How do I build a cost-effective, upgradeable PC?

Question

For the computer builders out there, how do you make sure that your system will be performant and cost-effective for a long time? That is, what can you do to build an upgrade-friendly computer? To start it off, here are some things I've learned:

• Invest in your non-perishables: the case, fans/coolers, power supply, monitor(s), optical drive(s), and peripherals.
• Buy a barebones motherboard from a modern lineup, for which processors, RAM, and video cards are still being produced 5 years down the road.

(Not sure if this should be community wiki, as there's no convention yet.)

Answer 1

My suggestions:

• Get a good case (personally: SilverStone, have 3 of their cases, and all excellent) this is probably the one item where if you buy a really good and roomy one, you can keep re-using it for multiple re-builds, so do not be afraid to spend some money here. Note: do not buy any case that uses fans smaller than 12cm, your ears won't like that... as will the life expectancy of your components.
• Get good 12cm fans for your case (personally: Noctua all the way... may not look like much, but they are excellent and quiet... and admit it... you aren't really going to be looking at the fans, right?)

Everything else that goes in it, you will have to be prepared to replace sooner or later... but to get the longest value out of these:

• Get the cheapest motherboard of a decent brand with the latest socket standard (i7)
• Get the cheapest processor that is fast enough for your needs that will fit into this socket (i7)
• Get the cheapest videocard that is fast enough to play the games you want to play
• Get a decent matched set of 3x DDR3 memory... probably 1066 Geil or some such

Everything else is up to personal taste... plus hard-disks are not likely to age as fast as any of the other parts.

Answer 2

Buy things at the start of the hardware generation, for example if you were building a computer right now you'd probably choose to go for an Intel iCore 7 processor since that socket was just introduced and will have a long life now. That's basically the only consideration for longevity. As for the case, power supply, etc, the greatest consideration is just to buy a much bigger power supply than standard.

Answer 3

This is a difficult question. I'd work with the assumption you're going to upgrade most processing components (CPU, graphics cards etc) in time so.

1. Buy a good quality case with good reviews (make sure it has lots of drive bays)
2. Get a good PSU, preferably a quiet one, ideally with 100/200W more than you need
3. Buy good quality quiet fans (and lots of them)
4. Think about airflow when you build your machine, heat kills components
5. Buy a huge PSU fan so you can spin it slowly and still move lots of air

Once you've got this together then pick your other components at a price point just before the price/performance curve gets steep. e.g. I'd buy a mid-range CPU at $200 rather than spend $400 on a high end one. Obviously if you want to play the latest games you're going to need a wicked GPU (or 2) so you spend more where you need it. I don't think there is any point buying the latest and greatest unless you REALLY need it because prices fall so fast EDIT: Oh and get 4GB+ of RAM it's so cheap and it really helps most machines

Answer 4

I mostly agree with your first list of items, but you really don't want to scrimp on a motherboard - it is the centerpiece from which you hang everything else off. Get a good one that accommodate a variety of socket types that you think you might be using depending on your budget and needs. It is easy to upgrade pretty much everything else (RAM, HD, even processor)...but upgrading a motherboard when you want to keep everything else is can be a pain.

Answer 5

It depends what the primary use of the computer will be. If you're going to use it primarily for gaming, then you'd want to shift more of your budget onto a decent graphics card. But on the other hand, if you'll be leaning more towards general usage - web browsing, document editing, casual gaming, then you'd probably benefit from evening your budget out over your components. You won't need a top of the line graphics card if you won't be playing the latest games.

As far as a CPU is concerned, you shouldn't need anything greater than a dual core hovering about 2.3GHz - 2.6GHz. That should be quite performant for a while. I'd recommend around 2GB of RAM, especially if you're using Vista.

Answer 6

If you invest in anything, invest in as much RAM as possible. Processors are typically cheap to upgrade, and outside of gaming, modern processors will run everything you need without a hassle.

However I've found that the more RAM you have in the system the more "work" your system will be able to handle and it will help it last a lot longer than a "screaming" system with less RAM.