Best Build for Learning to build?

[Bondy3]

You really think DOTA is a good game for him to learn?  I feel like at least minecraft influences creativity,    Im also thinking about getting him into coding,  I want him to make his own game (though it will be a basic game)

[Streetguru]

15 minutes ago, Bondy3 said:

You really think DOTA is a good game for him to learn?  I feel like at least minecraft influences creativity,    Im also thinking about getting him into coding,  I want him to make his own game (though it will be a basic game)

Or Warcraft 3, critical thinking is nice. I went from warcraft 3 to dota when I younger.

[Bondy3]

1 minute ago, Streetguru said:

Or Warcraft 3, critical thinking is nice. I went from warcraft 3 to dota when I younger.

Ill ask him about it to see if its something he would like.  but in the interum I think he will be happy with his minecraft desktop that he will put together

[Streetguru]

5 minutes ago, Bondy3 said:

Ill ask him about it to see if its something he would like.  but in the interum I think he will be happy with his minecraft desktop that he will put together

I'd probably just go for the APU build so you get a better motherboard/PSU, obviously the $100 GPU is going to be faster, but eh, or wait for AM4 potentially, or even just go AM1 and get a really low cost rig, course the AM1 CPU isn't going to be too fast, but should be enough for most small tasks and will fit with the 250 GPU pretty well

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/frPW23
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/frPW23/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI AM1I Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($27.20 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($64.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 250X 2GB Core Edition Video Card  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $311.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-23 16:31 EDT-0400

[stconquest]

27 minutes ago, Bondy3 said:

You really think DOTA is a good game for him to learn?  I feel like at least minecraft influences creativity,    Im also thinking about getting him into coding,  I want him to make his own game (though it will be a basic game)

I think you guys are straying way too far with Linux and other games.  Focus on a few concrete goals:

 

1.  Understanding what parts are need to build a PC and have a general understanding of what they do.  You could spend weeks and months on each individual component and the technology that goes into it.

 

2.  Installing Windows and organizing that OS.  Keep it simple and effective.

 

3.  Install MC and have some freaking fun.

[Bondy3]

20 minutes ago, stconquest said:

I think you guys are straying way too far with Linux and other games.  Focus on a few concrete goals:

 

1.  Understanding what parts are need to build a PC and have a general understanding of what they do.  You could spend weeks and months on each individual component and the technology that goes into it.

 

2.  Installing Windows and organizing that OS.  Keep it simple and effective.

 

3.  Install MC and have some freaking fun.

I think you might be right, focus on the basics,  we can have extensive discussions on any part as there is so much that goes into it, but I think that its best to just focus on the basics for now!

[Bondy3]

28 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

I'd probably just go for the APU build so you get a better motherboard/PSU, obviously the $100 GPU is going to be faster, but eh, or wait for AM4 potentially, or even just go AM1 and get a really low cost rig, course the AM1 CPU isn't going to be too fast, but should be enough for most small tasks and will fit with the 250 GPU pretty well

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/frPW23
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/frPW23/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI AM1I Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($27.20 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($64.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 250X 2GB Core Edition Video Card  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $311.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-23 16:31 EDT-0400

So many awesome parts lists,    you have given me some good things to think ago,  im going to go through all the components with a fine tooth comb and make sure that I feel confident with what he is getting.  I think its going to be a fun project!!

[Djole123]

3 hours ago, Bondy3 said:

Wow there are such great suggestions,  you guys thought of some stuffI hadn't.  One thing I hadnt thought of, and im now debating if I want to do. is get an OS.  maybe it would be good to put him on Linux and force him to use that to learn.  

 

take-away points

1) should I run his system on an SSD or a spinny disk?

2) should I get him windows 10? or make him use something free?

3) over-clocking?  would that require a decent cpu cooling system?

4) how cheap can I go with a power supply?  I dont want something that will crap out and break everything, 

 

1) If you have an SSD and a Hard Drive, then install on the SSD, as it will make booting the OS faster.

2) Windows any day. Compatibility is miles better on Windows than something like a Mac or Linux system.

3) Since you are having a really tight budget, I wouldn't even bother overclocking.

4) You can cheap out on anything: Motherboard, RAM, Hard Drive...

But don't cheap out on power supplies. It is a huuuuuge risk of having a 15$ PSU as it will probably overload, and since it's cheap, there is no protection, so you can say goodbye to components.

[Streetguru]

1 hour ago, Bondy3 said:

So many awesome parts lists,    you have given me some good things to think ago,  im going to go through all the components with a fine tooth comb and make sure that I feel confident with what he is getting.  I think its going to be a fun project!!

And I guess there's a lot of raspberry pi stuff for kids, not sure if you'd want that over a real PC though, real PC is a lot more flexible

 

https://store.tested.com/sales/piper-kit

Same one on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Piper-Raspberry-Minecraft-Childrens-Electronic/dp/B016HLFW44