Time has come to finally buy my son his own PC. He's saved up the majority of the money, we're topping it up, but am looking to keep it below £1,000, including monitor. He's coming up to 14, there's time enough for him to develop expensive tastes later!
As a reference point, the current machine in use is this one (I did swap the monitor for an SSD in the end). Graphics card packed up in 2017 so it's now using a GTX1050Ti, so anything new will run like lightning (and make me rather envious, I expect). But it's still running flawlessly (so if any prospective customers are reading, there's a long-term endorsement for you...)
Usage will be mostly schoolwork and light gaming. He has a PS4 for gaming with friends, so this would be less graphically intensive games such as Football Manager, Minecraft, Civilization and the like. Consequently I'm prepared to compromise on the graphics card if needed, can upgrade in a few years if we feel the need to. But I know we're not going to touch the CPU. Plugging in cards or new drives is one thing, taking out the fan, repasting etc is a bridge too far.
Have been through Scott's excellent primer, and his advice this week for a similar customer.
A few remaining questions:
The Fractal case referenced in that build doesn't appear as an option in the configurator, has that been superseded / gone out of stock? (I've not yet invited my son to look at the cases, he may go for a RGB one but I'm suspecting not)
Monitors...
I am thinking to go 1080p, but possibly 1440p to be future-proof. I believe the PS5 (his likely console upgrade path) cannot yet support 1440, so that might not be an issue for years. 24" is going to be enough, given the size of his desk.
Ideally monitor will have sound, rather than external speakers are this point. Partly tied to the next point...
One key functionality I want from the monitor is dual-input, so he can use a single header for both the console and the PC. This is the current set-up we have with the main PC (by fortunate accident, rather than design, at the time) and is really useful. This may be standard now, but wanted to ensure it was covered in case the picture was mixed.
Thanks in advance for any observations.
As a reference point, the current machine in use is this one (I did swap the monitor for an SSD in the end). Graphics card packed up in 2017 so it's now using a GTX1050Ti, so anything new will run like lightning (and make me rather envious, I expect). But it's still running flawlessly (so if any prospective customers are reading, there's a long-term endorsement for you...)
Usage will be mostly schoolwork and light gaming. He has a PS4 for gaming with friends, so this would be less graphically intensive games such as Football Manager, Minecraft, Civilization and the like. Consequently I'm prepared to compromise on the graphics card if needed, can upgrade in a few years if we feel the need to. But I know we're not going to touch the CPU. Plugging in cards or new drives is one thing, taking out the fan, repasting etc is a bridge too far.
Have been through Scott's excellent primer, and his advice this week for a similar customer.
A few remaining questions:
The Fractal case referenced in that build doesn't appear as an option in the configurator, has that been superseded / gone out of stock? (I've not yet invited my son to look at the cases, he may go for a RGB one but I'm suspecting not)
Monitors...
I am thinking to go 1080p, but possibly 1440p to be future-proof. I believe the PS5 (his likely console upgrade path) cannot yet support 1440, so that might not be an issue for years. 24" is going to be enough, given the size of his desk.
Ideally monitor will have sound, rather than external speakers are this point. Partly tied to the next point...
One key functionality I want from the monitor is dual-input, so he can use a single header for both the console and the PC. This is the current set-up we have with the main PC (by fortunate accident, rather than design, at the time) and is really useful. This may be standard now, but wanted to ensure it was covered in case the picture was mixed.
Thanks in advance for any observations.