PC Component Advice

wibbly

wibbly

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My 15 year old is seriously interested in building himself a custom PC specifically writing gaming programs and testing out. He's got plans for going off to college and getting into the writing side of the industry.

He's written himself a Runescape private server game, so is learning all the time. However his small notebook is of little use for his requirements.

I have no idea where to start with this being a Mac kind-a-guy!

Any ideas where to start with this kind of project gratefully received?
 
It really depends on what the budget is...

The case is up to what his preference is, just make sure that the case is open to some good cooling, if he will be gaming he might want to over clock the cpu so maybe watercooling? Space for lots of fans... I like these cases...

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/coolermaster-haf-x-xl-atx-tower-pc-case-black-11342040-pdt.html

www.corsair.com/en/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-800d.html


Nice motherboard with space for 32gig ram? Intel...

Nice i7 processor, maybe a 6 core?

24gig fast ram?

Blu ray drive

SSD

hard drive for storage

Nice 2gb graphics cards dual monitor




It really depends on budget...
 
Try a site called PC specialist here

I have just bought from these and they are brilliant, very helpful, and they also have a build your own section where you can choose what to put in it and they will tell you if it is all compatible or not.
customer service is brilliant too.

If he is doing what he is then he will know what he wants from the pc, also theyare very reasonable on price, my speced pc was over £250 cheaper than that of more or less the same spec from dell

spike
 
Thanks for the replies...

I'll check out the links and advice.

Someone elsewhere has just suggested a RaspberryPi as a starting point... No idea what they are at all!
 
wibbly said:
Thanks for the replies...

I'll check out the links and advice.

Someone elsewhere has just suggested a RaspberryPi as a starting point... No idea what they are at all!
Click to expand...

A small computer that is made to help people learn coding... www.raspberrypi.org
 
For gaming, it's normally the graphics card that is important. Although I don't game, i5 is the recommended (most games are not multithreaded and the i7 won't help much over the i5 anyway) and then a decent graphics card and SSD.

A couple of golden rules. Don't skimp on the PSU. Have a backup of your data which is outside of the same case.
 
wibbly said:
Someone elsewhere has just suggested a RaspberryPi as a starting point... No idea what they are at all!
Click to expand...
I wouldn't. Although it's cheap, it isn't designed to game and it runs Linux, so isn't mainstream gaming technology (nor does it have a fast enough gfx engine).
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

It's not specifically for gaming, it's more for learning the coding side and within that the coding side for gaming.
 
I just spec'd up my homebuild on that PC Specialist and it's coming to the same price for brand parts without the hassle of having to build it yourself. Seems rather good.
 
I usually use Scan Computers of Bolton www.scan.co.uk who are reasonably priced and have a tech support department if you are struggling either with deciding with parts to buy OR helpful if you are struggling getting parts bought from them to work.

Cheers,

Ste
 
If cost is a concern then my recent calculations suggest its no longer that much cheaper to build your own pc
 
neil_g said:
maybe, maybe not but you can guarantee quality of parts for peace of mind.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, even when you have the the brands you want in a pre-built one I'm very much of the opinion if you want it done right then do it yourself - which I am! lol Looking forward to it as well! :)
 
borisnikon said:
It really depends on what the budget is...

The case is up to what his preference is, just make sure that the case is open to some good cooling, if he will be gaming he might want to over clock the cpu so maybe watercooling? Space for lots of fans... I like these cases...

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/coolermaster-haf-x-xl-atx-tower-pc-case-black-11342040-pdt.html

www.corsair.com/en/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-800d.html

Nice motherboard with space for 32gig ram? Intel...

Nice i7 processor, maybe a 6 core?

24gig fast ram?

Blu ray drive

SSD

hard drive for storage

Nice 2gb graphics cards dual monitor

It really depends on budget...
Click to expand...

Be careful with the Corsair 800d that's it's not too big. I bought one without checking it's dimensions. Had to buy a new desk to accommodate it.
Excellent case though
 
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