Tips to find CHEAP parts for a junk yard build?

[TechSquidTV]

I'm considering making a "junk yard" build for fun and for youtube. Plus my GF could use something to do some light PC gaming on. Also want to attempt to stretch the project for a second video to make a hackintosh, so I'm sticking with intel.

 

I've been browsing Ebay for the gems, clearly bots are in use or something. I've had winning bids on machines at around ~$80 with three seconds left and then somehow there's 10 more bids within 0.5s and the auction ends at $250. So ebay seems unlikely to find a cheap unit to start with.

 

I could try to source each part, I just assume it will actually be more expensive. I want to keep the whole build under $200 but the cheaper the better obviously, just to be able to do it.

 

Craigslist is a disaster. People are charging $80 for 15 year old laptops I wouldn't take for free.

[LUUD18]

Something that is time consuming: Go past big companies and see if they have any EOL Desktops or Laptops.

[Gaurav S Rao]

35 minutes ago, Ampix0 said:

I'm considering making a "junk yard" build for fun and for youtube. Plus my GF could use something to do some light PC gaming on. Also want to attempt to stretch the project for a second video to make a hackintosh, so I'm sticking with intel.

 

I've been browsing Ebay for the gems, clearly bots are in use or something. I've had winning bids on machines at around ~$80 with three seconds left and then somehow there's 10 more bids within 0.5s and the auction ends at $250. So ebay seems unlikely to find a cheap unit to start with.

 

I could try to source each part, I just assume it will actually be more expensive. I want to keep the whole build under $200 but the cheaper the better obviously, just to be able to do it.

 

Craigslist is a disaster. People are charging $80 for 15 year old laptops I wouldn't take for free.

Get The CPU's from CEX,they are dirt cheap,I see cheap i5's i7's and dirt cheap i3's (one of the first genertaion i3's for $8) and some good i5's (like 2500k) for $60,a i7 950 for like $25-35,and some good Core 2 Quads for $20.Get The GPU's and RAM from CEX as well,though they dont have motherboards,cases and PSU's.They have good deals (1$ for 2 GB DDR2 PC26400 Sticks,$15 for DDR3 2133 MHz PC for PC3-17000,they have good deals on GPU's as well (GTX 750 for 45$,GTX 960 for $120,GTX 950 for $90,GTX 600 series cards for cheap,GTX 700 series cards,cards that can still play games at high settings

[Gaurav S Rao]

1 hour ago, Ampix0 said:

I'm considering making a "junk yard" build for fun and for youtube. Plus my GF could use something to do some light PC gaming on. Also want to attempt to stretch the project for a second video to make a hackintosh, so I'm sticking with intel.

 

I've been browsing Ebay for the gems, clearly bots are in use or something. I've had winning bids on machines at around ~$80 with three seconds left and then somehow there's 10 more bids within 0.5s and the auction ends at $250. So ebay seems unlikely to find a cheap unit to start with.

 

I could try to source each part, I just assume it will actually be more expensive. I want to keep the whole build under $200 but the cheaper the better obviously, just to be able to do it.

 

Craigslist is a disaster. People are charging $80 for 15 year old laptops I wouldn't take for free.

Do you want a list? I have made one with a i7 2600 for $203 

[TechSquidTV]

30 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

Do you want a list? I have made one with a i7 2600 for $203 

Of Course! Let's see it. 

[Gaurav S Rao]

Forgot to mention that CEX Doesnt have CPU Coolers as well

 

Parts List that I made

 

Intel Core i7 2600 (Non-K)=$50:ebay:bid

8 GB DDR3 PC3-14900 1866 MHz=$20:CeX

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660=$50:CeX

ASUS P8H61 Motherboard=$30:ebay

Rosewill 450W PSU:NEW:AMAZON:$20

Rosewill Micro ATX Dualfan Case:$25:NEW:AMAZON

Intel Stock Cooler (if the ebay seller doesnt include one)=$8:New:AMAZON

2 minutes ago, Ampix0 said:

Of Course! Let's see it. 

Total $203 or around that

[maartendc]

10 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

Forgot to mention that CEX Doesnt have CPU Coolers as well

 

Parts List that I made

 

Intel Core i7 2600 (Non-K)=$50:ebay:bid

8 GB DDR3 PC3-14900 1866 MHz=$20:CeX

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660=$50:CeX

ASUS P8H61 Motherboard=$30:ebay

Rosewill 450W PSU:NEW:AMAZON:$20

Rosewill Micro ATX Dualfan Case:$25:NEW:AMAZON

Intel Stock Cooler (if the ebay seller doesnt include one)=$8:New:AMAZON

Total $203 or around that

Nice! That is a solid machine for that money.

