What components are safe to cheap out on?

[YoungBlade]

When working from a limited budget, where do you feel it it most acceptable to cut corners and just buy something cheaper to get up and running?

 

To me, the case is often the last part of the build that I pick, specifically because cheaping out on it seems reasonable. Obviously, a hot box is bad, but realistically, if any component is going to be alright when you just sort by lowest price, it's probably the case.

 

Fans are another place where cheaping out seems fine. If it can get you a better core component, spending less on fans and just wearing headphones seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

 

I used to recommend cheaping out on the CPU cooler, but with how good the market for tower coolers is right now, it's hard to say "just get whatever" as just $15 can get you a reasonable single tower cooler - going below that just doesn't make sense unless you're using the box cooler - in which case, free is free.

 

The absolute last things I'd cheap out on are the CPU and GPU, which I would guess is the case for most folks - these are the core components that give you the vast majority of performance per unit of currency.

 

Also, never cheap on the PSU. No point in putting a bomb in your shiny new (or new-to-you) PC.

 

But do you agree, or are your feelings on this quite different?

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, YoungBlade said:

The absolute last things I'd cheap out on are the CPU and GPU

I'd more argue the last thing to cheap out on is the PSU, since getting the cheapest unit for that can lead to having a fire hazard sitting on your desk that can kill everything else in the system. I'd rather drop the GPU/CPU down slightly to not have to worry about the system randomly dying on me. 

 

I'm fairly fine with cheaping out on the RAM nowadays, but that's more because you can get some fairly good kits of RAM for pretty cheap nowadays. That could be though that we have a bit different definition of cheaping out though, I see it as "going for an option priced significantly below the median price and losing any sort of premium features," whereas your CPU cooler comment makes it sound like yours is "get the cheapest thing that exists."

[OddOod]

I'd disagree on cheaping out on CPU/GPU. Those are easy to upgrade and can be flipped down the line. For instance I spec'd a build for a friend and we went AM5 with a slightly worse CPU so they could upgrade down the line. And for GPUs you can always run lower settings and upgrade down the line. 
As for coolers, I'd call the CoolerMaster 15$ one a cheap out as the fan won't last a very long time, but that's fine because you can just swap the fan, cooling pipes (usually) never die.

[Tan3l6]

CPU, graphics card, RAM, case

I guess we are not going to agree though...

 

Surely not PSU and MoBo. Storge is so and so, as is cooler.

[thevictor390]

Case is the obvious choice, because you can technically skip it entirely or mock up your own with scrap material. It has no compute function.

Storage is another one if referring specifically to a gaming machine. Low-end storage is cheap, it is very easy to add more/better storage later, and you shouldn't have any important information stored only on your gaming rig anyway.

[8tg]

GPU and CPU always, easy components to upgrade with consistent resale value.

Buying a cheap case and then later buying a nicer case, firstly that involves an entire system swap, and secondly it has no resale value. You effectively just throw away the old case or try to get some meager amount of money out of it.

Good non-core components are designed to last for multiple systems. Start with a really nice case, really nice power supply, etc, and you can change core items later without changing anything else.

[Tan3l6]

1 minute ago, 8tg said:

Buying a cheap case and then later buying a nicer case, firstly that involves an entire system swap, and secondly it has no resale value. You effectively just throw away the old case or try to get some meager amount of money out of it.

Cheap cases are are not as bad as to be swapped out for most reasons. I've got a 40€ case for several years already, second build in it iirc, not missing anything.

[filpo]

14 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

The absolute last things I'd cheap out on are the CPU and GPU, which I would guess is the case for most folks - these are the core components that give you the vast majority of performance per unit of currency.

Last thing I'd cheap out on? PSU. It can be cheaped out on but not too much. Otherwise...

14 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

free is free.

Oh how I wish that were true 

14 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

When working from a limited budget, where do you feel it it most acceptable to cut corners and just buy something cheaper to get up and running?

