Worthy Investment? (please no biased opinions)

[wyattfg]

I'll be moving to college in a year (I'm starting my senior year next month) and I've always wanted to build a PC. I've been hesitant because I could never justify spending that much for a toy. I think that's all I'd use it for in college because I already have a laptop.

What else could I do, besides play video games, that would justify building one? If I could get some sort of productivity from a high-end machine, I'd have no problem dropping the cash on one, but gaming isn't productive. Another thing if I did build a PC for roughly $600-$700, how long would it last? I'd hope it would last me as long as I wanted it to, as long as I kept it up-to-date in terms of parts and software. Do PC enthusiasts build whole new PCs when their current ones are obsolete, or like I was thinking, replace what makes the PC obsolete? I hope I'm making sense to at least a few people.

 

[prit87]

600 - 700 $ you can build a budget gaming pc it may last for 4-5 yrs then you have to upgrade few parts like gpu and cpu according to your need ....as well as gaming is concerned its a passion for some people and a waste of money and time for others..

 

[jshoop]

you are making sense, dont worry

with a pc, besides gaming, you can do much more than a laptop. if your interested in some techinical studies, some sort of major that requires editing/workstation type work, or something like that the pc will be much more helpful then the laptop. what are you looking at majoring in at college?

for how long a pc would last, thats hard to determine. it also depends on you. do you think a pc is obsolete when it cant run ultra at 60fps anymore? or is it obsolete when it cant even run microsoft office quickly? for 6 to 7 hundred dollars, yyou can have a very strong starting pc. this is where a pc is also better then a laptop: you can upgrade it. with a strong processor and good psu, you can replace everything else to make it stronger according to demands of the future

 

[Gam3r01]

That budget would last a few years depending on demands.
When builds start to slow down or under perform, we upgrade them. Eventually you will have a system that has none of the base components left *Maybe the case/ fans etc*

As for productivity, the first thing that comes to mind is doing video/visual work for people, that offers payment. Or things such as FoldingAtHome. The latter being a protein simulation run by UC Berkeley to simulate protein folding to help better understand the field. They send out packets of info to be processed by thousands of users PCs, and once complete, are sent back. TomsHardware has their own F@H team.

Being a student starting their senior year as well, it was hard to justify spending money on a PC, but it does provide heaps of information on the real world as well. Supply/demand, price to performance, budgeting, maintenance etc. My PC just so happens to be my senior project as well. before building my PC I had no knowledge on the subject. Now I spend a fair chunk of my time helping people here. Barely a year later I have almost 5000 posts helping people like my year younger self.

 

[wyattfg]

I understand that a lot of people spend the money just to play games, and I'm not knocking them. If I had the money just laying around, I would myself. I guess my question is "Do people use their gaming rigs for anything other than gaming, like productivity, on a regular basis?"

 

[wyattfg]

That budget would last a few years depending on demands.
When builds start to slow down or under perform, we upgrade them. Eventually you will have a system that has none of the base components left *Maybe the case/ fans etc*
As for productivity, the first thing that comes to mind is doing video/visual work for people, that offers payment. Or things such as FoldingAtHome. The latter being a protein simulation run by UC Berkeley to simulate protein folding to help better understand the field. They send out packets of info to be processed by thousands of users PCs, and once complete, are sent back. TomsHardware has their own F@H team.

Being a student starting their senior year as well, it was hard to justify spending money on a PC, but it does provide heaps of information on the real world as well. Supply/demand, price to performance, budgeting, maintenance etc. My PC just so happens to be my senior project as well.

You built a PC for your senior project? Now that is a genius idea, my friend. That right there may be enough to justify a build on its own! Your response was exactly what I was looking for from start to finish. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[Gam3r01]

No problem, I was in the exact same situation, with the exact same questions.
Living in the mountains in California makes it fun, nobody knows a thing about PCs here.

Im planning on having my cousin in law as my mentor for the presentation/report itself (He works for nvidia!)
Its quite an experience once you do it, people that tear their hair out and spend hundreds with people like geek squad, but can be easily fixed.
(Our school tech guy dosent like me. I have been installing avast, removing viruses, and tuning up PCs around the school at teachers requests, hell I even replaced a heatsink in one, he was going to replace the whole system!)
I also have a computer repair "service" on the side. Something broken, Ill fix it for 40 bucks plus parts, or less if its simple.

 

[wyattfg]

you are making sense, dont worry

with a pc, besides gaming, you can do much more than a laptop. if your interested in some techinical studies, some sort of major that requires editing/workstation type work, or something like that the pc will be much more helpful then the laptop. what are you looking at majoring in at college?

for how long a pc would last, thats hard to determine. it also depends on you. do you think a pc is obsolete when it cant run ultra at 60fps anymore? or is it obsolete when it cant even run microsoft office quickly? for 6 to 7 hundred dollars, yyou can have a very strong starting pc. this is where a pc is also better then a laptop: you can upgrade it. with a strong processor and good psu, you can replace everything else to make it stronger according to demands of the future

I plan on majoring in either Mechanical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering, so I don't think a high-end build would be necessary. I'm not exactly sure what my obsolete is, but I know it's not not running ultra at 60 fps. I think I will end up building a PC soon, and I cannot wait.

