benjester March 27, 2007 Share benjester Member March 27, 2007 so, a friend of mine has a son (about 11 years old I think... maybe 13) and he is turning into quite the little gamer. He recently came into some money (inheritance) and has asked me to build him a PC... I have been out of the scene for awhile... haven't built anything in a year or two... Cujo helped me out with the last one. So looking for ideas.... He has nothing, and needs everything... computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers. He has a budget of 1500-2000 dollars... ideas? Please. 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 27, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 27, 2007 my suggestion is to just build him a quick and cheap machine, avoid going too high tech. If it's not an "intelligent" gamer then he will not care about not getting the latest and greatest and by the time the kid understands these things the tech scene will have upgraded consideribly. I'ld prolly go this way if you must spend the $2000: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811144014 - alluminum gaming case - $49.99 (after $10 mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131142 - Asus P5N-E SLI - $126.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817371001 - Antec PS - $109.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115003 - C2D E6600 - $312 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814186015 - GF8800GTX - $524 (after $45 mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820144062 - Geil 2x1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $149.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822144016 - Maxtor 500GB HDD - $139.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827151136 - DVD Burner - $32.99 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...p;sku=A179-2210 - 22" LCD Monitor -$259 http://store.yahoo.com/justdeals/9313520403ms.html - Logitech mx518 gaming mouse - $31.90 http://store.yahoo.com/justdeals/gs9674150403.html - Logitech media keyboard - $13.95 http://store.yahoo.com/justdeals/9701140403ref.html - Logitech 5.1 surround Sound speakers - $44.95 http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main...p;item=CES11245 - Logitech open air headset - $12.99 Software: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116200 - MS Vista 64bit home - $94.99 http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646841 - Half-life 2 - $29.99 http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main...p;item=SWW10970 MS Word - $18.99 This comes to $2049.77 out of pocket with $55 coming back to you in mail in rebates. If you have to cut anything I'ld say kill off the monitor and drop to a 19" LCD like this one: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...4&CatId=170 and you might want to add : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827106067 anyway that's the best I got Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjester March 27, 2007 Author Share benjester Member March 27, 2007 Thank you preacher... I will look through it and see what is what. I tend to agree with you... I don't think I will get him state of the art.. but he plays some processor and video intensive games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox March 27, 2007 Share appalachian_fox Member March 27, 2007 I hate to be the crazy guy ("Coke and Pepsi are the same thing...Wake up, people!") but you might not want to get into the whole building for other people scene. Once you do that, you become their de facto tech support, even if it's agreed to otherwise. I've been in a similar situation several times before, and I usually point towards a big box maker. Not as custom, and not a good learning experience for them (having the kid help build the PC could be a great opportunity for him), but it takes me out of the "responsibility" loop. Just a caveat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 27, 2007 Share boiler Member March 27, 2007 I like pretty much everything preacher posted. Only a couple of comments/suggestions on my part: 1. If this isn't going to be a "latest and greatest" type deal and you end up with a 19" monitor (no slouch by any means) then I would suggest ditching the 8800GTX in favor of an 8800GTS 640MB. That'll save almost $200. The GTS will handle everything almost as well as the GTX at 19" resolutions, at least current/soon upcoming games. 2. Don't go with Vista Home basic. bump that up to Vista Ultimate 32 bit (not 64 bit). 64 bit isn't mainstream enough to evoid potential problems, especially when the user isn't very computer savy 3. 500GB seems way overkill for him unless he's going to do a lot of music downloading, etc. You could drop it to 320GB and still give him more than enough storage. The biggest reason I bring all these things up is I can't see a reason for a kid 11-13 to have machine that powerful and that expensive. I never had a state of the art computer with high-end stuff until I was in college and could earn my own money. The money saved by not getting some of those high-end parts could go to much better things (college fund, etc) than a little better computer parts. No reason to max out the budget if it's not necessary. You could even get away with a little cheaper Core 2, but I could understand/justify spending the extra for the E6600. Bit of some personal opinions I know, but even with some of those cheaper parts, that system would still be way better than even most of the people in these GC forums. A 13 year old kid shouldn't need more than that. Let him earn the more expensive parts down the road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruten March 27, 2007 Share Kruten Member March 27, 2007 All the things boilersax is what I would have pointed out. I'd get a different case though. No need for one that comes with a power supply, especially a 350W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Soapdish March 27, 2007 Share Nick Soapdish Member March 27, 2007 i'd just like to add that he probably needs one of these if he's going to build a system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 28, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 28, 2007 those are SO comfortable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 28, 2007 Share boiler Member March 28, 2007 those look like they'd be comfortable for about the first 20 minutes sitting in it. by then I think the novelty for me would have worn off I feel old! