Building the best PC possible for €50 max!

Daniel S

Between my friends and myself, we're building the best pc we can out of bits and pieces we can find/beg/borrow/steal/purchase for next to nothing.

It will be the most bodged jobs of bodged jobs, but will look awesome (modded)!

Will update with pictures as we accumulate parts.

SamAK

Nice concept, results may be better than expected!

I'll be following this build.

connorfleming

Thought I read that wrong at first. Good luck, this will be exciting to see!

SuperTortoise

50 euro!

Good luck with that!

Cathalog

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raspberry-Pi-Model-512MB-RAM/dp/B008PT4GGC

There you go.

Daniel S

Cathalog wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raspberry-Pi-Model-512MB-RAM/dp/B008PT4GGC

There you go.

Ah no, we're thinking bodged together (possibly watercooled), overclocked, etc! It will be a decent pc.

Perhaps something like this:

Daniel S

Starting with the donor PC, this was brought back home as one of the old work machines.




The motherboard was fried so we swapped that for an ASUS G31 chipset motherboard (ASUS P5KPL-AM Socket 775) which was still free as that was swapped for an old server (which was also given to me for free years ago). Still won't boot, but budget still intact!

Current specs:
Intel Pentium 4 - 630 - 3.0Ghz
2x 256mb DDR2
160GB SATA drive (nice surprise tbh, wasn't expecting that).
DVD RW drive.
450 watt PSU.
ATi X550 64mb

"New" motherboard in:


SATA HDD was a nice enough find!


Front panels... Will be modified in some way, we can't decide yet.


Ru looks worried...


More to come! If you seen any good deals on adverts let us know! Suggestions for what we should do also appreciated!

Johnboy1951

Current specs:
Intel Pentium 4 - 630 - 3.0Ghz
2x 256mb DDR2
160GB SATA drive (nice surprise tbh, wasn't expecting that).
DVD RW drive.
450 watt PSU.
ATi X550 64mb

I would, first off, try to increase the RAM ...... try to get it to 2GB minimum.
Secondly, if possible use a graphics card with more RAM on board .... maybe 512 MBs if possible.

Third suggestion would be to use a Linux operating system, which would be up to date while not adding to the cost.

It is surprising what you can pick up free these days.
I am still using (as my main PC) a 4 core motherboard & CPU that was discarded as broken because Windows would not play nice with it apparently.
I am using Linux which had no objections at all, thankfully.

I did buy an SSD (60GB) for this PC to give the OS a speed boost.
Memory and HDDs were scavenged from other PCs.

Good luck with the project ....... will be interesting to see how you work out with overclocking and water cooling.
Do you have the parts for this or will it require a purchase?

Daniel S

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I would, first off, try to increase the RAM ...... try to get it to 2GB minimum.
Secondly, if possible use a graphics card with more RAM on board .... maybe 512 MBs if possible.

Third suggestion would be to use a Linux operating system, which would be up to date while not adding to the cost.

It is surprising what you can pick up free these days.
I am still using (as my main PC) a 4 core motherboard & CPU that was discarded as broken because Windows would not play nice with it apparently.
I am using Linux which had no objections at all, thankfully.

I did buy an SSD (60GB) for this PC to give the OS a speed boost.
Memory and HDDs were scavenged from other PCs.

Good luck with the project ....... will be interesting to see how you work out with overclocking and water cooling.
Do you have the parts for this or will it require a purchase?

What I'm trying to do at the moment is get a 6770 graphics card, 4gb ram and an E8400 cpu. Should be able to get that for approx €50 on Adverts.

Managed to get the motherboard to start (cpu fan and hdd etc start up, but no beep or post) after taking everything apart and troubleshooting it. I've a feeling it's the CPU now, going to try another one in it.

How she's looking now with the other Dell (similar spec, but ofc can't overclock).


Another P.O.S. for fans and parts:


She's still going strong, but bored!

Daniel S

So after trying a new PSU, RAM, CPU and GFX card, it appears the motherboard is dead...

Will have to either sort something out or buy a new one.

Daniel S

Managed to bodge together a motherboard speaker, we're getting one long and two short beeps which indicates a problem with RAM. We also found out we're blind and the motherboard is a P5QPL-AM and not P5KPL-AM. G41 chipset it is so!

Any ideas lads? Tried the CMOS reset jumpers. Tried different combinations of RAM, no luck. CPU, RAM and GFX all work in the Dell.

Daniel S

Bought a GTX 285 just there... €35. The budget is going to struggle, will involve selling off some of the stuff laying around!

AlanS181824

This is seriously interesting and I can't wait to see the finished product.

Btw, your dog is adorable

Daniel S

Just purchased an Intel E8400 for €15 inc. postage! Should be here Tuesday or Wednesday.



