I'm in Chicago and have access to Micro Centers nearby. My son is turning 11 soon, and he's been doing well in school, so I want to get him a good PC for streaming the games he likes, which include sports titles like MLB The Show, Madden, 2K, and games like Fortnite and Warzone. I'm unsure whether to go for a prebuilt system or to build one myself, although his uncle has some experience with PC building. I'm also curious about how much I should realistically budget for this, as I'm open to spending what I need to make sure he gets a great setup for his birthday. He already has a monitor, so I'm just looking for the PC itself. Any advice would be appreciated!
4 Answers
I'd recommend checking out Micro Center for advice; they are really helpful compared to places like Best Buy. Depending on your budget, I think a prebuilt could be a safe bet, especially since you're looking for something reliable.
For something like this, I'd say stick to under $1000 for a prebuilt option. If you think he'll be really into gaming or streaming, you can always upgrade later. AMD CPUs generally give better performance for the price compared to Intel right now, so that's a good way to go.
Exactly! AMD's performance for the price right now is hard to beat, especially for gaming.
If you're considering a custom build, that can definitely allow you to choose exactly what you want. Just remember that if he’s streaming, you want a good GPU, preferably an Nvidia one for better performance while streaming. But given his age, prebuilt might save some headaches.
Prebuilt systems are a great option for your son. You can likely find something in the $800 to $3000 range that will keep up with gaming for years. I really like the Powerspec G730; it's about $2k and should work for a long time without a hitch.
Yeah, I've heard good things about that model! It should handle all the sports games just fine.
Definitely! Micro Center is known for their good quality products. Plus, they often have decent deals that can save you some cash.