New PC Options

EveryWhere

Majic wrote: »

Some great help here guys, thank you. My son did have a laptop which I bought reconditioned and he has used for the past couple of years. He did want a PC, but if I was to go down the laptop route again would I have better value?

Not really, since you'll want a decent graphics capability. Your issue is that you want to buy new. Setting aside at least £100 for the monotor, leaves you with £300 for a new tower.

A PC with AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with it's integrated Vega 8 graphics solution will play Fortnite, but at low frame-rates on it's EPIC setting, perhaps 40 FPS at 1080p. You should be looking at a minimum of 60 FPS. He, for sure, would like 144 FPS.
If going for a PC, he may want something with a dedicated graphics card.

The other thing he will want to go with it, is a monitor with a high refresh rate. So in reality, you are looking more than £100 for a suitable monitor. Ideally he would like a monitor with a refresh rate of 144 Hz.
Example: https://eu.aoc.com/en/gaming-monitors/g2590fx

So a monitor can easily eat into £175 of your budget.

So you look at the ideal specs and work backwards, to try to get the best of what you can afford.

PC is best, as he can improve it over time.

Majic

Thanks, PC doesn't have to be new, as long as in excellent condition with a warranty

EveryWhere

Argos has this, as a starter system, for £100 off... https://www.stormforcegaming.co.uk/stormforce-onyx-amd-ryzen-2200g-7290-5413.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stormforce-Onyx-Ryzen-3-2200G-8GB-Ram-1TB-HDD-WiFi-Windows-10-Gaming-PC-/352760911215

But again, no SSD. So you'll need to fit one for yourself. Leaves enough in the budget for a 75 Hz monitor.

Use it as a benchmark, but try to find something better.

Majic

EveryWhere wrote: »

Argos has this, as a starter system, for £100 off... https://www.stormforcegaming.co.uk/stormforce-onyx-amd-ryzen-2200g-7290-5413.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stormforce-Onyx-Ryzen-3-2200G-8GB-Ram-1TB-HDD-WiFi-Windows-10-Gaming-PC-/352760911215

But again, no SSD. So you'll need to fit one for yourself. Leaves enough in the budget for a 75 Hz monitor.

Use it as a benchmark, but try to find something better.

Great stuff, thanks for help will look into this

Majic

How much is the SSD that I would need and is it easy to install?

debitcardmayhem

Majic wrote: »

How much is the SSD that I would need and is it easy to install?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT250MX500SSD1-NAND-Internal/dp/B0764WCXCV/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=crucial+mx+250gb&qid=1569359164&sr=8-2

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT500MX500SSD1-NAND-Internal/dp/B0786QNS9B/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=crucial+mx+250gb&qid=1569359164&sr=8-3
Easy to fit , but I did a quicksearch so am prepared to be over-ridden
Edited: may need a cable for it too

EveryWhere

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT250MX500SSD1-NAND-Internal/dp/B0764WCXCV/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=crucial+mx+250gb&qid=1569359164&sr=8-2

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT500MX500SSD1-NAND-Internal/dp/B0786QNS9B/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=crucial+mx+250gb&qid=1569359164&sr=8-3
Easy to fit , but I did a quicksearch so am prepared to be over-ridden
Edited: may need a cable for it too

If with reference to the Stormforce device, no need for a cable with this one; https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07K1MDMF3/ref=twister_B07RPNXHVD Even faster than a standard SSD.. Will ensure that you get the best out of the device.
But contact https://www.stormforcegaming.co.uk/stormforce-onyx-amd-ryzen-2200g-7290-5413.html beforehand, in order to get reassurance that it can boot from an NVMe drive. Specification states yes. But worth the checking anyway.

The Stormforce will be at the lower end of his expectations. But on the other hand, good graphics cards are expensive. Expect to pay at least £100 for something that will bring the frame rates up.
On the other hand, he might be really happy.

EveryWhere

Noticed that someone is selling this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zoostorm-StormForce-Onyx-AMD-Ryzen-5-8GB-RAM-1TB-HDD-120GB-SSD-Gaming-PC/254303326795

Similar to the Argos model and comes with monitor. So perhaps worth finding out why the seller is not happy with it.

As you can see, that kind of spec at that price is not that unusual; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCL-PERFORMANCE-3-9GHz-AMD-Quad-Core-Ryzen-5-2400G-Desktop-PC-8GB-RAM-1TB-HDD/183073265177

So maybe it just isn't good enough for gaming. Frame rates perhaps too low.

EveryWhere

You can start here; https://www.xsonly.com/products/refurbished-msi-codex-3-ra-088eu-pc-intel-core-i5-7400-8gb-1tb-geforce-gtx-1050-2gb-windows-10

Monitors;

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lg-ultragear-24gl600f-24-full-hd-144hz-1ms-freesync-gaming-monitor-24gl600f/version.asp £140

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-VG248QE-Widescreen-Multimedia-80000000/dp/B00B19T7QC £165

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKjI4CYThjg

https://www.userbenchmark.com/PCGame/FPS-Estimates-Fortnite/3954/191450.211583.Max.1080p.0

https://www.userbenchmark.com/PCGame/FPS-Estimates-Minecraft/3776/191450.0.Max.1080p.0

Perhaps others can come up with something better within budget. I'm not at all into gaming.

Majic

Would I need an SSD Drive installed for this?

My budget for pc and monitor would be £400. Don't mind refurbished if at least 6 month warranty, if there is anything else out there.