Emma McManus

@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. 

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.
 
 

@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.
 

@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. 

@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.
 

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. 
 
 
 
 

@Emma McManus  just gonna wait for one of the experts to arrive to help us understand more. I think the monitor is pretty small if you ask me. 24" minimum as eventually he'll want 2 screens on show. My spider sense is tingling though and thinking you can get a better ready made one from Scan or Overclockers.
 
@Diddums @Greboth @phil bottle @Spacedeck  @TurboR56Mini  @RenFengge @BO7H B4RRELS  if you don't think its a good deal, should we find a few links to some better packages on OCUK or Scan?

Hello guys and gals!! Me again!! I recently received this bundle offer from a local company but this likes double Dutch to me!! Would you mind having a look and see if this sounds good? 
 
please Help! 

@Tar-Eruntalion many thanks for all your tips. I’ll certainly take those into consideration when we go looking and ask those questions. There is a local company that has turned a lorry into a gaming party bus that you can site out for parties etc. I happened to contact them to see if they could point me in the direction of someone who sells the computers or could help us construct one ourselves. He purchased a gaming computer for his son 1.5 years ago and has suggested a company in Belfast to speak with. So I’ve sent them a message and they will be in contact when they get their bundles together for Xmas. So as much info as I can gather up from now until then will be great as I’ll know the right questions to ask etc. 👍🏼👍🏼

@Tar-Eruntalion many thanks for all your tips. I’ll certainly take those into consideration when we go looking and ask those questions. There is a local company that has turned a lorry into a gaming party bus that you can site out for parties etc. I happened to contact them to see if they could point me in the direction of someone who sells the computers or could help us construct one ourselves. He purchased a gaming computer for his son 1.5 years ago and has suggested a company in Belfast to speak with. So I’ve sent them a message and they will be in contact when they get their bundles together for Xmas. So as much info as I can gather up from now until then will be great as I’ll know the right questions to ask etc. 👍🏼👍🏼

@Tar-Eruntalion many thanks for all your tips. I’ll certainly take those into consideration when we go looking and ask those questions. There is a local company that has turned a lorry into a gaming party bus that you can site out for parties etc. I happened to contact them to see if they could point me in the direction of someone who sells the computers or could help us construct one ourselves. He purchased a gaming computer for his son 1.5 years ago and has suggested a company in Belfast to speak with. So I’ve sent them a message and they will be in contact when they get their bundles together for Xmas. So as much info as I can gather up from now until then will be great as I’ll know the right questions to ask etc. 👍🏼👍🏼

@Tar-Eruntalion many thanks for all your tips. I’ll certainly take those into consideration when we go looking and ask those questions. There is a local company that has turned a lorry into a gaming party bus that you can site out for parties etc. I happened to contact them to see if they could point me in the direction of someone who sells the computers or could help us construct one ourselves. He purchased a gaming computer for his son 1.5 years ago and has suggested a company in Belfast to speak with. So I’ve sent them a message and they will be in contact when they get their bundles together for Xmas. So as much info as I can gather up from now until then will be great as I’ll know the right questions to ask etc. 👍🏼👍🏼

A huge thank you @GazzaGarrattand @RenFenggefor all the information and advice you have given. 
Thanks for sharing the pros and cons you found with the laptops @RenFengge, I can certainly appreciate both sides of the coin. But we are pretty certain the gaming computer will be a fixed location, most likely in my sons bedroom on a desk. I can see the benefits of a laptop being portable but I do try to ensure he keeps up with his other activities etc as well as gaming, so the fact it’s of fixed abode and he can’t take it with him everywhere won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
 
you guys have been so so helpful thanks so much. And that would be great if you could share or point me in the direction of various bundles that cover a range of budgets. I do understand that the likes of call of duty etc is no doubt in the pipeline soon so I would prefer to go abit more high spec to allow for that. One thing Santa brought last year was a gaming chair so we have that!! Woohoo! But any ideas on desks would be great too. 
 
