Building a Budget Gaming PC for 16 Years

At the time of purchase, I had pulled the trigger on this build when it went on sale for $280 on New Egg. The original price was around $300 to $320 new. To make it even more attractive, there was a $20 rebate, bringing the total cost down to $260. On top of that, the build came with a Dirt Rally game key, which I was able to sell for $20, further reducing the overall cost to $240. This is an impressive deal, especially considering the original going rate for used 290x GPUs at the time.

The Build Summary

I have this build overclocked to 1150 MHz on the core and 1500 MHz on the memory for storage. I've got a 256 GB Core i7-11600K CPU paired with an Intel Core i9-11900K, but for storage, I've opted for two hard drives instead of an SSD. The first drive is a 3 TB Seagate BarraCuda ST3000DM008, which was purchased from Reddit for $58 - still a great price today. The second drive is a 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1002FZEX, which was also picked up from Reddit for $33 at the time.

I've used these drives as follows: the 3 TB drive has been set aside as a storage drive for my files, containing over 10 years' worth of digital artifacts. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to files - they're a nostalgic reminder of my past and I just can't seem to part with them. The 1 TB drive, on the other hand, has been dedicated to running games and programs.

The Build's Components

In addition to the CPU and storage drives, I've also got a pair of hard drives that were purchased from Reddit. The 3 TB Seagate BarraCuda ST3000DM008 was picked up for $58, which is still a very good price today. The 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1002FZEX was purchased for $33 at the time.

Hard Drive Prices

The hard drive prices I paid for these drives are significantly lower than what you can get them for today. This is because Reddit was running a sale on used hard drives, and I was able to snag an incredible deal. It's worth noting that the prices of SSDs have also decreased significantly over the past year or so, making it easier to upgrade storage in the future.

The Build's Performance

One thing I'm not currently utilizing is the full potential of my CPU - 1150 MHz on the core and 1500 MHz on the memory for storage. This isn't a major issue, as it allows me to maintain acceptable performance levels without breaking the bank.

Conclusion

I'm overall very happy with this build, especially considering its budget-friendly nature. The total cost came in at just over $800, which is an incredible value considering what I've got under the hood. It's worth noting that my build may not be the most efficient or powerful setup, but for a budget gaming PC, it gets the job done. If you were given $800 and had to spend it on a computer, would you just want to buy my rig as is, or would you try to hunt down deals and build a similar system? Let me know in the comments below.

