General Topic: So how much should you spend on building your PC?

[Trotter]

I specced the rig I would like to build earlier. $1K would handle it for me. It was a Phenom II X4 955, 4GB of G.Skill DDR3, A Gigabyte board, a 1TB WD Black, , a 4870 1GB, Corsair PSU, and an Antec Case. Didn't say I had the money for it, but it is nice to dream.

 

[Hefemeister]

I find that funny.

Every 3 months or so I always price out my dream build for fun. It is usually around 3K even though I would never spend that much. But if you are going to dream why not dream big.

 

[zedman3d]

Yes $1500 is a great number to shoot for. Spending more only nets you small gains for the amount of money spent.

I spent $1500 USD. ($2000 AUD).
Definitely a good price, you can get a killer system and not look like a big ****.

 

[wafflehammer]

I spent around $2000 in total on my rig (i think) or a bit less

like $1600-1700 for parts, $170 for monitor, $50 headphones, and like $10 mouse


BUT I was starting from scratch. went from a P4 with a 15"crt. Doing that I could see the jump. Then count in the fact 2 weeks after i bought my parts went down by like $300. After all the smoke settles..I say drop $1500 on a build. Only go more if you NEED things like a new monitor/sound card/other peripheral that is expensive

 

[meat_helmet]

Yeh my upgrades recently (all major components) were about $1300USD - so with a case and other stuff $1500 is a very good budget. Unless of course if you want to add a big monitor... I just got a Dell 2709W - not to brag or anything, but its frickin nice, and its worth thinking about to actually show you all the frames your pc will be pumping out.

 

[Slaymate]

I draw House Plans. And yes, I still have work. I must be good
knock on wood

As for monitors, I recently bought a 28" HD 1080P from NewEgg for less than $400. Mine has a Great Picture thou I know someone else (online) that bought one and complained that his colors looked a little washed out. I guess it just the luck of the draw.

Mine says 28" and this says 27.5" but it must be an updated model
Newegg.com - Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 27.5" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors

 

[meat_helmet]

I draw House Plans. And yes, I still have work. I must be good
knock on wood

As for monitors, I recently bought a 28" HD 1080P from NewEgg for less than $400. Mine has a Great Picture thou I know someone else (online) that bought one and complained that his colors looked a little washed out. I guess it just the luck of the draw.

Mine says 28" and this says 27.5" but it must be an updated model
Newegg.com - Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 27.5" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors

Funny that, I do the same... and do not have much cash at all, lol. I only work 2 days a week though, study the other 7 (it feels like it anyway). I'm loving the large screen for CAD work.

 

[Slaymate]

I don't draw in 3D, strictly construction drawings. PM me your email and I'll send you a few of my drawings

 

[hikaricloud]

I find that funny.

Every 3 months or so I always price out my dream build for fun. It is usually around 3K even though I would never spend that much. But if you are going to dream why not dream big.

I did the same thing for a couple years, haha. At first it was with the FX series, then it went to the C2EE 9650, then to i7 965...by the time I was done I had about 6k worked up, with 3 monitors, tri-sli, keyboard, mouse, expensive case, loads of RAM, 2x 300gb velociraptors (raid 0), 3x 1.5tb (for raid 5)...I don't even remember the rest of it. It was purely for fun, I could never spend that much money on a machine, even if I had the cash to throw away.

 

[Trotter]

I draw House Plans. And yes, I still have work. I must be good
knock on wood

I took architecture throughout high school. I was going to go to college for either that or civil engineering. Never did it, though... decided I would rather make it my own way and start a family. I don't regret it, but things would be much better had I went.