All in one gaming computers?
January 29, 2015 8:30 AM Subscribe
My 14-yo has been talking about a gaming computer for many moons. He wants to play Steam games: Minecraft, Don't Starve, Day Z, etc. Mainly networked playing. All of the computers we look at are just a really high end, colorful box with no OS, no monitor, no keyboard or mouse for around $800-$900. I am looking for an all-in-one that is graphics, ram and HD expandable and will run Steam (mostly) effortlessly. All suggestions welcome!
All-in-one PCs tend to use graphics chips designed for laptops, so like laptops they almost all suck at gaming unless you buy one that is purpose-built for it, or an expensive "professional" one with discrete graphics like the high-end ($2000+) iMac models.
Most new all-in-ones are fine at older or simpler games like Minecraft and Don't Starve, but won't do very well with the latest 3D games. This guide to buying a latop with decent graphics might also help you figure out which all-in-ones are better than others.
You'll spend less and get better performance if you buy a standard desktop tower and an external monitor. And you'll be able to upgrade or replace the tower in a few years without throwing away the monitor and paying for a new one.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:16 AM on January 29, 2015
Most new all-in-ones are fine at older or simpler games like Minecraft and Don't Starve, but won't do very well with the latest 3D games. This guide to buying a latop with decent graphics might also help you figure out which all-in-ones are better than others.
You'll spend less and get better performance if you buy a standard desktop tower and an external monitor. And you'll be able to upgrade or replace the tower in a few years without throwing away the monitor and paying for a new one.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:16 AM on January 29, 2015
The problem right now is that you have basically:
-Off the shelf PCs from Dell, HP etc that usually have OK CPUs, but weak graphics and a very poor quality power supply that makes video upgrade possibilities limited.
-Build your own machines, which are wonderful except then you have to build your own machine which it sounds like you don't want to.
-Steam boxes or something like the Alienware Alpha which will be a nice all-in-one solution but with limited upgradeability. And of course we don't really know about steam boxes, since Valve is a mysterious and magical oracle and they aren't out yet.
Probably what I would do in your case is try to find an off-the-shelf PC with either a decent power supply or a easily upgradeable power supply and then buy a separate graphics card for it that's in your budget.
PS. Most anything will run Steam and a wide variety of indie games, including Minecraft. Something like DayZ is going to be a fair bit more demanding.
posted by selfnoise at 9:19 AM on January 29, 2015
-Off the shelf PCs from Dell, HP etc that usually have OK CPUs, but weak graphics and a very poor quality power supply that makes video upgrade possibilities limited.
-Build your own machines, which are wonderful except then you have to build your own machine which it sounds like you don't want to.
-Steam boxes or something like the Alienware Alpha which will be a nice all-in-one solution but with limited upgradeability. And of course we don't really know about steam boxes, since Valve is a mysterious and magical oracle and they aren't out yet.
Probably what I would do in your case is try to find an off-the-shelf PC with either a decent power supply or a easily upgradeable power supply and then buy a separate graphics card for it that's in your budget.
PS. Most anything will run Steam and a wide variety of indie games, including Minecraft. Something like DayZ is going to be a fair bit more demanding.
posted by selfnoise at 9:19 AM on January 29, 2015
Go the build-your-own-machine route at your local computer shop but leverage their skills and knowledge and have them assemble and test it for you, most will do this for $50 or so.
posted by Cosine at 9:34 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by Cosine at 9:34 AM on January 29, 2015
I've had good luck recommending Digital Storm to people who fall into the gap between "buy a dell" and "build your own". The markup over what the parts would cost yourself isn't too bad, and you their support is solid. The Vanquish 2 at "better" or "best" levels is decent enough for what you want, and they're both under a grand.
posted by Oktober at 9:59 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by Oktober at 9:59 AM on January 29, 2015
Best answer: Have you talked to him about the possibility of building his own computer? That might be a fun project for a computer-minded 14 year old, especially if you're willing to help him out as needed. Instructions are easy to find online and it's not any harder than putting ikea furniture together, after an hour or two of reading up on it. "Budget build" or "budget gaming build" are some good search terms to start with, for the planning part.
posted by randomnity at 10:02 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by randomnity at 10:02 AM on January 29, 2015
Yeah, at 14 I had already built a couple of computers. That is definitely the way you're going to get the best bang for your buck -- both initially, and when you can just upgrade one component at a time as you need to and can afford it.
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:04 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:04 AM on January 29, 2015
About a year back, I ordered this baby off of Newegg. For $400, which is way below your price point (even after factoring in the cost for more memory and a better video card, which I installed myself.)
That model's out of stock, but looking around could find you something similar at a better price.
posted by mikurski at 10:24 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
That model's out of stock, but looking around could find you something similar at a better price.
posted by mikurski at 10:24 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Mikurski, what was it you mentioned? The Newegg link just goes to their homepage? Brand model number appreciated!
posted by parmanparman at 10:32 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by parmanparman at 10:32 AM on January 29, 2015
It was the iBUYPOWER ARC NE611FX. Something in the iBUYPOWER brand might suit your needs.
posted by mikurski at 10:36 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by mikurski at 10:36 AM on January 29, 2015
14 is an ideal age to build a PC. Make a father-son day out of it, do everything together right from researching for components, ordering them and spending a whole day putting everything together. it will be an awesome learning experience for both you and the kid and it will make gaming all the more exciting.
posted by harisund at 10:48 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by harisund at 10:48 AM on January 29, 2015
Response by poster: Great stuff! Found a chill blast desktop with expansion possible. Thanks for your help
posted by parmanparman at 11:05 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by parmanparman at 11:05 AM on January 29, 2015
Nthing the notion of the kid planning and building his own system. Admittedly, not every kid is into it enough to pull it off successfully - that's your judgement call as a parent. I let my son do it, and it was a very positive experience.