And believe me when I say I’m a total newbie when it comes to all this so what seems like simple ABCs to you guys is like a a different language to me. So please elaborate as much as you want, don’t assume I understand because it’s highly likely I don’t!! Lol. I promise I am super clever on other topics in life, gaming just isn’t one of them! 🤣🤣

To be honest we will go with whatever is best. Initially I had thought a laptop was more contemporary, as who the hell has desktops nowadays! Lol. But speaking with family members who are more technologically minded than myself are saying that for gamers desktop is the way to go. That it’s easier to upgrade certain parts with a custom made desktop rather than a laptop? And if something goes wrong with a laptop the whole thing needs replaced whereas with a desktop you can remove that one component and replace it. I could be talking complete nonsense though so please correct me if I am. 
 
I get what you’re saying about it being a bad time but this is a “Santa” present and you know when a kid has decided that’s what they want, it’s hard to turn them. And he’s been wanting this since last Xmas! Lol. So I don’t think I have a choice!! 
 
Regarding budget, we were ideally hoping to get him decently kitted out with the potential to maybe add on, for around £600-£700 but if it went abit over that we could stretch  a little.
 
please don’t apologise for questions I’m so thankful for your help. 

Hi and many thanks for your reply. He plays roblox, minecraft, terraria, among us etc. He also has a PS4 and PS VR headset where he plays five nights at freddys, Spider-Man, various motorbike racing Games. He also has a switch where he plays Zelda, mario, etc. But he defo spending more time on terraria at the moment. I’m not into computer games at all lol and neither is my husband, so this is a total minefield to us! 🤯
 
we don’t have a monitor either so we are starting completely from scratch. 
 
thanks so much for your help, and I will defo take a look at the website you’ve suggested. 👍🏼👍🏼

Hello everyone. My nearly 10 year old son is a huge gaming fan and is looking to get into it but I have no idea where to start regarding hardware. 
he is looking a pc/gaming computer for Christmas but I’m guessing this isn’t the type of the thing you can just walk into curry’s/pc world and purchase. 
so I’m looking some help, where would I go to start looking at gaming computer setups and what do I need for someone who is just getting started with it? 

A huge thank you @GazzaGarrattand @RenFenggefor all the information and advice you have given. 
Thanks for sharing the pros and cons you found with the laptops @RenFengge, I can certainly appreciate both sides of the coin. But we are pretty certain the gaming computer will be a fixed location, most likely in my sons bedroom on a desk. I can see the benefits of a laptop being portable but I do try to ensure he keeps up with his other activities etc as well as gaming, so the fact it’s of fixed abode and he can’t take it with him everywhere won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
 
you guys have been so so helpful thanks so much. And that would be great if you could share or point me in the direction of various bundles that cover a range of budgets. I do understand that the likes of call of duty etc is no doubt in the pipeline soon so I would prefer to go abit more high spec to allow for that. One thing Santa brought last year was a gaming chair so we have that!! Woohoo! But any ideas on desks would be great too. 
 
And believe me when I say I’m a total newbie when it comes to all this so what seems like simple ABCs to you guys is like a a different language to me. So please elaborate as much as you want, don’t assume I understand because it’s highly likely I don’t!! Lol. I promise I am super clever on other topics in life, gaming just isn’t one of them! 🤣🤣

Hi Emma @Emma McManus , I'm Lee and welcome to FG! Phil @phil bottle and La @RenFengge above has been pretty good so far and I wouldn't be disagreeing with him much in terms of questions. I assume you are looking for a ready made PC and not to be made by yourself? I was assured by the rest of the FG people here that these days there isn't as much difference to cost as it used to be back in the day so for less hassle i'll go with the ready made.
 
The PC Tower (with all the bits to make it work in it) Monitor Keyboard Mouse Operating System (like Windows 7, etc) Chair Desk I apologies in advance if this is teaching you to suck eggs but you never know what people have thought about and allowed room in their budget for these things. If you're buying a ready made PC, they'll usually come with parts 1-5 (although 5 can be missing in some bundles so beware).
 
Those games won't require a huge amount of 'top spec' for them to work, however as he is nearly 10, I would imagine he'll be wanting to be play first person shooters before you know it and that when you need a little more oomph.
 
Would it help if we found a few links on some low budget, on budget, and over budget bundles on the internet to help your selection? We could probably help with all the rest too if needed as theres been previous topics on what chairs and desks people want these days too.
 
