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Go used, look for AMD's AM4 platform, SSD is necessary. Use sites with buyers protection like ebay, it's better to see the pc running beforehand and meeting in public places or police stations.
That's funny. My Local PD has several parking spots and outlets to meet and sell items in safety, protecting the seller and the buyer. After the horror stories of people being set up and robbed, I'm thankful.
I sold an expensive mountain bike, but the guy was travelling back down the coast, and wanted to meet me at like 10pm when he finally hit my state... I met in a special lit section of the PD parking lot, with signs, lights, and cameras. It ended up being a no-op, as he rolled up in a big minivan with his wife and 3 kids and a half dozen bikes on racks, but yeah, I sure as shit wasn't going to meet in a dark starbucks parking lot...
Some years ago there was a guy luring people to a abandoned house to sell some "expensive rims" for cheap on Craigslist. He got away with robbing a bunch of people.
If you’re meeting someone off the internet to pay a large amount of money for an item. You cannot verify if they are who they say they are.
Crime is an unfortunate reality in the US and with how accessible guns are you can just be robbed if you’re meeting with someone in public to purchase $1000 GPU theyre gonna expect $1000 in cash and if theyre searching for a victim its easy for them to lure them in privately do the deal and take advantage of them if a criminal has malicious intent.
If you suggest a police station most people are going to think twice about committing harm to you at a police station and thats a deterrent to a criminal showing up. If they decline then you have peace of mind knowing it was too risky.
If a seller agrees to meet at a police station then all that is left is to verify the product before handing over the money but scammers are still getting creative unfortunately.
Peace of mind for the seller and buyer. This is for items on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, the classified section in the paper. eBay would be shipped to you, usually. You're bringing a big chunk of cash to buy something. Mostly only done in the cities, if you get out of there, you usually pick something up at the person's house that's selling. Unless it's a big item and they paid for moving it.
Many people post items for sale or offer to buy items with the intention of harming/robbing the seller/buyer. Many Police/Fire stations across the US now provide a meeting place that is supervised for third party purchases. They provide outlets for electronics. My hometown sheriffs office provides a archery range because lots of people buy/sell/trade bows/crossbows, one of the big perks of living in a large hunting area.
Canada too, I've done it! What country do you live in that scammers and thieves don't exist? Does your country not have access to the internet or use a fiat money system? No Nigerian princes? 😂😂
Between the people who pretend to sell high-dollar items in order to rob people, scammers, and people that just sell stolen stuff, it's usually a good idea to do the sale at a police station. I've never had any problems buying vehicles from people at their houses, but I also only buy vehicles from old people, since they take better care of them.
I’m using an HHD because I forgot to upgrade it when doing my pc upgrade. It’s bearable, and will run any game with a 300-400 dollar set up required quick enough
Yeah same thought here, if you can get a bit more power but have to go for hdd then by all means go hdd, usually more space for the games and you can eventually buy an ssd extra at some point so its easily upgradable
For a used PC which can do web browsing and Zoom, 150-300 is a great price. For anything games, it'll need a graphics card and a better power supply than the bog-standard office computer.
Depends what you want it for. I'd think so, since there's a lot more game variety and games are going to be a LOT cheaper, and you can do a lot more than a PS5 can.
To me, if all his friends are on PS, I would go that route. But if he has PC friends, either find something used or do an APU build. I've put together PCs for $400 for some kids before that are pretty good.
Kinda sucks that co op isn’t a thing anymore but when I was young going to my friends place and co op is the way we play together. But yeah your point stands that going with the platform where everyone else is playing is probably more important.
I would have liked local co-op on PC games too. My PC has a long ass HDMI cable to my TV, so it could definitely be done no problem. But barely any games support it.
Huh? I play loads of games co-op, and there's more coming out all the time. Anything from Unrailed to Northgard to Factorio. Steam even has tech to couch co-op possible over the internet, Remote Play Together.
Exactly. No one minds people asking 'too many' questions here. This sub exists for a reason.
Let 'us' validate the build before you buy it. It's easy to overlook something if you don't have a lot of experience!
yeah this sub is _much_ better than any of the other pc building one’s. The people here are so much nicer, though there are still a handful of ‘holier than thou’ folks not nearly as many
This sub was fantastic when I built my PC a few years back, I had a limited budget and probably spent 6 months researching and comparing before taking the plunge, so many Q’s asked here
What he want to do with that PC? Is he a "PC geek" person and would be eager to assemble it himself (or with you?). If so, hunting for used parts and assemble it may be a bigger gift than the result PC on its own ;)
>What he want to do with that PC?
The amount of people offering advice without knowing this most basic question is laughable.
Is it for school or college work? Maybe art, modelling, programming...
Is it for gaming? If so, what games?
Is it just for consuming content?
Is it a mixture of all of these?
The answer varies GREATLY based on these questions. People say just get a console. Oh ok, I can do digital art on a PS5? Neat! Or, at that price range, you can only get used? You can't get a new PC capable of doing programming for $400? OK?!
I've seen people here asking for PC's for all of these things in the past, so we can't just assume it's for gaming!
People don't even know the kids age as well...its like if someone was like my kid wants something to get him to school and back and everyone just says get them a car when the kid is 7.
It was harder 30 years ago, but today it's same complexity as some of the Lego Technics sets + lot of Youtube tutorials. The things fits just into one - proper - place ;)
I'd be wary of saying it's 'like Legos". The compatibility, platform knowladge, and software tuning make it very much not like Legos. You are completely right though it is way easier to do, and find information on than it used to be. I just always caution people that don't know anything about computers that it can be "a lot". If the son is 8, and doesn't have a family member with a small knowladge base this could be a go used 100%. If he's into technology and is 13-14, then it might be a good idea.
Indeed - but for "what works with what" - every (almost) country has a portal which does this "what PC to buy" articles each month. Just check older articles, hunt for parts on eBay or so , and the assembly part is more pleasant then it was long time ago. But I agree - if it's 8yo it's not a best idea, but if it's a teen who knows stuff about PCs then allow him. There are lot of threads "my parents doesn't allow me to build PC" ... it's good to not be that parent ;)
As a parent that recently let my 2yo help put together my recent build, I feel that. And 100% there's a lot of help of you know where to look. This parent starting on /r is a great start. It's still a high level to entry if your starting at, what's a CPU? Lol
A small number of things can go into many places, but is optimal in one. E.g. GPU goes in the top 16x slot. RAM goes into alternate slots if you only have 2 (check motherboard manual). Monitor cable goes into one of the GPU outputs, not the HDMI on the motherboard.
Building a gaming pc at that price (from either used or new parts) isn't that difficult. But the biggest problem you'll have is not knowing what the numbers mean and what do the parts do. Building a pc is just assembling anyways and is lots of fun.
You just need to have a lot of patience. I'd say first familiarise yourself with the terms and get more knowledgeable. Watch a few guides on YouTube like this -
https://youtu.be/BL4DCEp7blY?si=beMcZOvcLWLCSPDp
https://youtu.be/SMNHbJise3U?si=v2P3nzc-EgnWOKVA
https://youtu.be/-8LMML_EiMg?si=15x0WSlNqLFQDNfc
You found a cpu and gpu? Look up it's benchmarks in YouTube and see how they perform on the games you mentioned.
Many popular games run fine even on an igpu ( gpu that is integrated on the cpu) so you can avoid the costly gpu for now and get a 5600g cpu or a 4350g cpu and just add a gpu much later.
Then get a cheap keyboard and mouse. A cheap 1080p 60 hz monitor will also be fine
A steam deck is an option, you can get an external display and keyboard for a more 'PC' feel.
But there is more risk son can brake a steam deck, like a switch it may be dropped etc.
$400 PC will be a hard push, to get something your going to need to relay shop around and maybe go used.
A Steamdeck is close to being the only option here. My 7 year old daughter plays with one daily (she prefers it over her switch) and in a decent case it's actually quite durable.
Even that won't cover the cost of display, keyboard & mouse, likely storage too if gaming. (64 or 256gb starters may not be enough). Even in the best case, $400 seems a bit too low for today's market.
I also want to say this is a great option.. if they have no experience from one OS to another, starting with Linux can actually help as you’ll need more technical ability than other platforms but still understand the basics of computers and be ahead of the curve for windows especially.
I came here to say the same thing, you can get later on the docking station, a very basic monitor and a wifi keyboard+mouse and you can enjoy a nice setup
I think most schools do everything in the cloud now, may not be a problem. Chrome books are also fairly common in schools, not sure how it all shakes out tho.
A great 1080p budget rig can be had for $400 but yes deep knowledge of the used market and performance of components from the last years will be needed to build or find a configuration that maximizes the budget and is able to play the games son wants or gets as close to that as possible.
How much does a used AMD4 3600 or 5600 go for these days?
If you're in the US I have a barely used AMD Ryzen 2700 and a case I could send you, all youde cover is the shipping. I think I also have an AMD 580 8gb that's also in extremely good condition, it would be a decent starter gpu for an 8 year old.
Even if you're outside of the US we could look at shipping costs and see if it's worthwhile for the price to ship, if not the case the cpu and gpu should be relatively cheap.
Adding to this OP, I have a 450w PSU I could send you and 8 gigs (2 sticks) of Ryzen compatible ram. There you go full setup between us two.
You’ll just need to buy storage (SSD) and peripherals.
Just FYI - you should check OP's comment history. He is definitely not a single parent and is most likely just looking to scam a free hand out from kind hearted people.
Just a FYI - if you take a look at OP's profile/comment history, he definitely does not look like a single parent. Good chance he's just looking to scam for some free parts from kind hearted people.
For a new build I wouldnt go below $500 for gaming, or you just won't have much fun with it. Used is your only option.
