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Computer for 11 Year Old

cyfanatic

cyfanatic

Well-Known Member
Oct 18, 2006
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Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Looking for advice on the type of computer I can buy for my 11 year old son to use as a "general" computer but one that he can also use to play "some" games. I do have a tiny bit of knowledge on computers (I prefer using Linux OSs but that would limit what my son could do). He is not looking to play the most powerful games but would like to download some games and be able to play them. We already have a Switch, PS4, Quest and XBox (spoiled??? but that is another discussion). Preferably I would like to avoid buying top end stuff but want a computer that will be able to download some games (again, not the top end high-powered computer games) and not be frustrated by games that constantly lag because our computer is not powerful enough. Here is my question...what would those of you who dabble in computer games recommend in terms of minimum specifications for a computer that could be used for some level of gaming but the most powerful?

I know that I am speaking vaguely in expectations but I don't want to buy a computer that is virtually a Chromebook (which I have and enjoy) without the power to do some gaming. I apologize for being vague but appreciate any advice/input one might have to offer.
 
It's a bit hard to recommend without having an idea of what it is he wants to play/how future proof you want it to be. As those two demands go up, price of what you may need drastically increases (and in some cases, so does difficulty of getting the right parts). What more can you tell us about the games he plays/is interested in and what sort of budget you had in mind?

As for OS, you're spot on. Windows will be, by far, the easiest and most compatible to work with for gaming.
 
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MeowingCows said:
It's a bit hard to recommend without having an idea of what it is he wants to play/how future proof you want it to be. As those two demands go up, price of what you may need drastically increases (and in some cases, so does difficulty of getting the right parts). What more can you tell us about the games he plays/is interested in and what sort of budget you had in mind?

As for OS, you're spot on. Windows will be, by far, the easiest and most compatible to work with for gaming.
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I really don't know to be honest...and want to/hope to be a bit future proof. I don't understand Steam and its associated games but he mentions that his friends play games on Steam. I noticed one of the games he wanted to download said 4 GB RAM was minimum needed so again, I don't think he is into the most powerful games out there...yet. I really don't mind it being a desktop due to the fact that a notebook would be much much more expensive correct? I have no idea where to begin? Is $1000 a lot for something in this field or is that more than is necessary?
 
If you can get a list of his current games that would be a big help in accurately speccing out a system.
But $1000 should be a serviceable startup. I'm assuming that you would be starting from scratch and need all components - PC, monitor, mouse & keyboard, speakers/headset.

Loose estimates for these things -
PC: $600 for an entry-level prebuilt gaming machine
Monitor: $150 (can get a cheap 1080p monitor from whereever, but this would be kind of the floor for a respectable monitor with features that games take advantage of such as FreeSync)
M&K: $100 (you can go cheaper here and easily be under $50)
Headset: $50 (if he's playing with friends a decent headset & mic are essential)
Speakers: $50 (skippable if only headset is needed, but solo gaming is more comfortable with speakers I think)

Steam is really just the store to buy games and the software to install & launch them. There are other platforms as well such as Epic Games.

You mentioned being experienced enough to use a Linux OS, but what about on the hardware side?
To build a custom system would make it easier to get what you need, be a better value, and your son would have more buy-in if his hands helped put the system together. And it's really not that hard. It's basically like putting together Legos.
 
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I would also recommend building it yourself. You can use PC part picker website to help you. For specs, just build it above and beyond the minimum specs of Elden Ring. Just depends on how much you want to spend. You can easily build your own super upgraded desktop for $2000. Or maybe take the one he has now and see if it is worth upgrading it; like adding more memory, convert HD to SSD drive, and a new video card. That assumes you have a decent motherboard and CPU already.
 
My opinion of gaming laptops are not highly recommended. They get noisy after awhile because it so darn compact and a lot of heat coming out of that laptop. Laptop just isn't made for gaming in my opinion no matter what laptop it is.
 
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I would echo building one. I knew nothing about building a PC but it is really pretty easy and there are lots of videos showing how to do it. I built mine around 2 years ago and have used it almost daily since. I would imagine it would be even more fun to do with a kid. And fortunately graphics cards are finally starting to get in stock and are moving towards reasonable prices. I started a thread here on CF while building it and got some good advice.
 
My first ever build I screwed the motherboard directly to the chassis without the spacers. Soon as I turned it on smoke shot out from the motherboard. Goes without saying, I learned my lesson that day. I have built seven computers now since 2004 and all of them worked. Just build it man and learn as you go. It is hard to screw up.
 
