[SOLVED] Need help building my sons first gaming pc. .

Nov 23, 2020
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My son is 13 and has been running an old rig that barely plays minecraft. Since I recently got a decent paying job, I told him id build him a new gaming pc (capable of running fortnite, 24/7, 365 (lol) for $500 as a Christmas gift. He knows I built one, ten or twelve years ago, but not that I havent been "keeping up with the times" so to speak. When I built mine, I came to TomsHardware forums and a lot of really great ppl helped me build mine. I just need a tower with all the hardware. He has a mouse, keyboard, & monitor. Im just not up to date on whats good and what to avoid. Ive always been an intel/nvidia closet fanboy though. Past that, will anyone direct me toward a decent build?

Thanks in advance for any help, tips, or suggestions!
- Kevin
 
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It's a difficult task to pull out a decent machine at 500$. Realistic price would be 700$.

That being said, in your situation, I would personally sacrifice the CPU a bit and splurge into the GPU as much as you can. You'll likely end up going 600$ for a FULL machine if you do not reuse parts. So that would set you at an i3 CPU (low but 4c / 8threads, for an entry PC, acceptable), cheap motherboard since it doesnt need overclocking capabilities and 2 RAM slots will be as much as you get haha, CPU supports 2666mhz Ram - so just the cheapest set of ram that will =or> 2666 will do (ram chips actually come from about the same supplier between expensive stuff and cheap stuff, so you're getting a good chip either way, it's the heat shields and...
What country are you shopping in?

Do you need a Windows 10 license included in the $500 budget?

Is this going to be a "from scratch" build, or a pre-built?

Assuming the monitor is 1080p, 60Hz?

Since $500 isn't a ton of money. Is the plan for the machine to stay as-is for a while, or for there to be subsequent upgrades in the near-term future?
 
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Ive always been an intel/nvidia closet fanboy though. Past that, will anyone direct me toward a decent build?

Ryzen 5 2600 is 140$ and benches 13k on cpubenchmark, comparable intel benches are over 200$. Its a problem you will run into with a budget being a intel closet fanboy, but I've built both intel/amd and have no real preference. I believe most will tell you AMD generally is more budget friendly for CPUs. Its something to keep in mind for a 500$ budget. Plus you can always get a nvidia GPU without any issues they run on AMD motherboards with amd cpus, and just hide the AMD parts from his virgin eyes. XD
 
Nov 23, 2020
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What country are you shopping in?
-America

Do you need a Windows 10 license included in the $500 budget?
-No. Ijust need the machine.

Is this going to be a "from scratch" build, or a pre-built?
-From scratch build.

Assuming the monitor is 1080p, 60Hz?
-Ill have to check on that. I know he cant use HDMI, so he uses VGA instead.

Since $500 isn't a ton of money. Is the plan for the machine to stay as-is for a while, or for there to be subsequent upgrades in the near-term future?
-Ill be upgrading it in the future but id like it "ready to run" as possible.
 
America is a big continent with lots of countries, can you be more specific?

"-Ill have to check on that. I know he cant use HDMI, so he uses VGA instead." Its important to know if the monitor only have a VGA input or if ti also have a DVI/HDMI/DP one?
 
America = United States of America

What IS the old/current PC? Is it a pre-built/OEM machine, or aftermarket?
  • Looking to reuse the current storage (hdd), what capacity is it?
  • Can we reuse the current case?
  • What is the brand/model/wattage of the current PSU?
If we reuse components like the case and PSU that don't really affect performance, that frees up $$ to buy stuff that does increase performance, especially with a restricted budget. Reusing the case, psu, and storage frees up about $150 in the budget, which is SIGNIFICANT with a $500 limit.

My biggest concern is about the PSU, but assuming we reuse, this is what the build would/could look like:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Adorama)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B460M DS3H AC Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($83.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: ASRock Radeon RX 5500 XT 8 GB Phantom Gaming D OC Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $493.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-23 16:57 EST-0500


Keep an eye out for black Friday sales this week.
 
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It's a difficult task to pull out a decent machine at 500$. Realistic price would be 700$.

That being said, in your situation, I would personally sacrifice the CPU a bit and splurge into the GPU as much as you can. You'll likely end up going 600$ for a FULL machine if you do not reuse parts. So that would set you at an i3 CPU (low but 4c / 8threads, for an entry PC, acceptable), cheap motherboard since it doesnt need overclocking capabilities and 2 RAM slots will be as much as you get haha, CPU supports 2666mhz Ram - so just the cheapest set of ram that will =or> 2666 will do (ram chips actually come from about the same supplier between expensive stuff and cheap stuff, so you're getting a good chip either way, it's the heat shields and PCB boarding that's the trade off mostly). GPU 1660 Super (took the 10$ more expensive one for the dual fan cooling instead of the mini single fan version), a pretty good low-mid range card, nvidia i guess was more the deciding factor. PSU, basic, does the job. Case, some eye candy is definetly needed! in a couple of months, throw a few RGB fans in it and I'm sure he'll be very happy with it.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-10100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.59 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte H410M S2H Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($51.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Team GX2 512 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC DIY-A1-W ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $599.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-24 00:53 EST-0500




check it, change it, tweak it (use this website to have a look for yourself as to pricing and parts PC Part Picker). you're in a hard spot really, take what you can from this and try to reuse your parts. You will MOST LIKELY need another monitor, you could possibly try and get a used one from facebook marketplace or other local classifieds (40-60$ should be enough for 1080p basic monitor with HDMI)
 
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