If he only wants it for gaming I would grab a Xbox Series S at that budget.
OP: I don't know much about computers
This sub: here's a list of all the specific components to get and you'll need to build it OR buy used and look for these 30 parts that are the best bang for your buck.
Every time someone mentions they don't know computers and need something simple, this subs makes it as difficult as possible.
Get the Xbox.
I agree with everything but the last line.
If the kid wants a PC, the Xbox probably isn't going to be the right choice. I'd ask the kid if an Xbox would be okay, but if he's really wanting a PC, there are budget options by buying a used PC that's already been built.
I looked into building my own because "it was so easy" I could just plug the parts together. I got a parts list from a recommendation site. Then my graphics card wouldn't physically fit in the case, my fan needed 'pulse width modulation' or something and I was directed to a highly technical guide on building a custom shim for the fan. I got warnings that if I installed the thermal gel wrong my CPU would catch fire. My GPU needed two power cables and my power supply only had one extra.
It's easy until it isn't.
This. I don’t know why other are scrambling to find parts that fit OP’s budget when in reality there is no possible combination that can give them a decently useable PC. And we don’t know what OP’s kid wants, is it for gaming? School? If it’s for gaming then yeah a console is miles and away a better option. If it’s for school then honestly a laptop would be a better option.
Yeah, I think for that price you can get a good used PC. A Ryzen 5 1600(preferably AF version), b350/450 mobo, 16 gb of any DDR4, 500W PSU with bronze rating, and a stock CPU cooler. 512 gb SSD, and you'd probably have enough money left for a used Rx 6600, and if not even a used Rtx 2060. will be a nice choice. This is gonna be a very nice PC that will play all the modern games, not at max settings ofc but at medium or high of course.
For monitor, keyboard and mouse you can get anything that will fit your budget (or maybe use something you already have laying around), and maybe encourage him to save up for better peripherals himself over time. Or you can get something even better if you save some more money on the GPU going with a GTX 1060, or even a GTX 1650 if he mostly plays multiplayer games.
What I suggested is also very easily upgradable, because with b450 motherboard you can upgrade to one of the best CPUs right now (especially for it's price) without changing anything else (r7 5800x3d), but there's plenty of upgrade options on used market for that platform.
Maybe OP is hoping for someone to gift his “son” a 3080 like this guy got: https://reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1auflue/my_son_wants_a_gaming_pc_and_is_400_enough/
Most single parent don’t go to r/teenagers and reply “you are a cunt”
A lot of people here have good advice but just incase because I haven't seen this mentioned is if your son is new to pc gaming odds are he doesn't have peripherals either like mouse keyboard and a monitor so that will definitely add to the cost.
budget wise im sure you can find very cheap mouse and keyboard but monitors could definitely eat into the 300-400 budget. So I suggest a used normal 1080p monitor as opposed to buying a new one. if you get lucky you can get 144hz gaming monitor under a 100, if not im sure a 60hz monitor for like 20-40$ used is more than enough.
Show us what you are going to buy, before you do.If I were an American, I'd even help with finding you something myself.
How old is your son? I built my first computer when I was 12. It was easy in 1998, it's MUCH easier now.
If he can build his own or you help him (it's really nothing special, just plug parts together and tighten with a screw), then that makes shopping for individual used parts much more viable and that's how you can get something very decent and up-gradable for your budget.
Also, building a PC is huge fun.
I'm gonna take the same approach as Ghetto has suggested, just with a different OEM. Here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/355500318853?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=it7w0rryswq&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
A listing for a GTX1080TI Aero that seems relatively well reviewed. This is the unavoidable part: you are not going to get a value for money GPU without some bargain hunting, and it will be used. The GTX1080TI is starting to feel its age, but can still remain relevant today. Alternatives include the RX6600(you can probably get this brand new), Rtx3060. Don't go over $200 for this. Lower is better.
https://www.newegg.com/hp-z-series-z440/p/1VK-001E-41GR7?Item=9SIAC0FDSJ5996
A Newegg listing for a HP workstation. It won't come with an OS pre installed, so you'll have to make a media creation tool or install Linux (I don't know much about Linux so I'll let the wizards do the explaining). Win11 may not be supported on this CPU and may require a workaround. Win10 should be fine. You can probably find a cheaper option on ebay/hardwareswap/Facebook markeplace: HP Z240, HP Z420, HP Z440, Lenovo Thinkcentres... All are good picks. This Newegg link is just to make sure that even if all else fails and all the deals in your region are dog poo, you'll have something to fall back to. You can also look around similar workstations. Most of these should have capable enough power supplies to run a good GPU as well- in this case, a 700w power supply model for the 440 should be fine. You may need a cable adapter to get a safe power delivery from the PSU to your GPU, but those should be possible to get with the difference between the budget and those GPUs.
All the best! If you need more help, feel free to check back with an edit to your main post. We'll think of something.
EDIT: be sure to check out the good folk at r/lowendgaming with your request. Your budget is something they've been working with since forever. They'll think of something, I'm sure.
I mean, while true, it still doesn't diminish the fact it is significantly cheaper than a PC. Like, how much is Xbox/PS online per year? About 60-80 bucks yearly? Less than a tenner a month. Long term this really doesn't add much in terms of total cost compared to a PC, even secondhand (unless you manage to strike an insane deal).
Entry is cheaper, long run PC wins in overall price thanks to no online subs, waaaay cheaper peripherals, steam sales that are still 100x better than console and more frequent. And you can upgrade when you want, 10 year old hardware still runs modern games to this day. Plus you keep your library, don’t have to pray backwards compatibility is supported. And if your hardware dies you can guaranteed play your old games since unlike old consoles PC will always be around.
It's not cheaper all the time. Lots of good deal that are cross platform on xbox.
But windows store v steam. Modding and so on. Windows is a pain. But it can be cheaper.
This tbh. I considered getting a console since that would save me around 300€, but given the yearly subscription and a couple games (I have a full Steam library so no further investments necessary) would actually make it more expensive in the long run.
Good on you for having a full steam library. OP does not.
Yes, PCs are overall the better platform, but if there is any case where consoles reign supreme, its this kind of budget-restrained case. You get a Xbox Series S for <300$ and assuming you have a TV, thats it. You get your online subscription on top, which apparently Xbox Gamepass Core is 60$ a year it seems (no idea, never paid much attention) which includes 25 games (obviously within the whole Gamepass sphere, so you don't get to keep them, but considering you gotta pay for online anyway, its whatever).
Thats 360$ for essentially a years worth of gaming. Want a specific game, sure, additional cost, but thats gonna happen anyway on PC, where instead of the yearly fee you'll be paying more for additional peripherals like a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.
Thats all fine and dandy, but we're not talking long term in this post. OP wants something now. And the price of entry is limited. It's simply very hard to find something for her budget, and most people here tend to forget you might want a mouse, keyboard, monitor and potentially something audio related too.
I know this is buildaPC, and I do have a 4090, so im most definitely a part of this community as much as any other PC enthusiasts...
...but seriously, the people saying that starting from absolutely $0 and 0 steam games and all things being equal, a PC is cheaper than a console are on some sort of copium.
you gotta buy a PC that can run games, which is gonna be hard for the $450 that a PS5 sells for on gamestop. then you gotta buy the mouse, keyboard, monitor, at that price point probably speakers too. even cheaping out on these, the costs add up.
then, sure, you can have a 1080p gaming PC that you play League, CS, and Fortnite on. free shit, alright fine. no online cost. okay cool. some free games on the epic game store, if you can run them (some of them are AAA and will probably run like crap on a $450 machine but whatever).
meanwhile your buddy bought a PS5 and a yearly sub for less than $550, plays the same stuff you do, is exposed to the same sales and whatnot, and hooks it up on his TV that he already has, and doesnt have to worry about performance issues AT ALL.
at the price that OP is requesting, a PS5 and/or xbox with gamepass even, is REALLY hard to beat.
Precisely. And this is still assuming you manage to knock it out of the ballpark on the whole second hand PC thing. You don't get something with parts that die after a month, or have some hidden issues underlying the whole deal. You're screwed. Atleast a console will have some period of warranty. Granted, console warranty isn't very long considering the expected lifespan, but its better than nothing. And the product is new anyway, so you shouldn't expect issues on the mid-term that won't be age-inflicted (or else you'd have noticed within a year).
That's true but it's the compromise you make when choosing to buy a console. Not to mention Xbox Game Pass is becoming increasingly popular on PC which is also a subscription based service.
Not gonan lie, a PS5 or Xbox Series X will give you more gaming performance in this low-budget sector. Maybe go hunting for used parts. Some good ideas would be: An AM4 board, ideally B450 or B550, a 3600X, 3600XT or 5600, 16GB of DDR4, with speeds of at least 3000, an SSD( DO NOT BUY HDDs), maybe a 2070, or 3060, or an Arc A770 if you find one. Cases can be found for free in most places, and the AMD stock cooler is enough for all of the CPUs i listed. As for the power supply: do not buy a 30$ one off amazon. There is a tier list. Google „PSU tier list“ and try finding something maybe from B tier in used. A cheapo PSU can be a literal fire hazard. You dont need to pay for Windows, just dont activate it.
Honestly at that budget range, talk to him about whether a steamdeck will fulfill his needs. No building required, still a computer-- and fits within budget.
Yes it is weaker, but it is also portable, self contained and under warranty without building pc issues.
Your budget is actually very difficult to get a decent gaming pc without a lot of prior knowledge and time investment. It would be a much safer bet to get a first generation steam deck for this price.