Having said that, at the very least I'd start by asking my kid the same question you asked here. Getting out on the 'net and doing some shopping research and reading reviews and so forth is a good skill to have, and 14yo kids are usually pretty good at soaking up information off of the Internets.
posted by doctor tough love at 11:30 AM on January 29, 2015
Having said that, at the very least I'd start by asking my kid the same question you asked here. Getting out on the 'net and doing some shopping research and reading reviews and so forth is a good skill to have, and 14yo kids are usually pretty good at soaking up information off of the Internets.
posted by doctor tough love at 11:30 AM on January 29, 2015
Use this site, then subtract the cost of a monitor/keyboard/mouse/etc from your total budget and that's what you buy. Then he puts it together.
I was 14 when my dad bought me all the components to build my own gaming machine.
That machine, in one form or another, lasted me the entirety of high school and college. I got a new GPU, later swapped the motherboard and cpu, added ram, added hard drives. Eventually replaced almost everything ship of thesus style but i still had a good quality case, power supply, and hard drives that were still totally fine. It was in my top 5 best presents i ever got. In fact my old roommate is STILL using that case and power supply. I got the base components when i was 14, and was still using some of the stuff when i was 21.
It's absolutely fun because in a couple years, especially now that CPUs have basically stopped getting meaningfully faster since 2011, he can go "oh sweet, i got a couple checks for my birthday, i can combine that with some money i saved and buy a new GPU!".
There's no all in one that's really like that, and all in ones are a poor value anyhow. The only kind that makes sense is a gaming laptop, and those are really silly and poor value and only make sense if you really have a good use case for them(IE you travel a lot for work but have lots of downtime in weird locations)
posted by emptythought at 2:40 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was 14 when my dad bought me all the components to build my own gaming machine.
That machine, in one form or another, lasted me the entirety of high school and college. I got a new GPU, later swapped the motherboard and cpu, added ram, added hard drives. Eventually replaced almost everything ship of thesus style but i still had a good quality case, power supply, and hard drives that were still totally fine. It was in my top 5 best presents i ever got. In fact my old roommate is STILL using that case and power supply. I got the base components when i was 14, and was still using some of the stuff when i was 21.
It's absolutely fun because in a couple years, especially now that CPUs have basically stopped getting meaningfully faster since 2011, he can go "oh sweet, i got a couple checks for my birthday, i can combine that with some money i saved and buy a new GPU!".
There's no all in one that's really like that, and all in ones are a poor value anyhow. The only kind that makes sense is a gaming laptop, and those are really silly and poor value and only make sense if you really have a good use case for them(IE you travel a lot for work but have lots of downtime in weird locations)
posted by emptythought at 2:40 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
As someone who built his first PC at age 13(with my dad's help), please please please help him build his own pc. It was an invaluable experience for me and helped kick start my career in IT. A nice gaming rig can be built for around 800 dollars and can be gradually updated for future fun.
posted by Twain Device at 4:14 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by Twain Device at 4:14 PM on January 29, 2015
It really seems like you'll be better served building one. The following isn't so much complex as detailed:
Read the logical increments guide to find a build that will work with your budget. Read the links on the sidebar of the /r/buildapc subreddit. Come up with a list of parts that fit your budget and your needs, and then post that list on the subreddit. Maybe shop for deals if you really want to, but try to buy all the parts at once. It would suck if you got a malfunctioning part and you were outside of the return window (getting a bad part, say, bad ram, doesn't happen a lot, but occasionally will).
The hard part is done. Putting it together is pretty straight forward. Don't put it together with a lot of static build up from the carpet or whatever; tiny shocks you can't even feel can degrade parts so they fail mysteriously later. Probably should get an anti-shock bracelet. I would, but I'm paranoid about that kind of stuff. And it's winter where I am, so static city.
posted by wires at 9:47 AM on January 30, 2015
Read the logical increments guide to find a build that will work with your budget. Read the links on the sidebar of the /r/buildapc subreddit. Come up with a list of parts that fit your budget and your needs, and then post that list on the subreddit. Maybe shop for deals if you really want to, but try to buy all the parts at once. It would suck if you got a malfunctioning part and you were outside of the return window (getting a bad part, say, bad ram, doesn't happen a lot, but occasionally will).
The hard part is done. Putting it together is pretty straight forward. Don't put it together with a lot of static build up from the carpet or whatever; tiny shocks you can't even feel can degrade parts so they fail mysteriously later. Probably should get an anti-shock bracelet. I would, but I'm paranoid about that kind of stuff. And it's winter where I am, so static city.
posted by wires at 9:47 AM on January 30, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Especially with stream, where there can be a wide assortment
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:11 AM on January 29, 2015