Fortnite PC

[lapal_fan]

Hi, 

I'm old now and therefore have absolutely no idea what anything to do with PCs is.

My son has asked for a PC to play Fortnite on.

I've googled it and get too many answers, PCs range from £200-1500+.

I just want someone to say "Get this" without having 10 other people talk about over clocking, don't spend too much on that graphics card or to increase the SSD blah blah.

Help. (Budget around £500).

Edited Monday at 11:01 by lapal_fan

[limpid]

10 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Hi, 

I'm old now and therefore have absolutely no idea what anything to do with PCs is.

My son has asked for a PC to play Fortnite on.

I've googled it and get too many answers, PCs range from £200-1500+.

I just want someone to say "Get this" without having 10 other people talk about over clocking, don't spend too much on that graphics card or to increase the SSD blah blah.

Help. (Budget around £500).

You can stream Fortnite, therefore anything with a browser.

[lapal_fan]

7 minutes ago, limpid said:

You can stream Fortnite, therefore anything with a browser.

I don't have a PC, only a works computer.

So are you saying I could buy any old shit computer and play it as if I've got a high-spec PC?

Sorry, I don't understand!

[Tegis]

For minimal fuss and get the added feature of portability. Maybe a ROG Ally. Its basically a handheld windows computer and reviews are positive.

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-rog-ally-handheld-gaming-console-amd-ryzen-z1-extreme-512-gb-ssd-10249544.html

I dont think the competing Steamdeck does Fortnight so I would avoid that one on the basis of this particular game

[limpid]

2 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

I don't have a PC, only a works computer.

So are you saying I could buy any old shit computer and play it as if I've got a high-spec PC?

Sorry, I don't understand!

Yes, precisely that. Chromebooks would be a good choice. If you aren't sure buy it somewhere were you can return it for a few weeks and make sure it does what you need first.

It's streaming like how you wouldn't ever do to watch a football match.

Search "Can I stream Fortnite".

[lapal_fan]

2 hours ago, Tegis said:

For minimal fuss and get the added feature of portability. Maybe a ROG Ally. Its basically a handheld windows computer and reviews are positive.

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-rog-ally-handheld-gaming-console-amd-ryzen-z1-extreme-512-gb-ssd-10249544.html

I dont think the competing Steamdeck does Fortnight so I would avoid that one on the basis of this particular game

Thanks, but yes got a switch he plays Fortnite on, his friends use PC and batter him and I think he thinks it's because of them using a pc (there may be some merit, I dunno).

We'd also use it for homework and stuff too, so the idea of getting him one isn't just for gaming.

Interesting what @limpid about getting a "less good" pc for the utility stuff, but he can also stream through it and play Fortnite like a good PC would.

(I'm guessing there's no issues in performance or frame rates etc).

[limpid]

19 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Thanks, but yes got a switch he plays Fortnite on, his friends use PC and batter him and I think he thinks it's because of them using a pc (there may be some merit, I dunno).

We'd also use it for homework and stuff too, so the idea of getting him one isn't just for gaming.

Interesting what @limpid about getting a "less good" pc for the utility stuff, but he can also stream through it and play Fortnite like a good PC would.

(I'm guessing there's no issues in performance or frame rates etc).

I don't think there will be. Purring anti-virus on a Windows machine probably slows down twitch speed as much as the CDN. You might want to investigate your broadband supplier though - that might also be the problem with the Switch.

Chromebooks are not "less good", but they are simpler to manage, don't require AV or other bloatware and just work. Like a computing appliance should. You can buy gaming Chromebooks if you want RGB keyboards. (Also they work within the Google parental stuff if you want to manage what he's doing.)

[Jareth]

5 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

Hi, 

I'm old now and therefore have absolutely no idea what anything to do with PCs is.

My son has asked for a PC to play Fortnite on.

I've googled it and get too many answers, PCs range from £200-1500+.

I just want someone to say "Get this" without having 10 other people talk about over clocking, don't spend too much on that graphics card or to increase the SSD blah blah.

Help. (Budget around £500).

Bought one of these for exactly this reason last June - worth looking around Ebay for better configurations but getting a refurbed one is extra bang for your buck and its quite a new machine so very unlikely to break- plus there are some good warranties out there too. 
ACER Nitro N50-650 Gaming PC - Intel Core i5 - GTX 1650

[Panto_Villan]

On 21/10/2024 at 15:14, lapal_fan said:

Thanks, but yes got a switch he plays Fortnite on, his friends use PC and batter him and I think he thinks it's because of them using a pc (there may be some merit, I dunno).

We'd also use it for homework and stuff too, so the idea of getting him one isn't just for gaming.

Interesting what @limpid about getting a "less good" pc for the utility stuff, but he can also stream through it and play Fortnite like a good PC would.

(I'm guessing there's no issues in performance or frame rates etc).

Yeah, anyone playing on a console like a Switch will get smashed if they try to play against someone playing on PC - it's simply because a mouse is a way faster and more accurate way to aim than using the control sticks / buttons on a console can ever be. 

Would you like to buy a desktop or a laptop? Desktops are generally cheaper and better unless you need to carry it around with you or move it regularly.

[lapal_fan]

59 minutes ago, Panto_Villan said:

Yeah, anyone playing on a console like a Switch will get smashed if they try to play against someone playing on PC - it's simply because a mouse is a way faster and more accurate way to aim than using the control sticks / buttons on a console can ever be. 

