Home built or pre-built in this case?

darksora269 · May 26, 2013

My friend wants me to build a computer for him for a budget around 450-500. At first he was going to buy the iBuyPower revolt, but then he saw my computer and wanted me to build it since I convinced him that he'll actually save money on it. now, there's one thing that has caught my attention. The iBuyPower Revolt seems to actually cost less in some cases, at least through the simple add on of some prices. For what it's worth, would I be able to build something around that budget with that much power? It's not going to be my first build but I'm also skeptical due to the low price point of the Revolt and it including a liquid cooling set-up.

USAFRet · May 26, 2013

$500 including a water cooler? They've cut corners elsewhere. PSU, case, some weird RAM config...

Study that thing in depth.

Madn3ss795 · May 26, 2013

If the build was for gaming, then that Revolt would be the last option. Thus H55 on an I3 with B75 mobo would add nothing but more noise and weight to your system.

DSzymborski · May 26, 2013

Looking at the the basic $499 revolt, it would be hard to reproduce that build exactly for cheaper. Though it's kind of a weak computer - what does your friend intend to do with it? That $499 iBP build doesn't come with a GPU or room to add much.

Not just weak, but kind of odd. The power supply is very limiting. And water cooling is just such an odd, odd choice here.

DSzymborski · May 26, 2013

For $500 (including OS) and not knowing your friend's needs or what he has, this is what I would do for an entry-level with operating system.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($60.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.15 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 2GB Video Card ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $503.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-26 23:45 EDT-0400)

No pretty lights or pointless water cooling, but I'd much rather have it than the $499 Revolt.

darksora269 · May 26, 2013

I was actually thinking of doing around this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/10k92

He isn't very computer savy, so I'm just assuming he wants something that would work. I don't think he does much gaming at all, so I'll have to talk to him about that. As far as I know, all he plays is Runescape... He's more of an outside person and works a lot so that's how he's getting the money. I'm guessing he was going for the Revolt because it looked cool and was fairly priced. So I want to get him something that's much, much better, which is why I'm choosing to go with the APU. I'm not sure if he even wants to go up to $500, he told me that he was thinking maybe $350-400, so I'll have to do some adjustments to the build if so. And also, DSzymborski, I'll check keep an eye on that list. I'm sure he and I will appreciate it to get him something like that.

Edit: I realize I forgot an optical drive and preferably thermal paste. I'll be adding that onto the price. Probably just $20 more according to the prices.

Edit 2: Changed link.

darksora269 · May 26, 2013

I know Rosewill is sort of a hat-of-a-hat brand for power-supplies but I have a 1,000 watt in my rig that's bronze certified and it's lasted me for over a year, even being on for many many days on end, it's still quiet, running clean, and works.

I'm going to be adjusting the budget build acordingly to his demands.

USAFRet · May 26, 2013

I'm not sure if he even wants to go up to $500, he told me that he was thinking maybe $350-400, so I'll have to do some adjustments to the build if so.

$450-$500 is probably the crossover between building from new parts, and buying a refurb or off-lease from Dell, TigerDirect, or elsewhere.

darksora269 · May 27, 2013

USAFRet :

Agreed. That's why I came here. I knew it would be a challenge to get something to that price and still be functional. When he told me that he wants it for even cheaper if possible, my heart sunk because I already agreed to building him one of that price, and I don't want to let him down. So, I accept my challenge and I'm going to find a way to make it to around $350.

DSzymborski · May 27, 2013

darksora269 :

Rosewill is tricky in that there are excellent Rosewills and some middling-to-poor ones. I'm running a Capstone 750M in my gaming rig at the moment as it's an excellent Super Flower (as is your 1000W if it's a Rosewill Lightning - the 1000W Rosewill Bronze is inferior, but adequate rather than a firebox). The Rosewill Green 430 is a perfectly adequate ordinary PSU (for example, Teapo capacitors which aren't great, but also not filled with strawberry jam), but depending on the sale situation at the time, you may be able to get a better one.

darksora269 · May 27, 2013

DSzymborski :

I originally had a Cooler master one on there, but I wanted to try and go for something that's 80 plus certified and has a nice combo, you know, to save a little penny here and there.

DSzymborski · May 27, 2013

darksora269 :

Does he need an OS? $500 for a home build is on the line for practicality, but $350 and needing to buy an OS and it's almost cruel to try a build for that price. It's an interesting challenge, but at those prices, it's probably better to find a refurbished at a place like techforless that specializes in that.

darksora269 · May 27, 2013

DSzymborski :

I can assume he wants a fresh OS. I'm not sure if he has some OS CD's laying around or not, so the whole idea of building him a computer is kind of shrouded in mystery as of now due to me and him just chatting for a couple of minutes and then him going on with his day. So I can use any advice and ideas possible for this.

DSzymborski · May 27, 2013

I can assume he wants a fresh OS. I'm not sure if he has some OS CD's laying around or not, so the whole idea of building him a computer is kind of shrouded in mystery as of now due to me and him just chatting for a couple of minutes and then him going on with his day. So I can use any advice and ideas possible for this.

It would be nice, of course. At $350, the OS takes up nearly 30% of the budget!

Here's about as low as I can get a build without parking the car in Crazy Town.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A6-5400K 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX12V Power Supply ($27.91 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $362.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-27 00:09 EDT-0400)

darksora269 · May 27, 2013

DSzymborski :

I might end up using that if it comes down to it. Kudos. And I wasn't able to find a way personally through that website to get it even down to a science of lower than $350. Just the CPU alone takes up a hefty amount, then as you said, the OS is also a big hole in the budget. It's admittedly difficult to find something that would feel and look nice and just, not be junk.

USAFRet · May 27, 2013

Here's about as low as I can get a build without parking the car in Crazy Town.
Total: $362.79

And we're still missing mouse/keyboard/monitor....

darksora269 · May 27, 2013

Also, he mentioned he might even want a new monitor to go along with this. That caught my attention. There's NO WAY I'm getting ANYTHING below $500 with a new monitor. Especially for a fairly decent monitor.

DSzymborski · May 27, 2013

darksora269 :

Asking for a monitor also under $350 can actually be qualified as abuse in some states, I think. If you pulled off a miracle and managed that, he'll probably also insist that it run Crysis 3 at 1080p.

darksora269 · May 27, 2013

DSzymborski :

Ahhahaha. :b Well I appreciate the help guys. Some great information chosen here. I just have to clear things up with him on a price then I'll be able to go from there. All of this information is sucked up and helped me out.

Home built or pre-built in this case?

Distinguished

Titan

Dignified

Curmudgeon Pursuivant

Curmudgeon Pursuivant

Distinguished

Distinguished

Titan

Distinguished

Curmudgeon Pursuivant

Distinguished

Curmudgeon Pursuivant

Distinguished

Curmudgeon Pursuivant

Distinguished

Titan

Distinguished

Curmudgeon Pursuivant

Distinguished

Share this page