Next Build

I've already got all the parts for my next build lined up and ready to go. Unfortunately, I'll be out of commission for about a week when this video drops, as I'll be on vacation with my family. Don't get too excited - just because you won't see any new content from me while I'm away doesn't mean that it's not coming soon. As always, thanks for watching and I look forward to catching up with you all upon my return.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what's up everyone my name is Danny and you're watching nerd on a budget so this is a video where I'm going to Showcase my own personal computer you SE my room in this video here and you might have caught glimpses of my computer from the outside just the casing but now I want to detail everything that's going on inside of the computer I'm going to go through each of the components very similar to how I do my build videos and you're going to see that most of my parts were obtained using the same advice and tips that I've given in previous videos and if you haven't seen these videos yet I'll link them in the description section below so you can check them out but this is going to serve to answer everyone who's been asking me what is in your rig I stand behind all the advice that I give and I practice what I preach when it comes to budgeting and hunting for the best deals I did my best to dig up all the proof of pricing but keep in mind that right now in mid 2016 some of the prices I paid would be considered outdated and they definitely wouldn't be considered a deal now but I'll talk about that when that's the case base also I'm not done with my build yet I have maybe one or two more things I want to get for it but for now it works for me and Suits my needs but uh yep let's just get to it so let's start off with the exterior housing everything is the DIY PC cubid green case in the last few years my tastes have shifted from conventional Towers to cube in small full Factor cases I just really like how awesome and compact they look before this case I had the azck M8 and before that was The Cooler Master half XB so it's been a while since I've had a standard Tower the amount of cube cases that exist are not as plantable as towers and they're generally more expensive but the ypc is a budget brand so the price has always been pretty low I paid $60 for it and I didn't mind paying full price because it's one of the lower price Cube cases and can still fit Micro ATX boards powering everything is a EVGA Supernova NEX 750 50b semi modular power supply it's bronze rated and I picked it up for $30 from a redditor that's local to me I saved quite a bit on shipping because it would have cost around $20 to ship alone since I end up in paid in cash I don't have an invers for it I'm running 16 GB of 1600 MHz Corsair Vin Ram which I got on Reddit for $70 used at the time $100 was pretty standard for 16 gigs new with $90 being a sale price and $80 being an awesome deal but since then RAM prices have plummeted and you can easily grab 16 GB for for $60 brand new right now in mid 2016 for core components I'm running an Intel i5 4690k on a gigabyte h81 board cooling it is the Corsair h100i this is the part of the video where you should be asking yourself why the heck is he using a budget ship set with an unlocked CPU and liquid cooler well here's how that came to be I have a friend that was able to get me a brand new 4690k for half off through his job he also got himself one which is why the invoice picture shows two but it came out to be a about $136 per CPU that means I was able to get the highest model Haswell i5 processor basically for the price of an I3 I didn't have this YouTube channel at the time so I was planning on using it with the stock heat sink and h81 chipset since it was more than enough for gaming as for why I have the h100i one day while browsing the build the PC sales subreddit I came across a post that showed how to get it for $50 by price matching even used the h100i often goes for around $80 so a new one for $50 was an amazing deal and basically an investment I could use it for myself for however long I wanted and always be able to resell it for more than what I paid and Deals like this don't always come around so I pulled the trigger that's how I ended up with this all-in-one cooler and unlock CPU paired with the lowest 1150 chipset I've been looking but I haven't found a good deal on a Z87 board yet new or used I'm not worried though because the h81 board will age well and their price won't drop too much since they're already so inexpensive at $60 new when I do finally come across the deal for a Z87 or Z 97 I can always use this h81 board for a budget build with a g3258 or something along those lines from the other side of the case you see the GPU and storage the GPU is the AMD Sapphire 290x Trix at the time of purchase it was going for around 300 to $320 new I pulled the trigger when it went on sale for $280 on New Egg as shown in the invoice here on top of that there was a $20 rebate bringing it down to $260 and then on top of that it came with a dirt rally game key which I was able to to sell for $20 bringing the total price down to $240 for a brand new 290x which was the going rate for used ones at the time I have it overclocked to 1150 MHz on the core and 1500 MHz on the memory for storage I've got a 256 GB corer Neutron SSD holding my OS and daily use programs like the ram SSD prices have since gone down a ton I paid $72 33 for this which was normal for used at the time as new ones were around $100 well it's made 16 now and you can grab ones around the same size for $60 brand new almost any day of the week the hard drives are both 7200 RPM drives one being 3 Tab and the other one being 1 tby for a total of 4 tabes worth of spinning discs I used the 1 tby for programs and games and the 3 tab has a storage