do you buy your parts over time or all at once

S

stpstrn

Weaksauce
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Oct 26, 2004
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trying to decide if i want to go all out and spend the 1400 on comp parts or take my time and buy things over a period of time. i still need money for rent during the summer so saving for the comp and rent is the problem. ive been looking forward to the pc for so long and putting it on hold longer isnt my idea of fun but probably the best idea. it may not seem like so much money if i buy over time
 
For me it's situational. I generally buy just the parts I need at first to get the computer running, then over time I'll buy a good sound card, optical drives, more hard drives for storage, etc.

Also when I initially build a computer, I build one that's highly upgradable so I can go back and upgrade individual parts which allows me to keep a computer for a few years before doing a full overhaul.
 
Allot of things change price (RAM is continually going down) so depend on what you need and how soon. Its nice to have all your parts, instead of a half-built computer sitting on your desk.
 
yeah ill be starting from scratch on this one. the mobo and cpu will go up in price im sure. it has in the last month. id rather not buckle and spend 300 on those two right now though. im just afraid if i do the overtime method ill be buying misc stuff that isnt necessary ie zalman heatsink for 50.00 spend more on the case than i need to...stuff like that
 
I found it easier IMO to buy bits and pieces. The first time, though, was by accident: a lot of the pieces for my first DIY computer were supposed to be replacement parts for my POS machine that I originally wanted to replace. (It died on me, so I decided to build a new one... but back to the story...) The things that I wouldn't buy separately would be the mobo, processor, and memory. I try to get what I want (or very close to it) the first time when it comes to those three, and then save up for everything else. It's a bit time-consuming, and often costs more than originally planned, but it the easiest way to come up with my "dream" computer.
 
tiraides said:
I found it easier IMO to buy bits and pieces. The first time, though, was by accident: a lot of the pieces for my first DIY computer were supposed to be replacement parts for my POS machine that I originally wanted to replace. (It died on me, so I decided to build a new one... but back to the story...) The things that I wouldn't buy separately would be the mobo, processor, and memory. I try to get what I want (or very close to it) the first time when it comes to those three, and then save up for everything else. It's a bit time-consuming, and often costs more than originally planned, but it the easiest way to come up with my "dream" computer.
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did you end up buying extra parts that you had not planned on buying. thats my fear
 
I usually try to get everything around the same time, I'd say usually over a 1 week period.

But I shop around, buy somethings from one place, buy some from another.
 
I constantly upgrade a little at a time every few months, but I make sure they're fairly big upgrades like my 6800 gt or athlon 64.
 
stpstrn said:
did you end up buying extra parts that you had not planned on buying. thats my fear
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No; I had a list of what I wanted to get beforehand. The only deviations that I made (PSU, DVD drive, and hard drives) were to save me money from my original estimate. I originally tried to get everything at once, but I didn't have enough money at the time that I built my computer. The fact that I had bought "parts" for my earlier computer made things easier for me.

If you were to buy in parts, this my suggestion on buying things in the order that I would buy them in:

1) Case and PSU
2) Monitor, keyboard, and mouse
3) Operating System
4) One optical drive (CD or DVD drive) and one hard drive
5) Video card
6) Mobo, CPU, and (at least one stick of) RAM
7) Sound card, NIC/LAN card, and/or any other hardware not included on mobo specs
8) Additional software
9) Additional optical drive, stick(s) of RAM and/or hard drive(s)

This is assuming that you weren't planning on transfering anything from items 1-4 onto your new computer. Items 1-6 are what you would need to get before building the computer and 7-9 are things that you can add on after you get your computer running.

My suggestion is that if you could afford to, get everything at once. If not, make a list of what you do want for your computer (as detailed as possible so that you avoid getting unnecessary items) and then getting these items in chunks as you could afford to. Get the minimum needed to build a computer, and then go from there.
 
