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enthusiast
Picture of stickman428
posted
Much to my surprise my son told me he doesn’t and the new Xbox or PlayStation but would rather have a gaming PC for Christmas.

He has already saved up and started buying various accessories such as a nice keyboard, gaming monitor and mouse.

I know almost nothing about current gaming computers.

Can I get him a decent gaming desktop tower in the $400-600 range? (Only the tower, he has all the other stuff already)

Any input or advice you can provide such as brands, models etc would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
 
Posts: 21074 | Location: San Dimas CA, the Old Dominion or the Tar Heel State…flip a coin  | Registered: April 16, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
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quote:
Can I get him a decent gaming desktop tower in the $400-600 range?

No.
You could get a good graphic card for that.
 
Posts: 22857 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Scientific Beer Geek
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Gaming PCs are very pricey. You need high end components to get good performance and to not have to constantly upgrade over time.

Even home built systems are expensive if you want top components.

You can check sites like Ibuypower or Cyberpower to get a ball park price. Alienware from Dell is one of the most expensive dealers.

Many may suggest building it yourself,f but this can be difficult unless you have experience. PC gaming is great but it can get very expensive.

If you are interested in building your own, check out sites like Tom's hardware or Anantech for reviews of parts like motherboards, processors, memory, video cards, wifi, case, power supply, and cooling. Then you should probably consult the build videos on YouTube and other sites to see what is involved.

Just my $0.02,

Mike


__________________________

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy." - Benjamin Franklin
 
Posts: 2078 | Location: Philadelphia Suburbs | Registered: August 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
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No. Just off the top of my head, $200 for an AMD Ryzen 7 2700, $150 for a motherboard, $100 for a power supply, $75 for memory, $75 for a hard drive, $50 for a case and that's $650 without a video card. I'm not up on the latest video, but I think the RTX 2060 at about $325 would be the minimum for the latest effects.

Edited to add: I forgot the OS. What, $90 for winders?
 
Posts: 10821 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
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As others have mentioned, the graphics card alone will eat up most of that budget. A solid card can be had for $300, but better, more futureproof cards go over $400+. The power supply has to match. Those are the two components that would need to be upgraded in most ready-made systems.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of stickman428
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I don’t have any interest in building my own. Is there nothing in the PC world that can be had in that price range that is worth it?

So I should just encourage him to reconsider the either a new x box or PlayStation?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
 
Posts: 21074 | Location: San Dimas CA, the Old Dominion or the Tar Heel State…flip a coin  | Registered: April 16, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
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What is the resolution of the monitor he bought and what games does he think he might play?

Playing on a 1080p monitor is far more doable than trying to play a recent release game on max settings with a 4k monitor.

For the price, one of the new systems (Xbox Series X (not One X) or PS5) will be far more performance power for the $ but really it would depend on what his friends are playing. A lot of newer games like Call of Duty allow cross-platform play which means you can play on your Xbox along with a friend that plays on his PC.

It could be that he wants to have the PC interface though. Playing Microsoft Flight Simulator on a PC would be a far different experience that trying to do it on a console.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Help! Help!
I'm being repressed!

Picture of Skull Leader
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I think for that price you should look at putting together a system with some used components. If you can find a used Intel i5 system and then add a used 1080 TI that would get you off the ground.

Let me do some searching.

See if you can get this system for $600.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1080-...H_ItemCondition=3000

Here is another option. This seller has good feedback. Won't be the latest and greatest, but it will be enough to get started and, again, you can upgrade components when you're able.

If you configure it with the 1060, the I7+8GB, 1TB HDD, WiFi N+Ethernet, and New Mid Tower w/ 3 RGB fans it will come out to $600.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Quad-...108?var=522985347568
 
Posts: 11151 | Location: Big Sky Country | Registered: November 20, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Don't Panic
Picture of joel9507
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Completely depends on the game, but if the question is, "Are there new pre-built 'gaming' PCs out there in the $4-600 price range?" then I concur with the above: the short answer is no, and the long answer is no, too.

