How to Convince My Parents to Let Me Build a Gaming PC

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AgentLOL

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Nov 16, 2014
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I HAVE THIS QUESTIONS SOLVED, BUT I HAVE LEFT THIS THREAD OPEN IF ANYONE WANTS TO FREELY COMMENT OR TALK ABOUT SOMETHING :):):):):)



So, I'm 13, and its nearing my birthday. Right now I'm using a Mid-2012 Macbook Air to game, really only play Minecraft at 60FPS, and that's the only game cause' my parents think gaming is a huge time buster, leaving me with no console, except for the Wii with Mario games. That's my intro.

So, I first wanted to get a pre-built PC. Seeing how pricy they were, thought of building my own PC. Yearning to actually play other video games (my parents don't approve of violent video games sadly), I put together this really good PC for about $1,400, without peripherals. (Don't ask if they really have the money for that, cause my dad uses a giant iMac). So, I approach them ask my dad (he usually manages everything with electronics). He says that you will only save $50 by building, I won't let you build one, but rather purchase one, as it takes forever. They said that a $800 computer is good enough for school work. I explain that I want these components, and my dad realizes its for gaming.

So that pretty much ended the argument with a NO, and since then, been trying to convince him. I just don't know what's the right time to ask my dad. He owns a office and said that he would grab one from his office that's new, and left to go to the mall. Man, he just won't understand. While everyone else (my friends) sit back and play on their supercomputers and Xbox Ones, I get to sit here playing just Minecraft on my horrible laptop. With that being said, hopefully you read this all and give me a suggestion, and thanks for reading!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/B4T9yc
 
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That can run a lot more than just call of duty..........
 
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Yeah, Crysis 3, anyone?
 
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Windows 8 is very good. better than 7 for sure in most all ways. Faster and lighter. Plus 7 loses support this year. Liquid cooling isn't always better than air cooling. Under $100 air coolers are cheaper and better AND quieter.
 
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I'm not an "only" Minecraft guy. I play other games with Minecraft. And games like Call of Duty and Battlefield aren't GPU intensive. It's games like Crysis 3 that kill the CPU and GPU. And an i7 does improve performance in Minecraft. Since I started Minecraft, I kinda regret getting the i5, but doesn't really matter. Along with just 8GB RAM. But doesn't matter. This'll last me a long time.
Also, anyone, Project Cars? I've read somewhere their reccomended specs (not the one on Steam) are GTX 970. Not sure what's up with that.
 
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Depends your PC location and case. Some cases can make em louder or quieter. Fans are louder than watercoolers if done correctly.
 
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What I meant is that some cases are designed for noise reduction, some aren't. And fans should be louder than watercoolers. Fans I believe run at higher RPM producing more db than watercooler fans. That's why they're "whisper quiet". And for pictures. The only lights I have are the fan's lights. And I can't control the RPM on those. They're the cheap fans. Speedfan can't control em. I don't have any pics, I'll take some soon.
 
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When I started collecting parts for my system(around the z77 era), I could only get one part a month. However, I showed my parents that I was passionate about PCs and that it could be my future career. So I was able to buy some more parts 😛

I finished the system 2 years later
 
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Nice! 😉 Yeah, my parents weren't very keen on the "helps my career" until AFTER I got it built by Frys and explained to my dad that robots and PCs are closely related. My mom didn't really show emotion, not sure what to think of that.
And, even though this is a really good PC, I still miss my Macbook. Why? Cause it uses Mac OSX! Virus free, malware free, you can be as careless as you want, and you still won't be hacked! (Unless you go online for a Mac OSX virus free). And, auto defrag, and other great things. Programs aren't all over the place either too.
 
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Actually, no....

Macs are just as prone to viruses and other malicious software as windows. What do you mean care-less? Many people have been hacked on OSX. For instance... The Home Deport decided to put macs to keep themselves from getting viruses etc. They later got hacked....