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 28, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 28, 2007 (edited) Who's helping me get up? I have bad knees lol The $500gb hard drive is only $30 more than the 3xx drives I figure for that little amount of money why not go for it. If you are spending $2000 anyway the GTX and the 22" monitor are a must. Going Vista Ultimate or business is not going to add one feature that a non-Computer-savy kid will use. If it does name it and I'll retract this statement. The 64bit edition is more for what will come out later not for now. Besides if you read the box for the 64bit edition it has both a 32 bit install and a 64 bit install as options. At least the one at walmart did. Edited March 28, 2007 by Preacher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 28, 2007 Share boiler Member March 28, 2007 Besides if you read the box for the 64bit edition it has both a 32 bit install and a 64 bit install as options. At least the one at walmart did. That's retail version, which costs around $350ish. The OEM versions are what-you-see-is-what-you-get. For a computer for a 13 year old, I can't imagine why he would need/care 64 bit processes. imo he doesn't NEED to spend all $2000. The spare cash could be better spent elsewhere, and the kid shouldn't have any complaints about a system that is still better than most others out there. Let us know what route you choose to go, jester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo March 28, 2007 Share Cujo Member March 28, 2007 i agree with boiler. this kid will not care what the games look like at the max resolutions. this is so ridiculously overkill i'm not even jealous. also, keep in mind that you can't buy a better system for the price from any big name so i'd actually spend about 1500 and keep 500 for myself if it was me doing this. preach, that looks like a solid build other than the vista. go home ultimate 32bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 28, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 28, 2007 well fantasy PC building is fun for me, which is why I do it. If you know how to play it you could always do one of these: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2650 one of these: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...4&CatId=170 one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161045 And sit back and make $1000 on it for your own upgrades. The kid gets a top rate PC and you have zero work to do. Just a note regardless of what you buy, how you plan to pay for the stuff etc. GET YOUR MONEY FROM THEM FIRST!!! Speaking from experience, not everyone does business straight-up. I had a lady said to order her a PC that owned a bakery and after I bought it, put it together and showed up for delivery she says oh nevermind I went with a cheap E-Machines from Walmart. I pushed the issue and she ended up getting it from me, but 15% restocking fees, items with replace only (LCD monitors) unless DOA and such can make returning the stuff an absolute nightmare. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjester March 28, 2007 Author Share benjester Member March 28, 2007 Thanks all for your input... I tend to agree with everyone here. I've been friends to this entire family for close to a decade. They aren't going to try and screw me, and I don't mind being the tech support for the computer. Henry (the kid) got quite a bit more money is my understanding, and most of it went into investments and college funds of some kind. He was given this amount to do with as he pleases. Preacher, I like the system, although I am gonna take it down a notch. One step down on the proc and video card. Maybe just a 20 inch monitor. I would like him closer to the 1500 mark... he is a pretty bright kid, but I agree, he doesn't need state of the art here. I will put together the items today and post up the final specs. thanks again gang. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOFX March 29, 2007 Share NOFX Member March 29, 2007 I agree with fox.. get him a good dell and drop a video card in for him and probably all for under $1500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 29, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 29, 2007 A good dell would have to be an xps type of system. The "good" dells come with as little on the mobo as possible. Painful to deal with often times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 30, 2007 Share boiler Member March 30, 2007 You can't build an XPS that will come close to touching the stuff he is looking at for close to $1500, even if you drop your own graphics card in. (Dell wants $700 for an 8800gtx in the xps 410!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjester March 30, 2007 Author Share benjester Member March 30, 2007 You can't build an XPS that will come close to touching the stuff he is looking at for close to $1500, even if you drop your own graphics card in. (Dell wants $700 for an 8800gtx in the xps 410!!) that's what I was gonna say... I deal with Dell on a daily basis, and can't touch this system even with huge discounts... so dell is out. I don't have a problem building the machine... I have built several... just haven't in a year or so... so I am out of the loop. I have a build spec'd out, just haven't had time to post all the links... will today at somepoint. Thanks Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 31, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 31, 2007 If you want high end without the higher prices, you can build a really nice AMD Duel Core system for a few hundred cheaper than C2D. For a non-hardcore gamer it should still more than fill the bill for a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 31, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 31, 2007 http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem1327.a...CCODE=WEM1327TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 31, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 31, 2007 Wow, that is a good deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nut April 2, 2007 Share nut Member April 2, 2007 i bet if you got a state of the art system... and say he plays... wow or some terrible game like that.. he wont know the difference from a 1 yr old computer. i run a 3k barton and a 9500pro... OLD but WORKS. 2k for a little 11-13 yr old kid is WAY to much. if i where you id tell him to save 1500 ish of it and buy him a 500$ machine. that just gets by.. until he actually knows what a processor/vid card are. get him a dell.. http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/con...CWBA3&s=dhs PROCESSOR: AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800 OPERATING: SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vistaâ„¢ Home Premium MONITOR: 15 inch E156FP Analog Flat Panel MEMORY: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs HARD DRIVE: 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cacheâ„¢ OPTICAL DRIVE: 16x DVD+/-RW Drive VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU SOUND: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio SPEAKERS: Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer KEYBOARD & MOUSE: Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse FLOPPY & MEDIA READER: No Floppy Drive Included MODEM: 56K PCI Data Fax Modem PRODUCTIVITY: Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit $689.00 with some addons from the local store or some stuff from online... aka surge protectors.. whatever floats your boat.. your looking at like 800ish... and he can save his 1200 and use it when he knows what hes doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage April 2, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member April 2, 2007 You could always go this route: http://www.fatwallet.com/news/index.php?storyid=717224 Up the CPU to the 4200 model and add another Gig of RAM to put it at around $709. Comes with a 20 inch wide screen monitor. Then go this route for the video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814143084 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDog April 6, 2007 Share ShadowDog Member April 6, 2007 i hate you henry =[ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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