There can be different cases for each component (not different pc cases but just cases ). You can cheap out a lot on SSD if you don't need storage or speed. But if you need storage but not speed then the cheapest one with decent reviews is the way

 

I guess they can all be cheaped out on to a point, where it really depends what you're doing. Productivity with CPU, you're gonna wanna spend more on CPU, maybe not even need a dGPU. RAM heavy work? get a lot of ram

 

If we're talking about gaming, I'd say fans, since you can find decent fans included with cases nowadays, just look at the Montech X3 mesh, I know it is quantity over quality but for $50? not bad at all. 

 

Fans is my final answer. Now where's the prize pool?

7 minutes ago, Tan3l6 said:

CPU, graphics card, RAM

I guess we are not going to agree though...

With how cheap RAM is...

 

3 minutes ago, Tan3l6 said:

Cheap cases are are not as bad as to be swapped out for most reasons. I've got a 40€ case for several years already, second build in it iirc, not missing anything.

Which one is it? Was it on a deal?

[Tan3l6]

2 minutes ago, filpo said:

Which one is it? Was it on a deal?

Deepcool E-Shield - it was around 35€ on sale and functionally I don't miss anything.

 

With RAM it's quite simple - it either works or not.

[porina]

Cheap out at any cost: case, fans, CPU (get one with bundled cooler), GPU, ram

Cheap out with limits: PSU, mobo, storage

 

I did a cheap new build recently. Mostly new anyway. 12100F, cheapest recent architecture CPU. Bundled cooler is fine. Cheapest H610 mobo to go with it. The case wasn't the absolute cheapest but at £35 it wasn't much and it does the job holding things together. I did reuse components since I had them already. 960 Evo for storage. If I had to buy new, I'd get a mid tier DRAM-less SSD. Unfortunately I had suspected data loss problems with branded low tier (WD Green, Kingston A400). So I'd aim for at least mid tier if going there again. I had an old Corsair CX450 which was plenty for this build. I'm really not up to speed with current offerings. CX series was the go to budget option, with the VS series below it being much worse but not saving much. Even then, it probably would be ok anyway.

[filpo]

8 minutes ago, Tan3l6 said:

Deepcool E-Shield - it was around 35€ on sale and functionally I don't miss anything.

This case is like the perfect budget case, it's ATX so they're not saving the extra dollar or two making it that much smaller so it'll fit ATX motherboards but, from what I've seen, can also fit a 360mm AIO (considering how close the HDD cage is that might have to be taken out). It also fits a 370mm GPU (with a fan it looks like)

You really got a gem for that price, I think @8tg was talking about the cases on sale for cheap today. If you just glance at them you'd see the myriad of acrylic and mATX. No doubt some of these are good (for the money) but all the reviews talk about it's price. That's definitely a selling point, but for a product such as your case to be cheap and functional sounds like perfection

 

EDIT: it can also fit E-ATX. I wish this case was on sale when I was building my first pc

[8tg]

1 minute ago, filpo said:

I think @8tg was talking about the cases on sale for cheap today. If you just glance at them you'd see the myriad of acrylic and mATX. No doubt some of these are good (for the money) but all the reviews talk about it's price. That's definitely a selling point, but for a product such as your case to be cheap and functional sounds like perfection

Nah, it’s a component a lot of people cheap out on because they simply haven’t seen the features and quality of better cases. And “better” doesn’t even cost that much more. Talking about a $60 case vs a $120 case. A cheap case is basically disposable. A good case lasts for as long as you feel like it.

And then really good cases last forever. Like anyone who has ever bought a cooler master cosmos, thermaltake level 20, silverstone mammoth, etc, those cases are made to be the only case you ever buy, with all of the features, and not just by sheer numbers of drive bays or whatever, but in having anything you could want.

 

Like I use a fractal design define 7 nano. 
 

Spoiler

This case has the following features:

-the top interior panel hinges or can be taken off entirely for better access to wiring at the top of the case, or to mount an aio or radiator easier

-all the non wall panels are push pin retention, with magnetic assisted side panels 

-came with two entire top panel options for vented or non vented setups 

-has 4 removable, washable filters, bottom for the psu, top for the vented panel option, and two small ones in the front panel 

-ducting for the intake fans to direct their air to the GPU and not the psu basement, they’re all 2 piece so you can still use them with a radiator and fans in the front 

-mounting rail holes along the interior wall for whatever you want to mount, mostly used for water cooling stuff

-an overall well constructed, rigid, and weighty design

-actual engineering to get good airflow out of a case with an entirely flat front panel, this has an 11900k on air in it which doesn’t top 83c

 

And it’s not even an expensive case, it’s just in the realm of “not a cheap case”

I always recommend getting a nice case, because it just makes everything easier, looks nicer, and lasts a long time.

