Help me spend next months money

[cameronh779]

Hello everyone!

I'll cut to the chase. I'm looking for a mobo/cpu/ram combo for as cheap as possible, preferably from newegg. I want the combo to allow me to continue to upgrade over the months as I only get spending money at the beginning of each month. I noticed the AMD being the cheapest but I also noticed that most of the nice intel cpus are all the same socket as the cheapest ones.

Simply:
I need a combo that allows me upgrade potential to a nice computer for as cheap as possible.

Thanks guys!

 

[cameronh779]

No one?

 

[erocker]

Budget.

Spending money on cheaper parts, only to upgrade to better parts within a relatively small timeframe is a money waster. The money lost through depreciation isn't worth it.

You also need to explain what you're using the computer for.

 

[Frick]

Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...
G.SKILL Value 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC...

Subtotal $116.

This entirely depends on exactly what you are after, and what your initial budget is. That is the cheapest you can go, but that socket is old.

Some other things would be:

ASRock H81M-DGS LGA 1150 Intel H81 SATA 6Gb/s USB ...
G.SKILL Value 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC...
Intel Pentium G3220 Haswell 3.0GHz LGA 1150 54W Du...

$160 or somesuch and it has nice upgrade paths. If your current system is the one in system specs you probably want a new PSU with that. Depending on the model, but I'm almost willing to bet money on it.

 

[cameronh779]

That AMD combo looks really nice for the price, and it does give me some upgrade paths. I have a new PSU on the way. By the looks of the Intel, I'm definitely better off sticking with the AMD combo. I can get the cpu/motherboard for the price of the Intel cpu.

 

[Hood]

Any Z87 board - (for overclocking after CPU upgrade) ($100 up)
Any Haswell Pentium CPU ($70-$100)
Any 600w to 850w PSU, preferably 80Plus Bronze or better and Haswell certified for low power states ($75-$130)
Any dual channel RAM kit 8GB , 1600MHz or higher ($65-$85)

That's $300-$400, but the only future upgrades needed will be the CPU and graphics card. Any other way will be a colossal waste of money. For example, a cheap B85 board won't support overclocking when you upgrade to an unlocked CPU, a 400w PSU won't be enough to support overclocking or high-end graphics cards, and matching an existing 4GB DIMM later on may prove difficult or impossible (2-DIMM kits are matched for compatibility).
I did the leapfrog upgrade path myself, but decided to buy a Z77 board and i5-3570K together ($400) at one point to avoid wasting money on those upgrade paths (already had a recent case, PSU, and GPU). Think it through, and only spend money on low-end stuff if you know you'll be able to sell it or use it in another build.

 

[Frick]

That AMD combo looks really nice for the price, and it does give me some upgrade paths. I have a new PSU on the way. By the looks of the Intel, I'm definitely better off sticking with the AMD combo. I can get the cpu/motherboard for the price of the Intel cpu.

No it doesn't. That was just to get the cheapest possible. Not to mention it's an old socket by now. It's cheap yes, but even I would not consider it to be worth it. But then again that depends on what the end goal is.

Another path is to go LGA1155, which offers pretty decent upgrade paths.

BIOSTAR H61MGV3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel...
Intel Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 65...

That, with the memory, is about $123, will be faster (I assume you'll use that HD 5770) and you can get some really nice CPU's to go with it later on if you want.

Same price is an FM2 setup, which probably is what you want if you want AMD. AM3+ CPU's are expensive (unless you count AM3 CPU's but those are not worth it).

@Hood: My money is on that is not what he's after.

 

[Fourstaff]

Find second hand 1155 parts, preferably with Z motherboard and K cpu. Don't waste your money buying a cheap cpu and motherboard only to upgrade it in a few months time, that is easily a hundred saved. If you are looking for a cheap platform, FM2+ and 5800K/6800K will last a very long time. My recommendation is to get 760K and FM2+, along with a decent graphics card like 7850/650Ti Boost depending on your budget.

 

[xvi]

Cheap with upgrade potential usually means an AMD APU. Decently good speeds, decently good integrated GPU, PCIe bus for when you want to take graphics dedicated.

I've done the "Buy one high end part at a time" thing and it's not worth it. Save up and buy everything at once or see below. My former rig was a DFI 790FXB with a Phenom II X2. By the time I managed to get my grubby little hands on an X6 1100t and some nice cards (4870/4850 combo lasted me a good while though), the second generation of the FX processors were just about out.