I usually buy things over time.
I start with things that don't change much. Like cases, power supply, fans, etc...
Then I get the rest.
 
i bought a full system at first, an then bought bits and pieces, like i just got some new ram, mobo, and mouse. of course this went with a amd 3500 i had lying around
 
tiraides said:
No; I had a list of what I wanted to get beforehand. The only deviations that I made (PSU, DVD drive, and hard drives) were to save me money from my original estimate. I originally tried to get everything at once, but I didn't have enough money at the time that I built my computer. The fact that I had bought "parts" for my earlier computer made things easier for me.

If you were to buy in parts, this my suggestion on buying things in the order that I would buy them in:

1) Case and PSU
2) Monitor, keyboard, and mouse
3) Operating System
4) One optical drive (CD or DVD drive) and one hard drive
5) Video card
6) Mobo, CPU, and (at least one stick of) RAM
7) Sound card, NIC/LAN card, and/or any other hardware not included on mobo specs
8) Additional software
9) Additional optical drive, stick(s) of RAM and/or hard drive(s)

This is assuming that you weren't planning on transfering anything from items 1-4 onto your new computer. Items 1-6 are what you would need to get before building the computer and 7-9 are things that you can add on after you get your computer running.

My suggestion is that if you could afford to, get everything at once. If not, make a list of what you do want for your computer (as detailed as possible so that you avoid getting unnecessary items) and then getting these items in chunks as you could afford to. Get the minimum needed to build a computer, and then go from there.
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im going to keep this in mind. i do have the money for the whole system and monitor but like said before i have to have money for summer rent thats why i figured i would go the long route. as i spend a little at a time ill have income to make up for it.
 
I get most of my stuff for a new build at the same time and try to use extra older stuff if I can to save some money.
 
i say, get the essentials first and then the rest.

but the esentials (meaning everything u need to run a computer) are basically gonna take up most of ur budget anyway.........u just need to try to save money. ex: get less ram and add more later, use onboard sound, get a cheap keyboard and mouse (replace both later if u wish), and get a small HDD (40gb wil be enough, then just add a larger one later), use stock cooling at first....etc.....stuff like that......it all depends on how much money u need for ur rent......u should figure out a saving plan based on what ur rent is and how much u make for u can calculate when u have enough money for ur computer.
 
gamekid said:
i say, get the essentials first and then the rest.

but the esentials (meaning everything u need to run a computer) are basically gonna take up most of ur budget anyway.........u just need to try to save money. ex: get less ram and add more later, use onboard sound, get a cheap keyboard and mouse (replace both later if u wish), and get a small HDD (40gb wil be enough, then just add a larger one later), use stock cooling at first....etc.....stuff like that......it all depends on how much money u need for ur rent......u should figure out a saving plan based on what ur rent is and how much u make for u can calculate when u have enough money for ur computer.
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thats what i had planned on. rent will be about 2000 for the 3 months. i have 1500 right now which was going to go towards the comp until now. another issue is i dont usually settle and upgrade later on. when you go that route you coule end up spending more money buying cheap stuff and upgrading not too far down the road.

i was thinking ill buy the psu, keyboard, mouse first. i have some gift certificates to BB plus the employee discount. and ill order my case. have those set aside until the next paycheck. ill probably take a little away from each and buy something.
 
Same here. :D

Xrave said:
For me it's situational. I generally buy just the parts I need at first to get the computer running, then over time I'll buy a good sound card, optical drives, more hard drives for storage, etc.

Also when I initially build a computer, I build one that's highly upgradable so I can go back and upgrade individual parts which allows me to keep a computer for a few years before doing a full overhaul.
Click to expand...
 
I buy parts when I have the money to do so, but I buy parts in spurts.

Like me, I have older smp machines I am trying to get running.

So the latest project I have consists of me having to get these:

3x Pentium3 700mhz 2mb cache slot 2 xeon processors (Ebayed when I get a chance)
My board takes up to four of these processors. Have the first processor.
1gb of pc100 ecc memory, memory riser board takes 12gb of memory.
3x redundant powermodules
3x 12volt vrms

These are pretty expensive, so I buy them over time.
 
