How to convince my parents to let me buy a Gaming PC

Deathman470 · Jan 8, 2017

So I am now 14 and I have outstanding grades, a great social life, and I work extremely hard and even work at a Airforce Auxiliary (CAP). I even have the money I need for the entire thing. Heres the build https://www.gladiatorpc.co.uk/configure/config/66646

But my mother thinks that getting one will screw with the Macs in the house and thinks that a PC will instantly get infected with viruses and her bank account and such private information will be stolen and we will lose everything. So I have EVERYTHING I need but she still wont let ME buy it! If you have any tips or anything it would help a lot.

Paul NZ · Jan 8, 2017

Tell her macs are just as bad, if not worse for malware / viruses.

Mac users THOUGHT they were safe from viruses years ago. That is NOT the case now

Even if a PC gets infected, unless ithe virus can run on a mac it wont infect it anyway

weberdarren97 · Jan 8, 2017

Deathman470 :

Sounds like my aunt... Here's what you and your mother need to know:
1) Windows comes with built in firewall software and antivirus software.
2) Microsoft pushes out security updates all the time so your antivirus software knows how to combat the newest threats.
3) If she doesn't use your computer, her information isn't on your computer. Her information can't be stolen from your machine if it's not on your machine.
4) If you did something terribly wrong and got infected by malware that steals information, it wouldn't have access to her Mac. Windows and Mac are entirely different. I don't know of any programs that can run on both, not even viruses.
5) If she's worried about her banking information being stolen, she shouldn't have put that information online in the first place. Banking information being stolen off of your computer is very rare. What's much more common is when it gets stolen from the servers at the bank. Those attract a lot more attention from hackers than her little Mac.
6) As long as you make sure you're only visiting sites that can be trusted, your antivirus should never have to do anything because you won't be at sites that are potentially hazardous. It's rare that viruses are downloaded from secure sites because they will take care of the issue in a timely manner, usually less than an hour from when the infection began. Unless you're unlucky enough to get into the site at that time, you'll be fine. The chances of that happening are lower than the chances of winning the lottery.

Maybe after you get used to your machine, you can show her through everything that Windows can do. The part where you can customize a PC without having to take the display off is really nice xD

KittyFish62 · Jan 8, 2017

Note before reading: Aren't you old enough to have a paypal account? If so, just create one and pay for it. If not, continue reading.

Let her read this explanation:

Macs are just as capable of getting viruses as PCs, (in my opinion, Macs are trash lol) they just don't get as much because much more people use windows, so most of the people who make viruses target windows users. Also, one computer can't infect another computer with a virus, (unless you purposely transfer it over of course) especially if that computer has another os. The only way you would get a virus, is if you would download something suspicious or with another thing. You would also have to have admin privileges and windows would ask you first too. In order to keep yourself from mistakenly downloading and installing viruses, you have to back-up your hard drive each month in case you have very very important files, check for malware each time you download something, and always update to the latest version of windows to make sure hackers don't exploit old bugs. You would have to do the same thing if Macs were just as popular as Windows PCs. I suggest you give your mom a throughou talk about computers (unless your mom is like my own mom and my sister, then you REALLY have to try to convince them).

Edit: Welp looks like I'm late to the party lol. At least you have multiple supporters

USAFRet · Jan 8, 2017

1. Where your parents work, is it exclusively Mac's? Unlikely.
2. Are those non-Mac's always infected? No.

Bottom line, though..it's hard to redirect strong parental opinion.

