My son wants to stream gaming. I know, I know. But he's actually pretty into it as a hobby and he's researched it way more than I'd expect. We set a budget of $1200. Anyone have experience with what specs are actually needed? And should I be concerned about the streaming thing or just let him explore it?
Honestly get him to watch some reviews on YouTube specifically about gaming laptops for streaming. LTT, JayzTwoCents - let him validate the recommendation himself. He'll feel more invested in it that way.
MSI GF63 or Lenovo Legion 5 both right around your budget and way better for streaming than cheaper options. Thermal management matters when you're running stream + game at the same time or the fans get loud and ruin audio quality. He'll figure that out real quick if he does any research
Make sure whatever you get has good thermals - streaming + gaming overheats a lot of budget laptops and then performance tanks mid-stream. That's the #1 complaint I see from young streamers. Also external monitor setup matters way more than the laptop specs for comfort
Real talk - make sure he understands that streaming as a "hobby" probably won't make money and that's ok? My kid went through this phase and it was way less depressing when he accepted it was just for fun with friends, not content creation as a business plan.
That's cool he researched it himself. For streaming + gaming at that budget, you're looking at either a solid mid-range gaming laptop OR a gaming desktop. If he's serious about streaming, honestly a desktop build might give you better performance per dollar, but laptops are portable. What games is he wanting to stream?
The fact that he actually researched this himself puts him ahead of most kids. At 14 I would've just wanted the most expensive thing. $1200 is solid for streaming - get him a Lenovo Legion or ASUS TUF, both crush it at that price point.
Don't cheap out on the cooling if he's gonna be streaming for hours - you want something with decent thermals otherwise it'll throttle during long sessions. The legion and TUF both nail this.
My son streams too and the ASUS TUF series has been bulletproof. We went with the one around $1100 and it handles everything he throws at it plus the build quality is insane. Worth every dollar.
Be prepared for the "I need a better PC" in 2 years lol. Not saying don't get it, but that's how these things go.
The fact that you're not just dismissing it is already winning parenting imo. A lot of dads would shut this down, but streaming is legit becoming a career path and if he's into it now at 14, better he learns the tech side early. $1200 is a solid budget for actual decent hardware
ASUS TUF or Legion series are solid in that price range. RTX 4050 or 4060 minimum if he wants to stream without dropping frames. The fact that he researched it means he probably already knows what he needs though lol. Let him pick between like 3 options and call it good
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What games is he planning to stream? That'll matter for the GPU. Like if it's valorant/CS you could go lighter, but if he wants AAA titles you need something beefier.