I'm looking for help in finding a budget-friendly gaming PC setup for my 12-year-old nephew. His budget is between $600 and $1000. He enjoys playing games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Minecraft, and he also needs this setup for school work. Are there any recommendations for builds within this price range that will last a couple of years before he needs to upgrade?
5 Answers
For a budget of around $1000, you can snag a pretty decent setup, but remember, that's on the lower side if you're aiming for longevity. You might need to tweak your budget slightly for better performance. A quality monitor can easily cost $150, and a strong rig that will last a few years (with only minor performance drops) usually starts around $1400. If you're just looking for the PC, there are loads of posts on here or on buildapcforme that can help you out!
You might also consider a mid-tier build around $800. It would include:
- **CPU:** AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
- **RAM:** 32GB DDR5
- **Video Card:** RX 9060 XT 8GB
- **Storage:** 1TB NVMe SSD
I think this would give him a nice balance of gameplay and multi-tasking capabilities for school!
For around $900, you can snag:
- **CPU:** Ryzen 5 7600X
- **Video Card:** RX 9060 XT 16GB
- **Storage:** 1TB NVMe SSD
This setup is future-proof and handles games like RDR2 really well!
If you're looking for something even cheaper, how about this $600 build:
- **CPU:** AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz
- **Motherboard:** MSI PRO B550M-VC
- **RAM:** 32GB DDR4-3200
- **Storage:** 1TB NVMe SSD
- **Video Card:** RX 6600 8GB
- **Case:** Cooler Master Q300L
- **Power Supply:** 550W Bronze Certified
This one offers solid performance for gaming and school tasks without breaking the bank!
Here's a solid build for $1000:
- **CPU:** AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core
- **Motherboard:** ATX WiFi Motherboard
- **RAM:** 32GB Fast RAM
- **Storage:** 1TB Fast SSD
- **Video Card:** Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
- **Case:** ATX case with RGB fans
- **Power Supply:** Good PSU for future upgrades
If you're near a Microcenter, you can make it even better!
That build looks awesome! Just make sure to check out PCPartPicker for up-to-date prices and compatibility.
That sounds like a great starter build! Plus, there's room for upgrades in the future.