Theory - Staggered pc building

[friedpiggy]

I had a weird thought this morning after watching too many LTT videos yesterday and waking up way too early.

If you on a pretty tight budget and don't mind wasting a bit of cash (a contradiction I know) Would it be possible to build up a semi-decent gaming rig by doing the following?

Buy a refurbished dell system from takealot (some of them are on there for like R3k) And drop in a GPU (second hand 1030 or something low power) and maybe sort the ram out. This will let you game at the least. Then save up for an upgrade kit and PSU. Those kits sold by the likes of Rebel Gaming and Evetech that have a mobo, cpu, ram in them. That will sort out most things and then at a later stage buy a proper GPU.

Would mean dropping like R4-5k for a rig that can game at low-medium on most things. Which will improve once the upgrade kit goes in and then improve again once GPU goes in. Would this work do you think?

 

[Willie Trombone]

Nothing wrong with gaming on an older rig but don't trust Evetech's warranty.

 

[friedpiggy]

Wasn't planning on using Evetech, dont trust them at all.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Wasn't planning on using Evetech, dont trust them at all.

I guess the question for me would be how old would the CPU be generation wise. If you can get something relatively decent, that's a big part of the way there.
Maybe see what you can put together and post specs here?

 

[friedpiggy]

It was more of a theory. Was just wondering if it would be a viable route for people to take if they "Must be able to use something NOW" rather than saving up for everything at once

 

[Willie Trombone]

It was more of a theory. Was just wondering if it would be a viable route for people to take if they "Must be able to use something NOW" rather than saving up for everything at once

It depends what you would get for R3k-R5k in a refurbished system then.

 

[friedpiggy]

Takealot

i5 2400
4GB ram
250GB HDD
R2950

Put in an SSD, ram and GPU (all 2nd hand) and you should be ok in older titles for gaming.

 

[zolly]

I had a weird thought this morning after watching too many LTT videos yesterday and waking up way too early.

If you on a pretty tight budget and don't mind wasting a bit of cash (a contradiction I know) Would it be possible to build up a semi-decent gaming rig by doing the following?

Buy a refurbished dell system from takealot (some of them are on there for like R3k) And drop in a GPU (second hand 1030 or something low power) and maybe sort the ram out. This will let you game at the least. Then save up for an upgrade kit and PSU. Those kits sold by the likes of Rebel Gaming and Evetech that have a mobo, cpu, ram in them. That will sort out most things and then at a later stage buy a proper GPU.

Would mean dropping like R4-5k for a rig that can game at low-medium on most things. Which will improve once the upgrade kit goes in and then improve again once GPU goes in. Would this work do you think?

This is basically what this guy does.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Jxh95N32m1JvKG_-fQ6QQ

 

[Mista_Mobsta]

Takealot

i5 2400
4GB ram
250GB HDD
R2950

Put in an SSD, ram and GPU (all 2nd hand) and you should be ok in older titles for gaming.

IMO it would be better to scour Carbonite for semi-complete systems and then add as you go along. As an example (random search on Carb). Should work out much cheaper although you don't really get a guarantee. I have bought a bunch of items off various people on Carb and so far so good for me at least.
Example

 

[Barbarian Conan]

I agree with Mista. Get a used system for your R4K.
Hell that example he used would be great for 60fps gaming for almost all current titles, if your GPU can handle it. Buy used, cheap case and PSU, and you should have around R1500+ for a used GPU, which would see you playing 3 year old games at decent framerates.

From there you just upgrade your GPU (3060 or 3050) for example)when they are back in stock and at sane prices.

 

[Faux_Grey]

The refurbed dell systems on takealot all have tiny PSUs with "unique" connectors and tiny cases, you'd physically be unable to upgrade components like motherboard (due to PSU) and PSU (due to chassis)

You'd be much better off getting half-baked or relatively old systems from carbonite.

 

[ponder]

Besides the low wattage PSU &unique power connectors some also have BIOS issues with GPUs. Then there's the small space and limited airflow causing things to get really toasty. I would not consider it as a stepping stone to future upgrades.

Whatever route you go you will need a PSU.
Case you can find for free, people bin them.
MB/CPU/RAM you can get used on carb etc. Get a MB that has a upgrade path to newer cpus, like amd b450 then that expense is out of the way down the line.
Storage I'm not fond of used hard drives but they'll do. You might even have an external/internal already you can use.

Will cost a bit more but it's the 'better' way to go.

 

[friedpiggy]

Hmmm so what it boils down to is a bad theory. Thanks. Like I said in the first post, I watched WAY too many LTT videos the day before and way too early a start to the day. Might be feasible overseas, but here where a 4-year-old GPU is still pretty expensive I don't think it will work.

 

[Lupus]

Hmmm so what it boils down to is a bad theory. Thanks. Like I said in the first post, I watched WAY too many LTT videos the day before and way too early a start to the day. Might be feasible overseas, but here where a 4-year-old GPU is still pretty expensive I don't think it will work.

It's actually pretty expensive over there right now as well.

 

[IssiAmd]

Do you need the pc just for gaming?

 

[friedpiggy]

I think something got lost here. I wasn't planning on building anything. It was a theoretical idea. I was more interested in if it was practical or not.

 

[rustypup]

Proc and mobo are primary concern

Proc for brute processing and mobo for what expansions are possible.

Old gen proc limits upgrade paths and effectively hobbles you.

For the record, Dell mobos are shiat.

 

[ponder]

Hmmm so what it boils down to is a bad theory. Thanks. Like I said in the first post, I watched WAY too many LTT videos the day before and way too early a start to the day. Might be feasible overseas, but here where a 4-year-old GPU is still pretty expensive I don't think it will work.

With the global shortages the secondhand prices have also gone through the roof everywhere.