Gaming PC - built on a budget, over time, possible?

Vikings

Hi, i'm looking to build myself (1st time) a Gaming PC on a budget but also over time. Going to be working from scratch on this one and leave the old PC for the family to use.

The plan is to build it over time, pick up a few items each pay day until it's all done while saving the items whose price might drop till last. So would pick up say case, PSU maybe mobo, fans etc first while leaving parts like the graphics card and processor until later in the hopes prices will drop.

While i'm in no rush to get this made I would like to have it before christmas so will start picking bits up now, my budget would be in the region of €1000 to maybe €1250 depending. I would like to try and squeeze in a decent LCD monitor into that price if I can as well.

Anyway, its a gaming PC mainly, mostly FPS with some RTS thrown in though when it comes to games im not that fussy and it doesnt bother me if i'm not able to run them at full settings at crazy resolutions so do not want to be spending a fortune on a graphics card. I also have an ipod which I may want to put some of my dvd collection onto but other than that it would just be for gaming and net use. I'm thinking I won't need a quad core processor for what I want it for, would anyone disagree with that?

Sorry for the long post just want to get other opinions before I jump in to it. Is it worth building a rig over 2-3 months or would I be better off saving the cash and buying it all together?

AlmightyCushion

I don't really see the point off buying it bit by bit unless of course one of the parts is going really cheap or something like that. It's not like the parts are going to get more expensive. What you could do is save enough money to get everything bar the monitor and the fans. Then build and use it with your existing monitor. This way you get to use the computer sooner. Then when you have enough money for the monitor and fans buy them and overclock the thing and enjoy it with your brand spanking new monitor.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Well the only downside I can think of is that if you wait 3 months to start assembling all the bits n' peices you've aquired, only then will you find out whether they're in good, stable, working condition.
I'm not sure of the consumer law behind it, but personally I'd feel more confident asking for a replacement within a few days of purchase, rather than months down the road... it raises less questions I think.
Plus, if the parts are no good to you in the mean time I don't see the point.
Unless it's a dicipline thing where unless you spend it right away on PC components, you'll just píss it away on something else before you can afford the whole thing?

Vikings

It is part to do with discipline yes, if the money is just sitting in my account i'll want to spend it!

I see your point on that DonkeyStyle and it was something that I had thought about, and is another reason why I was going to gather up the cheaper parts first and leave the processor gfx card and monitor till last as they would be the bulk of the price and probably most at risk.

Another reason I wanted to do it this way is budget, as you said the parts wont get any more expensive. If I laid out a build now that costs say €1200 then it won't cost me more than that in 2 months time (might cost less, bonus!) but if I start saving now I know that in two months time there will be bigger and better parts out there that I want, probably more expensive too.

I suppose I really am just trying to justify doing this any way possible but I know if I dont do it this way that it will take me even longer to get the parts together.

Appreciate the replies guys, will keep thinking on it and looking at parts until I make up me mind.

DonkeyStyle \o/

It is part to do with discipline yes, if the money is just sitting in my account i'll want to spend it!

God I know, all my jeans have holes burned in their pockets :eek:

I'd say try'n set yourself a close target, maybe €700 or something... then work out if you can build a basic functioning PC on that.
Get the most nasty-ass cheap case/tower you can... the most basic gfx card (cheapest PCI-E gfx on komplett is €40, you won't get much gaming done, but you'll have a working display for the time being)... get a cheap SATA harddrive (again €40 for an 80Gig, which should easily get you by)... then focus on getting a good processor (I like the Core2Duo E6600 bang-for-buck)... an average motherboard and average/ok ram.
I think the only reason to go fancy on the ram and mobo is for overclocking, but IMO, it's not worth spending hundreds extra for this stuff unless you're sure you'll settle for nothing less than a top end overclock.
My last upgrade was an E6600, new mobo and 2gigs DDR2... came to under €500 because I cheaped out on the ram and mobo.... tbh I have no regrets.

-TK^Creator

i'd agree with the almighty cushion get pc as soon as u can then leave the lcd monitor till later u can get a nice 20" one for 200 quid. dont see prices dropping for processors since intel dropped them over summer and then the lure of new parts hehe

Vikings

I've had a think about it and i'm going to try and get the bulk of parts together in one go, might try bring it even cheaper than the budget above so can get it sooner.

I priced up one on Komplett and it came in at €1135 delivered including a 20" LCD...

Then for a similar system on Dabs it was only €935, and by similar I mean same RAM, HD, CPU and GFX card. Slightly cheaper monitor (19") and then a Dabs value case with PSU.

Which brings me to my next question... anyone know anything about these Dabs Value items? There's a "gaming" case on Dabs that comes with a 520W PSU for about €80, now the case and PSU I was going to get from Komplett would have set me back about €200 but then again, I don't want to scrimp on the PSU to have the whole lot come back and hit me in the face.

Nearly all the parts I picked on Komplett were a couple of € cheaper, who would have the better after sales service between the two? Rather pay that bit more if Komplett were better, if not then i'll go with Dabs.

AlmightyCushion

Well PSUs that come with cases are generally muck so I would not recommend it. What was the graphics card you were getting as this is the most important part of a gaming pc.

Vikings

Thats what I was thinking, might just go seperate case and PSU to be on the safe side.

