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And the ball is rolling………. Thanks everyone!!! Never believed I’d actually get this sorted but you’ve all made it possible!! 🙌

I'm so excited for him!!!

Thanks so much @Diddums, he’s only 9 turning 10 in January but nevertheless I know he is just going to busy with excitement when he sees this. He’s such a good wee boy and asks for very little but has had his heart set on a “gaming pc” as he’s called it for the last 2 years now. So I just know he’s going to love it! And if it wasn’t for you all, he wouldn’t have half the quality of things hes going to have so I honestly I can’t thank you all enough. I’ve no doubt I’ll have more questions along the way but I wouldn’t hesitate for a second jumping on here and I know I’ll be sorted in no time! Yous are a fountain of digital knowledge!! 🙌🙌

Steam = Netflix for games, except that you purchase them outright rather than pay a monthly fee. Install on PC, punch in some card details and you can start buying games. Keep those card details under wraps though, kids have been known to bankrupt their families with in-game junk. There are other platforms which give you access to a plethora of games for a monthly fee but honestly that's Phil's bag, he's like The Wonderful Wizard when it comes to that. I wouldn't worry about a webcam yet, maybe some speakers if you want. Loads of creeps on the internet and 13yo boys are very gullible so simply don't even have the hardware to snoop and it'll never be a worry.

steam is both a site and a program you install on your pc, it's an electronic store where you buy games and then download and play them, you buy games like with any e-store by using your credit/debit card, it has an option to remember the card number or not too so you can control when and how often he buys games if you want so he doesn't bankrupt you😅, avoid if possible the microsoft store cause i have heard many problems with it and their discounts aren't the best, but in general the most complete store with the most games is steam, then you have uplay, gog, origin and epic, my advice is to install them all as they all give freebies from time to time, yes not all games are great but it doesn't hurt to try them, half the games i have were given for free another thing, you should prefer digital for games because most pcs don't have cd/dvd player anymore and you would have to buy it extra, it's not expensive but it's unnessecary hassle and you have the boxes/discs taking up space

Nice, well done 😄

Nice, that's gonna be one very happy 13 year old lad this Christmas, hope he enjoys it 😄

That's a Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 headset. It will likely have come with a little bluetooth dongle which you plug in to a PC (it might be plugged in to his playstation). If you have it, it'll work. Great headset too 🙂 Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 review - SoundGuys WWW.SOUNDGUYS.COM The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 was a great wireless gaming headset. Is the second generation version a worthy successor?

The Microsoft Store is a good one if your son has the Xbox games pass, as with some games you can choose if you want to play them on PC or Xbox. I wouldn't buy games from there though as it's often more expensive and the platform isn't as stable as it should be. I do use it myself though for certain games and Minecraft is a Microsoft game these days so your son will be aware of it I'm sure!

For the most part, PC players get their games digitally. You can also buy the physical disks if that is a preference, from Amazon for example. The games must usually be compatible with one of the big PC platforms like Steam. Pretty much most PC players have Steam, which organises their library of games. It's a platform much like the PlayStation one where you can see your games library, see your friends and play and join each others games. There are also many websites that sell games in keycode format that you can activate and use on Steam. Green Man Gaming for example are a great website and there's always a sale. There are other platforms, Origin, Epic, GOG, but as I say Steam is the go to for the majority of PC players for playing the games.... but not necessarily the cheapest place to buy them. Green Man is good for that, as is Humble Bundle which I also recommend as it often sells games cheaper for charitable causes. I'll leave it to the others to suggest peripherals.

I've no idea where the 13 came from, but I'm a bit odd like that 😛 You know where to find us, happy to help any time 🙂

@Diddums- just had a chat with hubby and he says take the VR out of it. According to him Danny only uses it to play the wee “stupid” games with his sister or sometime Five Nights at Freddys. Nothing else, so right now it’s not needed I hope that helps.