 

I would maybe have spent a little bit more on the GPU, like a gtx 960 or similar to be able to play more modern games.

[Gaurav S Rao]

Just now, maartendc said:

Nice! That is a solid machine for that money.

 

I would maybe have spent a little bit more on the GPU, like a gtx 960 or similar to be able to play more modern games.

That GPU itself would be 200$,and if cheaper,not less than $100

[Gaurav S Rao]

1 minute ago, maartendc said:

Nice! That is a solid machine for that money.

 

I would maybe have spent a little bit more on the GPU, like a gtx 960 or similar to be able to play more modern games.

No wonder all of that hardware is of the same age,lol,2011 hardware ftw

[Gaurav S Rao]

Is a GTX 760/660 TI a Upgrade from that 660? since its only 8$ more than a 660 for the 760 and 10$ more than the 660 for the 660 TI

[maartendc]

25 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

Is a GTX 760/660 TI a Upgrade from that 660? since its only 8$ more than a 660 for the 760 and 10$ more than the 660 for the 660 TI

Yeah according to these benchmarks, the 760 is 25% faster than the 660: http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-760-vs-Nvidia-GTX-660/2159vs2162

 

These benchmarks are not always the most accurate, but a good rough indication.

[Gaurav S Rao]

I just realise that the 660 and the 660 TI or the 760 is out of stock...rather all GTX cards are except the 650,960,970,980,1060,1070,1080 so i gotta choose 2 650's and the ram i picked is also out of stock but there is slower ram,so ill get choose that,which one would you pick? 2 650's or 16 GB Ram,which is better

28 minutes ago, maartendc said:

Yeah according to these benchmarks, the 760 is 25% faster than the 660: http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-760-vs-Nvidia-GTX-660/2159vs2162

 

These benchmarks are not always the most accurate, but a good rough indication.

 

[maartendc]

3 hours ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

I just realise that the 660 and the 660 TI or the 760 is out of stock...rather all GTX cards are except the 650,960,970,980,1060,1070,1080 so i gotta choose 2 650's and the ram i picked is also out of stock but there is slower ram,so ill get choose that,which one would you pick? 2 650's or 16 GB Ram,which is better

 

Could you get 1 960 instead of the 2 650's? I see the 650's are $68 and the 960 is $120. So you could pick up 1 960. Should offer better performance, or at least a more consistent experience than 2 650's in SLI, and less power consumption.

 

You might be able to find the GTX 960 on Ebay for under $100 though.

 

16GB of ram versus 8GB won't matter too much right now. I think you will benefit more from a faster graphics card.

[Gaurav S Rao]

8 hours ago, maartendc said:

Could you get 1 960 instead of the 2 650's? I see the 650's are $68 and the 960 is $120. So you could pick up 1 960. Should offer better performance, or at least a more consistent experience than 2 650's in SLI, and less power consumption.

 

You might be able to find the GTX 960 on Ebay for under $100 though.

 

16GB of ram versus 8GB won't matter too much right now. I think you will benefit more from a faster graphics card.

I am searching CeX,not ebay since that was the problem for the OP about the auctions,CeX doesnt have the same problem.He wants to get it under $200,CeX had a 960 for around $180  and for the 650's,$27 for each 650.The CPU is on a bid fir cheaper on ebay,If I were to Get the CPU down (to a cheaper one like a i5,i3,he is gonna hackintosh this so i cant go AMD,or that would have been a great choice)and CeX has very limited AMD GPU's,ton of CPU's (that's not a problem) They only have listings for RX 400 series GPU's .

 

UPDATE: The GTX 960 I was looking at was the 4 GB variant,they also have a 960 2 GB Variant,but out of stock..

[Gaurav S Rao]

Well,here is my new list 

 

 

Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GBx2SLI=$40x2:CeX

ASUS P8H61-M LX LGA 1155/Socket H2 Intel H61 DDR3 Motherboard:$30:ebay (I was originally going for a Haswell i5,but the Prices are too high for the CPU)

Core i3-3240 (3.4Ghz) LGA1155:$28 (Good i5's out of stock,so i got this,dirtcheap) $28:CeX

4 GB PC17000 DDR3 2133MHz 240 Pin Memory X2:$18x2=$36:CeX

Rosewill Dual Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case Cases (FBM-05):NEW:AMAZON:$25

Apevia ATX-VS450W 450W Power Supply:NEW:AMAZON:$20

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

Well,here is my new list 

 

 

Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GBx2SLI=$40x2:CeX

ASUS P8H61-M LX LGA 1155/Socket H2 Intel H61 DDR3 Motherboard:$30:ebay (I was originally going for a Haswell i5,but the Prices are too high for the CPU)

