Build It: Picking Parts For Your Kid's Entry-Level Gaming PC

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By far the best thing here to do is giving the children old computer, that way is both cheaper(often free :) ) AND more environmentally cleaner.
 

OK but what happens when your seven year old comes to you and says, "daddy my 'puter' needs more energy".

do you look at him in utter shock and disbelief.?
"not for you it doesn't you little twerp get outta here.".

or do you look at him and smile from ear to ear and while looking at mom and credit cards.?
"why yes it does son, yes it does, that's my little man"...

(been there.. 😀 )
 
[citation][nom]CaedenV[/nom]My first kiddo is currently 1, and my wife and I are both in agreement that he does not get his own 'personal computer' until middle school. [/citation]
They have PCs in pre-k now. As someone else posted "Its not about giving the kid something as protecting yours". Kids want to do what mommy and daddy are doing. They have educational software for children ages 2 and up.

And since I do work on other peoples computers, kids tend to do damage to the family computer. There is a fight for time, etc, etc. My son loved his PC when he was 1... he'd pretend he could do work on it. At age 3, he yelled back "I'm busy, reading my email!" (no, he didn't have email or can read much).

He knows how to plug up a desktop, he plays games as well as educational ones.

My son just finished 1st grade, the teacher loves him because HE KNOWS more than the other kids and helps them (which helps her).

Last time I took him with me to a job site, I gave him the job of removing the drives and motherboard from a desktop. Since it was an upgrade, even if he damaged it (he did not) - no great loss.

Oh, his desktop is NOT in his room and its password locked. I have him trained to ASK me to use his computer. I do kick him off of it, go outside and play, lets go swimming, etc. SO yes, PASSWORD the computer from the Windows screen... do this when they get their first own computer.

And as someone noted: MAKE AN IMAGE copy of the computer in its perfect state. Kids will and SHOULD experiment with their systems.
 
[citation][nom]belardo[/nom]So show me a top of the line Android tablet that costs less than the "overpriced" iPad...[/citation]

Probably also feeding the troll here but

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_8gb&feature=home-cip-3#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDcwMCwiZGV2aWNlLW5leHVzXzdfOGdiIl0.

durr
 

I don't have any kids, but obviously #2 is the correct answer 🙂. I'd ask him why, of course, and expect him to explain it (and I'd also want to be sure it had not been infukted with performance-sapping poohware).
 

geez I dunno dude, 'ba humbug' much..? :/
your a little extreme.
can't really see happy 'kids' in your family growing up.

high runaway per child ratio I do see..
 
Once the kids are around 10 or older, they will say "I want an Xbox so I can play with my friends!" Most kids just go console gaming. Kids just don't like big computer stuff. In fact, I know 15 year old teens that don't know the difference between RAM memory and Hard drive space.
 
Stock cooler will be fine, I currently lives in a tropical country where the room temperature can easily reach 90-95F, i built a llano 3650 for my WoW and htpc needs last year and it never overheats for once despite nearly 24/7 uptime. It saves you a lot for that heatsinks
 
For small kids (< 9 years), I think a netbook is more suitable to be the child's first computer. And, to play games, a PS Vita or a Nintendo 3DS is more appropriated.
 
digiex,

The computer is in the living room in open view of their parents. And I don't think that Portal 2 is playable on much less of a platform. The 10 year old is inthe 30's levels and the 6 year old sticks to websited like KIZI.
 
[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]What kind of social misfits are we producing this way ? Only time will tell if we will call them the 'lost Generation ![/citation]
Excuse me but the lost generation is ours - the generation that could change the world but prefers to waste their lives in front of a TV or PC.
 
Good article, but why do I have a feeling this "kids" PC wasn't build for the kids in mind and some how for the adult itself?
Is there really a need for a 3rd party HSF. Sure 3rd party are better, but what's so wrong with the stock cooler? It's not going to be overclocked and most stock coolers works just fine. If a system uses a stock cooler does it mean it's a bad PC and we all should avoid it like the plague? This is the same for most users here where someone ask for a gaming PC with a budget. It seems you must get a Core i5 2500K, 2600K, or some CPU with a K dangling along with it. If a CPU is a non K SKU, then it's not a gaming PC or it's crap...
By running a stock cooler, you can save the money and go towards a better graphic card or faster CPU.

For a kids build I would configure something like this:
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop $119.99
ASRock H61M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $44.99
G.SKILL Value 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $20.49
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 $44.99
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 $99.99
HGST Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721050DLE630 500GB $69.99
LOGISYS Computer CS206BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower $29.99
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA $16.99
Comes out to $447.42




 
When my kid was 2 years old I built him a computer out of a dead FLYTECH cash register. That thing is great. It weighs like 50 pounds so he can't knock it over. The touch screen is working (no multitouch) and the whole unit is spill resistent. It has a core2duo 1.8 with intergrated graphics and 2 gigs of 800mhz ram.