Holy moly, I just had a deeper look at this, and if the fact that a computer specialist is using Gmail wasn't enough of a red flag, the fact he's charging £200 to build it certainly is. This whole build is covered in red flags, whatever you do, stay away from this guy. He saw you coming a mile away, that Intel platform is a dead-end system so he's likely flogging unsellable stock to you. Half the "features" he's listed are built in to the motherboard too. That's a £700 system before he adds in his wholesale discount, another £50-75 to build it takes it to £775 at most. £900 is taking the piss, and that hardware is a joke. Run a mile.

Don't forget to have a look around the rest of the site as well Emma ..we do have a Minecraft section as well so you could start dropping names of enchantments, etc and being a real cool SuperMum 🤣

I just completed this quiz. My Score 70/100 My Time 79 seconds  

Yes that’s the one!! I just see those exact words printed on the dongle which I never knew existed until I just asked Danny if he had one and could he show me it!! Lol well that’s great news that they will do the trick! 👍🏼👍🏼

You’re an evil, evil man! 😂😂

Turtle Beach are a good brand, especially for a youngster on a budget. I can’t remember what the connection plug is though. Try Googling “Is the Turtle Beach <insert model no.> PC compatible?” You may need an adapter cable

I didn't see in the photos what it uses to connect. If the headphones work with a mobile phone or if they use USB, they'll be fine for PC.

@phil bottlethanks a million for the advice! So is steam just a website you go onto and you download your games from there? My son spoke of Microsoft store this morning but he’s only 9 and never had a gaming computer before so I’m not sure he has a clue what he’s talking about lol. So any help in that department would be great so we aren’t like lost sheep on Xmas morning.

2 days to go and still no public gameplay...

@GazzaGarratt@DiddumsI am sending the biggest virtual hug in the world. You have no idea how much of a help you have been. I’m literally ordering everything you have linked below this evening when hubby and I get home from work. You are a computer genius in my eyes and have made what I would’ve classed as an absolute minefield a few weeks ago, much clearer and concise!!! And yes I’m pleasantly surprised as well with the price, I defo thought it was going to be well over £1000 and I was going to have to make really detrimental compromises to get it on budget. And also thanks for the tips about the keyboard!! Knowing me I would’ve been talked into the wireless mouse 100% and most nosiest keyboard on the planet that packed in come the new year!! What you’re saying makes so much sense, yet it would’ve been something i NEVER would’ve thought of. Thanks @GazzaGarrattfor the info on the mouse mats aswell. They defo look the part! And that’s great to hear you have those monitors and would rate them for what Danny will need at this time!! So reassuring to get proper user feedback. i will let you guys know this evening when I get it all ordered. And if I think of any other questions in the meantime. this is his headset, he does have a microphone attachment but has taken it off at the mo. If you wouldn’t mind checking the compatibility.

Nicking just socks is a rookie move. What you should actually do is just nick a couple of odd socks. That way it will send them mental trying to find the other socks to pair them up.

