How I built my $120 Gaming PC by Loo June 9, 2015 at 8:06 PM UTC
Hey, as some of you may know, I'm really into computer hardware and building computers. A couple of weeks ago, I was cleaning my room and I found my 10-year old HP Pavilion. I was going to throw it away but I decided to upgrade it a little bit with a few used parts from eBay. At this point, almost anything was considered an upgrade to this 10-year old dinosaur. I already have a gaming computer that I built about 3 months ago but this was just a fun project I wanted to do.I got everything used from eBay except the power supply and the graphics card. I bought the power supply on Amazon, I didn't want to cheap out on the most important component. I bought the graphics card (NVIDIA Geforce GT 620) during the EVGA Memorial Weekend Sale (only thing I bought on sale). I found an Intel processor on ebay as well as a decent Gygabite motherboard to go along with it. Everything else was basic stuff such as CPU cooler, thermal paste and some adapters (the hard drive and DVD drives were so old that the new motherboard didn't support them without adapters). The only parts I kept from the original build are the case, keyboard, monitor,DVD/CD drives and a 40 GB (Yes 40 GB) hard drive. I used my old Razer Abyssus gaming mouse.
As far as actual building goes, I had to replace the I/O shield so it would fit the new motherboard and I had a bit of trouble taking the old one off, it was well secured so I had to use a couple of flat-head screwdrivers. When I was ready to install Windows, the computer kept shutting off and I didn't know why. I saw that the CPU temperatures were reaching 100°C (not good at all). I checked the CPU cooler and it wasn't secured well. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to install it correctly. After that, I managed to install Windows 8.1 and properly set up the PC.
The parts list is the following (all prices in USD, including shipping):
Power supply (EVGA 430 Watt 80+): $37.88 Amazon
Thermal paste: $2.77 eBay
IDE to SATA Adapter: $4.59 eBay
Motherboard (Gygabite G41): $21.45 eBay
CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo E8400): $7.95 eBay
Heatsink/Fan: $5.46 eBay
RAM (2x1GB Crucial DDR2-800): $12.18 eBay
Graphics card (GT 620): $24.99 EVGA
Total: $117.27
As far as performance goes, I'm very pleased. I am quite surprised and could not ask for more. So far I've only tested Minecraft and here are the results:
Yup, up to 150 FPS, although it's mostly around 60-70 FPS, rarely dipping below. I don't know if Optifine boosts my FPS or not but I don't play Minecraft without it, I can't play without zoom. I'm using a 1024 x 768 resolution monitor. I am quite happy with the results, very high frame rate considering it's a $30 CPU+GPU combo.
Let me know what you guys think, also, I'm here to help with anything related to hardware and building PCs.
Javipepe June 9, 2015 at 8:06 PM UTC
How the hell did you get an Intel cpu for under 10$ and a gpu under 30$.This really makes me feel stupid lol :p
Oraporo June 9, 2015 at 8:06 PM UTC
I have no idea what any of that is... But coolLoo June 9, 2015 at 8:06 PM UTC
How the hell did you get an Intel cpu for under 10$ and a gpu under 30$.
This really makes me feel stupid lol :p
pope_panda June 9, 2015 at 8:06 PM UTC
i have a shitty HP pavilionTEACH ME
Sem June 9, 2015 at 9:06 PM UTC
That is really cool!Have you seen this? https://oc.tc/forums/topics/54fb71cf67d522a553000004
Loo June 9, 2015 at 9:06 PM UTC
That is really cool!
Have you seen this? https://oc.tc/forums/topics/54fb71cf67d522a553000004
Loo June 9, 2015 at 9:06 PM UTC
i have a shitty HP pavilion
TEACH ME
_Phyre June 9, 2015 at 10:06 PM UTC
I once found a GTX 480 for $60 :oLoo June 9, 2015 at 10:06 PM UTC
I once found a GTX 480 for $60 :o
Fuseh June 9, 2015 at 10:06 PM UTC
Your PC is kinda over powered.Loo June 9, 2015 at 11:06 PM UTC
Your PC is kinda over powered.
OriginaI June 9, 2015 at 11:06 PM UTC
I have a really old HP Pavilon sitting in the attic, still works fine. I would like to do something like you did, but im not that smart with PC building.Loo June 9, 2015 at 11:06 PM UTC
I have a really old HP Pavilon sitting in the attic, still works fine. I would like to do something like you did, but im not that smart with PC building.
PokerFace June 10, 2015 at 12:06 AM UTC
I have a really old HP Pavilon sitting in the attic, still works fine. I would like to do something like you did, but im not that smart with PC building.
Loo June 10, 2015 at 12:06 AM UTC
He's been helping me as well. 5 star rating on help. In fact, I'm going to end up spending about the same amount as him and not to one-up him but, it might be a bit faster.
OriginaI June 10, 2015 at 1:06 AM UTC
I got 200 to throw into it, I hope my parents let me!Pavlo June 10, 2015 at 5:06 AM UTC
My PC cost me $250 USD :D- i5 2320
- GTX 750 OC
- 8gb's of ram
- Silverstone 700watt psu
200+ fps in minecraft on max with 512x pack :D :D
My tip, buy a decent, but cheap PC second hand. Then spend a hundred or so on upgrades, and you get a great PC for the price!
Loo June 10, 2015 at 5:06 AM UTC
My PC cost me $250 USD :D
- i5 2320
- GTX 750 OC
- 8gb's of ram
- Silverstone 700watt psu
200+ fps in minecraft on max with 512x pack :D :D
My tip, buy a decent, but cheap PC second hand. Then spend a hundred or so on upgrades, and you get a great PC for the price!
Pavlo June 10, 2015 at 5:06 AM UTC
That is one beast PC for the price, buying second hand is definitely the way to go with lower budgets.
My life rule: when low on money, buy second hand
Aanszo June 10, 2015 at 1:06 PM UTC
This post makes me feel stupid for wasting 2k for my pc ;-;Loo June 10, 2015 at 5:06 PM UTC
This post makes me feel stupid for wasting 2k for my pc ;-;