The only viable buy-it-as-you-go plan is typically to get a good board and good CPU off the bat (and usually good CPU cooler as well since many coolers require you to take the motherboard out). Lowball the memory and graphics since that's easily swapped out later and easily sold off (although, as others have mentioned, you won't get too much of your money back). That's the debt-free pay-as-you-go plan.

 

[Jetster]

Just get a AMD APU FM2 You should be in for $150 for Board CPU and Memory. Very upgradable

 

[Dent1]

Hello everyone!

I'll cut to the chase. I'm looking for a mobo/cpu/ram combo for as cheap as possible, preferably from newegg. I want the combo to allow me to continue to upgrade over the months as I only get spending money at the beginning of each month. I noticed the AMD being the cheapest but I also noticed that most of the nice intel cpus are all the same socket as the cheapest ones.

Simply:
I need a combo that allows me upgrade potential to a nice computer for as cheap as possible.

Thanks guys!

That AMD combo looks really nice for the price, and it does give me some upgrade paths. I have a new PSU on the way. By the looks of the Intel, I'm definitely better off sticking with the AMD combo. I can get the cpu/motherboard for the price of the Intel cpu.

What is your budget. If we don't know how much money you have you make it impossible to recommend components.

What will you be using the PC for? Without knowing this you make it impossible for us to cater for your needs.

 

[Frick]

Cheap with upgrade potential usually means an AMD APU. Decently good speeds, decently good integrated GPU, PCIe bus for when you want to take graphics dedicated.

If the OP is keeping that 5770 an APU is not the way imo. You get more CPU performance with Intel, and that is sort of the point.

 

[de.das.dude]

Hello everyone!

I'll cut to the chase. I'm looking for a mobo/cpu/ram combo for as cheap as possible, preferably from newegg. I want the combo to allow me to continue to upgrade over the months as I only get spending money at the beginning of each month. I noticed the AMD being the cheapest but I also noticed that most of the nice intel cpus are all the same socket as the cheapest ones.

Simply:
I need a combo that allows me upgrade potential to a nice computer for as cheap as possible.

Thanks guys!

if you want upgradability, then amd is the way to go, as intel changes socket pretty much every year/gen. also a budget would help

 

[Frick]

if you want upgradability, then amd is the way to go, as intel changes socket pretty much every year/gen. also a budget would help

FM1, FM2 and FM2+ tells a different story, and we still don't know how long AM3+ will last, which I have a feeling is outside his budget anyway.

With 1155 he can have it all.

 

[Steve-007UK]

I was in this situation last year so what i did was is buy parts each week or month untill i had the pc i wanted and as you can see from my spec on the left i ended up with a pretty nice pc that does a good job with everything i throw at it.

I have tryed to start with cheap parts and build the pc up over time but i waisted more money in the long run than it was worth.

I would personly buy a decent mobo first then a few weeks later get a nice intel CPU then a bit later slowly get the rest of the parts you need.

Good luck with your build.

 

[ACidBaseD]

Save money each month until you have enough money to assemble a rig.

It would be good to know your budget and usage!

 

[Aithos]

Adding parts over time is a horrible way to build a computer, save each month until you can buy everything you want. There are a couple reasons for this:

1) Parts get cheaper over time, the longer you save the less expensive stuff gets and you can get better parts for the same price. So for example, let's say you decide to save for 6 months, figure out how much is a reasonable amount for each part category and then look at the end and buy the best part for the money.

IE: 175 motherboard, 200 cpu, 150 ram, 250 graphics, 175 psu, etc. By waiting you might get a "free" upgrade. If a GTX 760 is what you can afford now, maybe the GTX 770 or a 760ti is the same price in 6 months.

This also ensures your total build is higher quality, will last longer and will ALL be the best value for the money when purchased. Stringing out purchases you will always compromise more and lock yourself in to what you can choose later.

2) Budget parts are generally a bad idea. They aren't the same quality, they don't have the same lifespan, they don't get the same performance ratio (performance per dollar) and it usually means you have to upgrade more frequently. I've always been the guy that would rather spend $2k now and keep the machine for 3 years than spend $1k a year to stay barely ahead of the curve.

Finally, what parts you buy are determined by what you intend to do. Are you wanting to play games in 1080p with ultra settings? Do you want to encode a thousand hours of video? Do you want to run 15 applications and a web server all at one time?

