PC Advice - entry level gaming

**loves2plan** · 9 Nov 18, 11:13 AM

Hoping to get a bit of advice from some of the IT savvy dibbers. I'm looking to get an entry level gaming PC for my some for Christmas, but really have no idea where to start! He has a laptop that he currently uses (that he saved up and bought), but has said that he'd like a proper PC now. Games wise, he mainly uses, Sims, Minecraft, Roblox, Discord and League of Legends. Not in to Fortnite, Overwatch or COD type games.

We've got a budget of around �350, so I know it will be very entry level looking at some of the prices of gaming PCs, but would love to know what I should really be looking for so that we get him a PC that handles what he likes to do with ease. Any recommendations for specific PCs would be great too!

americangal · 9 Nov 18, 02:13 PM

Watch out for Black Friday sales. I got my son a dell gaming pc that should have been 799 and totally out of budget for 350 in Black Friday sale direct from dell.

He loves it and the graphics card, etc handles his games well. He hasn�t used his laptop since and has stopped taking his laptop to his dads as it�s no comparison.

It was similar to,this one

dell/en-uk/shop/desk...sktop/cd568025

**loves2plan** · 9 Nov 18, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by americangal

Watch out for Black Friday sales. I got my son a dell gaming pc that should have been 799 and totally out of budget for 350 in Black Friday sale direct from dell.

He loves it and the graphics card, etc handles his games well. He hasn�t used his laptop since and has stopped taking his laptop to his dads as it�s no comparison.

It was similar to,this one

dell/en-uk/shop/desk...sktop/cd568025

That's great, thank you

Noodle500 · 10 Nov 18, 09:02 AM

DH got DSs pc direct from Dell too as they had the best prices for ones with graphics cards. Check out topcashback for Dell as they have some tips about how their Black Friday Cyber Monday deals work.

**loves2plan** · 10 Nov 18, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by Noodle500

DH got DSs pc direct from Dell too as they had the best prices for ones with graphics cards. Check out topcashback for Dell as they have some tips about how their Black Friday Cyber Monday deals work.

I'll certainly check out the Dell deals around black Friday. Thanks for the reminder about Topcashback too

Leggibone · 10 Nov 18, 08:37 PM

Black Friday deals, or if you know someone local that can build a gaming pc you can get something a little better for the same money (equally it�s a fairly easy thing to do with the help of the internet - lots of little widgets that will help you build the specs out)
I use an old refurbished Lenovo, but it doesn�t run minecraft well at all, in fact most laptops and cheaper desktops won�t run games well.

**loves2plan** · 11 Nov 18, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by Leggibone

Black Friday deals, or if you know someone local that can build a gaming pc you can get something a little better for the same money (equally it�s a fairly easy thing to do with the help of the internet - lots of little widgets that will help you build the specs out)
I use an old refurbished Lenovo, but it doesn�t run minecraft well at all, in fact most laptops and cheaper desktops won�t run games well.

Thanks, I will look for black Friday deals. However, part of my problem is that I simply don't know how hat I'm looking for when it comes to processors, RAM, memory, graphics cards etc. It's like a foreign language!

**pad406** · 11 Nov 18, 07:40 PM

PC's, especially for gaming, are one of those things in life where size does matter. As a rule of thumb the bigger number the better

So i7 is better than i5 is better than i3
16GB ram better than 8GB

And so on.

One of the most important parts of a gaming machine is the graphics card. A lot are built into the motherboard which are generally lower end and they share the memory, or partly, with the machine itself. Dedicated ones are designed to optimize frame rate and speed and will give a much better picture and flow.

The 3 things to concentrate on at the start are
Graphics Card
Processor
Memory

That Dell machine that Americangal posted it a pretty decent machine and a good example of what to look for.

And one thing it also has, size again!, is a decent case. Plenty of room for expansion there, so bits can be added as he goes along. It does have a max of 16GB ram though, which is sufficient but I'd prefer allowance for upto 32GB, so keep an eye out for that too, not just what is in the machine when you get it but how much can be added in future.

You could end up having birthdays and Christmas sorted for years to come with upgrades, add-ons etc.

And lastly, one of the good things about a decent gaming machine, is that it has the power and speed to be a really good workhorse for nearly all PC applications, where as the opposite does not always hold true. So if he's off to college, or in college, it should be well able to handle everything he needs there also.

**loves2plan** · 11 Nov 18, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by pad406

PC's, especially for gaming, are one of those things in life where size does matter. As a rule of thumb the bigger number the better

So i7 is better than i5 is better than i3
16GB ram better than 8GB

And so on.

One of the most important parts of a gaming machine is the graphics card. A lot are built into the motherboard which are generally lower end and they share the memory, or partly, with the machine itself. Dedicated ones are designed to optimize frame rate and speed and will give a much better picture and flow.

The 3 things to concentrate on at the start are
Graphics Card
Processor
Memory

That Dell machine that Americangal posted it a pretty decent machine and a good example of what to look for.

And one thing it also has, size again!, is a decent case. Plenty of room for expansion there, so bits can be added as he goes along. It does have a max of 16GB ram though, which is sufficient but I'd prefer allowance for upto 32GB, so keep an eye out for that too, not just what is in the machine when you get it but how much can be added in future.

You could end up having birthdays and Christmas sorted for years to come with upgrades, add-ons etc.

And lastly, one of the good things about a decent gaming machine, is that it has the power and speed to be a really good workhorse for nearly all PC applications, where as the opposite does not always hold true. So if he's off to college, or in college, it should be well able to handle everything he needs there also.

Thank you, that's really helpful 👍

**pad406** · 12 Nov 18, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by loves2plan

Thank you, that's really helpful 👍

If you see one, drop me a PM if you want and I'll have a look as soon as I see it and give you my opinion (no warranties implied or given

)

10 Nov 18, 08:37 PM	#6
	10 Nov 18, 08:37 PM Leggibone Imagineer
Leggibone Imagineer Join Date: Oct 13	Black Friday deals, or if you know someone local that can build a gaming pc you can get something a little better for the same money (equally it�s a fairly easy thing to do with the help of the internet - lots of little widgets that will help you build the specs out) I use an old refurbished Lenovo, but it doesn�t run minecraft well at all, in fact most laptops and cheaper desktops won�t run games well. __________________ Got the Florida bug... 2012 - Quaility Inn International 2014 - Rosen Inn International, Hard Rock Hotel, Yacht club and Bay Lake Tower! Mr Bears Grand Adventure, 2015- A sneaky to DLP- Sequoia Lodge, 2016- Another WDW trip... BLT, AKL, HRH and Rosen Inn - Mr Bear takes Boris to WDW, 2022 - Taking the small fry�. Coronado spring addition, 2024 - Riding solo?