Drive since I am a file hoarder and have over 10 years worth of files on it just in case I need them I just can't get myself to delete files most of the time because I enjoy going back and reminising like look at this these are sigs that I used to make having signature on forums were a huge deal back in the day you wanted to be that guy with a cool Sig and these are not examples of cool sigs uh I was a complete amateur and never fully developed my Photoshop skills but the point is they date back to 2006 that's one decade ago as bad as they are I will never delete these because they're such a pivotal part of me growing up and it's stuff like this that just builds up over the course of 10 years that require me to have such a large storage drive but let's get back to the hard drives they were both used from Reddit the 3 terab was $58 which is still a very good price today and the 1 TB was $33 which is about average now those are all the components so let's look at the build summary the complete cost is just a hair over $800 I'm very happy with it even though I'm not fully utilizing the CPU with such a budget board I don't need any upgrades right now they' just be nice to have and since that's the case I can wait for a good deal to come around for the motherboard and then my build will be complete but for the time being I'm happy with what I have and that is my computer I'm going to do a separate video for the rest of the things in my setup like my mic my monitor my keyboard laptop all that because this video was starting to get a little too long and I just didn't want to squish it all together but if you enjoyed this video then as always I appreciate if you can hit that like button and if you're new to my channel and you haven't subbed yet then all I ask of you is to consider doing so if you enjoy the content but now I want to ask everybody if you were given $800 and you had to spend it on a computer would you just want to buy my rig as it is or would you try to deal hunt yourself and try to build a rig that's similar or even better keep in mind that you can get an SSD and RAM for Less today but you might not know someone that works at a place that could get you a Intel processor for half off and I don't know when the next time a deal on an all-in-one cooler like that will come around it may come tomorrow or it may not come for like a year but yeah let me know in the comment section below I'm really curious as to what you guys would pick and yes for everybody who's been wondering there is another budget build coming right around the corner I already have all the parts in my possession but I'm going on vacation right when this video drops um when you watch this or when it gets published I will be on a plane to San Diego California to vacation with my family so all I ask is that you be patient while my content creation is halted for about a week and uh when I get back I will resume everything so yep just wanted to give you guys a heads up so when next week uh full content video doesn't drop you don't get mad at me but yeah that's about it everyone thanks for watching and thanks for being patient and I will see you in the next one byehey what's up everyone my name is Danny and you're watching nerd on a budget so this is a video where I'm going to Showcase my own personal computer you SE my room in this video here and you might have caught glimpses of my computer from the outside just the casing but now I want to detail everything that's going on inside of the computer I'm going to go through each of the components very similar to how I do my build videos and you're going to see that most of my parts were obtained using the same advice and tips that I've given in previous videos and if you haven't seen these videos yet I'll link them in the description section below so you can check them out but this is going to serve to answer everyone who's been asking me what is in your rig I stand behind all the advice that I give and I practice what I preach when it comes to budgeting and hunting for the best deals I did my best to dig up all the proof of pricing but keep in mind that right now in mid 2016 some of the prices I paid would be considered outdated and they definitely wouldn't be considered a deal now but I'll talk about that when that's the case base also I'm not done with my build yet I have maybe one or two more things I want to get for it but for now it works for me and Suits my needs but uh yep let's just get to it so let's start off with the exterior housing everything is the DIY PC cubid green case in the last few years my tastes have shifted from conventional Towers to cube in small full Factor cases I just really like how awesome and compact they look before this case I had the azck M8 and before that was The Cooler Master half XB so it's been a while since I've had a standard Tower the amount of cube cases that exist are not as plantable as towers and they're generally more expensive but the ypc is a budget brand so the price has always been pretty low I paid $60 for it and I didn't mind paying full price because it's one of the lower price Cube cases and can still fit Micro ATX boards powering everything is a EVGA Supernova NEX 750 50b semi modular power supply it's bronze rated and I picked it up for $30 from a redditor that's local to me I saved quite a bit on shipping because it would have cost around $20 to ship alone since I end up in paid in cash I don't have an invers for it I'm running 16 GB of 1600 MHz Corsair Vin Ram which I got on Reddit for $70 used at the time $100 was pretty standard for 16 gigs new with $90 being a sale price and $80 being an awesome deal but since then RAM prices have plummeted and you can easily grab 16 GB for for $60 brand new right now in mid 2016 for core components I'm running an Intel i5 4690k on a gigabyte h81 board cooling it is the Corsair