Core i3-3240 (3.4Ghz) LGA1155:$28 (Good i5's out of stock,so i got this,dirtcheap) $28:CeX

4 GB PC17000 DDR3 2133MHz 240 Pin Memory X2:$18x2=$36:CeX

Rosewill Dual Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case Cases (FBM-05):NEW:AMAZON:$25

Apevia ATX-VS450W 450W Power Supply:NEW:AMAZON:$20

you can't put 650ti in sli in a 450w psu

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

Well,here is my new list 

 

 

Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GBx2SLI=$40x2:CeX

ASUS P8H61-M LX LGA 1155/Socket H2 Intel H61 DDR3 Motherboard:$30:ebay (I was originally going for a Haswell i5,but the Prices are too high for the CPU)

Core i3-3240 (3.4Ghz) LGA1155:$28 (Good i5's out of stock,so i got this,dirtcheap) $28:CeX

4 GB PC17000 DDR3 2133MHz 240 Pin Memory X2:$18x2=$36:CeX

Rosewill Dual Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case Cases (FBM-05):NEW:AMAZON:$25

Apevia ATX-VS450W 450W Power Supply:NEW:AMAZON:$20

also mobo has only single pcie 16x slot only

[Gaurav S Rao]

53 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

also mobo has only single pcie 16x slot only

oops

54 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

you can't put 650ti in sli in a 450w psu

oops

[Gaurav S Rao]

Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 2GBx=$68

ASUS P8H61-M LX LGA 1155/Socket H2 Intel H61 DDR3 Motherboard:$30:ebay

Core i7 2600 (non-k): $50:ebay

4 GB DDR3 1333 240 Pin Memory X4:$8x4=$32:CeX

Rosewill Dual Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case Cases (FBM-05):NEW:AMAZON:$25

EVGA 500 W1, 80+ WHITE 500W:ebay:$10

WD Blue 250 GB HDD:$8:ebay

Case Fans Led:ebay:0.99$-2.50

(one thing is,i was going first for the 650 ti for $40,ends up being out of stock and the GTX 650 is $68,i dont understand why prices are like that)

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 2GBx=$68

ASUS P8H61-M LX LGA 1155/Socket H2 Intel H61 DDR3 Motherboard:$30:ebay

Core i7 2600 (non-k): $50:ebay

4 GB DDR3 1333 240 Pin Memory X4:$8x4=$32:CeX

Rosewill Dual Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case Cases (FBM-05):NEW:AMAZON:$25

EVGA 500 W1, 80+ WHITE 500W:ebay:$10

WD Blue 250 GB HDD:$8:ebay

Case Fans Led:ebay:0.99$-2.50

(one thing is,i was going first for the 650 ti for $40,ends up being out of stock and the GTX 650 is $68,i dont understand why prices are like that)

Again why putting 650 in a board that can not be SLI? And why SLI 2 old cards?

[Gaurav S Rao]

Just now, deXxterlab97 said:

Again why putting 650 in a board that can not be SLI? And why SLI 2 old cards?

His budget is under $200 (means not specifically,but thats what he really wants to keep under it or equally or a little more)

 

And I cannot get a nice new GPU (ebay has a hell of a lot of cards,half probably scams,and you dont kno what ur getting.On the other hand,CeX is a place to deposit old stuff for money,so you what you are getting.And everything i mention in my above post,any other card is not availabe (most amd cards are,but there is nothing except the RX 400 series,and if i wanna cheap it down,i will have to do a AMD cpu which is not a choice since he wants to hackintosh it,and I will have to go down to Core 2 Quads,or first gen i7's to fit something better like a GTX 960 (which btw the 2 GB version is out of stock,and there is only the 4 GB variant which leaves me $20 to build the rest of the system,which is not possible to build something with a budget so low ($20? are you kidding?) (except if you find a system with a i7 in trash,and chances for those is like... 1-5%? And sure,You can get Brand new 1050's or 750's which kill the performace of the 680 (talking about the 1050 ti,it would make no sense if a 100$ now $45 card beat the top end card of its previous gen (the 690 was a dual-gpu version of the 680,so technically unfair,or like 2 680's in sli) and I was orginally gonna go for a GTX 750,1050 but O.O.S (Out of Stock)

[JoostinOnline]

If you live in the US (I don't know if they work in other countries) take a look at the Let Go and Offer Up apps.

[Gaurav S Rao]

40 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

If you live in the US (I don't know if they work in other countries) take a look at the Let Go and Offer Up apps.

I dont,maybe OP does

[Gaurav S Rao]

1 hour ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Again why putting 650 in a board that can not be SLI? And why SLI 2 old cards?

Also,i removed the 2 in x2 meaning i'm only using 1GPU