Building a computer at $400 a month

[slackerinabox]

This is an odd method but I could currently fit $400 a month into my budget. So I'm looking to buy my components in order from LEAST likely to go obsolete /have a major price change in the 3 or so months it'll take me to buy everything.

What I mean is - this month I could afford either a case or a cpu. Since CPU prices are fairly volatile I'll be better off buying a case... Get it?

I'm looking to edit videos and do some after FX work and would like a system powerful enough to do realtime fx in popular editing suites (avid or premiere since I have no desire to get a mac). I don't game but if getting a higher end GPU helps offload CPU time to speed up rendering then so be it... Though I'm not sure if that's a myth or not...

Thanks for any help! This is the order I THINK i'm going in

Month 1: Case/keyboard/mouse
Month 2: LCD
Month 3: Motherboard/ram
Month 4: CPU

*UPDATE*
ok, you guys are right... so, let's rephrase this query. Keeping video editing in mind, what's the best I can do with a $1,200- $1,600 budget. My BIGGEST issues are rendering speed (After FX color correction and deinterlacing of video) and stability. So, I figure that I should go with a reputable case/powersupply but I'm not a goofball who needs 500 fans. In fact, I live in a pretty small apartment and would like my rig to take up as little space as possible, without sacrificing stability.

So, with that in mind, here's my starting point:

-AMD X2 processor that's around $400 when I'm looking to make a purchase
-Most stable 939 motherboard. I dunno what that would be.. N-force the way to go? Anything else more STABLE?
-Video card: I DO NOT GAME. Is is true that some video cards let you off-load rendering to the GPU? I'm using Adobe AfterFX, Sony Vegas Video, Avid, and occassionally photoshop. Is there any card out there that would help me edit/render quicker or should I just go with whatever PCI-e card I can get for $100?
-Ram: I'm not going to overclock but would love recommendations for affordable yet stable ram... 1 gig about, maybe 2
-Hard drives- whatever's $200 at the time. I'm not really that picky since I can always add another one or use my enclosure
-DVD-RW .. they all seem about the same to me... Figure a $50 nec or Pioneer would be fine...
-monitor: are there any sub$500 19" monitors that are good enough for video editing? I know that extends my budget a bit but I wouldn't mind it if that means that I don't have to buy an NTSC monitor down the line

Any suggestions? Is my budget unrealistic for what I'm looking for?

 

[nonilley]

Case: I jsut got an aspire x-dreamer ii and fortron psu it's a solid setup.
That was $110 with shipping.

LCD: Newegg's got an ACER 17" 8ms lcd for around 215 it's a good deal.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824009036

Mobo: Biostar TForce4u is a slammin deal 92 on newegg.
Ram: Well you could get like value ram or whatever.

that's basically what I am getting and it seems to be a good setup.

 

[Fox5]

Why don't you just save the money for 4 months and then buy all the parts at once, that way prices will likely be at their lowest for everything and you won't be stuck with outdated parts.

 

[mshan]

If video editing is your prime concern, you would need to specify which program you intend to use because sometimes particular video card manufacturers work closely with these software companies (e.g. Pinnacle and Radeon, though I think Pinnacle has been absorbed by someone else - Avid?).

http://www.videoguys.com/system.htm

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Fox5
Why don't you just save the money for 4 months and then buy all the parts at once, that way prices will likely be at their lowest for everything and you won't be stuck with outdated parts.

Yeah, wtf are you thinking, freedomsbeat212?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How about just hang out in hot deals and get stuff as you can afford it?
Get a component whenever there's a great deal on it.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
How about just hang out in hot deals and get stuff as you can afford it?
Get a component whenever there's a great deal on it.

:thumbsup:

 

[otispunkmeyer]

case? ANTEC P150

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Fox5
Why don't you just save the money for 4 months and then buy all the parts at once, that way prices will likely be at their lowest for everything and you won't be stuck with outdated parts.

I lead a wacky life - something ALWAYS comes up... I'd rather treat it as a little project, so at the end I just pop in a CPU and I'm good to go...

