Least important pc parts?

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ramenraider

Limp Gawd
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Nov 18, 2010
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I'm building a "gaming" pc for my friend. I'm very familiar with hardware/software but there are a few things I need to ask the pros out there.

We are trying to keep the build as cheap as possible, while still getting an sli board and one that can oc decently. We've been buying mostly used but here is my question:
What piece(s) of hardware are the best to save money on? Like should we cut back some cash on a psu?

What we have:
GTX 460
4GB DDR3
CM 690II case
 
The last part you should ever cut back on is the PSU. Good PSUs are now cheap enough that if you go any lower, you're looking at pieces of shit. Example of a good cheap PSU:
$59 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU

The biggest place where you can cheap out on is the case but not by far. i.e don't get a case that uses nothing but 80mm fans or some crap like that. In your case, if you can't get that Coolermaster for a good price, you can always drop down to this case and still get decent cooling:
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case

RAM wise, DDR3 RAM is pretty much at the lowest they're gonna be for awhile. With that said, 2GB of RAM is enough for gaming PCs out there if you really need to save cash. Though I highly recommend springing the extra cash for 4GB of RAM as it will make a difference if you tend to leave a lot of background apps running and such.

HDD wise, you really can't cut back on that these days since Samsung and WD have both released some of the fastest consumer grade hard drives out there for a really low price:
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$55 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

There are cheaper drives than the above but those cheaper drives are significantly slower or have significantly less storage and therefore less GB per cents value.

You may or may not cut back on the CPU depending on the game. Some games will do just fine on a low-end dual core CPU whereas some requires a beefy quad-core CPU.

Motherboard wise, you can somewhat cut down on this.
 
RAM is RAM. I'd get something from a company with a good warranty that you've heard of, not generic crap, but it does not matter in the least if it's Corsair, G-Skill, Mushkin, Crucial, A-Data, or any of the other relatively big players. They are all the same.

That, and case, if you don't already have one. So long as it has a front and rear 120mm fan, the rest doesn't really matter that much. Yes, there are good cases and bad cases, but you can get something cheap that'll work fine.

If you aren't going to OC look for the cheapest motherboard with the features you need / want from a known good manufacturer (not PC Chips or something). Use combo deals to save money, too.

Buy stuff used from the [H] FS/FT fourm.
 
Case for sure. you don't need one at all. not ideal, but possible.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Certainly should not save money on PSU. . . the last thing to do. Really, the case would be the "least important", but IMO all items are important
 
yeah just don't buy a case. you can leave all the components connected on top of your desk. That's why they call it a "desktop".
 
computercatz said:
Certainly should not save money on PSU. . . the last thing to do. Really, the case would be the "least important", but IMO all items are important
Click to expand...

I used to cheap out on the PSU. Got away with it for years. However, after I had to replace a motherboard due to a cheap PSU (got lucky it didn't fry more!) I've treated it as a serious component of my build.

That said, I treat it like the rest of my build, I aim at a performance point and spec to meet that. I wouldn't put a i7-980X in a budget gaming machine, and likewise I'm not putting a 1200W PSU in one either. What I am doing is making sure I get a quality part. Hence the HX520 in my current system, allows a bit of headroom for upgrading the video card, solid quality and good effeciency. And quiet. Wattage should be based on the expected draw of your system plus some expansion plus some overhead (you don't want to be running at 100% capacity)

I think I'd agree that the case is the least important. Although after having had cheap cheap cases and a nice solid case like I've got now, I'd say that if you can afford it a nice case is a wonderful thing to have. No more slicing yourself on raw stamped sheet metal edges, room to work, good airflow and room for large fans as well as sound deadening features. But it is the place to skimp if your budget is tight.

Another place is the mb. Same thing as the PSU though, make sure you get quality, but figure out what you really need. I haven't priced the SLI-premium recently, but deciding what features you really need out of your mb was usually a good way to save $50-$100. Are you *really* going to be SLIing down the road? Personally I've found that unless you're building a system to use SLI today (because you're running really high res or whatever) by the time you're ready to upgrade you can buy a single new card that's faster than 2x your old one for about the same cost (if you sell your old one). And you dodge SLI compatability issues. Hence why I have the IP-35E, it was about $70 compared to the IP-35Pro's $170. I didn't really need SLI or the extra SATA/firewire ports so it was $100 saved.

Have fun!
 
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