If you want to game - buy an Intel z87 motherboard and a high end i5 or i7 chip. A surprising number of games are cpu limited these days and AMD does not perform by comparison. A 4770k is 340 and that's the best cpu for gaming available right now without overclocking. An i5-4670k is also a GREAT gaming chip for 220 at the expense of hyper threading (heavily threaded applications will suffer a little bit, most games are not heavily threaded).

If you want to do other things - research what is best for what you want to do. If you intend to do a lot of heavily threaded computational stuff, a hyper threading or 6+ core processor is key. But don't fall into the trap of "more cores is always better". It isn't. Most applications today aren't even very well optimized for 4 cores, let alone 6 or 8. Think of it like SLI or Crossfire, you get a performance bump but it isn't nearly linear, the more you add the less you gain. You can get basically equivalent performance from a overclocked dual core cpu for gaming as you can get from the fastest 4 core i7.

So my advice: keep saving.

 

[Dent1]

3 days later and the OP hasn't come back.

This is why I don't write essays until I see the OP actively contributing to their own thread.

 

[Frick]

Adding parts over time is a horrible way to build a computer, save each month until you can buy everything you want. There are a couple reasons for this:

1) Parts get cheaper over time, the longer you save the less expensive stuff gets and you can get better parts for the same price. So for example, let's say you decide to save for 6 months, figure out how much is a reasonable amount for each part category and then look at the end and buy the best part for the money.

IE: 175 motherboard, 200 cpu, 150 ram, 250 graphics, 175 psu, etc. By waiting you might get a "free" upgrade. If a GTX 760 is what you can afford now, maybe the GTX 770 or a 760ti is the same price in 6 months.

This also ensures your total build is higher quality, will last longer and will ALL be the best value for the money when purchased. Stringing out purchases you will always compromise more and lock yourself in to what you can choose later.

2) Budget parts are generally a bad idea. They aren't the same quality, they don't have the same lifespan, they don't get the same performance ratio (performance per dollar) and it usually means you have to upgrade more frequently. I've always been the guy that would rather spend $2k now and keep the machine for 3 years than spend $1k a year to stay barely ahead of the curve.

Finally, what parts you buy are determined by what you intend to do. Are you wanting to play games in 1080p with ultra settings? Do you want to encode a thousand hours of video? Do you want to run 15 applications and a web server all at one time?

If you want to game - buy an Intel z87 motherboard and a high end i5 or i7 chip. A surprising number of games are cpu limited these days and AMD does not perform by comparison. A 4770k is 340 and that's the best cpu for gaming available right now without overclocking. An i5-4670k is also a GREAT gaming chip for 220 at the expense of hyper threading (heavily threaded applications will suffer a little bit, most games are not heavily threaded).

If you want to do other things - research what is best for what you want to do. If you intend to do a lot of heavily threaded computational stuff, a hyper threading or 6+ core processor is key. But don't fall into the trap of "more cores is always better". It isn't. Most applications today aren't even very well optimized for 4 cores, let alone 6 or 8. Think of it like SLI or Crossfire, you get a performance bump but it isn't nearly linear, the more you add the less you gain. You can get basically equivalent performance from a overclocked dual core cpu for gaming as you can get from the fastest 4 core i7.

So my advice: keep saving.

You assume he's after a high end rig, and that he has money to do that. Also, "high quality" as such is pretty much a non issue with these setups. For AM3+ motherboards it is an issue, but on the Intel side with no overclocking all boards should last well beyond their lifetime anyway. The same goes for all components. An i7 will not last longer than a Celeron by default. The only exception is the PSU.

3 days later and the OP hasn't come back.

This is why I don't write essays until I see the OP actively contributing to their own thread.

Then we are Free. To write what we want I mean. And writing is fun.

 

[Cotton_Cup]

hey if you live in the Philippines I just saw some last night some dude conning the other guy to buying his pentium 4, saying stuff like it can play dota 1/2 without lag, crossfire and other low demanding game.

but anyways I do advice you to buy one of those breakable piggy bank (doesn't have to be a pig) and put your money there, 3 months later you got a new system.

 

[cameronh779]

hey if you live in the Philippines I just saw some last night some dude conning the other guy to buying his pentium 4, saying stuff like it can play dota 1/2 without lag, crossfire and other low demanding game.

but anyways I do advice you to buy one of those breakable piggy bank (doesn't have to be a pig) and put your money there, 3 months later you got a new system.

I guess I should have closed this thread.