Budget now €0 so got to sell the old Pentium 630 and ATi X550 to see if we can recoup a little. Might have to raid the attic for even more PC parts. Hopefully we can get the E8400 to about 4Ghz. Motherboard is looking like that's going to be our biggest issue, with our current ones being damaged.

The 285 in comparison to the M-ATX motherboard (which won't be used)! :pac:





The plan:

Baked.noodle

Great project. Have concerns about the PSU requirements for the card though.

mad turnip

You could try looking out for a skyHd box and ripping the harddisk out of that.

The Snipe

I'll see what I have lying about that might be some use to you, most parts are from a WinXP machine, and I have a ATI Radeon 4650 that was never used lying about too.

Daniel S

The Snipe wrote: »

I'll see what I have lying about that might be some use to you, most parts are from a WinXP machine, and I have a ATI Radeon 4650 that was never used lying about too.

Need a S775 intel motherboard that supports the 45nm Core 2 processors and a pci-e x16 slot.

Ram and hard drives would be useful too!

We have a GTX 285, which would be a bit better (but unfortunately power hungry) so we wouldn't need the 4650, thanks though!

There's 2 mechanical engineers and an electronic engineer between us. I suggested using multiple linked PSUs and apparently, it's possible.

The Snipe

Daniel S wrote: »

Need a S775 intel motherboard that supports the 45nm Core 2 processors and a pci-e x16 slot.

Ram and hard drives would be useful too!

We have a GTX 285, which would be a bit better (but unfortunately power hungry) so we wouldn't need the 4650, thanks though!

There's 2 mechanical engineers and an electrical engineer between us. I suggested using multiple linked PSUs and apparently, it's possible.

Ahh, not sure what board I have. All I know is its an Old eMachines. I'll dig it out from the attic (or the parts could even be in my box of cables) and if so, i'll let you know!

Daniel S

Gay Byrne arrived in the post.

irishgeo

Daniel S wrote: »

Gay Byrne arrived in the post.

who on earth sends a processor wrapped like that.:eek:

Daniel S

It's looking impossible to get a motherboard. Everyone wants €50+ for a 5+ year old motherboard. 4gb ram is about €30. And the processor is €15. €95+ for that?

At these prices, we're as well off buying new.

Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 LGA1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ATX USB 3.0 - €28.47
Intel Pentium Dual Core G2020 2.9GHz S1155 3MB - €48.94
Corsair 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL11 XMS3 Performance Desktop Memory Module - €36.86
Delivery (11.9kg) €12.53

Total: €114.27 + €12.53

Daniel S

May have spoken too soon.... all hope may not yet be lost!

rolexeagle1

Daniel S wrote: »

May have spoken too soon.... all hope may not yet be lost!

Don't quit dude!

wench

Daniel S wrote: »

May have spoken too soon.... all hope may not yet be lost!

If that doesn't come through, I have a Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R that you can have.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2631#ov

I also have 4 gigs (4x1) of Crucial Ballistix that I used with it, but I can't find the exact spec of that.

All yours for the price of shipping, or collection from Dublin.

Daniel S

wench wrote: »

If that doesn't come through, I have a Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R that you can have.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2631#ov

I also have 4 gigs (4x1) of Crucial Ballistix that I used with it, but I can't find the exact spec of that.

All yours for the price of shipping, or collection from Dublin.

Sending PM now. The board I was bidding on didn't come through, it was exactly that board!

Daniel S

We found an old CPU (AMD Athlon XP). We were told you need to add volts when overclocking...

So we did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dCfeSG_Xzk

john the one

Daniel S wrote: »

We found an old CPU (AMD Athlon XP). We were told you need to add volts when overclocking...

So we did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dCfeSG_Xzk

Did the microwave start computing?

seraphimvc

wait i have a very old AMD X2 6000 (iirc) that lost 1 or 2 pins on it, dont mind to donate it to ya if you think it might worth the effort?

oh you dont need a cpu anymore do you.

The Snipe

What parts do you still need?

I'm building a new desktop in the next 4 weeks (Hopefully!) But I still have my old one upstairs, that is hardly being used (if ever) so I can part with some parts of that if you need them for the project.

(Its not the same machine I mentioned above, don't have exact details on parts right now but I can get them later, anything you need is up for grabs, Mobo, processor, Graphics Card etc.)

Daniel S

seraphimvc wrote: »

wait i have a very old AMD X2 6000 (iirc) that lost 1 or 2 pins on it, dont mind to donate it to ya if you think it might worth the effort?

oh you dont need a cpu anymore do you.

Thanks, but it's all good. We got "wench"'s motherboard, ram and processor yesterday. We booted it up and everything seems to be working.

The Snipe wrote: »

What parts do you still need?

I'm building a new desktop in the next 4 weeks (Hopefully!) But I still have my old one upstairs, that is hardly being used (if ever) so I can part with some parts of that if you need them for the project.

(Its not the same machine I mentioned above, don't have exact details on parts right now but I can get them later, anything you need is up for grabs, Mobo, processor, Graphics Card etc.)

