Gaming PC for Son

Do you have a monitor already? I don't see one in that list. What screen resolution?

I'll draw up a build this weekend if I get a chance. Most of the budget will go into GPU. Will check up what model gets 240 in COD.

Your sons friend sure didn't work with a budget. I would just argue that's overkill. You are about to spend 3 grand on this set up with the peripherals (and please note there is no sense getting a massive rig like this and hooking it up to discount bucket peripherals)

You don't need 240 FPS, everyone is quite happy at around 60. I value the fluidity when it's say 60-120 and it means it's future proof, new games come out it will play great. But 240 is a stupid aim to pay extra for. Note also that your monitor can only display so fast... Those monitors are extra expensive. Do decide on a monitor and include it as part of the build because the different resolutions and refresh rates are important for the specs.

Regarding SSD - 500gb is a good start. You can buy and expand with a 1tb or 2tb SSD it takes no time at all to add that in later.

Very quick spitballing here:

• AMD Ryzen 5600 - 155eur
• Thermalright Assassin King SE CPU cooler - 27eur
• Gigabyte B550M AORUS Elite motherboard - 115eur
• 16Gb DDR4-3200 CL16 RAM (memory) - 45eur
• 1Tb SSD - 57eur
• Any case with included fans: 60eur for a budget case, or (preferably) 80-100 eur for a Lian Li Lancool 205 series
• 750-850W Gold-rated Power supply from Corsair, Seasonic, be quiet, NZXT, Phanteks or EVGA: 80-100eur

So about 550-580 for the guts, then add a graphics card.

RX 6700 XT (420-450eur) would get 60fps+ in any title.

As for monitors, 1080p (1920x1080) and 1440p (2560x1440) resolution with at least 144Hz refresh are all around 170-250eur now. Usually you can get a good student discount from Dell.ie or Lenovo.ie that works out cheaper than Amazon, etc.

• Amazon is usually reliable. Check if UK or DE site has better prices/stock.
• Caseking.DE has a lot of variety & decent prices.
• MemoryC.ie & Maxburns.ie are based in Ireland (with UK stock) so can be a good shout.

That suggests they are completely focused on framerates and have it in their head that they need 240fps. They also want to think about resolution, settings and things like keyboard, mouse, headset and the fact they have to actually fit everything into a budget ;)

240 fps in COD is about what you might just scrape by on getting on minimal settings at 1080p from a 13700K and a 6800xt.

If instead they focused on 144/165 fps at 1440p they could do it with a 5600 and 6700xt and if they moved up to a 6800xt they wouldn't quite manage ultra settings but they'd probably be fine with balanced settings at least. 1440p with sane settings at 144/165 fps with a decent keyboard and mouse is going to be vastly better all around and if they turn out to be on the path to a career as a professional esports player will be more than good enough to show it and probably even earn the money to spend €5k+ on a stupid rig to get the last 1% edge.

Basically 144/165 is "easy" but 240 means throwing money at the cpu/ram/board/cooling for all the small gains. If you have €5k+ in pocket change grabbing a 13900K/4090 and super ultrawide 240Hz monitor that's one thing but on a €2k (give or take) budget taking the low hanging fruit will get something much better then blowing hundreds extra of it on one aspect at the expense of everything else.

If they just can't let go of the cpu and frames obsession I'd say going with a Ryzen 7600 (or 5800X3D) would be a better move than the 13600K. The 7600 would mean they would at least be blowing the money on a platform they can upgrade going forward while the 5800X3D would be "the best" of AM4 where the savings on the motherboard/cooler (and I'd say ram as going with a 13600K for these reasons suggests going with fast DDR5) would at least save them from having to cut too many corners elsewhere.

Putting it all together, something LIKE:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (€144.69 @ Computeruniverse)

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE WHITE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (£36.50 @Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 GAMING X V2 ATX AM4 Motherboard (€120.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory (€102.88 @ Computeruniverse)

Storage: Western Digital Black SN850 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€34.00 bought already)

Storage: Crucial P3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€121.66 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Video Card: PowerColor Red Dragon OC Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€703.44 @ Computeruniverse)

Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital ATX Mid Tower Case (€109.83 @ Computeruniverse)

Power Supply: Enermax Revolution D.F. 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€136.57 @ Computeruniverse)

Monitor: ViewSonic VX2718-2KPC-MHD 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Curved Monitor (€228.51 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Total: €1750ish

Should leave them enough for a decent keyboard, mouse, headset. I included the 2TB drive on top of your 500GB because COD is something like 175GB, Elden Ring I think is 60GB (but I also see some things saying 150GB) so 500GB is going to be gone very quickly with the size of games now. You could just leave it out completely to start which might just let them upgrade to a 5800X3d or 7900xt or ultrawide. I swapped the motherboard KOKiki had chosen just because it only has a x2 second M.2 slot but it's not likely to make any practical difference.

The case is white with RGB bling because of what's in stock (the Lancools don't seem to be) at a remotely sane price and the starting list was throwing money at looks ;) The cooler is white just because it's fractionally cheaper and will kinda match the case. The cooler is also overkill for the 5600 but a massive steal at the price.

I haven't bought from computeruniverse in years but think they should still be fine as another option to buy from.

If you ask them what monitor, mouse, keyboard, headset they have in mind and then start adding it all up they might realise just how long they could be saving for to tick every box in their dreams.

You could buy the above list but really it was more about "adding it all up" to help present a complete picture. I've bumped up a little from KOKiki (e.g. the ram) just to help the "teen acceptance factor" and the feeling that the teen is raging to spend all their money on the best they can get.

p.s. I'd generally say a nice and wise parental move is to say "I'll buy the power supply cause I don't want the house burning down and/or something horribly inefficient"

p.p.s. I'd try and avoid buying parts one at a time over the next month as you could end up discovering one of the first parts has to be returned and you end up too late for a simple return and stuck waiting for it to be dealt with as a warranty issue (I think 30 days is the threshold). It can also help with shipping costs.

Nice explainer here. It's not hard and fast rule on what we can precieive but 200+ fps is certainly beyond mere mortals.

Even if it were, as minitrue says, the money you could spend trying to reach that goal can be spent on good keyboard, mouse, and headset which have far more tangible impact on the experience at that point. Also while not a huge expense there is a chair and desk needed. Aim for 1440p@120/144 in COD and then focus of those. You'd get far more return for your money and a way better experience all round.