Would you like to buy a desktop or a laptop? Desktops are generally cheaper and better unless you need to carry it around with you or move it regularly.

Desktop

[Panto_Villan]

2 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

Desktop

Cool. You don't need a high-spec machine to play Fortnite and do a bit of work, so get something entry level. 

I'd probably go with something like this, which is £630, and pair it with a cheap 27" HD monitor from Amazon, which is about £90-100. Something like this (or whatever is on offer on a particular day and has 1000+ reviews). Then a cheap keyboard, mouse, mousemat and headset. That'll probably get you up to £750 total cost.

I appreciate that's over your budget of £500, but the problem is a copy of Windows costs about £100 and the monitor is going to cost £100, which means you don't have a lot left over for the actual PC itself on a £500 budget - especially when you're also paying for the company to spend a couple of hours assembling and testing it for you.

The absolute cheapest I'd go is something like this, which is £500 rather than £630 - but at that price range you're not even getting a graphics card, so you'd be relying on the inbuilt graphics processing on the CPU. You can probably just about run Fortnite on those if you use the lowest graphics settings, but it would be a struggle and personally I'd just pay the extra.

 

Edited 19 hours ago by Panto_Villan

[limpid]

https://amzn.to/3UjPVzY

£259

It'll be a better spec than your work laptop and there are no additionals to pay for.

[lapal_fan]

1 hour ago, limpid said:

https://amzn.to/3UjPVzY

£259

It'll be a better spec than your work laptop and there are no additionals to pay for.

Needs to be a desktop ideally.

He has a Chromebook thing which you can fold the keyboard etc.

[Panto_Villan]

6 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Needs to be a desktop ideally.

He has a Chromebook thing which you can fold the keyboard etc.

Streaming games doesn't tend to work very well, but you could always try it with his existing Chromebook - get a mouse and keyboard, buy a proper monitor, then plug the Chromebook into it and try streaming Fortnite in the web browser.

My prediction is that he'll have latency issues and it'll look like someone has smeared vaseline over the screen, but you'll need the monitor if you want to buy a desktop anyway so you wouldn't be losing anything by trying it out. And if it does work you've just saved yourself £600 or so.

[limpid]

 

21 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Needs to be a desktop ideally.

He has a Chromebook thing which you can fold the keyboard etc.

You could always try streaming on that. GeForce Now and Amazon Luna are both recommended by Epic.

10 minutes ago, Panto_Villan said:

Streaming games doesn't tend to work very well, but you could always try it with his existing Chromebook - get a mouse and keyboard, buy a proper monitor, then plug the Chromebook into it and try streaming Fortnite in the web browser.

My prediction is that he'll have latency issues and it'll look like someone has smeared vaseline over the screen, but you'll need the monitor if you want to buy a desktop anyway so you wouldn't be losing anything by trying it out. And if it does work you've just saved yourself £600 or so.

Why do you say that? I only stream games now. Full 4k streaming..

Your experience sounds like something from several years ago.

[Panto_Villan]

1 minute ago, limpid said:

 

You could always try streaming on that. GeForce Now and Amazon Luna are both recommended by Epic.

Why do you say that? I only stream games now. Full 4k streaming..

Your experience sounds like something from several years ago.

Do you? Which service do you use?

I loaded Fortnite up in a browser window when you mentioned it earlier in the thread out of curiosity and it looked awful - the stream wasn’t even HD quality.

Might be different with a service like GeForce Now or Luna, but then you’re paying a subscription, no?

You’ve also got the added latency issues that occur when you’re adding an extra server in between your computer and the game servers, and the input lag (i.e. moving your mouse doesn’t immediately update your crosshair position on your screen, it has to go all the way to a server and back again before you see the crosshair move).

Not sure how pronounced that is these days but competitive shooters are probably the genre where you least want that happening. Depends how seriously his kid takes his gaming to some extent.

But yeah, I agree if he already has a Chromebook he should definitely give it a try before splashing out on a desktop.

[limpid]

3 hours ago, Panto_Villan said:

Do you? Which service do you use?

I loaded Fortnite up in a browser window when you mentioned it earlier in the thread out of curiosity and it looked awful - the stream wasn’t even HD quality.

Might be different with a service like GeForce Now or Luna, but then you’re paying a subscription, no?

You’ve also got the added latency issues that occur when you’re adding an extra server in between your computer and the game servers, and the input lag (i.e. moving your mouse doesn’t immediately update your crosshair position on your screen, it has to go all the way to a server and back again before you see the crosshair move).

Not sure how pronounced that is these days but competitive shooters are probably the genre where you least want that happening. Depends how seriously his kid takes his gaming to some extent.

But yeah, I agree if he already has a Chromebook he should definitely give it a try before splashing out on a desktop.

I use GeForce Now since Stadia went away.

GeForce Now has a free version, but I've always paid. I think that with the difference in price between our suggestions, he'll be good paying for a service for quite a while. GeForce now does day passes - ideal to try this out.

[Panto_Villan]

11 hours ago, limpid said:

I use GeForce Now since Stadia went away.

GeForce Now has a free version, but I've always paid. I think that with the difference in price between our suggestions, he'll be good paying for a service for quite a while. GeForce now does day passes - ideal to try this out.

Yeah, fair enough. Don’t think it’d be for me but if he’s already got a Chromebook then it makes sense to give it a try before splashing out on a desktop - especially as Luna seems free if you have Amazon Prime.