[YoungBlade]

24 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I'd more argue the last thing to cheap out on is the PSU, since getting the cheapest unit for that can lead to having a fire hazard sitting on your desk that can kill everything else in the system. I'd rather drop the GPU/CPU down slightly to not have to worry about the system randomly dying on me. 

 

I'm fairly fine with cheaping out on the RAM nowadays, but that's more because you can get some fairly good kits of RAM for pretty cheap nowadays. That could be though that we have a bit different definition of cheaping out though, I see it as "going for an option priced significantly below the median price and losing any sort of premium features," whereas your CPU cooler comment makes it sound like yours is "get the cheapest thing that exists."

I didn't mean going with the cheapest thing possible, just that with CPU coolers, you can't really "cheap out" anymore unless you're shopping on AliExpress for a $3 one. $15 gets you an Assassin Spirit or similar, which is more than sufficient for any budget CPU. To go lower is impossible to justify - just use the box cooler.

 

My thought is that dropping the CPU or GPU slightly at the budget end can compromise the whole build. Having to go from a 12100F to a Pentium, Celeron, or "Intel Processor" is going to cripple performance. Similarly if you have to drop from an RX 6600 to RX 6500XT or RTX 3050 6GB to GTX 1650. You're losing so much performance that it's not even the same system anymore.

 

Obviously, don't buy a bomb, but I'd rather get a reasonable 400W unit in the C-Tier and pair it with a 12100F and RX 6600 than go for a nice 750W A-Tier and compromise on the core components.

[da na]

Cheaping out on a CPU is different than all the rest because it's not like you are getting a "knockoff" processor, just one inferior in performance. A less expensive CPU does not have the potential for destroying other components or your data, like cheap PSU/board/storage/cables could. 

 

Cheap case is my pick though. I always get the free ones from the side of the road, those are the best.

[YoungBlade]

Just now, da na said:

Cheaping out on a CPU is different than all the rest because it's not like you are getting a "knockoff" processor, just one inferior in performance. A less expensive CPU does not have the potential for destroying other components or your data, like cheap PSU/board/storage/cables could. 

 

Cheap case is my pick though. I always get the free ones from the side of the road, those are the best.

I've never heard of storage destroying another component. What's the story with that?

 

As for cheaping out on the CPU, the drop from a 12100F to a Celeron is like a drop from a 10 story building. It's less "inferior performance" and more "you've built a nice paperweight." There are limits I would advise never going below.

[da na]

3 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

I've never heard of storage destroying another component. What's the story with that?

 

As for cheaping out on the CPU, the drop from a 12100F to a Celeron is like a drop from a 10 story building. It's less "inferior performance" and more "you've built a nice paperweight." There are limits I would advise never going below.

Sorry if my language was unclear. 

I meant that cheap PSU/board/storage/cables could have the potential to destroy data and/or hardware. Not saying that each component will cause damage in both ways.

 

There are some really bad choices of CPU out there, that is for sure. But if you're buying a brand new Celeron instead of an 8th gen i5 or something for the same price, that's... well, that's on you.

[starsmine]

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I'd more argue the last thing to cheap out on is the PSU, since getting the cheapest unit for that can lead to having a fire hazard sitting on your desk that can kill everything else in the system. I'd rather drop the GPU/CPU down slightly to not have to worry about the system randomly dying on me. 