@Greboth @Diddums @Tar-Eruntalion  @Spacedeck  @BO7H B4RRELS  @The3rdWalker  - just tagging a few core PC players if they can add anything to help with what you need!

Hi Emma,
 
Welcome!
 
I felt the urge to respond to this, as your comment reminded me of my time in HS. My response is going to go against the rule of thumb, which is desktops for gamers.
 
So, there's a reason why I was gaming on a laptop for many years. However, that is not to say that most of the time I didn't have a desktop. I did. I had both a desktop and a laptop usually. It wasn't until I was in college that I was laptop-based for a good while. But, I was also a nomad, sort of.
 
Here's the main benefit that I had with a laptop --> I was mobile. If I was kicked out of a room, not a problem. If I ended up staying late at school for one reason or another, it didn't matter. If I wanted to game and the family was going on a trip for the weekend, that's fine, I had my laptop.
 
Here's the downside --> any gaming laptop worth the money is going to be "heavier" than a basic laptop. However, today's heaviest laptops are what the lightest laptops were during my time as a "nomad" (my friends considered me a nomad since I was always on the move). I carried around a 18" laptop that weighed around 14lbs. I think that was the heaviest one I ever carried. Had to look for a certain bag just to fit it. I think the lightest laptop at the time was around 5lbs. Maingear's (maingear.com) most robust gaming laptop is 4.4lbs today.
 
Are laptops upgradeable? Lol. Absolutely not. The cases are, in general, designed for the specs. You can't just be adding RAM or swapping out a graphics card. However, if your son is young enough, and if you basically get the best possible thing out there, he could technically use the laptop for like 4 years. Why am I saying this?
 
Before I got my husband @TurboR56Mini  into gaming, my concern was always about getting kicked out of my game room/home office. So, if he needed the space, I could just take my laptop to the living room. I ended up also buying him a gaming laptop when I bought my last one in 2015. Our laptops lasted us until December 2020. Technically, they could even still run some games today like Destiny 2, Civilization, Sims, Fallout, Witcher 1 - 3, Mass Effect, etc. But, those laptops were also near-top of the line at the time too. Each laptop cost us about $2800 each. Paid for by year-end bonus. They did their jobs well. I still use mine to watch things if I want to lounge in bed.
 
Now, if you do go desktop, which is always going to be the best way to go, I would suggest trying to find a quality PC maker to start you off... or a local PC person to teach your son how to build one. These days, I can't be bothered to build my own. Plus, getting parts is a pain. PC builders tend to have parts that consumers cannot get. Since I don't build my own anymore, I'm very loyal to Maingear here in the US. They are a great company. They have fantastic customer service and top notch quality. They work with you if you want to upgrade components. The only reason why my latest PC is from Xidax is because Xidax gave me a killer deal and they had the chips I wanted... Also, another good company.. but they are not in driving distance to me if I want to do a component swap.
 
Anyway.. just some thoughts I felt like throwing in for this conversation.

To be honest we will go with whatever is best. Initially I had thought a laptop was more contemporary, as who the hell has desktops nowadays! Lol. But speaking with family members who are more technologically minded than myself are saying that for gamers desktop is the way to go. That it’s easier to upgrade certain parts with a custom made desktop rather than a laptop? And if something goes wrong with a laptop the whole thing needs replaced whereas with a desktop you can remove that one component and replace it. I could be talking complete nonsense though so please correct me if I am. 
 
I get what you’re saying about it being a bad time but this is a “Santa” present and you know when a kid has decided that’s what they want, it’s hard to turn them. And he’s been wanting this since last Xmas! Lol. So I don’t think I have a choice!! 
 
Regarding budget, we were ideally hoping to get him decently kitted out with the potential to maybe add on, for around £600-£700 but if it went abit over that we could stretch  a little.
 
please don’t apologise for questions I’m so thankful for your help. 

Hello everyone. My nearly 10 year old son is a huge gaming fan and is looking to get into it but I have no idea where to start regarding hardware. 
he is looking a pc/gaming computer for Christmas but I’m guessing this isn’t the type of the thing you can just walk into curry’s/pc world and purchase. 
so I’m looking some help, where would I go to start looking at gaming computer setups and what do I need for someone who is just getting started with it?