I do like auto-defrag, so I agree with that one. What do you mean when you say "programs arnt all over the place?"

Are you talking about organization?
 
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You will probably not get hacked. That is, if you don't download illegal copies/downloads from places you don't know. I never got one, and I had mine for a year. They may or may not have been updating. Windows scrambles program files all over the place. This program file, that program(x86) file, the registry, this, that, etc. You get what I mean. Becomes harder to delete a program when its all over the place in multiple folders. I was pretty careless with my Mac. Downloaded a whole lot of files I probably shouldn't be downloading, but no virus. I didnt even have an antivirus! Here, I download one download I shouldn't have, then a few hours later, get a huge spam of viruses that AVG cant defeat, so I rushed to get Malwarebytes before anything bad happened. It was taking 5 minutes to take one virus in AVG, and after that, 2 more appeared. Never happened to me before.

Mac OSX handles everything for you easily. Heck, an antivirus for Windows mistook a sound file to be a virus! Then I got an update to Windows which fixed it. It has pre-installed Pages,Keynote,etc, which is better, considering its FREE! Oh, don't forget you can make professional music for free with garageband and good videos with iMovie. And, though discontinued, iDVD beats the competition in non-Blue-Ray DVDs. Also, uses less power, more efficient, and less resources for more power. Put those parts in a PC and it won't be as good. And standard for non-Mac minis have some sort of SSD hybrid. Look at our top high end gaming PCs for Windows. They throw in an HDD! I mean, c'mon? $2,000 and no standard SSD? What is this? Even a 120GB SSD with a 1TB HDD is fine! C'mon! Anyways, I'm going to stop my ranting. Though I do enjoy 30min renders vs 2 hour renders for videos :)
 
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I run no antivirus on both my Windows PCs and never have any sign of malware, adware, or viruses. Why? Because I'm smart. I don't mean to offend anybody, but the majority of viruses people get come from them doing stupid things.
 
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I'm going to respond to each of these sections in bold.

1. Hacking has little to do with downloads, and generally has to do with your online accounts and their security, so assuming you maintain good practices while surfing the web, such as a secure password, and secure security questions for sites that require it, and you don't become the target of malevolent actions, you should be safe from this on whatever OS you use.

2. Program Files, and Program Files (X86) are made to separate native 64bit apps, and 32bit apps to help ensure compatibility.There is rarely any need for you to pay attention to this distinction, as you can uninstall most programs from the control panel.

This is especially true with the registry and appdata folders -- unless you know what you are doing, ignore these folders, they will usually clear what needs to be deleted when uninstalled through the control panel.

3. I'm genuinely concerned with how easy it is for some people to get viruses, adware, and malware on their PC's. I have made a virtual machine where I have been more reckless, and have usually only came across one or two viruses. Now, there needs to be a distinction: some antiviruses define small or unknown programs as "pups" Potentially wanted programs. They also sometimes tag usually harmless cookies and make them seem like an issue.

Nevertheless, safe online practices is the cure for this. Find out what sites are considered safe, and beware of any site that forces you to download a program for anything. The only time you should download a program is if it's the program you are looking for, and often, if a download is the "downloader" for something, it's packed with things you do not want; always look out for additional installs asking for your permission with boxes, "accept," or "decline" inside the installer, and make sure you know what you are accepting, as oftentimes these will not affect your main install.

4. There are plenty of freeware programs that aren't included in windows that should be able to rival those programs, and they can run just as well.

5. SSDs are mostly just to improve the feel of a computer, usually gaming PC's are about performance -- other than loading games and windows faster, they offer little to no benefit for gamers, so the best value is usually a larger hard drive to avoid having to micromanage your install space or take extra time defragmenting the drive.

Speaking of defragmenting, Windows automatically schedules this once a week with their built in defragmenting program. Not only this, but they are smart enough to disable it on SSDs. Please do not attempt to defragment it manually, as this will be a waste of time, and cuase more damage than harm. The only benefit to this on an SSD is for ones that cannot perform TRIM, as this can help create a large pool of free space.