Martell1977 · Jan 8, 2017

1) that is what anti-virus is for
2) unless she puts her bank and other info on the PC, it's not at risk
3) you can have a mac and PC on the same network without issue. If there were problems doing this then many corporations would be in IT hell.
4) Windows 10 PC's are pretty secure compared to the older Windows OS's and unless you are a nitwit and let the virus in, you're fairly safe.
5) PC's and macs use a different programming language for the OS and so the a virus would not be transferable.
6) PC's are vastly better price/performance than a mac. Compare a mac and a Windows PC with identical hardware and the mac is usually ~3 times more...because it has a shiny apple on the side and their OS.
7) A PC can be easily upgraded for years, whereas a mac is restricted to what hardware apple will allow you to use and replacements and upgrades are generally grossly overpriced.

weberdarren97 · Jan 8, 2017

KittyFish62 :

I'm not trying to be sexist, but I've learned that it's very hard to change a woman's mind once it's made up. It doesn't matter if it's your mother or sister, or my cousins... They tend to stand by their mindset the way us guys stand by ours. If said woman is head of the house, OP's got his work cut out for him here xD.

KittyFish62 · Jan 8, 2017

weberdarren97 :

KittyFish62 :

I'm not trying to be sexist, but I've learned that it's very hard to change a woman's mind once it's made up. It doesn't matter if it's your mother or sister, or my cousins... They tend to stand by their mindset the way us guys stand by ours. If said woman is head of the house, OP's got his work cut out for him here xD.

So true XD. If you're lucky though, you might find one that's not like that, but I'm yet to find one

weberdarren97 · Jan 8, 2017

Martell1977 :

You forgot to mention that we can swap out the CPU without having to take the screen off. Also, quirks like "SATA connector is a little loose, fan is now stuck at 100% and my Mac is obnoxiously loud" take much less annoying forms in Windows computers. You'll get a beep from BIOS that something is wrong.

weberdarren97 · Jan 8, 2017

KittyFish62 :

weberdarren97 :

So true XD. If you're lucky though, you might find one that's not like that, but I'm yet to find one

Can I just keep bringing up that we can swap our internals without having to take the screen off until the mods stop me?

I'm kidding, I'll drop the topic now. I'm sure I've caused you guys a big enough headache by now.

KittyFish62 · Jan 8, 2017

*Picks topic back up* We've already gone this far, so just keep going!!!!!

weberdarren97 · Jan 8, 2017

KittyFish62 :

Go for it mate, continue my legacy! xD

USAFRet · Jan 8, 2017

Let's keep it a little bit on topic?
OK?

Male/female is not the discussion here.

Deathman470 · Jan 9, 2017

weberdarren97 :

Deathman470 :

Sounds like my aunt... Here's what you and your mother need to know:
1) Windows comes with built in firewall software and antivirus software.
2) Microsoft pushes out security updates all the time so your antivirus software knows how to combat the newest threats.
3) If she doesn't use your computer, her information isn't on your computer. Her information can't be stolen from your machine if it's not on your machine.
4) If you did something terribly wrong and got infected by malware that steals information, it wouldn't have access to her Mac. Windows and Mac are entirely different. I don't know of any programs that can run on both, not even viruses.
5) If she's worried about her banking information being stolen, she shouldn't have put that information online in the first place. Banking information being stolen off of your computer is very rare. What's much more common is when it gets stolen from the servers at the bank. Those attract a lot more attention from hackers than her little Mac.
6) As long as you make sure you're only visiting sites that can be trusted, your antivirus should never have to do anything because you won't be at sites that are potentially hazardous. It's rare that viruses are downloaded from secure sites because they will take care of the issue in a timely manner, usually less than an hour from when the infection began. Unless you're unlucky enough to get into the site at that time, you'll be fine. The chances of that happening are lower than the chances of winning the lottery.

Maybe after you get used to your machine, you can show her through everything that Windows can do. The part where you can customize a PC without having to take the display off is really nice xD

My only question is that she says that since we are all connected to the name WiFi that they would be able to get in through that. But other than that this solution was extremely helpful and my dad's mind has already been changed.

weberdarren97 · Jan 9, 2017

Deathman470 :

weberdarren97 :

My only question is that she says that since we are all connected to the name WiFi that they would be able to get in through that. But other than that this solution was extremely helpful and my dad's mind has already been changed.

Infections don't just spread across WiFi. In order for it to be transferred, you'd have to connect the computers directly. With a WiFi router between them, the built in firewall wouldn't let it through. You'd need something like an ethernet crossover cable to directly connect them, then you'd have to manually initiate the transfer.