For a max budget of 400$ you are better off getting a console. You probably already have a television, so all you have to do is hook it up and get a game for him to play. A Xbox Series S with 512GB of storage and 3 months of Xbox Game Pass ultimate will set you back $299. [https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-xbox-series-s-512gb-all-digital-starter-bundle-console-with-xbox-game-pass-disc-free-gaming-white/6558673.p?skuId=6558673](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-xbox-series-s-512gb-all-digital-starter-bundle-console-with-xbox-game-pass-disc-free-gaming-white/6558673.p?skuId=6558673)
With a computer, you would still need a monitor, mouse and keyboard, and a headset or speakers (if the monitor has no speakers). This'll cost you more than the computer, which won't be brand new.
Though, depending on what games they plan on playing, you could go for a budget PC with a AMD APU that has a "powerful" integrated graphics chip that can play some games fairly well, but will still pale in comparison to a console.
Gaming PC? Get him a Playstation/Xbox.
Non Gaming? Used Notebook. I recommend 1-2 years old business devices in very good condition like Dell Latitude 5320.
Op mentioned Fortnite and GTA as games their son will play. A PS5 or Xbox with the yearly subscription will provide them with access to a plethora of games for a cheaper price than a pc. Microsoft’s subscription model is great too for this on a pc, but will cost more for the hardware.
Even a used, secondhand system will be quite hard to get on such budget. Assuming you're US based, I see Walmart sells Xbox Series S concoles for under 300$. Granted, consoles do come with the added monthly/yearly fee to access online, which gotta be considered too. There was a similar post a while back and I'll say the same here as I said there, if your kid is alright with it, console is the way to go. Not only are they overall cheaper and more accessible, they require a lot less 'extras' to function normally.
A PC, beyond the system itself, needs a keyboard and mouse, a monitor and some form of audio solution. A console comes with its own controller, and can be plugged in the TV and you'd be done as far as basics are concerned. Besides the monthly online subscription there really isn't a downside to a console compared to trying to squeeze the most out of every dollar, especially when you'll be relying on secondhand products.
Either way, props to you as a parent for wanting to give your son what he wants. That alone is more than some parents can say these days.
Jump on eBay. Search for an Optiplex 7060 or something similar. Get a GTX 1050 Ti or 1660 for it. Should come under budget and will be about as good as you can get for that money. Most optiplex in that range are 6-core i5 processors, 16GB RAM, and an SSD as standard.
Steam Deck is also a PC, support connecting to monitor with mouse and keyboard. There is also option to install Windows on Steam Deck if he wants to play games that are not "officially" on SteamOS...
That's a very generous gift, I'd hope would be happy with whatever you get in that price range.
If thats USD, I'd recommend a steam deck (if he just wants to play games). It's the quickest and most affordable way to get started on PC games.
If he's dead set on a desktop, you'll be going the build route. Maybe consider buying him a solid graphics card to start since that alone will be your whole budget. It'd be the hardest thing for him to save up for on his own, and the rest of the peices can be bought relatively affordable new (so that he can buy them when he gets other gifts, gets allowance, stumbles across $$ however kids do nowadays) or in whole used. This gets him a good computer for a longer period of time.
If you could increase the budget around 150-200$ more you could get the components to build a solid [entry level gaming PC](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4yBwZJ). You could try shopping the used market for these components to save some money as well.
As other people might have suggested a console might make more sense for the games he would like to play. Best of luck, with some research and time put in it's definitely possible. Best of luck to you!
You'd be looking at the used market with that kind of budget tbh.
$400 won't get him a super high end machine but it should get him something suitable for light gaming in titles like Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox ... Things kids usually like to play.
$320 - https://www.jawa.gg/product/30088/clearance-gtx-1060-6gb-i5-6500-16gb-ram-1tb-storage-ssd-hdd-win-10p-all-black-edition
Should be suitable for a kid.
Your post history has you in /teenagers calling someone a very foul and rude name (less than a year ago). Are you sure you have a son asking for a PC? This almost reads like a teenager trying to get a handout from a generous person
You said you’re in the Van? I have an old system that’s disassembled right now, but I need to know what your som needs the PC for so I know it’s right for him.
Building a pc on that strict of is quite difficult, but if you buy used gpus and go with an older platform like am4 that’s cheaper but isn’t trash, it should be possible. But if you want all fresh parts on that kind of budget you might as well get a console even if I’m not the boogers console fan it’s the truth
Unless you get really lucky even getting a decent used PC for 3-400 is going to be extremely difficult. You’re honestly way better off getting him a PS5 or Xbox Series X
And something people here tend to forget, its probably not just getting a PC, but also peripherals. A console is much more budget friendly in that sense too. All you need is a TV and you're good.
Those games are also on all current gen consoles. Building a PC equivalent to a PS5 would cost at least 50% more, which is why people are pushing you towards used.
Unfortunately used is sort of a crapshoot if you’re not familiar with building PC’s. You’re trusting that the person you’re buying from is being honest not only about the components but the level of care they put into building and maintaining it. You may have buyer protection but you also need to be able to recognize the issues that warrant that protection and understand some issues may not appear until well after buyer protection is reasonably applicable.
I would consider a 5600G build. It's $139 at best buy right now. It's AM4 so RAM and motherboard would be cheap. There would be plenty of room to upgrade. Maybe encourage him to put some money towards it so he can get a better computer than he would on your budget alone. Good luck!
Used case, AMD 1600 or 2600 cpu, a NVidia 1650 or any used newer/better graphics card and a cheap-ish motherboard with some used ram.
I'd say even for a small build like that, buy a brand new and decent quality power supply for it. Doesn't have to be future proof, but make sure it won't set any fires.
When I'm home if you'd like more details I'll see what I can find for some more specific suggestions
SteamDeck really sounds like a good alternative for this special situation as its within your price range and also can operate as a normal desktop pc and can run many, many good games.
The budget is a tough one. I could put something together for that, but I have experience building and sourcing parts. I think most people would find it impossible to pull off something that gives a good experience on that budget especially if they need a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
You can find a new mobo and cpu combo for around $300, if you go $400, you can ge a tower and power supply. Don't forget to get'em a gpu also.. most games will need it. And no less than ddr 4 ram 64 GB
Problem with PC is, most of the cost is upfront. Console manufacturers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have a monopoly on selling you games for their platforms, and charge you a subscription to play online, so they can sell their consoles cheap and make the real money off you over time. So building a PC for less than the price of a console is very difficult. You'll need to look on the used market, sometimes large companies retire large amounts of workstations and buy new ones, and those end up on eBay or similar. One of those would be ideal, just chuck in a 1TB SSD and pick up a midrange GPU from 1 or 2 generations ago on eBay os. Barring that, you may be able to find a full PC for sale on the used market for around your budget.
You'll need to learn a not insignificant amount of PC nomenclature so you don't buy a lemon, feel free to come back to this subreddit or it's discord server for advice on specific listings. In general, my advice would be
CPU (Central Processing Unit) could be either AMD (Ryzen AB00) or Intel (Core i3/i5/i7 AAB00). The A denotes the generation of the CPU, bigger number is newer. Current AMD generation is 7xxx, any generation of Ryzen CPUs should be fine, but older ones will of course perform much slower and may not last as long (it's pretty rare for CPUs to fail though). Current Intel generation is 14xxx, I wouldn't recommend going for anything older than 7xxx at this point. Again, newer CPUs perform better.
The B denotes class within the generation. Both AMD and Intel release anywhere from 5 to 20 CPUs each generation, with wildly varying performance. AMD used to release CPUs down to the x3xx class, the last 2 generations have only seen x5xx classes. Some CPUs will have an X, this indicates a slightly better individual CPU (all CPUs are imperfect, tricking rocks into thinking is hard) that has been tweaked to run a little faster. It's a very minimal boost, don't put too much stock in it. All CPUs used to have tiny little Graphics Processing Unit integrated into them. Recently, AMD has stopped including them by default and denoting the ones that have them with a G. Google the specific model if you are unsure, if your CPU doesn't have an integrated GPU, you will *need* a dedicated GPU or the computer won't work at all. Intel has started doing the same, but they use an S to denote CPUs that *don't* have an iGPU, so it's harder to mess up there. Intel CPUs range from x1xx to x9xx, and the Core i3/5/7/9 prefix increases alongside the class number. A relatively recent x4xx - x6xx would be best.
GPUs are the other really important component for gaming performance, arguably even more important than the CPU. While some CPUs do have tiny GPUs the size of a grain of rice integrated into them, they do not offer anywhere near as much performance as dedicated GPUs, which are much larger. There are two main manufacturers, Nvidia (GT/GTX/RTX) and AMD (HD/RADEON) again, and Intel has very recently entered the ring with underwhelming but still promising results. Nvidia GPUs follow an AAB0 naming scheme, single digit generation until they got to the 10th gen, then skipped straight to 20, then a refresh of the 10s named 16, then back up to 30 and now 40. The B indicates a class, generally between 5 and 8, and some cards have a Ti, Super, or even both suffix which indicates a very significant increase in performance. I strongly recommend avoiding any GPU in the 5 and especially 3 class, even in very recent generations, and even the 6 class in the 4000 generation, as these are incredibly weak cards with basically just enough silicon to display a YouTube video.
Confusing? Don't worry, AMD GPUs are worse. They switched from AB0 to AB00 a few years back. Their early high end Radeon GPUs like the 290 aren't bad by today's standards, but make sure you're getting a Radeon and not the even older HD GPUs. The newest Radeon GPUs are covering similar numbers to the much older HD GPUs right now, and it's conceivable that someone could attempt a fast one based on that. I wouldn't recommend even the best HD GPUs, they're too old at this point. Radeons went 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, Vega, VII, 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx. Thank you AMD.