h100i this is the part of the video where you should be asking yourself why the heck is he using a budget ship set with an unlocked CPU and liquid cooler well here's how that came to be I have a friend that was able to get me a brand new 4690k for half off through his job he also got himself one which is why the invoice picture shows two but it came out to be a about $136 per CPU that means I was able to get the highest model Haswell i5 processor basically for the price of an I3 I didn't have this YouTube channel at the time so I was planning on using it with the stock heat sink and h81 chipset since it was more than enough for gaming as for why I have the h100i one day while browsing the build the PC sales subreddit I came across a post that showed how to get it for $50 by price matching even used the h100i often goes for around $80 so a new one for $50 was an amazing deal and basically an investment I could use it for myself for however long I wanted and always be able to resell it for more than what I paid and Deals like this don't always come around so I pulled the trigger that's how I ended up with this all-in-one cooler and unlock CPU paired with the lowest 1150 chipset I've been looking but I haven't found a good deal on a Z87 board yet new or used I'm not worried though because the h81 board will age well and their price won't drop too much since they're already so inexpensive at $60 new when I do finally come across the deal for a Z87 or Z 97 I can always use this h81 board for a budget build with a g3258 or something along those lines from the other side of the case you see the GPU and storage the GPU is the AMD Sapphire 290x Trix at the time of purchase it was going for around 300 to $320 new I pulled the trigger when it went on sale for $280 on New Egg as shown in the invoice here on top of that there was a $20 rebate bringing it down to $260 and then on top of that it came with a dirt rally game key which I was able to to sell for $20 bringing the total price down to $240 for a brand new 290x which was the going rate for used ones at the time I have it overclocked to 1150 MHz on the core and 1500 MHz on the memory for storage I've got a 256 GB corer Neutron SSD holding my OS and daily use programs like the ram SSD prices have since gone down a ton I paid $72 33 for this which was normal for used at the time as new ones were around $100 well it's made 16 now and you can grab ones around the same size for $60 brand new almost any day of the week the hard drives are both 7200 RPM drives one being 3 Tab and the other one being 1 tby for a total of 4 tabes worth of spinning discs I used the 1 tby for programs and games and the 3 tab has a storage Drive since I am a file hoarder and have over 10 years worth of files on it just in case I need them I just can't get myself to delete files most of the time because I enjoy going back and reminising like look at this these are sigs that I used to make having signature on forums were a huge deal back in the day you wanted to be that guy with a cool Sig and these are not examples of cool sigs uh I was a complete amateur and never fully developed my Photoshop skills but the point is they date back to 2006 that's one decade ago as bad as they are I will never delete these because they're such a pivotal part of me growing up and it's stuff like this that just builds up over the course of 10 years that require me to have such a large storage drive but let's get back to the hard drives they were both used from Reddit the 3 terab was $58 which is still a very good price today and the 1 TB was $33 which is about average now those are all the components so let's look at the build summary the complete cost is just a hair over $800 I'm very happy with it even though I'm not fully utilizing the CPU with such a budget board I don't need any upgrades right now they' just be nice to have and since that's the case I can wait for a good deal to come around for the motherboard and then my build will be complete but for the time being I'm happy with what I have and that is my computer I'm going to do a separate video for the rest of the things in my setup like my mic my monitor my keyboard laptop all that because this video was starting to get a little too long and I just didn't want to squish it all together but if you enjoyed this video then as always I appreciate if you can hit that like button and if you're new to my channel and you haven't subbed yet then all I ask of you is to consider doing so if you enjoy the content but now I want to ask everybody if you were given $800 and you had to spend it on a computer would you just want to buy my rig as it is or would you try to deal hunt yourself and try to build a rig that's similar or even better keep in mind that you can get an SSD and RAM for Less today but you might not know someone that works at a place that could get you a Intel processor for half off and I don't know when the next time a deal on an all-in-one cooler like that will come around it may come tomorrow or it may not come for like a year but yeah let me know in the comment section below I'm really curious as to what you guys would pick and yes for everybody who's been wondering there is another budget build coming right around the corner I already have all the parts in my possession but I'm going on vacation right when this video drops um when you watch this or when it gets published I will be on a plane to San Diego California to vacation with my family so all I ask is that you be patient while my content creation is halted for about a week and uh when I get back I will resume everything so yep just wanted to give you guys a heads up so when next week uh full content video doesn't drop you don't get mad at me but yeah that's about it everyone thanks for watching and thanks for being patient and I will see you in the next one bye\n"