I buy all of the essentials at once. I don't want to buy a mobo and then find out that the video card I bought a month later doesn't fit because of the location of a capacitor or something ridiculous, and then not be able to return the mobo because it is over 30 days.

Also, I like to just wait until I have the money to buy EVERYTHING at once. This takes patience, but ensures that you're getting the best combination of hardware at the time of assembly.
 
I tend to buy all at once too. I buy a machine, use it for 3 - 5 years till it can't do anything useful anymore, then upgrade.

My basic upgrade history is :

P100 32 RAM, 1 Gig HD, non 32 graphics (Diamond/ATI)
K6-2 450 192 MB RAM, 6 Gig HD, Voodoo3
Pentium4 2.4 512 MB RAM, 350 gig HD space, Radeon 9500pro

Next step will be the predecessor to the P4s and an X1800 series or so card with 2 gigs of ram and an extra 600 gigs HD space

HD space is the one thing I will upgrade between comps, I tend to DL a lot of stuff, and I never delete anything.
 
stpstrn said:
thats what i had planned on. rent will be about 2000 for the 3 months. i have 1500 right now which was going to go towards the comp until now. another issue is i dont usually settle and upgrade later on. when you go that route you coule end up spending more money buying cheap stuff and upgrading not too far down the road.

i was thinking ill buy the psu, keyboard, mouse first. i have some gift certificates to BB plus the employee discount. and ill order my case. have those set aside until the next paycheck. ill probably take a little away from each and buy something.
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Ohh man, thats over 600 a month. That hurts. I had been told that prices in Calgary were pretty high, and they are compared to Manitoba, but there's quite a range for prices here. I lucked out when I found my house though, I'm paying 950 a month for a four bedroom 4 year old house, in a good neighborhood near downtown (takes me about 30 min to get to work during rush hour). That's complete with a split back (making it seem like 3 levels) and a basement with an office, as well as a wood burning fireplace. I've got a couple buddies renting with me so everything's split 3 ways. (making it around 350 with utitilies)

I just found the place in the paper, called them up and took a look at it. They accepted my application with half of the damage deposit, and a cheque for the first months rent. No references, and no credit check. It kinda sounds like you've already decided on the place your getting, so it doesn't really look like you'll be able to change much. Most people just don't realize that renting a house doesn't have to be that compliated, I moved to this city with no place to rent, stayed at a buddies place for 2 weeks while I was looking through the papers found a place, looked at it, and moved in. :)
 
VFDking said:
Ohh man, thats over 600 a month. That hurts. I had been told that prices in Calgary were pretty high, and they are compared to Manitoba, but there's quite a range for prices here. I lucked out when I found my house though, I'm paying 950 a month for a four bedroom 4 year old house, in a good neighborhood near downtown (takes me about 30 min to get to work during rush hour). That's complete with a split back (making it seem like 3 levels) and a basement with an office, as well as a wood burning fireplace. I've got a couple buddies renting with me so everything's split 3 ways. (making it around 350 with utitilies)

I just found the place in the paper, called them up and took a look at it. They accepted my application with half of the damage deposit, and a cheque for the first months rent. No references, and no credit check. It kinda sounds like you've already decided on the place your getting, so it doesn't really look like you'll be able to change much. Most people just don't realize that renting a house doesn't have to be that compliated, I moved to this city with no place to rent, stayed at a buddies place for 2 weeks while I was looking through the papers found a place, looked at it, and moved in. :)
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Wow, you canucks are lucky. Here in DE in the US you can't touch a decent house to rent for under $2000 USD per month. I am paying $990 per month for 2 bedroom apartment.
 
I have about 3 months worth of rent vested into my pc so I can tell you that I definately bought all of that shit over a period of time lol.
 
With the exception of gpu, cpu, mobo,(which I buy together) I buy my other parts here and there whenever I see a good deal.. Mostly I just reuse alot of other parts, like the case, psu(if it's up to it), ram, optical and hard drives, mice, keyboards, etc... The last time I built a computer the only things I bought were cpu, mobo, ram, and graphics card.. That constitutes a new computer in my book..
 
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