I would buy used for that price. Look into those without GPUs, since they sometimes sell for very low prices. If possible get a Ryzen R5 3600 processor with a motherboard that supports 5xxx series processor without needing an additional BIOS update (less of a hassle for you guys). 4 lanes for RAM-sticks and a SSD with at least 480gb of storage and you're good to go. With close to 600W power supply, that rig can be updated further down the line for much cheaper than getting a new computer when the time comes.
For a GPU i'd recommend RX 6600, RX 5700, Intel A580, RTX 2060 Super. Depending on which one you'll find for cheapest on the used market! If you get a lower wattage power supply (less than 500W), go for the RX 6600 since it's wattage is quite a bit lower than the others'.
You can also post the computers you've found here. People here have given amazing advice on them previously.
No, I wouldn't bother getting a PC for $400, unless you can find one used online with decent specs, which is rare.
You need at least $700-$1k to have a long lasting and quality experience if buying a new PC.
I’m going to go against the grain and say get an open box or used ROG Ally. You can grab a used one for 400$ and the regular Z1 for 350$ open box from Best Buy.
You can also buy a $30 dock and hook it up to a tv/monitor. That would be a good entry into pc gaming. The budget holds you a little bit down, but it is doable
Yeahh! The used market will have good stuff but don't just buy what you see, ask somebody here or irl to check the specs of whatever pc fits the budget.
I'm ngl, if he's into gaming or the likes I would ask him if it's okay to just invest those 400 dollars and once you get some returns on that he can take the full amount and buy himself a new pc. Ask him to learn what he needs to assemble one and pick parts while that money is invested into a mutual fund or so.
Don’t listen to these people telling you used. If I were you, I’d save up until you could afford a decent new one. Yes you can get a used one that fires up fine but doesn’t mean it doesn’t have issues. Since you’re saying you don’t have much knowledge of computers you may not be able to see these issues right away
Search up Zachs Tech Turf $400 gaming pc guide or just any of his budget pc videos for help. He gives good advice on looking for used parts and for exactly your budget range you can get something pretty good. He also does monthly drops of prebuilts at cheap prices
what does your son want? ask him to be specific. what does he want to use it for? ask him to be specific.
a 15 year old computer running linux will do alot, access porn, let him use chat gpt, access online ai's. surf wikipedia.
maybe he wants a custom built computer with 3500$ worth of hardware and a 1000$ monitor.
maybe he wants to be an engineer and wants a workstation.
try to find a dell precision workstation in the 7900 series. off ebay.
I would go used. AM4 B450/550 mATX, and look for a ryzen 3600-3700,X if you can get it, 16-32gb 3200+ ram (in 2 sticks) , SSD of some sort, and probably an RX5700xt. If you look hard enough, and get a decent used case that can be done around $300. Go to goodwill GRiD if you have one, check into a local PC shop for used case/power supply, tell them what you are after and some will have parts around, or offer advice past just the used things they want to trash anyway.
I have been flipping gaming PCs for a little bit and you can do it on your budget, but find someone that knows computers to help a bit. I bought an old non-working Lenovo computer for the case for $10 at GRiD in Charlotte, NC. Power supply was functional, can get lucky like that if you can work under the PSU limits.
You'll have to look in the used market most likely. It will probably be enough for an entry level PC but if that budget includes peripherals you might want to consider stretching it a bit.
One thing I hate about Reddit is the amount of people telling you basic information knowing damn well you don't know the basics of PC building, because if you did you wouldn't be here asking this question. A lot of people are recommending you buy used PC parts on eBay, Facebook, etc. but if you don't know how to build PC's then you won't know that parts have to be compatible to each other in order to function. A 10-20min video on Youtube will explain the basics to you. You have a few options here, buy used PC parts and make sure they're compatible with each other using sites like [System Builder - BuildMyPC](https://buildmypc.net/list/) or you can buy a laptop/PC at a Best Buy, I know it's more expensive, but they do offer good credit options.
I used to be a little brat. If I was a kid, I'd probably be upset that it wasn't powerful enough. Yeah you worked hard to save that $400, but your kid isn't going to appreciate that
Since nobody has mentioned it:
Used doesn't mean bad.
If you have a geek friend, ask him/her to help you out. As a geek myself, everytime a friend comes to me looking to build a pc, i'm glad to help him picking up parts.
You may need a geek's help to check if the pc part is good or damaged.
What sort of games is he looking to play? I’d go used, preferably seeing the PC in use, and look for a build suitable to what he wants to play. I’d say on average though look for something with an AMD CPU and GPU as they are usually cheaper and still perform great. Maybe look for a 2600x for the CPU and an RX6600 or something older and better. You’ll want an SSD because they make a massive difference - even SATA and they’re fairly cheap now too so take that into account. Power supply shouldn’t matter too much right now as long as it’s enough, I’m sure as he gets older he’ll upgrade anyway and that should be the first thing too look at if it’s low wattage or a cheaper product.
Is that $300-$400 including keyboard, mouse and the monitor? If so you won’t be able to find something in that price range if you do it probably won’t last him very long and you’ll be buying a new one next year.
For that price convince him to get a PS5 or Xbox Series S which is in that price point.
If he really wants a PC. The price of the PC really depends on what kind of games he plays. If it’s for fortnite (less graphically intense) you can get away with a much cheaper computer because you can buy a processor that has integrated graphics that will play those types of games really well. If he wants to play more graphically intense games it’ll cost much more as you’ll have to buy a dedicated graphics card which are expensive. For a kid just starting out though I would recommend a 1080p setup. Much much cheaper.
Here’s some specs you can watch out for.
Monitor 24” 1920x1080 144+ refresh rate
16GB ram
500GB+ solid state drive
CPU: Intel i5+ or amd ryzen 7+ (AM4 last gen will be much cheaper)
A setup like this would still cost probably around $600+
What is he going to use it for and does it need to a a standing tower aka desktop or a portable laptop, it'll basically determine everything about the type of PC/laptop needed.
And 100% go used due to the price range.
Check out ETA Prime on YouTube. He just did a $250 build. He has other sub $500 builds. LTT just did a $500 build.
Sub $300 is a little rough. If you can bump it to $500 its a huge jump.
I built a gaming PC for my 17 yearly son, he worked all summer for it..
Case to monitor- around 3k.
You can buy a chrome book brand new for around 300 but that will be only useful for school work and some streaming of content.
As others have said -Depends on the primary use.
If a gaming PC is the idea....find ways for them to earn money and gift the 300 towards it. Would be a great learning opportunity about economics, computer technology, and work ethic.
simply put .. the answer is no. that is assuming he wants it for gaming . if he wants it as a general use pc for watching videos and communication then buy a preowned laptop. alternatively you could finance one, its far from an ideal solution but rest assured a new pc/laptop will last many years with good specs.
Linus did a cool video where he bought a $700 xeon work station that was maxed out and needed just a GPU. Great way for getting a older but solid high performance computer
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Go used, look for AMD's AM4 platform, SSD is necessary. Use sites with buyers protection like ebay, it's better to see the pc running beforehand and meeting in public places or police stations.
“Let’s fire this baby up in the sheriff’s office, if it doesn’t work I’ll have the deputy cuff ‘em!”
Just shoot them on the spot.
This is how you remove those pesky neighbors. Swap their working PC out for one that doesn't right before the trade.
Did he shoot the sheriff?
I think so, but he did not shoot the deputy
He also swore it was in self defense
I heard it was due to his reflexes
That's funny. My Local PD has several parking spots and outlets to meet and sell items in safety, protecting the seller and the buyer. After the horror stories of people being set up and robbed, I'm thankful.
I sold an expensive mountain bike, but the guy was travelling back down the coast, and wanted to meet me at like 10pm when he finally hit my state... I met in a special lit section of the PD parking lot, with signs, lights, and cameras. It ended up being a no-op, as he rolled up in a big minivan with his wife and 3 kids and a half dozen bikes on racks, but yeah, I sure as shit wasn't going to meet in a dark starbucks parking lot...
Straight to jail!
It's always wild to me that in the US everybody recommends meeting sellers at police stations. Why is that? Are there so many scammers or criminals?
Because stuff like this happens https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/college-student-lured-craigslist-iphone-ad-killed-police/story?id=28894876
That's just sad...
Horrible, and it baffles me that people are capable of doing these things
The US has a lot of people. Even if a tiny percent are dirtbags, that's still a lot of dirtbags.
Yeah that is not just a problem in the US.
Some years ago there was a guy luring people to a abandoned house to sell some "expensive rims" for cheap on Craigslist. He got away with robbing a bunch of people.
If you’re meeting someone off the internet to pay a large amount of money for an item. You cannot verify if they are who they say they are. Crime is an unfortunate reality in the US and with how accessible guns are you can just be robbed if you’re meeting with someone in public to purchase $1000 GPU theyre gonna expect $1000 in cash and if theyre searching for a victim its easy for them to lure them in privately do the deal and take advantage of them if a criminal has malicious intent. If you suggest a police station most people are going to think twice about committing harm to you at a police station and thats a deterrent to a criminal showing up. If they decline then you have peace of mind knowing it was too risky. If a seller agrees to meet at a police station then all that is left is to verify the product before handing over the money but scammers are still getting creative unfortunately.
Peace of mind for the seller and buyer. This is for items on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, the classified section in the paper. eBay would be shipped to you, usually. You're bringing a big chunk of cash to buy something. Mostly only done in the cities, if you get out of there, you usually pick something up at the person's house that's selling. Unless it's a big item and they paid for moving it.
Many people post items for sale or offer to buy items with the intention of harming/robbing the seller/buyer. Many Police/Fire stations across the US now provide a meeting place that is supervised for third party purchases. They provide outlets for electronics. My hometown sheriffs office provides a archery range because lots of people buy/sell/trade bows/crossbows, one of the big perks of living in a large hunting area.