I don't know how we missed something THIS obvious, but the cases are all MATX so can't fit the motherboard! :eek:

We managed to get some paint and primer, so we're looking for a server/full atx case and a better power supply.

We bodged and rewired and 8 pin connector to make a 6 pin one and use another 6 pin that was lying around to get the graphics card running. PC posted but that's as far as we've gotten.

I have lab reports worth 40% of my entire module due this Friday, so I don't think there'll be any updates before then.

More pictures then I promise! :pac:

rolexeagle1

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/22of3v/discussion_irish_forum_members_come_together_to/

Kimbot

Daniel,

I can get my hands on server cases for you in a few weeks time?

Daniel S

jonny24ie wrote: »

Daniel,

I can get my hands on server cases for you in a few weeks time?

Thanks, we'll keep looking in the mean time just in case. We're all in University of Limerick, so I'm sure we'll find something in a skip or off someone here.

Jackthearse

Hello Daniel, I've got a few sticks of Kingston ram lying around, including two 1Gb sticks. I don't suppose they'd be any good to you?

Daniel S

Jackthearse wrote: »

Hello Daniel, I've got a few sticks of Kingston ram lying around, including two 1Gb sticks. I don't suppose they'd be any good to you?

Thanks very much Jack, but we've all the slots full thanks to "wench"!

TwistedBiscuit

Hey man, loving the idea! I picked the thread up on Reddit.

I might have a couple of HDD's (possibly 2TB each) and a dual-port gigabit ethernet card (PCIe) banging around the office which I could send. Let me know if they could be of use and I'll dig them out. No promises that they're still available, but if they are, I can supply them with shipping paid for.

Daniel S

TwistedBiscuit wrote: »

Hey man, loving the idea! I picked the thread up on Reddit.

I might have a couple of HDD's (possibly 2TB each) and a dual-port gigabit ethernet card (PCIe) banging around the office which I could send. Let me know if they could be of use and I'll dig them out. No promises that they're still available, but if they are, I can supply them with shipping paid for.

That'd be great!

Just a quick note, we weren't looking for donations from you guys. This was just a build log of what we could get together with the equivalent of all our food for the day. Thanks to everyone who has sent and offered to send us parts though!

rolexeagle1

TwistedBiscuit wrote: »

Hey man, loving the idea! I picked the thread up on Reddit.

That was meeee

The Snipe

Okay, I'll check the power on the PSU I have, and if its of use to you, you can have it.

Went back over my old threads, its a 350W PSU, if its any use.

ZeroThreat

Is it true that amd cards still run a lot hotter than nvidia, even with the latest generation?

I've heard that the r9 290x runs too hot even at normal loads, while the up and coming dualcard gpu, the R9 295x2 was announced recently and will come with a watercooled system.

Wasted

any use for a dell xps710 case, i know its a non standard one but its big and you could maybe bodge something to fit?

Daniel S

ZeroThreat wrote: »

Is it true that amd cards still run a lot hotter than nvidia, even with the latest generation?

I've heard that the r9 290x runs too hot even at normal loads, while the up and coming dualcard gpu, the R9 295x2 was announced recently and will come with a watercooled system.

AMD/ATi have traditionally run hotter than Intel.

Wasted wrote: »

any use for a dell xps710 case, i know its a non standard one but its big and you could maybe bodge something to fit?

We may have a server case lined up, but whatever we end up with it will need to be big. Thanks for the offer, but it's probably a little to difficult to modify and possibly a little small.

rupert999

if ur in cork city or near i picked up two sticks of 512mb ram for 5€ and spotted lots of cheap parts in a game story (left of shop front of argos on patrick street)...all parts are legal and working with reciept and refunds two days after purchase...1gb hardrive 10€,1gb sticks of ram for 10€,im sure if you bargin for bulk they might do offer

The Snipe

PM me if you want that PSU, I'm about all weekend

Daniel S

The Snipe wrote: »

PM me if you want that PSU, I'm about all weekend

Need something 500 watt plus, at the moment, we're bodging a 450 and 300 watt together to power the graphics card separately.

The Snipe

I'll see what I can do so, I'll ask around with some of the lads see if they have anything lying about.

Daniel S

Thanks to Deejer for the case! He wouldn't take anything off me, so it's still under €50 so far!

Tried to use two power supplies, but it turns out one of them is already dead. Might just have to bite the bullet and buy one. Need a wireless network adapter also as there's no ethernet where it will located.





Proper cable management will be done once it's built, could be a while though as we're pretty busy with exams and reports still!

Daniel S

Wait until you see what we're at to power this... it's mad!

Daniel S

Well, lets just say this new power supply will be capable of 1kW and 60 amps on a single 12v rail.

Involves plenty of soldering:

Morf

Daniel S wrote: »

Wait until you see what we're at to power this... it's mad!

Was hoping it was Ru in a big hamster wheel.