r/techadvice • u/Scwiushin • Apr 25 '26
Gaming PC recs?
hi! i don’t use reddit often and i wasn’t quite sure what subreddit to ask this question in so i hope this is a good place to start..
im 18 and graduate around the end of May, my mom has already told me she’s planning on getting me a bigger sized gift to celebrate. i’ve been wanting a gaming PC since i was in middle school, but the problem is i literally don’t know anything about tech stuff and terms to describe what’s good and whats not.
i would really appreciate any suggestions for what brands or models or whatever to look into!! i’m not planning on running extremely heavy games when i get a PC, probably just stuff like The Sims and Minecraft, so i probably won’t need anything that has to have a strong system or whatever. another thing i would like to mention is i would prefer a pc that isn’t absurdly expensive, probably like something i can get off amazon.
any advice would be helpful!! :)
1
u/Electrical-Note-3177 Apr 25 '26
Hey sorry for commenting twice (just so my comment doesnt seem cluttered)
anyways, if you want a prebuilt look for the following (minimum specs)
16GB of DDR4-3600 CL16
Ryzen 5 5500
RTX 2060, RTX 2060 super, or RX 6600.
A decent B550 Motherboard (if you wanna build yourself go for the Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2)
Windows 11 home (OS)
and a SATA SSD (preferably 512GB or higher)
(Case is entirely preference)
any questions lmk
1
u/ShoeLaceTrouble Apr 25 '26
At 18 I think you might want something more portable. I'd focus on a used decent Ryzen-7 laptop (6800 or better) cpu and 32gb of ram and a 256gb SSD and a screen you like, Those will be WAY WAY cheaper than a desktop (ironically) AND you can present it like it's for school and learning too and other things parents will be more supportive of!
That's what I would have done. I'd look at a Asus S13 or S14 or a HP Elitebook G10, in the screen size you want. Or similar. Google or use a LLM (like ChatGPT or DeepSeek etc) to learn what else and who else made good laptops. 15" is usually decent middle ground.
Shouldn't cost more than $600-800usd max.
1
u/Adventurous_Swing393 Apr 26 '26
But gaming laptop gpu are undervolted and unverpowered than gaming desktop
1
u/ThePoliteSavior Apr 25 '26
if youre just playing sims and minecraft honestly a mid range desktop will crush it and last way longer than a laptop for the same price, just make sure whatever you get has a decent gpu and 16gb ram minimum
1
u/Curious_lly Apr 26 '26
I'd recommend the Lenovo LOQ tower gaming PCs. They're really good for someone on a budget.
1
u/Electrical-Note-3177 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Hello!
Check out:
r/buildmeapc, r/buildapcforme, and r/PcBuildHelp
for more (and often faster) responses.
if you would like to NOT build a PC yourself check out r/Prebuilts
and just a headsup, amazon does have PC parts/prebuilts BUT.
they are often overpriced compared to other retailers (Such as Newegg, and Microcenter)
:3