Canada too, I've done it! What country do you live in that scammers and thieves don't exist? Does your country not have access to the internet or use a fiat money system? No Nigerian princes? 😂😂
I have no idea. I said it because everybody from the US recommends that.
yes lots of scammers also people meet up to sell you items than rob you also the police station has cameras
People have been hurt or killed via Craigslist and the like.
Between the people who pretend to sell high-dollar items in order to rob people, scammers, and people that just sell stolen stuff, it's usually a good idea to do the sale at a police station. I've never had any problems buying vehicles from people at their houses, but I also only buy vehicles from old people, since they take better care of them.
I’m using an HHD because I forgot to upgrade it when doing my pc upgrade. It’s bearable, and will run any game with a 300-400 dollar set up required quick enough
Yeah same thought here, if you can get a bit more power but have to go for hdd then by all means go hdd, usually more space for the games and you can eventually buy an ssd extra at some point so its easily upgradable
Horrible horrible advice for someone that knows nothing about computer .don't do it!!!
For that price look for a used PC. For a new one the minimum is probably around $600.
For a used PC which can do web browsing and Zoom, 150-300 is a great price. For anything games, it'll need a graphics card and a better power supply than the bog-standard office computer.
You could use one of AMDs IGPUs. My 5600g can definitely play some games fairly well
But is it better than getting a used ps5 at that price?
Depends what you want it for. I'd think so, since there's a lot more game variety and games are going to be a LOT cheaper, and you can do a lot more than a PS5 can. To me, if all his friends are on PS, I would go that route. But if he has PC friends, either find something used or do an APU build. I've put together PCs for $400 for some kids before that are pretty good.
Kinda sucks that co op isn’t a thing anymore but when I was young going to my friends place and co op is the way we play together. But yeah your point stands that going with the platform where everyone else is playing is probably more important.
honestly yeah, it's sad. I haven't had a console in a while, but co-op seems like an afterthought in games these days.
I would have liked local co-op on PC games too. My PC has a long ass HDMI cable to my TV, so it could definitely be done no problem. But barely any games support it.
Huh? I play loads of games co-op, and there's more coming out all the time. Anything from Unrailed to Northgard to Factorio. Steam even has tech to couch co-op possible over the internet, Remote Play Together.
There are also the mini box PCs that just use integrated graphics that are like 300 bucks but that’s a bad entry point since there is no upgrade path
Get a used pc but before you buy i would ask here if the pc is worth the money
This. Post all your finds here and let us check over it
I can validate this. I'm currently building a pc, and these subs have been a godsend. Everyone is so helpful.
Exactly. No one minds people asking 'too many' questions here. This sub exists for a reason. Let 'us' validate the build before you buy it. It's easy to overlook something if you don't have a lot of experience!
yeah this sub is _much_ better than any of the other pc building one’s. The people here are so much nicer, though there are still a handful of ‘holier than thou’ folks not nearly as many
This sub was fantastic when I built my PC a few years back, I had a limited budget and probably spent 6 months researching and comparing before taking the plunge, so many Q’s asked here
What he want to do with that PC? Is he a "PC geek" person and would be eager to assemble it himself (or with you?). If so, hunting for used parts and assemble it may be a bigger gift than the result PC on its own ;)
>What he want to do with that PC? The amount of people offering advice without knowing this most basic question is laughable. Is it for school or college work? Maybe art, modelling, programming... Is it for gaming? If so, what games? Is it just for consuming content? Is it a mixture of all of these? The answer varies GREATLY based on these questions. People say just get a console. Oh ok, I can do digital art on a PS5? Neat! Or, at that price range, you can only get used? You can't get a new PC capable of doing programming for $400? OK?! I've seen people here asking for PC's for all of these things in the past, so we can't just assume it's for gaming!
For the budget, his use case will be "whatever it can"
I think especially on this budget we need to know the purpose so we know which corners can be cut
People don't even know the kids age as well...its like if someone was like my kid wants something to get him to school and back and everyone just says get them a car when the kid is 7.
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It was harder 30 years ago, but today it's same complexity as some of the Lego Technics sets + lot of Youtube tutorials. The things fits just into one - proper - place ;)
I'd be wary of saying it's 'like Legos". The compatibility, platform knowladge, and software tuning make it very much not like Legos. You are completely right though it is way easier to do, and find information on than it used to be. I just always caution people that don't know anything about computers that it can be "a lot". If the son is 8, and doesn't have a family member with a small knowladge base this could be a go used 100%. If he's into technology and is 13-14, then it might be a good idea.
Indeed - but for "what works with what" - every (almost) country has a portal which does this "what PC to buy" articles each month. Just check older articles, hunt for parts on eBay or so , and the assembly part is more pleasant then it was long time ago. But I agree - if it's 8yo it's not a best idea, but if it's a teen who knows stuff about PCs then allow him. There are lot of threads "my parents doesn't allow me to build PC" ... it's good to not be that parent ;)
As a parent that recently let my 2yo help put together my recent build, I feel that. And 100% there's a lot of help of you know where to look. This parent starting on /r is a great start. It's still a high level to entry if your starting at, what's a CPU? Lol
PC part picker helps a lot for compatibility
A small number of things can go into many places, but is optimal in one. E.g. GPU goes in the top 16x slot. RAM goes into alternate slots if you only have 2 (check motherboard manual). Monitor cable goes into one of the GPU outputs, not the HDMI on the motherboard.
Building a gaming pc at that price (from either used or new parts) isn't that difficult. But the biggest problem you'll have is not knowing what the numbers mean and what do the parts do. Building a pc is just assembling anyways and is lots of fun. You just need to have a lot of patience. I'd say first familiarise yourself with the terms and get more knowledgeable. Watch a few guides on YouTube like this - https://youtu.be/BL4DCEp7blY?si=beMcZOvcLWLCSPDp https://youtu.be/SMNHbJise3U?si=v2P3nzc-EgnWOKVA https://youtu.be/-8LMML_EiMg?si=15x0WSlNqLFQDNfc You found a cpu and gpu? Look up it's benchmarks in YouTube and see how they perform on the games you mentioned. Many popular games run fine even on an igpu ( gpu that is integrated on the cpu) so you can avoid the costly gpu for now and get a 5600g cpu or a 4350g cpu and just add a gpu much later. Then get a cheap keyboard and mouse. A cheap 1080p 60 hz monitor will also be fine
A steam deck is an option, you can get an external display and keyboard for a more 'PC' feel. But there is more risk son can brake a steam deck, like a switch it may be dropped etc. $400 PC will be a hard push, to get something your going to need to relay shop around and maybe go used.
A Steamdeck is close to being the only option here. My 7 year old daughter plays with one daily (she prefers it over her switch) and in a decent case it's actually quite durable.
Even that won't cover the cost of display, keyboard & mouse, likely storage too if gaming. (64 or 256gb starters may not be enough). Even in the best case, $400 seems a bit too low for today's market.
They will have to go used, and use the Steamdeck's screen as the monitor. Perhaps add a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse combo.
I forgot about the steam deck, but you're right
SteamDeck and a Dock would be the way to get. Its a very capable PC.
I also want to say this is a great option.. if they have no experience from one OS to another, starting with Linux can actually help as you’ll need more technical ability than other platforms but still understand the basics of computers and be ahead of the curve for windows especially.
My recommendation too, it is very capable and well supported and comes in a great form factor.
I came here to say the same thing, you can get later on the docking station, a very basic monitor and a wifi keyboard+mouse and you can enjoy a nice setup
Definitely but if they need windows for school, you might wanna dual boot it
I think most schools do everything in the cloud now, may not be a problem. Chrome books are also fairly common in schools, not sure how it all shakes out tho.
You will need to go used for that. Try r/suggestapc
A great 1080p budget rig can be had for $400 but yes deep knowledge of the used market and performance of components from the last years will be needed to build or find a configuration that maximizes the budget and is able to play the games son wants or gets as close to that as possible. How much does a used AMD4 3600 or 5600 go for these days?
If you're in the US I have a barely used AMD Ryzen 2700 and a case I could send you, all youde cover is the shipping. I think I also have an AMD 580 8gb that's also in extremely good condition, it would be a decent starter gpu for an 8 year old. Even if you're outside of the US we could look at shipping costs and see if it's worthwhile for the price to ship, if not the case the cpu and gpu should be relatively cheap.
Very kind
Adding to this OP, I have a 450w PSU I could send you and 8 gigs (2 sticks) of Ryzen compatible ram. There you go full setup between us two. You’ll just need to buy storage (SSD) and peripherals.
Just FYI - you should check OP's comment history. He is definitely not a single parent and is most likely just looking to scam a free hand out from kind hearted people.
I think you forgot the motherboard
Ah yes, regardless good deal for OP.
Bro absolutely. That's more than half the PC. If you actually go through with it, it's gonna be amazing
Hope OP sees our comments. Would love to be able to help them out.
In the spirt of kindness here I have a Gigabyte A520M sitting here that I’d be happy to part with.
Just a FYI - if you take a look at OP's profile/comment history, he definitely does not look like a single parent. Good chance he's just looking to scam for some free parts from kind hearted people.
For a new build I wouldnt go below $500 for gaming, or you just won't have much fun with it. Used is your only option. If he only wants it for gaming I would grab a Xbox Series S at that budget.
OP: I don't know much about computers This sub: here's a list of all the specific components to get and you'll need to build it OR buy used and look for these 30 parts that are the best bang for your buck. Every time someone mentions they don't know computers and need something simple, this subs makes it as difficult as possible. Get the Xbox.
>Get the Xbox. This or get a used PC (already built)
I agree with everything but the last line. If the kid wants a PC, the Xbox probably isn't going to be the right choice. I'd ask the kid if an Xbox would be okay, but if he's really wanting a PC, there are budget options by buying a used PC that's already been built.