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: Fox5
Why don't you just save the money for 4 months and then buy all the parts at once, that way prices will likely be at their lowest for everything and you won't be stuck with outdated parts.

 

[johnnqq]

if you buy a few things at a time and one of those items is broken, your 30 day period will expire and your money will be wasted...

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: johnnqq
if you buy a few things at a time and one of those items is broken, your 30 day period will expire and your money will be wasted...

Damn you and your sound logic! I never thought of that BUT you're totally right..

 

[w00t]

It's worth just saving all the money and making the buy when you have all the money so pick out everything you want than buy it.

 

[oupei]

Originally posted by: johnnqq
if you buy a few things at a time and one of those items is broken, your 30 day period will expire and your money will be wasted...

:thumbsup: When I set up my home theater in the basement, the construction was delayed a month so all my components sat there as the return period expired, and then I found that my receiver was defective. that was the worst RMA I have ever dealt with in my life...

 

[JoshGuru7]

It's hard to get much worse than computer components when it comes to a holder of value. This is especially true if you are trying to space your money in $400 intervals - that would force you to buy large ticket items such as the LCD far enough ahead of the date of use that will significantly depreciate before they are even tested.

If you feel the money would be hard to simply keep on the side in a savings account, consider starting a seperate account, or a 4% money market account. Instead of depreciating your money will at least match inflation and when you go to make all your purchases you'll see a much better bang for your buck.

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: Fox5
Why don't you just save the money for 4 months and then buy all the parts at once, that way prices will likely be at their lowest for everything and you won't be stuck with outdated parts.

Yeah, wtf are you thinking, freedomsbeat212?

 

[slackerinabox]

ok, you guys are right... so, let's rephrase this query. Keeping video editing in mind, what's the best I can do with a $1,200- $1,600 budget. My BIGGEST issues are rendering speed (After FX color correction and deinterlacing of video) and stability. So, I figure that I should go with a reputable case/powersupply but I'm not a goofball who needs 500 fans. In fact, I live in a pretty small apartment and would like my rig to take up as little space as possible, without sacrificing stability.

So, with that in mind, here's my starting point:

-AMD X2 processor that's around $400 when I'm looking to make a purchase
-Most stable 939 motherboard. I dunno what that would be.. N-force the way to go? Anything else more STABLE?
-Video card: I DO NOT GAME. Is is true that some video cards let you off-load rendering to the GPU? I'm using Adobe AfterFX, Sony Vegas Video, Avid, and occassionally photoshop. Is there any card out there that would help me edit/render quicker or should I just go with whatever PCI-e card I can get for $100?
-Ram: I'm not going to overclock but would love recommendations for affordable yet stable ram... 1 gig about, maybe 2
-Hard drives- whatever's $200 at the time. I'm not really that picky since I can always add another one or use my enclosure
-DVD-RW .. they all seem about the same to me... Figure a $50 nec or Pioneer would be fine...
-monitor: are there any sub$500 19" monitors that are good enough for video editing? I know that extends my budget a bit but I wouldn't mind it if that means that I don't have to buy an NTSC monitor down the line

Any suggestions? Is my budget unrealistic for what I'm looking for?

Thanks guys

 

[Reiniku]

CPU: The 3800+ x2 is always a solid recommendation, even without oc'ing. Otherwise you can go as far as a 4200+ or an Opteron 170 if you simply want to push the 400 limit.

Mobo: There are a LOT to choose from, as of right now yes I'd go with an nf4.

Video Card: I'd actually looking into an x1600xt that's been seen for about 159. You're gonna love AVIVO.

Ram: 2 gigs of Corsair Value Select, very affordable, always stable.

HD's: Your best best is the 400gb WD (sata). The performance is basically worth comparing to the 74gb raptor at 5x the capacity.

DVD-RW: NEC 3550A

Monitor: Sub $500? I'd grab the Dell 2005fpw for sure. 20", 16:10 Aspect Ratio.... (look it up a bit more)