I find this argument leads to a lot of people spending twice as much as they need to on PSUs these days. The standard PSUs exceed the ATX spec massively, and its been that way for close to a decade. 

while I would hesetate to say you can cheap out on one. 
This PSU meets the requirements of 98% of PCs WITH gpus out there


this meets the requirements for like 85% of PCs the big issue is being just 80% white more then anything, else. Meaning int will take 375 from the wall to provide 300W rather then 350 from the wall with the bronze. (in the US, EU with their 230V are more efficient)

[YoungBlade]

8 minutes ago, starsmine said:

I find this argument leads to a lot of people spending twice as much as they need to on PSUs these days. The standard PSUs exceed the ATX spec massively, and its been that way for close to a decade. 

while I would hesetate to say you can cheap out on one. 
This PSU meets the requirements of 98% of PCs WITH gpus out there

That PSU is rated "E" on the PSU Cultists Tier List with a note mentioning that it seems to lack OCP. https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/

 

I would not recommend that PSU. There's the Apevia Prestige 600W 80+ Gold available right now from Amazon for $52 with speculative "C" Tier on that list. I'd go for that, as it's cheaper, with better power efficiency, and higher rated on their tier list.

[Tan3l6]

@starsmine the PSU prices don't vary so much as other parts though. for $200€ you'd get a perfect PSU. In the ball park of GPUs or CPUs it's not so much of a difference between a "decent" and a "perfect" one.

I'd rather spend 100€ more on PSU than CPU that anyway will get replaced in 2-3 years probably. Also ATX specs don't really matter SO much in performance/reliability of a PSU.

[RONOTHAN##]

4 minutes ago, starsmine said:

while I would hesetate to say you can cheap out on one. 
This PSU meets the requirements of 98% of PCs WITH gpus out there

Sure, you can go for one that's a bit cheaper, though I'd still want a nicer unit. The S12III series is known to have some issues (mainly a lack of OTP and OCP), so I'd still want to avoid it if possible. 

 

If you wanted to use a cheap PSU as an example of something decent, there are far better examples you could've used

[filpo]

11 minutes ago, starsmine said:

this meets the requirements for like 85% of PCs

in terms of wattage, maybe, in terms of quality, it's nought

16 minutes ago, starsmine said:

This PSU meets the requirements of 98% of PCs WITH gpus out there

$59.99 is nearly enough for a PSU from msi (of 650w as well) which I've heard great things about it for the value, and it's also got black cables. 800W prestige is also only about $7 more

MSI MAG A650BN 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (MAG A650BN) - PCPartPicker

Apevia Prestige 800 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (ATX-RP800W) - PCPartPicker

[Thaldor]

Case and fans are clear places to cheap out as much as possible.

 

CPU cooler and storage to some extent. So, don't go for the cheapest of the cheapest but you won't also need the best of the best so getting cheap is okay.

 

RAM, CPU and GPU mindfully. Like if you're on a budget, do the research. Figure out what you want and what you need and ask around. You can lower your budget surprisingly lot if you learn to read the data somewhat, not just what is presented but the frame also. Like it's clear that in pure specs something like RTX 4070 TUF isn't as good as RTX 4070 STRIX OC, but that's like $100-200 difference and the real difference, different plastics and really nothing (the 50Mhz higher boost clock is really nothing, absolutely nothing, just get AfterBurner or whatever and put the power limit to 110% and like 10C more in temperature target and you can easily overclock that TUF version higher than the STRIX OC). Same with CPU's, like if you're on a budget and every penny counts and you're looking at something like Ryzen 7 7700 vs. 7700X, it's like $10 difference but what that $10 gives you, 700MHz higher base clock and 100MHz more theoretical boost clock, the base clock really doesn't mean shit because the CPU will boost and figure itself out, the 100MHz in the boost clock really isn't anything, if you're on a budget there's clear $10 savings.

Any extra lights and bling bling, forget. They are the one thing that costs nothing to add to the product but brings a lot of profit which means people are willing to buy higher price for that cents costing extra light. If you want lights and keep budget, order RGB light strips from AliExpress of some other, they cost almost nothing and with some crafting look as good if not better.

 

Like for serious example how much companies are pissing on people buying some bling bling. The couple inch screen on some AIOs that cost like 100-200€ more than the same thing without one, that screens costs like 20€ + like 20€ control board. it's even worse if they have been so fucking greedy it's just HDMI-screen because then the control board costs like 5€ and is more likely included in the screen. Anyone who thinks that is worth the +100€ is fucking idiot in my opinion. If you're on a budget and not a baller, drop all of that and rather DIY it, finding LED strips and the few inch screens isn't hard and they don't cost a much if you want to add them, even better if you DIY them, you probably have better control over them than through some manufacturers proprietary software.