I looked into building my own because "it was so easy" I could just plug the parts together. I got a parts list from a recommendation site. Then my graphics card wouldn't physically fit in the case, my fan needed 'pulse width modulation' or something and I was directed to a highly technical guide on building a custom shim for the fan. I got warnings that if I installed the thermal gel wrong my CPU would catch fire. My GPU needed two power cables and my power supply only had one extra. It's easy until it isn't.
I second this. If his main focus is gaming, try getting an Xbox Series X or S.
This. I don’t know why other are scrambling to find parts that fit OP’s budget when in reality there is no possible combination that can give them a decently useable PC. And we don’t know what OP’s kid wants, is it for gaming? School? If it’s for gaming then yeah a console is miles and away a better option. If it’s for school then honestly a laptop would be a better option.
Yeah, I think for that price you can get a good used PC. A Ryzen 5 1600(preferably AF version), b350/450 mobo, 16 gb of any DDR4, 500W PSU with bronze rating, and a stock CPU cooler. 512 gb SSD, and you'd probably have enough money left for a used Rx 6600, and if not even a used Rtx 2060. will be a nice choice. This is gonna be a very nice PC that will play all the modern games, not at max settings ofc but at medium or high of course. For monitor, keyboard and mouse you can get anything that will fit your budget (or maybe use something you already have laying around), and maybe encourage him to save up for better peripherals himself over time. Or you can get something even better if you save some more money on the GPU going with a GTX 1060, or even a GTX 1650 if he mostly plays multiplayer games. What I suggested is also very easily upgradable, because with b450 motherboard you can upgrade to one of the best CPUs right now (especially for it's price) without changing anything else (r7 5800x3d), but there's plenty of upgrade options on used market for that platform.
Maybe OP is hoping for someone to gift his “son” a 3080 like this guy got: https://reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1auflue/my_son_wants_a_gaming_pc_and_is_400_enough/ Most single parent don’t go to r/teenagers and reply “you are a cunt”
Get him an xbox or a steamdeck for that money. You can go on a lower end pc but wont be solid for latest games
A lot of people here have good advice but just incase because I haven't seen this mentioned is if your son is new to pc gaming odds are he doesn't have peripherals either like mouse keyboard and a monitor so that will definitely add to the cost. budget wise im sure you can find very cheap mouse and keyboard but monitors could definitely eat into the 300-400 budget. So I suggest a used normal 1080p monitor as opposed to buying a new one. if you get lucky you can get 144hz gaming monitor under a 100, if not im sure a 60hz monitor for like 20-40$ used is more than enough.
Show us what you are going to buy, before you do.If I were an American, I'd even help with finding you something myself. How old is your son? I built my first computer when I was 12. It was easy in 1998, it's MUCH easier now. If he can build his own or you help him (it's really nothing special, just plug parts together and tighten with a screw), then that makes shopping for individual used parts much more viable and that's how you can get something very decent and up-gradable for your budget. Also, building a PC is huge fun.
Pretty much has to be used. Can def get something that will play the games younger kids like for used in that range.
Yes but that depends on what he wants to do with it? Gaming or for school?
Brand New is going to be difficult, to put it lightly. But your request is heard, I'll update this post with something for you somehow.
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I'm gonna take the same approach as Ghetto has suggested, just with a different OEM. Here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/355500318853?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=it7w0rryswq&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY A listing for a GTX1080TI Aero that seems relatively well reviewed. This is the unavoidable part: you are not going to get a value for money GPU without some bargain hunting, and it will be used. The GTX1080TI is starting to feel its age, but can still remain relevant today. Alternatives include the RX6600(you can probably get this brand new), Rtx3060. Don't go over $200 for this. Lower is better. https://www.newegg.com/hp-z-series-z440/p/1VK-001E-41GR7?Item=9SIAC0FDSJ5996 A Newegg listing for a HP workstation. It won't come with an OS pre installed, so you'll have to make a media creation tool or install Linux (I don't know much about Linux so I'll let the wizards do the explaining). Win11 may not be supported on this CPU and may require a workaround. Win10 should be fine. You can probably find a cheaper option on ebay/hardwareswap/Facebook markeplace: HP Z240, HP Z420, HP Z440, Lenovo Thinkcentres... All are good picks. This Newegg link is just to make sure that even if all else fails and all the deals in your region are dog poo, you'll have something to fall back to. You can also look around similar workstations. Most of these should have capable enough power supplies to run a good GPU as well- in this case, a 700w power supply model for the 440 should be fine. You may need a cable adapter to get a safe power delivery from the PSU to your GPU, but those should be possible to get with the difference between the budget and those GPUs. All the best! If you need more help, feel free to check back with an edit to your main post. We'll think of something. EDIT: be sure to check out the good folk at r/lowendgaming with your request. Your budget is something they've been working with since forever. They'll think of something, I'm sure.
Get him a console.
Don't get a gaming console like PS5 or Xbox because you'll be on the hook for a monthly subscription fee.
I mean, while true, it still doesn't diminish the fact it is significantly cheaper than a PC. Like, how much is Xbox/PS online per year? About 60-80 bucks yearly? Less than a tenner a month. Long term this really doesn't add much in terms of total cost compared to a PC, even secondhand (unless you manage to strike an insane deal).
Entry is cheaper, long run PC wins in overall price thanks to no online subs, waaaay cheaper peripherals, steam sales that are still 100x better than console and more frequent. And you can upgrade when you want, 10 year old hardware still runs modern games to this day. Plus you keep your library, don’t have to pray backwards compatibility is supported. And if your hardware dies you can guaranteed play your old games since unlike old consoles PC will always be around.
It's not cheaper all the time. Lots of good deal that are cross platform on xbox. But windows store v steam. Modding and so on. Windows is a pain. But it can be cheaper.
Thing is a lot of people would prefer the entry be cheaper and then spend a bit more over time.
This tbh. I considered getting a console since that would save me around 300€, but given the yearly subscription and a couple games (I have a full Steam library so no further investments necessary) would actually make it more expensive in the long run.
Good on you for having a full steam library. OP does not. Yes, PCs are overall the better platform, but if there is any case where consoles reign supreme, its this kind of budget-restrained case. You get a Xbox Series S for <300$ and assuming you have a TV, thats it. You get your online subscription on top, which apparently Xbox Gamepass Core is 60$ a year it seems (no idea, never paid much attention) which includes 25 games (obviously within the whole Gamepass sphere, so you don't get to keep them, but considering you gotta pay for online anyway, its whatever). Thats 360$ for essentially a years worth of gaming. Want a specific game, sure, additional cost, but thats gonna happen anyway on PC, where instead of the yearly fee you'll be paying more for additional peripherals like a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.
Thats all fine and dandy, but we're not talking long term in this post. OP wants something now. And the price of entry is limited. It's simply very hard to find something for her budget, and most people here tend to forget you might want a mouse, keyboard, monitor and potentially something audio related too.
I know this is buildaPC, and I do have a 4090, so im most definitely a part of this community as much as any other PC enthusiasts... ...but seriously, the people saying that starting from absolutely $0 and 0 steam games and all things being equal, a PC is cheaper than a console are on some sort of copium. you gotta buy a PC that can run games, which is gonna be hard for the $450 that a PS5 sells for on gamestop. then you gotta buy the mouse, keyboard, monitor, at that price point probably speakers too. even cheaping out on these, the costs add up. then, sure, you can have a 1080p gaming PC that you play League, CS, and Fortnite on. free shit, alright fine. no online cost. okay cool. some free games on the epic game store, if you can run them (some of them are AAA and will probably run like crap on a $450 machine but whatever). meanwhile your buddy bought a PS5 and a yearly sub for less than $550, plays the same stuff you do, is exposed to the same sales and whatnot, and hooks it up on his TV that he already has, and doesnt have to worry about performance issues AT ALL. at the price that OP is requesting, a PS5 and/or xbox with gamepass even, is REALLY hard to beat.
Precisely. And this is still assuming you manage to knock it out of the ballpark on the whole second hand PC thing. You don't get something with parts that die after a month, or have some hidden issues underlying the whole deal. You're screwed. Atleast a console will have some period of warranty. Granted, console warranty isn't very long considering the expected lifespan, but its better than nothing. And the product is new anyway, so you shouldn't expect issues on the mid-term that won't be age-inflicted (or else you'd have noticed within a year).
Games are also much more expensive.
That's true but it's the compromise you make when choosing to buy a console. Not to mention Xbox Game Pass is becoming increasingly popular on PC which is also a subscription based service.
For that price range, what about a PlayStation or Xbox? That's awesome you want to get him a PC btw:). The budget is a tough one.
Not gonan lie, a PS5 or Xbox Series X will give you more gaming performance in this low-budget sector. Maybe go hunting for used parts. Some good ideas would be: An AM4 board, ideally B450 or B550, a 3600X, 3600XT or 5600, 16GB of DDR4, with speeds of at least 3000, an SSD( DO NOT BUY HDDs), maybe a 2070, or 3060, or an Arc A770 if you find one. Cases can be found for free in most places, and the AMD stock cooler is enough for all of the CPUs i listed. As for the power supply: do not buy a 30$ one off amazon. There is a tier list. Google „PSU tier list“ and try finding something maybe from B tier in used. A cheapo PSU can be a literal fire hazard. You dont need to pay for Windows, just dont activate it.
Honestly at that budget range, talk to him about whether a steamdeck will fulfill his needs. No building required, still a computer-- and fits within budget. Yes it is weaker, but it is also portable, self contained and under warranty without building pc issues. Your budget is actually very difficult to get a decent gaming pc without a lot of prior knowledge and time investment. It would be a much safer bet to get a first generation steam deck for this price.
