You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Hi. Looking for a cheap starter gaming PC for my son. Something that is cheap (did I mention that already?), Can play basic games, but which can be upgraded over time.
This has come up locally second hand for £250. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Image not showing for me, so assume no one else can see it. Sorry.
This? https://photos.app.goo.gl/mfeZg4qdCYA7BrpX9
inb4 Cougar suggests a cheap laptop and a console/Switch 😆
For the money I guess it's ok, but it is very much last, last, last generation. I doubt any of the parts could be upgraded to anything modern without also having to change the motherboard at the very least, and then you'd have the question of whether everything else was compatible with the new motherboard.
Should be just about ok for things like Minecraft, Friday Night Funkin', maybe even Fortnite at lower settings, but I wouldn't expect to be playing CoD or GTA5 on it.
Cheap and gaming PC don't really mix, does he want it for anything other than gaming? If not you really are better off looking at a console...
Thanks both. Good reality check. I'll pass on it. He's got an Xbox, it's more for a new experience and he's interested in computers. Cheers.
As the others have said really.
It's maybe worth a punt if the goal is to encourage an interest in computers and you're happy that the upgrade path in a couple of years is "buy a new one". It's not a huge outlay if he rapidly loses interest, or could spark a fascination with him.
You didn't say how old he was?
If you have decent bandwidth take a look at a shadow pc. They’re good enough to play most games on. I’m not sure what the lead time is at the moment. It was a couple of months earlier in the year when one of my friends ordered his but it was ready within a month. I’ve had mine for a while now and they’re handy to have especially as you can blow it away at the touch of a button and start again with a clean build in a few minutes.
A 2gb graphics card on an old motherboard/ram etc is not a gaming PC anyway. Processor is pretty old too.
Most of the parts aren’t really worth taking into a newer build either, there’s not much upgradability at all. Not even the power supply is that good.
It's.. okay.
The 4th Gen i5 and GTX750Ti are both from around 2014/15 so in tech terms it's ancient, but my Son has a similar set-up and runs Minecraft, Fortnite and GTA5 no problem.
At £250 it's a cheap way into a gaming PC, but as others have said, it's all a bit too old to be a base for upgrades.
If you do decide to take it, budget to bin that HDD straight away and install an SSD.
If he is truly interested in computers - get a raspberry pie and learn how to add retro pie. ?
Thousands of old school games, and the start of a useful interest in computers, for almost no cost.