New
#1
New build in 3 months (long-ish post)
So I'm planning to replace this aging machine since it's been nearly 4 years of using it. I was amazed that the 250W power supply managed to power the GT 610 (the recommended is 300W) for 2½ years with no problems. Now, technically this is not a build that I would do but instead, I'll mod a pre-built desktop. Now, you'll say that if I am going build it, it would be cheaper; however, it turns out that buying a pre-built one is actually cheaper. I'll divide my "build" into phases since I also need money on other things. Please note that I'm choosing these based on the prices and availability on the market in the Philippines, but you can still suggest other components and I'll try to find them here.
Phase 1 will happen around 2nd week of July (with budget of $390):
Option A ($383):
Intel Core i3-4160 3.60GHz Processor
Asus H81M-K or Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2 Motherboard
4GB DDR3 1333MHz Memory* + 4GB (same specs that I already have)
Palit Geforce GT 740 2GB GDDR5 128Bit (NE5T74001341-1073F)
WD Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Disk
600W PSU*
A case*
Keyboard and Mouse**
Headset or Speaker**
Option B ($385.25):
Intel Pentium G3258 3.20GHz (Dual Core) Processor
MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate Motherboard
4GB DDR3 1333MHz Memory* + 4GB (same specs that I already have)
Palit Geforce GT 740 2GB GDDR5 128Bit (NE5T74001341-1073F)
WD Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Disk
600W PSU*
A case*
Keyboard and Mouse**
Headset or Speaker**
*I get to choose my preferences, but you can suggest what should I get
**I don't know what brand are these, but I already have the peripherals
The funny thing that I found is that if you buy (if CPU only) the Pentium, it costs $73.21 while the i3 costs $117.50, that's a difference of $44.29 while if it's on the pre-built, there's like $2.25 difference.
Phase 2 is after 2 months of Phase 1 (Budget of $250):
Upgrade to GTX 960 ASUS Strix/Palit Super JetStream (I don't know yet, but what's better?)
Phase 3 is after 2 months of Phase 2 (Budget of $200):
Upgrade CPU to i5-4460
Now, 3~7 months is a long time for new releases of products and prices could also go lower, which means that I may change the components that I chose now.
You may find my build style a bit different since I could just buy everything in one single go, but I also took this opportunity to do this because I'll give this current system to an old classmate once I get to Phase 1 and give my GT 740 and G3258 to my cousin (I'll also buy him the other necessary pieces if needed) after Phases 2 and 3.
Also, I've heard that if an HDD with an OS installed is put on a new build, you can just use the OS of that HDD that you've put; however I've also heard that if you did that, it would render your OS invalid since it's a difference MoBo.