Nelcyn said:
My first ever build I screwed the motherboard directly to the chassis without the spacers. Soon as I turned it on smoke shot out from the motherboard. Goes without saying, I learned my lesson that day. I have built seven computers now since 2004 and all of them worked. Just build it man and learn as you go. It is hard to screw up.
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11 year old? Yeah build one, it will be fun.
 
Go on the subreddit r/buildapcforme and let them know what you all are looking for. They will get you a complete breakdown on everything to build one. That’ll be a lot of fun for both of you to do together.
 
You don't need much of a computer to play Minecraft, Fortnight, Roblox, or other tween games. For an entry level computer target these specs:

Processor:
4 or 6 core processor with included heatsink
Intel 12th/11th gen i3/i5: 12400, 12300, 12100, 11400, 11300
AMD Zen 5600, 5500, 3700X, 3600X

Motherbord:
Compatible mini-ITX

Memory:
16 GB at least, 2600 MT/s or greater
* If you go 12th gen Intel CPU you have the option of DDR5 depending on motherboard, but I'd stick with DDR4 for price and availability

Storage:
256 GB M.2 drive or larger

Graphics:
Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti, RTX 2060Super, RTX 3050

Power Supply:
500 W look for Gold rating

Case:
Make sure it's compatible with motherbord and power supply

Misc:
Monitor
Keyboard and mouse
Headset

As mentioned before use PCPartPicker to check completely and compare prices. Watch a few pc build videos with your son.
 
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I just built one with my son after Christmas and would definitely recommend doing that.

Just to give you an idea
Amd ryzen 5600 processor (6 core 3.7ghz)
Asus wifi gaming motherboard
GeForce gtx 1050 4gb video card
16gb of ram
500gb ssd
1tb hard drive

All of that plus a case, power supply, windows os and gaming keyboard/mouse was around $1100. It was more than we intended to spend but my wife went a little overboard.

It's fast, i think it might be a little overkill for oregon trail and sim city 2000. He does a few things thru steam. So far the majority of his gaming has been fortnite, farming simulator and I think apex legends(?).
 
Here's a hint. You don't have to pay for windows if you're okay with a watermark.
 
do4CY said:
I just built one with my son after Christmas and would definitely recommend doing that.

Just to give you an idea
Amd ryzen 5600 processor (6 core 3.7ghz)
Asus wifi gaming motherboard
GeForce gtx 1050 4gb video card
16gb of ram
500gb ssd
1tb hard drive

All of that plus a case, power supply, windows os and gaming keyboard/mouse was around $1100. It was more than we intended to spend but my wife went a little overboard.

It's fast, i think it might be a little overkill for oregon trail and sim city 2000. He does a few things thru steam. So far the majority of his gaming has been fortnite, farming simulator and I think apex legends(?).
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A build like this is pretty much ideal for if you want to be future-proofed for a handful of years.
Very solid & modern CPU, good storage, and respectable RAM to go along with an old GPU which can be easily upgraded when the need comes.

Of course, it's going to depend heavily on what games folks want to play to keep up with minimum/recommended requirements. If they're sticking with free-to-play games such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, those are generally designed quite well to have extremely low minimum system requirements. So, they can stick with GPUs much longer. If they're wanting to run max settings and jump in to the hyped up and "in" games (like Elden Ring right now), then they'll find themselves itching to upgrade GPUs every year or 2.

I was just thinking about this thread again because I've been seeing lots of pre-built PCs popping up at sale prices. Perhaps vendors are trying to dump stock before the 4000 series of Nvidia cards is released later this year.
 
If you don't want to mess with building one the Dell XPS series are pretty good IMO. I have one that is probably somewhere between 5-7 years old now I think and has been solid for me. I don't do heavy gaming on it as most of mine are older titles and I do more non-gaming stuff with it really. I upgraded it with a SSD hard drive a couple years ago that made a world of difference and probably could just upgrade my 1 TB graphics card to something newer and be fine playing most of the newer games out there. Apex gaming PCs is one that custom builds or has ready to go builds you can buy too and I am sure there are a few more places out there like them too.

Like many said here all depends on what he plans to use down the road. If you buy one already built look at the gaming PC models not the personal or business models as a lot of those don't come with a lot of expansion options anymore especially when it comes to graphics cards because most are integrated graphics and may not even have an expansion port if you buy one of their compact models.
 
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