It sits on the floor in our living room and my kid sits indian style in front of it and bangs on it like a mad man. We watch netflix, disney junior, play angry birds, and read touchy books. He loves it.
 

I wanna see pics... :)
 
[citation][nom]internetlad[/nom]Probably also feeding the troll here buthttps://play.google.com/store/devic [...] dfOGdiIl0.durr[/citation]
That is a Nexus 7" tablet.... show me a 10" tablet of the same quality from Samsung, ASUS, etc - feature for feature and compare the price.

Hmmm... 32mb Samsung tablet 10.1 = $740 on newegg.
The Asus is $400 with 32mb which compares to the 16GB iPad2....
 
wow, finally a pc that you guys are actually qualified to build. even that's a stretch.
 
[citation][nom]Raiddinn[/nom]How about not telling people to do illegal things. A Windows 7 OEM System Builder license would not be legal for the computers being designed, per the license agreement. GJ TH.[/citation]
I'm not going to troll you here, but the only requirement to purchase OEM copies is that it's for system builders to resell.
http://oem.microsoft.com/public/wor..._system_builder_licensing_guide_v2_012111.pdf
Take a buck out of his allowance! Who gives a flying f%#k? I will give props because the builder is actually using LEGIT software. You think Micro$oft actually cares? They got paid! The software is legit. So what if it doesn't STRICTLY adhere to a draconian EULA that NO ONE READS, except for us nerds that have to.
 
The $100 OEM Windows is legit software. MS doesn't care... besides, any BIG BOX PC company doesn't even pay close to that amount. They pay about $30 per computer, thats it. Which also makes it MUCH harder for mom-n-pop stores to compete against the HP/Dell/Acer giants of the world.

At $100, its still over-priced and there is limited flexibility. Again, MS doesn't care. TigerDirect, Frys, Newegg and any other store I don't know about sells them. It really should be more like $50.

Price for Home edition:
$ 30 - Mass-OEM (no media, only for big mass production companies)
$100 - OEM / NO support from MS, period. (not that its usable). Installs on to a single PC/mobo.
$100 - Upgrade, must have old OS pre-installed or use OLD disc for confirmation. Can't use by itself. For use on single computer (somehow)... grey area on upgraded hardware.
$200 - Retail version, 1 PC licence, but you can re-install it on new hardware to your hearts content (system upgrades).

Meanwhile:
$ 30 = Apple upgrade (but the hardware is a bit $$$)
$ 0 = Linux, install it anyway you want. There is no PRO / Home / OEM / Retail / Upgrade versions... no confusion of what you can or cannot do legally. No keys to lose or mix up.

 
[citation][nom]whimseh[/nom]A little kid does not need a computer[/citation]
If you are on a computer, your kid will want to be like YOU... yes. And it keeps them off yours.
Mine still like to watch me work and play games on mine.
 
[citation][nom]RedJaron[/nom]This isn't just for a "kids" computer. This same thing can be used for all sorts of entry level computer.[/citation]

Except that in the Terms of Service of this website (Tom's Hardware) it says specifically that contributors to this website cannot suggest people do anything illegal.

What is legal is pretty black and white. It doesn't have to do with people reading a license agreement. We read it so they don't have to. Or more specifically, the people who author these articles are supposed to read them and direct the masses. However, the article authors for this website really just massively fail at their jobs and push poor articles to the masses who think the article writers know what they are talking about and just do it.

At the very least, if the TH authors are going to suggest people do illegal things, they could at least make suggestions that are equally illegal, equally costly, and leave the end user 10x better off.

Also, belardo, I think you really don't have any idea about the costs that are incurred trying to build software and how much money has to go into the selling price to recover those costs, etc. You might not want to comment about what is overpriced if you really have no idea what constitutes overpricing.

It really has more to do with the millions of people who don't pay the prices they are supposed to for things. If everyone did that, the prices needed to recover the creation costs would be a whole lot more reasonable.

By that I mean that if every second person who is supposed to buy a regular retail version of the OS instead buys an OEM version, Microsoft has to increase the price of both the OEM version and the retail version. That doesn't even begin to address the tens of millions of copies of Windows that are pirated right now, giving MSFT $0. If all those people actually paid for their software, the cost would be again lowered.

GJ to TH for doing their part to help ensure that I pay an even greater cost the next time I buy a legal OS license!
 
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