Good morning 🙂 For a desk, get something to your or your parents' budget. Provided the chair offers some adjustment, I wouldn't worry about it being all the blingy. This is fairly affordable, comes in black or white and has some cable management to tidy up the inevitable rat's nest under the desk: UTESPELARE Gaming desk, black WWW.IKEA.COM UTESPELARE Gaming desk, black Raise the large, sturdy UTESPELARE gaming desk to a height that optimally suits you. The metal mesh at the back of the table top allows air to circulate and cool your PC when the... Unfortunately the Playstation VR headset won't work on the PC, and a PC model also requires a fairly chunky graphics card to run as it's a much more demanding application. Remove that from the needs/wants list and suddenly you'll get a lot more bang for your buck. I'd expect his headset to work on the PC as well, but if you're unsure, post a photo of it and we can let you know. Ok, the PC then. I'd recommend this one: CCL Hyper Ryzen 5 1600, 16GB RAM, 480GB SSD, GTX 1650, Windows 10 Gaming PC WWW.EBAY.CO.UK Amazing Gaming PC with the latest AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Processor and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. This processor features turbo boost technology which cleverly increases the speed from 3.2GHz to 3.6GHz to give you... This has a decent processor, loads of RAM and a decent graphics card. The SSD (which is how much stuff you can store on the PC) isn't the biggest, but upgrading this is easy as pie. It has solid bones upon which to build, looks fancy and will deliver. It's not the cheapest, but going cheaper will sadly bring in too many compromises, like not enough RAM, much smaller hard drive, no Windows, etc. For a monitor, I'd suggest MSI's 24" curved 1080p monitor: MSI Optix G241VC Curved Gaming Monitor - 23.6 Inch, 16:9 Full HD (1920 x 1080), VA, 75Hz, 1 ms, 1800R, AMD FreeSync, VGA, HDMI, Black - MSI WWW.AMAZON.CO.UK Buy MSI Optix G241VC Curved Gaming Monitor - 23.6 Inch, 16:9 Full HD (1920 x 1080), VA, 75Hz, 1 ms, 1800R, AMD FreeSync, VGA, HDMI, Black at Amazon. Again - not the highest spec, but it looks fantastic and is a decent price with loads of gaming features. I might be wrong, but I think @GazzaGarratt has one, he can chime in on it too. For a keyboard and mouse, I'm a bit out of the loop with these but I'll say avoid wireless as the batteries on the cheaper models die out very quickly, leaving your son with a 10 minute play time between charges. Also avoid mechanical keyboards as they just make a racket with their clickety clackety noise (I used to be a fan of them until the non-mechanical technology caught up to the point of having the same feel, but without the irritating noise). Honestly I'd say keep it cheap and cheerful, in this field you want a good reliable brand with less gimmicks, than a fancypants model with lights and stuff which will break after a month. When it comes to mice and keyboards, the rule is generally that the cheap stuff is good as long as it's brand name, and to get top quality stuff you're looking at £80+ for a keyboard alone. All the stuff inbetween is cheap Chinese stuff and that's always a bit of a lottery. If I had to recommend one, I'd say go for this Microsoft combo: Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 Keyboard and Mouse Set, UK Layout - Black : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories WWW.AMAZON.CO.UK Buy £20, will work a treat, no mechanical noise, no constant charging and can be replaced later on. That brings the total up to £882. I must be honest, this is a lot more than I was expecting at this price point! Let me know if you need anything else. Order quick if you can, I am fully expecting a massive shortage the closer we get the Christmas. Actually, I should probably start ordering some stuff for my wife too 😛

That PC above is a plug & play model so is a complete computer. You'll still need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, mouse mat (and perhaps a desk & chair, depending on what you guys have at home. What headset does he have for his PlayStation? Most will work on PC so that's another item he can get later on with his birthday money if he even needs to. As for the VR, if he plays with that on his PlayStation then you shouldn't need to purchase anything for the PC for a while and rather save it for another time. If it holds his interest on the PlayStation then it might be worth looking in to, but for most folks it's one of those gadgets you use until you smash your mum's favourite vase to bits and fling it in a drawer only to be used on sleepovers and bragging sessions. If you list out exactly what you need, I am happy to list out a bespoke list of items to buy. Not needing VR opens a lot more, as it's graphically very demanding and needs more expensive hardware. That PC on Ebay is a solid buy, but if you already have a desk / chair then you might be able to get a higher performing model. Don't buy anything off ebay unless you speak to us first, loads of crap on there from sellers who live in countries where warranties are merely suggestions. The only reason I linked that one is because it's from CCL's own official store and they're a pretty reputable company with whom you shouldn't have any problems with warranties or support. Here's their site if you're interested: Please Wait... | Cloudflare WWW.CCLONLINE.COM For info, a lot of PC manufacturers (or System Integrators as they like to call themselves) have official ebay stores. Sometimes it's just additional revenue for them, but more often than not they use it to sell their less glamourous systems, often built out of last-generation hardware (still brand new with proper warranties, just older models). Like I said though, run it by us first so you don't get burned. Happy to help with anything, always a pleasure to help someone get their kids in to one of the world's best hobbies 🙂