Jeff Kaos · Jan 9, 2017

I'll tell you something you can tell your mom: I've personally received no less than five letters in the past 2 years informing me that my personal information has been compromised and that I would be receiving a years subscription to some sort of "Lifelock" credit monitoring service. And in no instance did I get on of those letters because someone hacked my home computer; instead they came from Target, Best Buy even the goddamn Sheriff's department I was working for at the time. So tell your mom your PC will be fine. And there's absolutely no way for someone to enter any device on the same network from your PC which sounds like what she might be worried about. Real life isn't a TV show.

weberdarren97 · Jan 9, 2017

Jeff Kaos :

I think this is the best advice I've seen on this thread so far. Those shows like CSI Cyber and all that make the world seem much more vulnerable than it really is.

Deathman470 · Jan 10, 2017

weberdarren97 :

Deathman470 :

Infections don't just spread across WiFi. In order for it to be transferred, you'd have to connect the computers directly. With a WiFi router between them, the built in firewall wouldn't let it through. You'd need something like an ethernet crossover cable to directly connect them, then you'd have to manually initiate the transfer.

My parents are now A ok with me getting one. THANK YOU! But the only thing in the way is that when we have a PC in the house it screws with the Macs and they cannot connect to the internet. IF you could point me in a way to solve this they said that they would seriously consider it.

Martell1977 · Jan 10, 2017

There is no reason that connecting a PC to a network should or would interfere with the macs connecting. Each individual connection is separate and while you can setup the ability for the computers to communicate to each other over the network, they wont prevent the router from connecting.

Some routers have a limited number of connections, mostly ones from your ISP (the FIOS router I had, had a limit of 10 connected devices.), so unless you are reaching that limit, you should be good to go.

I have 2 Windows desktops(1 wired, 1 wireless), 4 Windows laptops, 4 android tablets, 5 android phones all connected to my router and my sister had no issues connecting her iphone and ipad to the network. Obviously, I'm no longer with FIOS.

weberdarren97 · Jan 10, 2017

@Deathman470, I would recommend that you observe what issues happen when and how it affects the Macs. Once that information is gathered, how about you create a new post and give it a title that will attract the more network savvy users here on Tom's? (I'm not one of them)

USAFRet · Jan 10, 2017

Martell1977 :

I have Verizon FiOS, and have about 15-20 devices connected, both wired and wireless. PC's, printers, tablets, laptops, cameras...
You would seem to have other issues.

Martell1977 · Jan 10, 2017

USAFRet :

I called them at one point and they told me that the limit on my modem/router was 10 devices. The offered me a different one for a $15 a month upcharge. When Frontier took over I ditched them for Charter Spectrum and the router I bought has no issues. I had FIOS for almost 10 years and that was the only problem I had....until frontier.

weberdarren97 · Jan 10, 2017

Martell1977 :

How many network enabled devices does your family currently have? If it's less than ten then you're fine. You'll need to call your ISP for assistance in removing devices you no longer have from the list of devices.

weberdarren97 · Jan 10, 2017

Now that we've gotten past the issue of being allowed to get a PC, I feel I should make you aware of a potential issue with the system you have linked in your original post. The power supply really isn't that great at all. It'll run the system without issue, but I would replace it within a year, just to be safe. For the record, I'm not worried about it starting a fire or anything. I'm worried that it'll simply stop working after a couple years because it's a lower quality unit.

Capable of running the machine without issue for at least a year? Yes.

Fire hazard? No.

Do I recommend it? No. I would replace the unit within a year.

I have a YouTube video that shows just how easy it is to get a power supply out of a case and put it back in.

Martell1977 · Jan 10, 2017

weberdarren97 :

At the time I had about 12 devices on average and it was usually my printer and one of the phones that got bumped when anyone connected another device. The router I have now has no issues and I have over 15 devices connected, with an average of about 11 constantly connected.

How to convince my parents to let me buy a Gaming PC

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