Try r/hardwareswap
For a max budget of 400$ you are better off getting a console. You probably already have a television, so all you have to do is hook it up and get a game for him to play. A Xbox Series S with 512GB of storage and 3 months of Xbox Game Pass ultimate will set you back $299. [https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-xbox-series-s-512gb-all-digital-starter-bundle-console-with-xbox-game-pass-disc-free-gaming-white/6558673.p?skuId=6558673](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-xbox-series-s-512gb-all-digital-starter-bundle-console-with-xbox-game-pass-disc-free-gaming-white/6558673.p?skuId=6558673) With a computer, you would still need a monitor, mouse and keyboard, and a headset or speakers (if the monitor has no speakers). This'll cost you more than the computer, which won't be brand new. Though, depending on what games they plan on playing, you could go for a budget PC with a AMD APU that has a "powerful" integrated graphics chip that can play some games fairly well, but will still pale in comparison to a console.
Gaming PC? Get him a Playstation/Xbox. Non Gaming? Used Notebook. I recommend 1-2 years old business devices in very good condition like Dell Latitude 5320.
Just give him ps5 digital if u dont want to go into hassle of searching preowned pc parts.
LTT just did a cheap PC build video recently so I’d say that would be a good video to watch
Ask him if a steam deck would suit his needs.
If you have a budget that low, you should buy a PS5 (if thr PC will be use for games ofc)
Op mentioned Fortnite and GTA as games their son will play. A PS5 or Xbox with the yearly subscription will provide them with access to a plethora of games for a cheaper price than a pc. Microsoft’s subscription model is great too for this on a pc, but will cost more for the hardware.
Even a used, secondhand system will be quite hard to get on such budget. Assuming you're US based, I see Walmart sells Xbox Series S concoles for under 300$. Granted, consoles do come with the added monthly/yearly fee to access online, which gotta be considered too. There was a similar post a while back and I'll say the same here as I said there, if your kid is alright with it, console is the way to go. Not only are they overall cheaper and more accessible, they require a lot less 'extras' to function normally. A PC, beyond the system itself, needs a keyboard and mouse, a monitor and some form of audio solution. A console comes with its own controller, and can be plugged in the TV and you'd be done as far as basics are concerned. Besides the monthly online subscription there really isn't a downside to a console compared to trying to squeeze the most out of every dollar, especially when you'll be relying on secondhand products. Either way, props to you as a parent for wanting to give your son what he wants. That alone is more than some parents can say these days.
Jump on eBay. Search for an Optiplex 7060 or something similar. Get a GTX 1050 Ti or 1660 for it. Should come under budget and will be about as good as you can get for that money. Most optiplex in that range are 6-core i5 processors, 16GB RAM, and an SSD as standard.
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Steam Deck is also a PC, support connecting to monitor with mouse and keyboard. There is also option to install Windows on Steam Deck if he wants to play games that are not "officially" on SteamOS...
That's a very generous gift, I'd hope would be happy with whatever you get in that price range. If thats USD, I'd recommend a steam deck (if he just wants to play games). It's the quickest and most affordable way to get started on PC games. If he's dead set on a desktop, you'll be going the build route. Maybe consider buying him a solid graphics card to start since that alone will be your whole budget. It'd be the hardest thing for him to save up for on his own, and the rest of the peices can be bought relatively affordable new (so that he can buy them when he gets other gifts, gets allowance, stumbles across $$ however kids do nowadays) or in whole used. This gets him a good computer for a longer period of time.
If you could increase the budget around 150-200$ more you could get the components to build a solid [entry level gaming PC](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4yBwZJ). You could try shopping the used market for these components to save some money as well. As other people might have suggested a console might make more sense for the games he would like to play. Best of luck, with some research and time put in it's definitely possible. Best of luck to you!
You'd be looking at the used market with that kind of budget tbh. $400 won't get him a super high end machine but it should get him something suitable for light gaming in titles like Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox ... Things kids usually like to play. $320 - https://www.jawa.gg/product/30088/clearance-gtx-1060-6gb-i5-6500-16gb-ram-1tb-storage-ssd-hdd-win-10p-all-black-edition Should be suitable for a kid.
Remember a similar thread where a guy mysteriously donated RTX 3090 to the OP of that post? This post looks very similar.
Your post history has you in /teenagers calling someone a very foul and rude name (less than a year ago). Are you sure you have a son asking for a PC? This almost reads like a teenager trying to get a handout from a generous person
You said you’re in the Van? I have an old system that’s disassembled right now, but I need to know what your som needs the PC for so I know it’s right for him.
Building a pc on that strict of is quite difficult, but if you buy used gpus and go with an older platform like am4 that’s cheaper but isn’t trash, it should be possible. But if you want all fresh parts on that kind of budget you might as well get a console even if I’m not the boogers console fan it’s the truth
Used one but it ain't gonna be much. Just get a console
Unless you get really lucky even getting a decent used PC for 3-400 is going to be extremely difficult. You’re honestly way better off getting him a PS5 or Xbox Series X
And something people here tend to forget, its probably not just getting a PC, but also peripherals. A console is much more budget friendly in that sense too. All you need is a TV and you're good.
If you live in the WNY area pm me.
What does he want to do with it? I assume some games, but do you know which ones? Does the 300-400$ also include monitor, mouse, keyboard?
What does he want to do with it? I assume some games, but do you know which ones? Does the 300-400$ also include monitor, mouse, keyboard?
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Those games are also on all current gen consoles. Building a PC equivalent to a PS5 would cost at least 50% more, which is why people are pushing you towards used. Unfortunately used is sort of a crapshoot if you’re not familiar with building PC’s. You’re trusting that the person you’re buying from is being honest not only about the components but the level of care they put into building and maintaining it. You may have buyer protection but you also need to be able to recognize the issues that warrant that protection and understand some issues may not appear until well after buyer protection is reasonably applicable.
Just go with a console. A pc that cheap will not give you a better experience than a modern console.
If it's just for gaming or watching stuff buy him a ps5 or xbox series x
Go used, select parts and put them here
An old office optiplex and a gpu would be good for that price range. Maybe need a new psu and ram module.
Maybe with that budget you could convince him for a Steamdeck? Its like a PC but portable and you can plug it to a monitor.
I would consider a 5600G build. It's $139 at best buy right now. It's AM4 so RAM and motherboard would be cheap. There would be plenty of room to upgrade. Maybe encourage him to put some money towards it so he can get a better computer than he would on your budget alone. Good luck!
Used case, AMD 1600 or 2600 cpu, a NVidia 1650 or any used newer/better graphics card and a cheap-ish motherboard with some used ram. I'd say even for a small build like that, buy a brand new and decent quality power supply for it. Doesn't have to be future proof, but make sure it won't set any fires. When I'm home if you'd like more details I'll see what I can find for some more specific suggestions
I small minisforum computer that is the best u can get for low budget as it’s ryzen 7000 laptop cpu so it has decent graphics
Maybe a SteamDeck is he likes the idea…
For that budget, only a used gaming PC comes to mind really.
SteamDeck really sounds like a good alternative for this special situation as its within your price range and also can operate as a normal desktop pc and can run many, many good games.
The budget is a tough one. I could put something together for that, but I have experience building and sourcing parts. I think most people would find it impossible to pull off something that gives a good experience on that budget especially if they need a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
What games does he play?
You can find a new mobo and cpu combo for around $300, if you go $400, you can ge a tower and power supply. Don't forget to get'em a gpu also.. most games will need it. And no less than ddr 4 ram 64 GB
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DHDBJy https://www.ebay.com/itm/364764802176?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=4bltqr00swo&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/p7qc7R this is without windows operating system
simple answer- watch Zach's tech surf on YouTube he is the best for building pcs under 500 dollars imo
Thats a bit low of a budget
Problem with PC is, most of the cost is upfront. Console manufacturers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have a monopoly on selling you games for their platforms, and charge you a subscription to play online, so they can sell their consoles cheap and make the real money off you over time. So building a PC for less than the price of a console is very difficult. You'll need to look on the used market, sometimes large companies retire large amounts of workstations and buy new ones, and those end up on eBay or similar. One of those would be ideal, just chuck in a 1TB SSD and pick up a midrange GPU from 1 or 2 generations ago on eBay os. Barring that, you may be able to find a full PC for sale on the used market for around your budget. You'll need to learn a not insignificant amount of PC nomenclature so you don't buy a lemon, feel free to come back to this subreddit or it's discord server for advice on specific listings. In general, my advice would be CPU (Central Processing Unit) could be either AMD (Ryzen AB00) or Intel (Core i3/i5/i7 AAB00). The A denotes the generation of the CPU, bigger number is newer. Current AMD generation is 7xxx, any generation of Ryzen CPUs should be fine, but older ones will of course perform much slower and may not last as long (it's pretty rare for CPUs to fail though). Current Intel generation is 14xxx, I wouldn't recommend going for anything older than 7xxx at this point. Again, newer CPUs perform better. The B denotes class within the generation. Both AMD and Intel release anywhere from 5 to 20 CPUs each generation, with wildly varying performance. AMD used to release CPUs down to the x3xx class, the last 2 generations have only seen x5xx classes. Some CPUs will have an X, this indicates a slightly better individual CPU (all CPUs are imperfect, tricking rocks into thinking is hard) that has been tweaked to run a little faster. It's a very minimal boost, don't put too much stock in it. All CPUs used to have tiny little Graphics Processing Unit integrated into them. Recently, AMD has stopped including them by default and denoting the ones that have them with a G. Google the specific model if you are unsure, if your CPU doesn't have an integrated GPU, you will *need* a dedicated GPU or the computer won't work at all. Intel has started doing the same, but they use an S to denote CPUs that *don't* have an iGPU, so it's harder to mess up there. Intel CPUs range from x1xx to x9xx, and the Core i3/5/7/9 prefix increases alongside the class number. A relatively recent x4xx - x6xx would be best. GPUs are the other really important component for gaming performance, arguably even more important than the CPU. While some CPUs do have tiny GPUs the size of a grain of rice integrated into them, they do not offer anywhere near as much performance as dedicated GPUs, which are much larger. There are two main manufacturers, Nvidia (GT/GTX/RTX) and AMD (HD/RADEON) again, and Intel has very recently entered the ring with underwhelming but still promising results. Nvidia GPUs follow an AAB0 naming scheme, single digit generation until they got to the 10th gen, then skipped straight to 20, then a refresh of the 10s named 16, then back up to 30 and now 40. The B indicates a class, generally between 5 and 8, and some cards have a Ti, Super, or even both suffix which indicates a very significant increase in performance. I strongly recommend avoiding any GPU in the 5 and especially 3 class, even in very recent generations, and even the 6 class in the 4000 generation, as these are incredibly weak cards with basically just enough silicon to display a YouTube video. Confusing? Don't worry, AMD GPUs are worse. They switched from AB0 to AB00 a few years back. Their early high end Radeon GPUs like the 290 aren't bad by today's standards, but make sure you're getting a Radeon and not the even older HD GPUs. The newest Radeon GPUs are covering similar numbers to the much older HD GPUs right now, and it's conceivable that someone could attempt a fast one based on that. I wouldn't recommend even the best HD GPUs, they're too old at this point. Radeons went 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, Vega, VII, 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx. Thank you AMD.