Well I was thinking of just going with an 8600 GT or GTS for now so that I can go straight ahead and get a Q6600 then can upgrade the card in 6 months time or when it begins to struggle... and on the other hand i'm thinking a Q6600 is overkill for what I want and I should step that down and improve the card I get but I havn't kept in the loop and not sure what is good value for money on both the processor and graphics card side of things.

Slutmonkey57b

An E6750 or Q6600 are the best buys at the moment, if you're gaming I'd go for the E6750 since games won't be using quad core for a few years yet. Motherboard-wise, practically all the p35 boards are a great buy, great overclocking on that chipset, and the only advantage x38 will have over it is full SLI/Crossfire. 650i boards are a better spec for similar money but not quite as good performers as the p35 boards. 680i is a great chipset but way way overpriced.

Don't buy an 8600 or 2600 - they're both outperformed by the x1950pro/xt from the previous gen. The 8800gts 320 is the minimum spec DX10 card to have, but early testing of DX10 titles brings even the big cards to their knees, with a couple of exceptions. I would go for an x1950pro for now and wait until the next gen of Nvidia and ATI cards come out in the new year.

Vikings

Right so i've thrown together a couple of parts on the Dabs site:

Raidmax Sagitta 500W ATX Red/Silver (Going to test out the PSU that comes with it and will upgrade if its cack)
MSI S775 Intel P35 DDR2 ATX Audio Lan Core2 Duo + Quad
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 S775 2.66ghz 4mb Cache 1333FSB
OCZ Technology 2x1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 DDR2 Gold
Samsung SpinPoint 320GB 7200RPM S300 16MB
LG Electronics LG 18X DVD+/-RW/12XRAM IDE Silver + Nero s/w

This works out at €530 delivered.

All i'm missing now is a graphics card (still unsure) and a monitor but I have a 21" CRT that I can use until I make up my mind/can afford a decent LCD.

Any opinions on the above items? Am I better off avoiding any of them or are they decent enough.. Still open to suggestions on the graphics card front, doesn't have to be top of the range but something that can play all the current top games at a decent spec would be what i'm aiming for.

Also as its my first build, I know i'm going to need all of the above parts but what other little bits do usual first timers forget?

DonkeyStyle \o/

I'd go with slutmonkey on the gfx card... you really can't go wrong with the prices these cards are at now.
I've got the slightly lower specced 7900GS and I'm perfectly happy gaming with it at 1680x1050.
No card would give me the fps/quality I'd like in something like Lost Planet, so personally I'm going to hold off upgrading this card for a good while.

Vikings

Morning

Yeah your right, been looking at a couple of reviews of the x1950pro and it seems that it will offer me enough performance to keep me ticking over until I feel the need to upgrade, I really want to catch up on the games i've missed lately rather than take the plunge into the newest games so I might pick up that card, can be had for under €150 so not breaking the bank either.

white_falcon

one problem that you may not have thought of is that if you are buying everything seperately, then you will have to pay the delivery charge everytime

i.e. you buy something from komplett once a week - 30euros shipping
you buy 5 things - 150euros on shipping overall


However, you buy all 5 things in one go and only spend 30 euros - saving that you would have paid extra to buy it all seperately

I was in the same predicament as you though - couldnt afford it all in one go. So off to the bank, got my loan, and its all on its way :P

Get a loan - its the same thing as saving, just a bit more expensive, but you get everything straight away lol

AlmightyCushion

Actually I never thought of the delivery costs of buying seperately. That extra €100 or so could be the difference between a 20" monitor and a 22" monitor.

Vikings

Ok, think I have decided on the following:

Raidmax Sagitta 500W ATX Red/Silver (Going to test out the PSU that comes with it and will upgrade if its cack)
MSI S775 Intel P35 DDR2 ATX Audio Lan Core2 Duo + Quad
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 S775 2.66ghz 4mb Cache 1333FSB
OCZ Technology 2x1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 DDR2 Gold
Samsung SpinPoint 320GB 7200RPM S300 16MB
LG Electronics LG 18X DVD+/-RW/12XRAM IDE Silver + Nero s/w
Sapphire Technology Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB GDDR3 PCIE Dual DVI 580/700

As far as I can tell, all the parts are compatible. Going to try and get these all together so I can have it put together and working in one go.

Is there anything else I need to put those parts together from scratch or can I expect all the necessary parts/connectors etc. to be included? Don't want the whole lot delivered only to find out i'm missing something small! May be silly questions but will there be a hsf with the processor and will I need thermal paste and other similar items? First build...

Appreciate any advice, thanks!

DonkeyStyle \o/

Naw, the processor will come with a HSF that has a thermal pad already attached, so no need for thermal paste this time... IIRC, you just peel off a bit of thin plastic and it's ready to go.
I hate stock 775 fans though, those 4 little clips are a bastard to get in... I almost snap the motherboard pushing them in... though I've only built two s775 machines (have always been more of an AMD user), so there's probably some knack I'm missing.

In terms of bits and pieces, the motherboard will come with a whole moxy of little cables and things, so you should be alright for the most part.
One thing you might check out is whether the gfx card comes with one of those DVI->VGA adaptors (to use with your CRT monitor), I think I've gotten one bundled free with every DVI-out gfx card I've ever bought, the dabs site is a bit vague on what's in the package, but I've no reason to believe the card won't come with one... but it's a potential temporary show-stopper (for the want of a better phrase).
That's a good question actually... have any of you ever bought a DVI-out gfx card that didn't come with a DVI-Dsub converter?