Setting up a PC for the kids

This year I set up a PC for my boys to use.  Basically I re-purposed my old dual boxing PC, adding a larger hard drive as it only had WOW and Chrome on it before.  I also threw in a second video card and set up SLI.  This was to give it a bit more rendering power and satisfy an urge to set up a SLI system.  I upgraded the OS to Windows 7 as I wanted the boys to have access to security updates and I wanted a minimum of down time for the system.  I also logged into each browser and locked Google and YouTube to safe search.  While I know they can turn this off, I periodically review their history and the PC is kept in the open.

Next was to get some games right?  The system already had World of Warcraft on it and it still plays very well, albeit with the original character models not the new ones.  I also put a hard drive full of emulated games that came out of my old Home Theater PC into the system as a way to introduce them to older games.  Lastly I went online to Steam and Origin to get more games for the boys.  Steam has a huge library of games with regular sales and lots of free games available.  Most importantly Steam does a good job of listing the system requirements on most games so I know if it will work before I add it to the system.  While not anywhere as expansive as Steam’s, Origin also has a large library of games.  Most importantly they regularly offer free top of the line games via their On the House program.  I check it periodically to get new titles for the boys.

This approach has worked so well for me that one of my friends had me come over and help him set up a PC for his kids along the same lines. I look at this as a way to keep old hardware out of landfills as well as provide entertainment.