, the MBP has now keeled over making new 'puter more urgent as he cant do school work just on phone.. and i'm blown if he's going to use my 10 year old Macbook..

Wife nearly went out and bought this https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/pc-specialist-tornado-r3i-gaming-pc-amd-ryzen-3-gtx-1650-1-tb-hdd-120-gb-ssd-10203761-pdt.html today but i managed to stop her, and i think this https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/novatechcoreember.html is a better bet..

Thanks for all input so far.

i wouldnt be to sniffy at PCworld if the specs are ok and happy to pay some "get it today" premium. the one you list looks like a decent GPU, while the Novatech you'll need to add OS for a fairer price comparison.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Ok, the MBP has now keeled over making new 'puter more urgent as he cant do school work just on phone.. and i'm blown if he's going to use my 10 year old Macbook..

Wife nearly went out and bought this https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/pc-specialist-tornado-r3i-gaming-pc-amd-ryzen-3-gtx-1650-1-tb-hdd-120-gb-ssd-10203761-pdt.html today but i managed to stop her, and i think this https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/novatechcoreember.html is a better bet..

Thanks for all input so far.

Word of warning for gaming, but from a quick check of the specs it looks as though the Novatech offering doesn't come with a dedicated GPU, which means it will be using the on board graphics of the motherboard which will greatly reduce what games it can run etc. That coupled with the cost of adding the OS makes the Currys one more desirable if you ask me. I've brought direct from PC Specialist a few times now and they've always been fairly decent in my experience.

 

[Rowdey]

i wouldnt be to sniffy at PCworld if the specs are ok and happy to pay some "get it today" premium. the one you list looks like a decent GPU, while the Novatech you'll need to add OS for a fairer price comparison.

Good points - It's not obvious, but Windows 10 is included. Novatech is next day which is good.

Word of warning for gaming, but from a quick check of the specs it looks as though the Novatech offering doesn't come with a dedicated GPU, which means it will be using the on board graphics of the motherboard which will greatly reduce what games it can run etc. That coupled with the cost of adding the OS makes the Currys one more desirable if you ask me. I've brought direct from PC Specialist a few times now and they've always been fairly decent in my experience.

OS is included, and yes no dedicated GPU - i liked the tech/phone/warranty support Novatech are offering (3 year for £30) - PCW are nearer £200, and unlikely as as good.

 

[Rowdey]

Good points - It's not obvious, but Windows 10 is included. Novatech is next day which is good.

(Windows can be included for £540, vs PCW £600)

 

[StonehamPark]

I've done multiple searches for the above, but need a bit more, and hoping NSC can help..!

My 13 year old has been using a decent 2013 Macbook pro for Roblox and discord as well as school stuff, and i've been concerned that the MBP runs hot, fan whiring away too much. Pretty sure one time activity monitor showed the CPU running 120% one time too.

And he moans about it being 'laggy' etc loads too

Anyway, he needs a gaming PC.. I recall someone on here 'builds them' but his/my budget is only £600-ish really..

As i understand it, decent CPU, decent GPU, and fans are the important bits.

Not a huge fan of Amazon, but something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/ADMI-FR-1-Apex-Legends-Gaming/dp/B06XY771T3/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=AW96R1LBVOZZ&dchild=1&keywords=admi+gaming+pc&qid=1594142869&sprefix=admi%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTFpYM1ExOUFaNEtJJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDcyNTI1MktYSzZDSU5VVTVKWCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTUwMzY1MVc3WDhQWjJXTEE0TCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Looks fairly good spec, but await others to tell me it's bag o shite..

I've picked out what I think is your best bang-for-buck, comes out at 550 (not including monitor or peripherals).
You can tweak a few things to lower the price (smaller SSD / switch to HDD, lower the RAM to 8GB, cheaper case).

Very easy to build, there's plenty of YT videos that will take you step by step.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/gP7vJb

 

[Rowdey]

I've picked out what I think is your best bang-for-buck, comes out at 550 (not including monitor or peripherals).
You can tweak a few things to lower the price (smaller SSD / switch to HDD, lower the RAM to 8GB, cheaper case).