@Diddumsthank you so so much! You’re an absolute star taking time to reply and in such detail, that is a huge help. Regarding the item you have pasted from eBay, what does that all include? I’m so sorry if I’m asking you to repeat yourself but the lingo just goes way over my head so I need someone to simplify it for me. So what does that package from eBay get me and what else do I need on top of that? Also another user had told me to check it’s compatibility to windows 10/11, does it state anywhere on this item about that? And sorry what are peripherals? It defo sounds like I need your help with that also!! Regarding the playing VR he has that for his PlayStation but would it be commonly used with a gaming Pc? ideally we didn’t want to have to go over £1000 as santa has to come to 2 other kids aswell lol, but at the same time I don’t eBay to throw money away on rubbish stuff when I could’ve got so much better for a couple of hundred pounds more.

Everything @Diddums said above I agree with 100% and can't add anything. I have been looking online for alternative solutions but he pretty much covered it all!

This looks pretty good, and CCL are a decent shop too so I suspect their after sales will be good too. This is a good foundation which will provide a solid upgrade path. CCL Hyper Ryzen 3 1200, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, GTX 1650 Gaming PC WWW.EBAY.CO.UK New, Latest Spec Version! Now features an improved case design with USB 3.0 ports, front RGB LED strip and feature-rich MSI B450 chipset motherboard <p></p> <p>Amazing Gaming PC with the latest AMD... You just need peripherals then, happy to help with those too 🙂

Hi Emma 🙂 Ideally at this sort of money, you're looking for a solid foundation upon which to build or upgrade in future - is your son likely to start looking to upgrade his own stuff in a few years (bearing in mind that I was building PCs from whatever bits I could find at the age of 13, and they were much harder to build almost 25 years ago!)? If so, then get a decent monitor (I always stand by this, there's no point spending mega money on a fancy PC if you end up looking at a poundland screen). As it's his first PC, I'd say go for 24", there are hundreds of good ones going cheap at this price. Keep in mind that PC gamers are absolute nerds of the highest order and will bore you to death with refresh rates, panel types, response times etc. He's unlikely to see the difference between a £100 monitor and a £1000 monitor at his age, but will still like all the "gamey" stuff they put on them, like fancy logos and stuff. Keyboard and mouse you can buy for as little as £20 for a cheapo set, and then buy him "gaming" models for his birthday or when he mows the lawn or whatever. As for the PC itself, as @phil bottle says you're buying in the middle of a gold rush, coupled with a worldwide pandemic and brexit. And no fucker wants to drive trucks anymore. That doesn't mean you won't find good deals, it just means you'll have to look harder, and manage your expectations. The games he plays and what he wants to do is screaming 1080p, but as he wants to do VR, you'll need a fairly chunky graphics card, I'd say a 3060ti at minimum (which is sort of the least I'd recommend anyway). How far can you push your budget realistically? I've had a quick look around and to get everything you're looking at around £1200, however this will be a decent system with tons of space for upgrades. It also includes a monitor, mouse, keyboard and headset. You could go as low as £800 but then you're heading in to "integrated graphics" territory, which won't serve his wants well unfortunately.

Myself, Kiwi and Leigh were together the first 5 laps and everytime we got to that high speed chicane I had to go off track to avoid hitting one of them and crashing us all out. In 20 laps of practice did not pick up a single penalty 🙃😅

Really good race last night! Like I said during the race, I was surprised just how far I could take that 86 on the softs, going well past the halfway lap count and it still being fine. I was in two minds about attempting to go the full hog on one set but with it really starting to push out on some corners, decided against it. I don't think i would have caught back up to @GazzaGarratt and @phil bottle otherwise. Thankfully, I didn't need to take on extra fuel at all, despite hammering the redline like it owed me money, so the pitstop was as short as it could be. Still flummoxed as to how you two were getting so many penalties because I was absolutely caning it through those fast esses and properly chancing it some laps (especially when I had worn tyres) and never got anything. I wonder if it was something to do with proximity to other competitors ('Is this player trying to gain an advantage on the other' kinda thing) And of course, Kiwi being Kiwi, I don't think I saw him at all in the entire race 😂