 

Motherboard, think what you really need and want.

PSU, never cheap out, just never. Of course don't buy anything stupid like the ones with screens or stupidly overkill for your parts. But never, ever, ever, never go and buy the surprise firecracker discount piece. Check the PSU tier list and get something good because that will save you a lot by being sure not to fuck things up.

[YoungBlade]

2 hours ago, YoungBlade said:

When working from a limited budget, where do you feel it it most acceptable to cut corners...?

14 minutes ago, Thaldor said:

 RTX 4070 TUF isn't as good as RTX 4070 STRIX OC...

 

Ryzen 7 7700 vs. 7700X...

We have very different ideas about what a "limited budget" means.

 

I was thinking where you cheap out when spending around $600 or so for the whole PC. You've listed a single component that would be more than that.

 

It's all relative, but once you get north of $1,200 for the build, I think in most situations, cutting corners stops making sense. You can go from a Ryzen 7 7700 to a Ryzen 5 7600 and not lose much performance with an RTX 4070. That saves you over $100, and that one change alone would easily afford you a solid case and a dual-tower CPU cooler as an increase in budget for those components over what you were spending before.

[seon123]

47 minutes ago, starsmine said:

I find this argument leads to a lot of people spending twice as much as they need to on PSUs these days. The standard PSUs exceed the ATX spec massively, and its been that way for close to a decade. 

while I would hesetate to say you can cheap out on one. 
This PSU meets the requirements of 98% of PCs WITH gpus out there


this meets the requirements for like 85% of PCs the big issue is being just 80% white more then anything, else. Meaning int will take 375 from the wall to provide 300W rather then 350 from the wall with the bronze. (in the US, EU with their 230V are more efficient)

$40 used to be a reasonable amount to spend on a PSU for a low end system, but you somehow managed to pick some exceptionally awful ones. $20 used to be the price of a CX450 2017 after rebate, and $50 would get you a Formula 450W, $60 maybe a Whisper M 450W. PSUs in between would mostly be whatever. The CX 2017 is a decent entry level PSU, and the Bitfenixes are actually quite good, and even have more protections than something like the Seasonic Prime TX-1600 ATX 3.0. (Seasonic of course famously cutting corners on protections in all budget classes)

 

But prices and models change, and any reasonable person would see that and adjust what PSU to get. From just looking at PCPP US, I'd say the A550BN for $60 would be a decent PSU for systems where those extra $20-30 up to a higher end PSU would be more useful elsewhere. 

 

At this budget my requirements for a PSU aren't even high, it's just independently regulated outputs, and the basic protections (except for multi rail OCP, which is fine, but not ideal, to omit for lower wattage PSUs). I do not care about modularity, noise, HCS terminals, LLC, connectors or fan at that price. 

 

I do agree that people often spend too much on PSUs, but they should do actual research to find the cheapest PSU that fits their requirements, instead of just getting a random cheaper PSU like you'd apparently recommend them. 

 

2 hours ago, YoungBlade said:

When working from a limited budget, where do you feel it it most acceptable to cut corners and just buy something cheaper to get up and running?

As I've never changed away from my entry level case, I'd say the case. It doesn't have 2.5" slots, room for cable management or even 5Gbps USB, but it's fine. 

 

Same with the CPU cooler, my 212 Evo is fine for about 125W with reasonable fan noise (albeit changed fans). A more modern cheap cooler will be fine to cool 125W, especially if you're more willing than me to sacrifice on noise. 

 

Fans, probably. One intake, one exhaust is fine for a traditional layout case, and lower power components will be fine. 

 

The storage can be cheaped out on, somewhat. An MX500, 870 Evo, or another 3D TLC SSD that has a RAM cache is more than plenty, and wasting money on a cheaper DRAMless SSD, or a more expensive NVMe SSD is just usually not worth it, imo. 

 

The graphics card can be cheaped out on, as in getting one with a more basic cooler. You can always just strap on an aftermarket cooler, just like with CPUs, if it becomes an issue, and it can save quite a decent amount at the time of purchase. 

[Erioch]

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