Very easy to build, there's plenty of YT videos that will take you step by step.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/gP7vJb

Cheers for your time with the above, it's appreciated. The above looks good, and if i had the time i'd definitely consider building my own, but as per just up this thread, the current MBP has keeled over today, necessitating a purchase tomorrow, for Friday delivery. It's between a Novatech or PCW/PC Specialist, and both have their plus points..

 

[Saunders]

OS is included, and yes no dedicated GPU - i liked the tech/phone/warranty support Novatech are offering (3 year for £30) - PCW are nearer £200, and unlikely as as good.

Fair enough and you know what to get him for christmas you can get some really decent graphics cards at a reasonable price.

 

[Saunders]

I've picked out what I think is your best bang-for-buck, comes out at 550 (not including monitor or peripherals).
You can tweak a few things to lower the price (smaller SSD / switch to HDD, lower the RAM to 8GB, cheaper case).

Very easy to build, there's plenty of YT videos that will take you step by step.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/gP7vJb

Shame his mac died that is an amazing piece of kit for the price. Top quality gaming parts. Time to plan for my next project.

 

[Saunders]

Another thing to cost in if you are building it yourself will be the Windows OS cost.

For future or anyone else aiming to buy soon if the user is a student then it is often cheaper and better to buy from microsoft (which is why a lot of builds dont automatically include it anymore as OEM which used to be only good for that one PC) who heavily discount for education. This will also mean that it can be used on any future builds.

 

[Originunknown]

Another thing to cost in if you are building it yourself will be the Windows OS cost.

For future or anyone else aiming to buy soon if the user is a student then it is often cheaper and better to buy from microsoft (which is why a lot of builds dont automatically include it anymore as OEM which used to be only good for that one PC) who heavily discount for education. This will also mean that it can be used on any future builds.

A Windows 10 key is £9.99 from many cdkey sites, minor expense not even worth factoring in.

 

[Saunders]

Another thing to cost in if you are building it yourself will be the Windows OS cost.


A Windows 10 key is £9.99 from many cdkey sites, minor expense not even worth factoring in.

Thanks wasnt aware of that since i havent had to pay for a key for a long time.

 

[Rowdey]

Had a good chat with Novatech today, and went up a smidge on budget, so one of these coming tomorrow which has a GPU included..https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/novatechcorevolt.html

Should keep the boy quiet for a bit - Thanks for all your input

 

[nicko31]

Reckon the AMD 4000 desktop CPU's are worth a look

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/a...-looking-great-and-on-track-to-launch-in-2020

Its important to remember they are at 7nm, whilst Intel at still most at 14nm and only just getting to 10.

 

[Laptop Ell]

I wouldn't recommend any AMD processors as they may be fast, but I've had so many problems with them with my customers.

When I build a custom computer for a customer, I'll always recommend Intel & an Nvidia Graphics Card to match the person's budget.

If the original poster hasn't sorted themselves out yet, I'm happy to discuss this further & assist if required.

I'd avoid all prebuilt machines as they'll come full of bloatware & other non needed trial software.

Cheers

 

[Rowdey]

Had a good chat with Novatech today, and went up a smidge on budget, so one of these coming tomorrow which has a GPU included..https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/novatechcorevolt.html

Should keep the boy quiet for a bit - Thanks for all your input

I wouldn't recommend any AMD processors as they may be fast, but I've had so many problems with them with my customers.

When I build a custom computer for a customer, I'll always recommend Intel & an Nvidia Graphics Card to match the person's budget.

If the original poster hasn't sorted themselves out yet, I'm happy to discuss this further & assist if required.

I'd avoid all prebuilt machines as they'll come full of bloatware & other non needed trial software.

Cheers

Long done i'm afraid. (FWIW he's made up with it, and is better spec'd than mates whose kit cost much more)