HALP!!! My kid wants a gaming computer for his birthday (OCT20)

I've looked at a bunch on Amazon and other places and they're all around 1K for just the box. Obvious;y we need the monitor, keyboard, mouse too.

If he could use it for his schoolwork that would be good too.

He mostly streams games - Roblox, Fortnite etc

Basically, We need something that isn't laggy, glitchy and the graphics are great.

We want the computer to last about least 5 years and we are mostly looking at desktops but aren't completely against laptops if they'll do the job.

looking at spending around $800 in total.

What specs should we be looking for?

This isn't top of the line but is probably adequate: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-modern-15-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-512gb-ssd-black-onyx/6408060.p?skuId=6408060

Last summer, I got a new MSI laptop that was normally something like $1.4K for $600 and I've been very happy with it

Dan, has the 8gb memory been a problem? I keep reading that 16gb is minimum for a game comp but they could just be trying to upsell me.

Well... the one I ended up getting has 32 GB so I can't really answer that question. I would say, though, that PC laptops are easier to upgrade than Macs and as long as the machine supports more memory, you can always increase it at a later date if it's an issue.

For example, the one I linked is expandable up to 64 GB

has anyone tired these "pc on a stick?"

MeLE PCG02 Fanless Mini PC Stick Windows 11 Pro Celeron J4125 4GB 64GB Micro Desktop Computer Stick Support HDMI 4K HD, Dual Band Wi-Fi5, USB3.0, Gigabit Ethernet on Business Office Industrial IOT

https://smile.amazon.com/MeLE-Fanless-Computer-Ethernet-PCG02/dp/B09DV784X3/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=pALw5&content-id=amzn1.sym.8cf3b8ef-6a74-45dc-9f0d-6409eb523603&pf_rd_p=8cf3b8ef-6a74-45dc-9f0d-6409eb523603&pf_rd_r=8WFKWVNYMXKEK8YADHZK&pd_rd_wg=DIyhK&pd_rd_r=57cf18a3-73d2-4204-ad7e-a012dd5df21a&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mi&th=1