Kids Laptop/PC for Minecraft & Fortnite - Advice/Recommendations

CantonasKungFuKick on 16/07/2022 - 11:29

My son is after a gaming PC or laptop, his budget ($500) is likely only going to get him a second hand set up so was wondering what specs we should be looking at?

I found one with these specs for $350.. any good?

-Intel Core i5 3570 3.8GHz Quad Core under Antec A40 Heatsink. -8GB G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 RAM.
-Gigabyte GTX 770 Founders Edition Graphics with Illumination.
-MSI USB3 Motherboard.
-930 GB SATA HDD.
-Corsair VS550 80plus PSU
-Rotanium Chassis with RGB lights and Full-Cover Smoked Side Panel (slightly marked)
-Windows 10 Pro Fresh install ready to setup.

HDD will be quite slow though so not sure this would work for Fortnite?

Computing Computer Desktop Computer Epic Games Free to Play (Video Game) Laptop Microsoft Video Game

Comments

  • David2017 on 16/07/2022 - 12:05
    +2

    That would probably run Minecraft OK. It's not going to run Fortnite with all the engine upgrades they've done, unfortunately it doesn't run on a potato anymore. That CPU is over 10 years old and the GPU is 9 years old. If the budget is $500 maybe a new Xbox Series S? You'd be hard pressed to find a PC for $500 that would run Fortnite at an acceptable level.

    You could use PC Game Pass and run Fortnite in the cloud but it's a monthly charge. Not sure if you've got a monitor or TV to plug this into so that's something to factor in as well.

  • CrispyChrispy on 16/07/2022 - 14:10
    +1

    I haven't played Minecraft or Fortnite in probably ~3 years or so, so don't know how well they run anymore but they shouldn't be too demanding to run. I am using a similarly spec-ed PC, albeit a better GPU, and it's able to handle games really well (i7-2600, RX 570, 8GB DDR3 RAM). Red Dead Redemption 2 at ~55-75fps medium-high graphics, and Forza Horizon 3 at 60fps medium-high graphics.

    You can upgrade to 2 SSDs or 1 SSD for boot and 1 HDD for storage if need be later down the road.

  • scrimshaw on 16/07/2022 - 14:54
    +1

    I'd also second the Xbox recommendation as it will easily outperform any desktop you buy for $500. An Xbox Series S nowadays sells for $400 (as low as $398 from Harvey Norman recently.

    Consider subscribing to our Xbox Series S product tag if you want notifications when a deal is posted (click the "Subscribe" link).

  • thatonethere on 16/07/2022 - 16:15
    +1

    Also need to check what platform his gaming buddies are on too. Is it pc, play station or xbox…

  • CantonasKungFuKick on 16/07/2022 - 17:18

    He wants a PC so he can use keyboard and mouse, he's currently on a switch.
    XBox seems to take keyboard and mouse so will do some googling and see what he reckons.
    Thanks all

    • thatonethere on 16/07/2022 - 18:16

      My kids started in xbox but then migrated to PC. Xbox occasionally dragged out now. But it did a very good run so was impressed with return on investment.

      • CantonasKungFuKick on 16/07/2022 - 18:59

        Why did they switch to PC?

        • thatonethere on 17/07/2022 - 09:12
          +1

          Mixture of peer change and some games they wanted to play as a group were pc only (or not cross platform mutiplayer)

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