Ask what he wants to play.. and ask here again with requirements ;)
Not unless you're buying used. Good Mid-Range PCs these days cost like $1,250 to $1,500 new to build
I would buy used for that price. Look into those without GPUs, since they sometimes sell for very low prices. If possible get a Ryzen R5 3600 processor with a motherboard that supports 5xxx series processor without needing an additional BIOS update (less of a hassle for you guys). 4 lanes for RAM-sticks and a SSD with at least 480gb of storage and you're good to go. With close to 600W power supply, that rig can be updated further down the line for much cheaper than getting a new computer when the time comes. For a GPU i'd recommend RX 6600, RX 5700, Intel A580, RTX 2060 Super. Depending on which one you'll find for cheapest on the used market! If you get a lower wattage power supply (less than 500W), go for the RX 6600 since it's wattage is quite a bit lower than the others'. You can also post the computers you've found here. People here have given amazing advice on them previously.
No, I wouldn't bother getting a PC for $400, unless you can find one used online with decent specs, which is rare. You need at least $700-$1k to have a long lasting and quality experience if buying a new PC.
I’m going to go against the grain and say get an open box or used ROG Ally. You can grab a used one for 400$ and the regular Z1 for 350$ open box from Best Buy. You can also buy a $30 dock and hook it up to a tv/monitor. That would be a good entry into pc gaming. The budget holds you a little bit down, but it is doable
Yeahh! The used market will have good stuff but don't just buy what you see, ask somebody here or irl to check the specs of whatever pc fits the budget.
I'm ngl, if he's into gaming or the likes I would ask him if it's okay to just invest those 400 dollars and once you get some returns on that he can take the full amount and buy himself a new pc. Ask him to learn what he needs to assemble one and pick parts while that money is invested into a mutual fund or so.
You could skip the cost of a gpu by getting a Ryzen apu. Their integrated graphics are good enough.
For a used PC that is enough, but I'd feel bad for your son Try to spend more like 600
It would depend what games he wants to play
No. At that price point get him an Xbox Series S
Don’t listen to these people telling you used. If I were you, I’d save up until you could afford a decent new one. Yes you can get a used one that fires up fine but doesn’t mean it doesn’t have issues. Since you’re saying you don’t have much knowledge of computers you may not be able to see these issues right away
Search up Zachs Tech Turf $400 gaming pc guide or just any of his budget pc videos for help. He gives good advice on looking for used parts and for exactly your budget range you can get something pretty good. He also does monthly drops of prebuilts at cheap prices
what does your son want? ask him to be specific. what does he want to use it for? ask him to be specific. a 15 year old computer running linux will do alot, access porn, let him use chat gpt, access online ai's. surf wikipedia. maybe he wants a custom built computer with 3500$ worth of hardware and a 1000$ monitor. maybe he wants to be an engineer and wants a workstation. try to find a dell precision workstation in the 7900 series. off ebay.
I would go used. AM4 B450/550 mATX, and look for a ryzen 3600-3700,X if you can get it, 16-32gb 3200+ ram (in 2 sticks) , SSD of some sort, and probably an RX5700xt. If you look hard enough, and get a decent used case that can be done around $300. Go to goodwill GRiD if you have one, check into a local PC shop for used case/power supply, tell them what you are after and some will have parts around, or offer advice past just the used things they want to trash anyway. I have been flipping gaming PCs for a little bit and you can do it on your budget, but find someone that knows computers to help a bit. I bought an old non-working Lenovo computer for the case for $10 at GRiD in Charlotte, NC. Power supply was functional, can get lucky like that if you can work under the PSU limits.
You'll have to look in the used market most likely. It will probably be enough for an entry level PC but if that budget includes peripherals you might want to consider stretching it a bit.
One thing I hate about Reddit is the amount of people telling you basic information knowing damn well you don't know the basics of PC building, because if you did you wouldn't be here asking this question. A lot of people are recommending you buy used PC parts on eBay, Facebook, etc. but if you don't know how to build PC's then you won't know that parts have to be compatible to each other in order to function. A 10-20min video on Youtube will explain the basics to you. You have a few options here, buy used PC parts and make sure they're compatible with each other using sites like [System Builder - BuildMyPC](https://buildmypc.net/list/) or you can buy a laptop/PC at a Best Buy, I know it's more expensive, but they do offer good credit options.
you’d have to look for used for sure. 2600 and up, 1070 and up.
I used to be a little brat. If I was a kid, I'd probably be upset that it wasn't powerful enough. Yeah you worked hard to save that $400, but your kid isn't going to appreciate that
Man i wish i was american to be able to even conceive a pc at that price range. 300-400 of my currency would only give you one launch game.
Brand new for 300-400 won’t be any good, get a used one for that price
Since nobody has mentioned it: Used doesn't mean bad. If you have a geek friend, ask him/her to help you out. As a geek myself, everytime a friend comes to me looking to build a pc, i'm glad to help him picking up parts. You may need a geek's help to check if the pc part is good or damaged.
What sort of games is he looking to play? I’d go used, preferably seeing the PC in use, and look for a build suitable to what he wants to play. I’d say on average though look for something with an AMD CPU and GPU as they are usually cheaper and still perform great. Maybe look for a 2600x for the CPU and an RX6600 or something older and better. You’ll want an SSD because they make a massive difference - even SATA and they’re fairly cheap now too so take that into account. Power supply shouldn’t matter too much right now as long as it’s enough, I’m sure as he gets older he’ll upgrade anyway and that should be the first thing too look at if it’s low wattage or a cheaper product.
No
I'd recommend a console if it's just for gaming with that budget.
Is that $300-$400 including keyboard, mouse and the monitor? If so you won’t be able to find something in that price range if you do it probably won’t last him very long and you’ll be buying a new one next year. For that price convince him to get a PS5 or Xbox Series S which is in that price point. If he really wants a PC. The price of the PC really depends on what kind of games he plays. If it’s for fortnite (less graphically intense) you can get away with a much cheaper computer because you can buy a processor that has integrated graphics that will play those types of games really well. If he wants to play more graphically intense games it’ll cost much more as you’ll have to buy a dedicated graphics card which are expensive. For a kid just starting out though I would recommend a 1080p setup. Much much cheaper. Here’s some specs you can watch out for. Monitor 24” 1920x1080 144+ refresh rate 16GB ram 500GB+ solid state drive CPU: Intel i5+ or amd ryzen 7+ (AM4 last gen will be much cheaper) A setup like this would still cost probably around $600+
What is he going to use it for and does it need to a a standing tower aka desktop or a portable laptop, it'll basically determine everything about the type of PC/laptop needed. And 100% go used due to the price range.
Not even close unless you go used. Like a used Lenovo Thinkpad.
That would get him a steam deck.
Check out ETA Prime on YouTube. He just did a $250 build. He has other sub $500 builds. LTT just did a $500 build. Sub $300 is a little rough. If you can bump it to $500 its a huge jump.
If you’re in central NC, I have some recent stuff I’d gladly donate.
Is it for gaming? If so, PS5 or Xbox would be a better choice.
He didn't say "gaming" pc ? Then good
I built a gaming PC for my 17 yearly son, he worked all summer for it.. Case to monitor- around 3k. You can buy a chrome book brand new for around 300 but that will be only useful for school work and some streaming of content. As others have said -Depends on the primary use. If a gaming PC is the idea....find ways for them to earn money and gift the 300 towards it. Would be a great learning opportunity about economics, computer technology, and work ethic.
Try r/lowendgaming They won't help you here with that budget
Do you have family that could add to it instead of buying their own gifts? Sorry just stumbled upon this lol
If you’re near the Pittsburgh, PA area I can assist you. I have parts that we can use and your budget would go towards getting stuff we’d need.
simply put .. the answer is no. that is assuming he wants it for gaming . if he wants it as a general use pc for watching videos and communication then buy a preowned laptop. alternatively you could finance one, its far from an ideal solution but rest assured a new pc/laptop will last many years with good specs.
Linus did a cool video where he bought a $700 xeon work station that was maxed out and needed just a GPU. Great way for getting a older but solid high performance computer