Question My 10yr old son wants a gaming computer for Christmas, and I'm lost!

[Justin512]

Hello,

My son has been asking for a gaming computer for a couple years now, but I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars on a computer for a 10 year old.

So the last couple of nights after he has gone to bed, I have sat up and researched how to build an entry level gaming PC. I've found everything is cheaper to build, rather than buy it. But, every video I watch and every website I go to they promise one price but when I go and price it, I'm right back at around a thousand dollars.

With 2020 being such a... "great" year, I would like to get him what he is asking for but I can't break the bank. I am just looking for something that we can build together, and will let him play his Minecraft and Fortnite. It doesn't have to have the best graphics, or the most memory. I just want to be able to upgrade it as time goes on. I understand that gaming PC's by nature are expensive, but I would like to stay around $500 or lower if possible.

I am not too worried about the peripherals, as he already has a monitor, and being a 10 yr old boy he will most likely destroy any keyboard and mouse I buy.
Sceptre 30-inch Curved Gaming Monitor 21:9 2560x1080 Ultra Wide Ultra Slim HDMI DisplayPort up to 200Hz Build-in Speakers, Metal Black (C305B-200UN)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TXM7K4T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Any and all advise will be much appreciated!

Justin

 

[thepersonwithaface45]

Today consoles are worth $1000 gaming PC performance wise . and they are Just sold for $500

Get him PS5 or Xbox Series X , Avoid any Xbox with "S"

And since he is 10 years old , Consoles are much better for him and safer from bad games that contains sex scenes , and many unwanted online games.

I second the ps5, mainly for exclusive games.
For a PC, I would just go to your local best buy or walmart and you can get a prebuilt for ~$600 that will do whatever a kid needs it for. The earlier a kid gets their hands on a PC, the more they will teach themselves and learn about technology in the long run.

 

[shady28]

Not even a little bit.

Cheaper, maybe. For a reason. Cyberpower in well known for going cheap on parts that most people don't notice. What motherboard? What PSU? etc, etc.

Building it yourself brings many benefits:

1. Absolute control over the parts selection.
2. Absolute control over the assembly.
3. Better individual parts warranty.
4. Father-son bonding afternoon, of putting it together.

1 - You have a warranty, and Best Buy is convenient for most
2 - That PC has a keyboard, mouse, legit OS - things nobody includes in their DIY price lists
3 - It has a standard case that can hold upgrades
4 - It has a 4.4 star rating with 83 reviews, implying there aren't a lot of failures

You can't build that system for under $499. You can get close, PCPartPicker shows $466.91 without keyboard/mouse, no OS, and no Wifi.

Unless he really likes to mess around with his PC, he probably should get the box with a warranty and ability to return it.

 

[shady28]

1. CyberPower warranty is 1 year. You pay shipping, of the whole box. Individual parts that you buy may have a warranty of 2-3-5-10 years.
2. Yes. And for a system like this, an OS license should be budget in.
3. We're not speaking of the ATX case, but rather the demonstrated lack of quality we've seen in CyberPower systems. Simple things, like the DVD drive not connected. Fans not connected. System simply not booting up at all, right out of the box. And for "upgrades"...be very very careful about what power supply is in there. Usually, it is just barely enough to run the system in its original config. Add something....not gonna work.
4. User ratings like that are mostly useless

Can a CyberPower system be "cheaper" Sure. If initial cheapness is your main consideration, go for it.
As said though...there a re many benefits doing it the other way.

Earlier, I mentioned my grandson, at age 11. That system was also around $500. That one afternoon of putting it together was a great bonding moment. And gave HIM a much much greater appreciation of how it all goes together. Instead of being a black box with some blinken lights, and no knowledge of what goes on inside.
Seeing the look on his face when he pressed the power button for the first time, on a system HE assembled - Literally priceless.


A prebuilt system, especially CyberPower/iBuyPower, is not the automatic GoTo. No matter what price.

1 : You don't pay shipping when you pick it up at Best Buy. You also don't pay shipping or have to deal with multiple vendors when something in your DIY rig fails, nor do you have to guess and try to figure out which component didn't work right. These very forums are full of people who picked RAM that isn't QVL on their motherboard, got motherboards / PSUs that don't have the right connectors, have SSDs that don't work because the m.2 that they installed disabled a SATA port, and on and on.
2: That would exceed his $500 budget 'MAX' as OP put it
3 : If that were really common, they wouldn't have a 4.4 star rating.
4: I consider unbias random consumers who actually bought a product to be a better source than brand loyalists and 'pcmasterrace' types. Look at this thread, half of it is not about 'how do I build an ok gaming rig for under $500' but rather AMD vs Intel vs NVidia.

 

[nofanneeded]

you will have a hard time finding a GPU now there is a shortage everywhere and Anyting older gen is not worth it at all. even RTX 3050 is coming soon..

Just get him PS5 ..

This is my advice

also , you dont want your kid every week screaming my PC wont start or the game crashed ..

Consoles are stable and Just work

 

[nofanneeded]

Today consoles are worth $1000 gaming PC performance wise . and they are Just sold for $500

Get him PS5 or Xbox Series X , Avoid any Xbox with "S"

And since he is 10 years old , Consoles are much better for him and safer from bad games that contains sex scenes , and many unwanted online games.

Also , 10 years old is too young to know how to handle PC problems .. it will be a nightmare.