There are also free defragmenting programs you can get for your hard drive, if you so desire.

Edit: Oh, also, if you want to have the security of MAC OSX, you can either go Hackintosh, or Linux -- you can play many Steam games on Linux now, and it is free. In fact, you can dual boot it with an install of Windows.
 
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Another misconception many people have is that you can get a virus from opening an email, whereas you only can get a virus by downloading and running an email attachment. That's a common distinction many people forget, and some people simply have weak email passwords and when someone figures it out or a bot and starts sending spam they think they opened something bad.
 
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This is true, and may be why some people feel the need to get email programs, such as outlook.
Only time this could be wrong is if it had some kind of script in the email, but those should be blocked by most, if not all clients.
 
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you obviously can't buy all the things at once because of the situation so my solution is you can buy things between time intervals. so this year maybe buy something and something else on the next year or month. your choice :)
 
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I have the same problem..I am 11, I have taught myself HTML C++, Java and Python, My grand parents won't buy me a PC or let me make a PC, I have a crap laptop with 4GB of ram,an i3-4010Y CPU and intel graphics.. I was saving up for a new one but my dad stole all my money that I have been saving up for 3 years, (don't say that the money came from my dad because it didn't) I can't get a job legally and I do good in school (I get A's and some B's I am in 6th grade but I go to a magnet school also and I have 7th grade math and reading) So it's not like I get bad grades or anything,
I want a decent PC so I can one code and two game, I want to build it but like I said my grand parents won't let me, I have everything I need to game and code for under $300 that I can buy online (that includes shipping) and I know how to build a PC because I have built 3 of my friends PCs and they didn't have any problems..
 
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^ In that case, I'd continue to save up and just HIDE your money. My mom takes my money all the time. I had 50$, mom found it and took it. I now finding it in my computer is the best. @ 300, if you are just coding, a simple a6 APU and budget 4 gig kit with a quality PSU will work out fine. But since you are not, keep hiding your money. A simple 500$ budget would get you a nice system.

Just asking, do you go to Columbus Tustin Middle School? If you don't feel comfortable saying yes or no, I don't mind :)
 
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Well it's good to show interest at that age, but know that you will not get anything decent new for under $300. It would be worse than your laptop. For now I would keep your focus in school, that should always come first, in a few years you should be able to work and upgrade your computer. I can't see anything that is stopping you from coding on your current laptop. What you have is better than what a lot of other people around the world have. Try to be happy with it.
 
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No I don't I live in Arizona

 
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You have the same issue as I have . My parents wont allow me to get a new computer or a better graphics card for gaming. They think that studies is the most important thing and i have to study for about 4-5 hours. I convinced them alot like my friends have a greater and awesome one but they always deny me .I have a mid ranged pc which can gun previous games smoothly at 1080p but lag new games like BF4 and GTA 5 even at Ultra Low Setting!!. Try to say your parents that because of my slow laptop i could complete my school work on time and had to leave my dinner for doing it . Hope this helps....:)
 
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BTW, just getting this out there, i would HIGHLY recommend NOT to mention "it won't run well on this game or that one". Most parents will instantly deny if they hear GTA, so don't mention games period. Most parents of this age won't understand video games completely. And American parents with the logic I have (hard to explain) would be worse at understanding. Also try not to mention money. Maybe making it seem educational may help, but it'll take some brute force going above $500, which, unless you're buying used parts, won't get u far in longevity for smooth frames.
 
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For now, why don't you go with a CPU that has integrated graphics? I know it's a compromise but what other choice do you have? Something's better than nothing, right? Or just play runescape lol xD
 
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My question has been answered lol. The first bold sentence. Anyways, integrated graphics doesn't get you far, I'd rather get a $100 GPU. Otherwise I could still use my MBA, which now is basically destroyed, its battery has been destroyed by my constant high power consumption while gaming plugged in.
 
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