But "Black Friday" is coming up, and if you know what to look for it may be that no turns to a yes during a crazy sale.

Could you maybe discover that what your son currently wants to play might have acceptable performance on something in that price range? Maybe.

But what a 'gaming PC' means, is actually a dynamic term. Game programmers continually push the envelope, and newer games come out that need ever-increasing capability over time. What is currently great, becomes OK, then becomes a liability, and then finally unplayable in a surprisingly short timeframe.

So, entering into a "Gaming PC" is actually buying a treadmill, refueled sporadically by adding new hardware to support new, more demanding software over time.

I'm not a game console player, but one advantage of that approach (essentially, not upgradeable) is that game developers have to write to that machine's stable capabilities to offer games on it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joel9507,
 
Posts: 15001 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: October 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
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This one is not bad but $100 over budget at $699 if you are a Costco member. Good for 1080p gaming I think (should do 1440p depending on settings), but research it a bit more to be sure.

https://www.costco.com/.product.1423483.html
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not
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Posts: 7791 | Location: Bismarck ND | Registered: February 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Do the next
right thing
Picture of bobtheelf
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No, you'd be looking more in the $1200 range. Could be done cheaper by skimping on some parts, but you'll be replacing things sooner if you do.
 
Posts: 3653 | Location: Nashville | Registered: July 23, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I would suggest finding out why he wants a computer over that latest consoles. There is no way to match the performance of either console for the same price in a pc. Both consoles will do 4K at 60hz, to get that performance out of pc, even if he has the 4K monitor, you are looking at way more than 500$ for just the motherboard, chip, memory, and video card.

Now if he is wanting to get into pc gaming because of things like game mods, and he is willing to play mainly in HD, and probably with medium to low settings on the games he plays, then what you are asking is possible. If this turns out to be the case, then we can definitely provide suggestions on parts that will meet those requirements.

Hope that helps a little.
 
Posts: 247 | Location: Utah | Registered: June 16, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not
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also remember that the PC will allow him to do "productive" things as well Smile
 
Posts: 7791 | Location: Bismarck ND | Registered: February 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of ergoproxy
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Got this one for my 14yo nephew. Solid system. Him and his friends were happy with it.

quote:
Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
This one is not bad but $100 over budget at $699 if you are a Costco member. Good for 1080p gaming I think (should do 1440p depending on settings), but research it a bit more to be sure.

https://www.costco.com/.product.1423483.html
 
Posts: 1158 | Location: USA | Registered: December 28, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Power is nothing
without control
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Question: does your son already have a monitor, or do you need that included in the cost? If he has a monitor, do you know the resolution and refresh rate, or just the model then I can look those up? That would at least help telling you how much pc is too much for the monitor.

If you want to spend $500, you could try looking for used PCs on Craigslist, but that is always a risk. No brand new PC with warranty will be good at gaming for $500. The ‘rona has driven PC and parts prices up due to demand and the trade war. Even before then, $500 would be marginal for a brand new low-end gaming PC.

Also, do you know what games he wants to play?

- Bret
 
Posts: 2461 | Location: OH | Registered: March 03, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
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If neither you nor your son are into screwing with a PC go the console route. PC gaming is great if you have the patience and time to constantly upgrade, mess with drivers, figure out mods, etc.

If you aren't into that go console. I'm not bashing PC gaming but you have to be prepared to accept the reality of it. I couldn't do it anymore so I got out years ago. I have friends who wouldn't give it up at gunpoint. You just have to know which you are.




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10719 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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We bought my son a decent unit from New Egg last year. They have many units for around $500-600 and have some pretty good deals. He and his friends are more computer savvy than I am and he decided on a ABS/Rosewill unit. He uses it for both school and playing online and has had no issue with it.
 
Posts: 6840 | Location: Treasure Coast,Fl. | Registered: July 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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