 

[jshoop]

for the engineering field, you will often be presented with some sort of CAD program you have to use, which a higher end system is helpful to making it run faster. you dont need a high end system though, the price range for you would be alot better then most school computers (which can run CAD)

 

[numanator]

Finished my civil engineering degree 4 years ago, didn't use my gaming computer for anything other than gaming/entertainment and typing up stuff for school. I personally found it more comfortable than a laptop but if I wasn't playing games a cheap laptop would be sufficient. You go into the major thinking that you will run a whole bunch of programs relevant to your studies but you rarely do. I had a student version of autocad that I pretty much never used since it was easier for me to study on campus (fewer distractions) and use the computer labs there.

IMO if you don't think you will get your money's worth with games/entertainment I would probably just stick with the laptop until you really start craving some gaming

It was also useful for throwing on a movie for dormmates/roomates when we didn't have a tv.

Edit: to clarify, I don't regret having my desktop back then at all, just that if it wasn't for gaming/movies/tv streaming I wouldn't have used it much.

 

[wyattfg]

How is this for what I'm looking for?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GpjtK8

Edit: I might would swap out the hard drive for a SSD or maybe get a small one as a boot drive or whatever is recommended. I've never had a SSD and I'm curious.

 

[jshoop]

thats good, but a few parts are unnecesary. you dont need the aftermarket cpu cooler, since you have a locked cpu and it won't be getting hot. also, you dont need a z97 motherboard, unless you want to upgrade to an unlocked processor and overclock it. also, the psu isnt very good quality. an xfx, seasonic, corsair (not cx or rm series), or antec psu would be better.

as a suggestion, at this price point and since your going to college a smaller pc may be better. a micro atx sized computer won't take up as much room as a atx computer and be more portable. mini itx is the same thing, but even smaller.

 

[wyattfg]

thats good, but a few parts are unnecesary. you dont need the aftermarket cpu cooler, since you have a locked cpu and it won't be getting hot. also, you dont need a z97 motherboard, unless you want to upgrade to an unlocked processor and overclock it. also, the psu isnt very good quality. an xfx, seasonic, corsair (not cx or rm series), or antec psu would be better.

as a suggestion, at this price point and since your going to college a smaller pc may be better. a micro atx sized computer won't take up as much room as a atx computer and be more portable. mini itx is the same thing, but even smaller.

I thought about that, and if everything goes as planned, I'll have this PC even after college. I'd hate to build a smaller PC that would benefit now and then sacrifice later when I could use a larger PC, but need to build a whole new machine. Does it even work that way?

 

[jshoop]

that makes sense, i get where your coming from i was in that situation but decided to go atx instead.

do you want to overclock in the future? the i3 cant, but an i5 and i7 can (the k model)

 

[numanator]

Do you have a microcenter nearby? They typically have some sweet cpu + mobo combos that are in store pickup only.

 

[schau314]

The parts you can usually reuse until obsolete are the case, sometimes power supply, dvd drive, os if wanted, and the ram until the next generation. Also hdd as long as you have a backup for data.

The parts that are usually upgraded are the gpu, the motherboard, cpu, and ram.

The best part about building a pc is being able to reuse and rearrange parts to your liking. Unlike a laptop, you can keep that optical drive or casing or keyboard or speakers for a new build. The reoccurring cost factor is lessened. Also you can build a great pc that could be for gaming, and then add a graphics card if needed, or not. It's nice to have the intelligence to help others and yourself in case you need it later.

 

[wyattfg]

that makes sense, i get where your coming from i was in that situation but decided to go atx instead.

do you want to overclock in the future? the i3 cant, but an i5 and i7 can (the k model)

I don't plan on overclocking. Does that change anything?

I don't have any computer stores around here. South Louisiana isn't very tech-savvy.

 

[jshoop]

it just makes it less expensive

heres a rough draft, i came up with it sorta quickly. with some tweaking though it can be pretty good

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($143.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.95 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $713.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[numanator]

that makes sense, i get where your coming from i was in that situation but decided to go atx instead.

do you want to overclock in the future? the i3 cant, but an i5 and i7 can (the k model)

I don't plan on overclocking. Does that change anything?

I don't have any computer stores around here. South Louisiana isn't very tech-savvy.

Looks like the closest Microcenter to you would be in Houston Texas, so probably not worth the trip

 

[wyattfg]

it just makes it less expensive

heres a rough draft, i came up with it sorta quickly. with some tweaking though it can be pretty good

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($143.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.95 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $713.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Tweaking in what way? Is this build easy to upgrade if necessary?

@numanator yeah, you got that right! Haha

 

[jshoop]

tweaking as in changing a few things, making it better for the money, etc. one draft isnt gonna be perfect

for upgrades, you can get any haswell or broadwell i3, i5, or i7. upgrading to the i5 or i7 will allow for a more powerful graphics card in the future. the r7 265 is a great card, and will play medium to high settings at 1080p with atleast 30fps. The psu will allow for any single gpu graphics card, and the case is large and has decent cooling.

 

[wyattfg]

tweaking as in changing a few things, making it better for the money, etc. one draft isnt gonna be perfect

for upgrades, you can get any haswell or broadwell i3, i5, or i7. upgrading to the i5 or i7 will allow for a more powerful graphics card in the future. the r7 265 is a great card, and will play medium to high settings at 1080p with atleast 30fps. The psu will allow for any single gpu graphics card, and the case is large and has decent cooling.

Thanks man, you've been a huge help! One more question, I'd rather the Rosewill Challenger based on just looks. It has decent reviews, so why did you go with the NZXT?

 

[jshoop]

i dont know, i just found a random one that had decent reviews and isnt expensive. switching it for the challenger would be easy.