Worth starting a build, but not waiting to finish?
Posted by gnshagghkkapphribbit@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 9 comments
Tldr; should I buy some parts now, some later?
I currently have a decent laptop for gaming and editing (didn't have the space for a tower at the time) and it still runs fine, but within a year or two I think it'll start showing it's age, and I'm now in a position to have a full pc again.
Going through this sub suggests that it's not a great time to build, particularly RAM and GPU prices, and my range would be £1500ish for a PC that can play games like Siege well and decent editing when needed. Is it worth buying some parts now and waiting to see if the prices calm down (within that 2ish year mark)?
For storage, I can take the two 2tb NVME's from my laptop. Periphrals I have already. So is it worth buyings things like:
- Case
- Fans/Coolers
- PSU
- Mobo potentially?
Or should I just see it out and worry about it in a year or two?
Thanks in advance
Loserweebs@reddit
Not worth it tbh. I just cobble together a build for $250 by buying one part at a time. Both of ram stick DOA and I miss out on getting refund/return the stick at the time. So unless you fell in love with a case hard, and you absolutely sure that they won't restock, then maybe bought it and keep it in the original box to prevent the glass broke. Otherwise don't bother, keep gaming on the laptop
9okm@reddit
No, you should never do this. Save and buy all at once.
Various-Jellyfish132@reddit
Nah just stick your cash in an ISA. Whatever you buy today can be bought for 50-70% of the price ein 2 years, no point it sitting on a shelf deprecating whne the case could be sitting in a tracker fund appreciating.
Tbh, you already have the drives, GPUs will not be getting cheaper any time soon, Intel has some great value CPUs atm and £1500 is a decent budget. I'd just build now
Ram is expensive, but £200-250 will get you 32gb ddr5 which is plenty for now, and only about £100-150 more than 12 months ago. Compared to your full budget, that's only 10% more.
gnshagghkkapphribbit@reddit (OP)
I think I missed a key piece of information sorry - I don’t have £1500 in cash right now, but between now and when my laptop is likely to show its age I would have saved that or more. Of the things I listed too, case/coolers are the things I would expect to change the least in price and not be overly expensive (but could be wrong!)
Various-Jellyfish132@reddit
Yeah, in that case definitely wait. Worth investing in good peripherals that you can use with your laptop if you don't already have them. A ddcent monitor, keyboard and mouse will last you a decade, improve your laptop experience and can be carried over when you get a desktop.
Another option is to build a budget system and upgrade. AM4 bundle for £100-150, rtx 3070 for £200, psu/case etc for £100. Will be a decent system and the bits can be sold on for pretty much what you paid as you slowly upgrade bit by bit
gnshagghkkapphribbit@reddit (OP)
I have the peripherals already so covered that! Had considered building a budget but my laptop is still able to play majority of games on mid-high spec so I don’t think I’d end up using it that much.
If the laptop dies prematurely I’d do what you’re suggesting and get a budget build.
Appreciate the help!
thebenson@reddit
Just wait until you need/want to do the full build and do it then.
What if you buy some parts now, wait a year, and find that things have gotten worse and you can't afford to finish the build?
You can't return the parts. And now they're used, a year old, and worth significantly less than when you bought them.
hamfinity@reddit
It's never worth buying less than a fully functional PC because you have no way of testing if each part works.
So if you do complete it after 1-2 years of waiting and find out one of your original parts was dead on arrival, you already lost out on easy returns to the retailer and years of warranty.
gnshagghkkapphribbit@reddit (OP)
instantly saw the typo in the title after posting rip - Worth starting a build, but waiting to finish?