If you love computer, you should know about the process of building a PC with the components provided. This blog will tell you about how to build a PC in a cheap(poor) way, and you can save your pocket. This is also gonna be a blog to promote reusing old, outdated hardware. The environment will be poisoned by billions of outdated electronic device, and that is why there are trade-in option for different manufactures.
Hardware List and Cost
CPU
| Name | Intel xeon E3-1230 v3 | Price | 340 RMB ~ 50 USD |
| Socket Type | LGA 1150/Socket H3 | Base Frequency | 3.30 GHz |
| Lithography | 22 nm | Total Cores/Total Threads | 4C/8T |
| TDP | 80 W | Memory Types | DDR3 and DDR3L 1333/1600 |
GPU
| Name | XFX AMD Radeon RX 470 4G | Price | 450 RMB ~ 70 USD |
| Feature | red fans | Memory Type | GDDR5 |
| APIs | DirectX 12 | Power Cable Requirement | 6-Pin PCI-E |
| Memory Size | 4 GB | Connectors | DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI |
Motherboard
| Name | ASUS B85M-V PLUS | Price | 0 (reused from old PC) |
| Socket Type | LGA 1150/Socket H3 | Memory Types | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Form Factor | MicroATX | LAN | Realtek® RTL8111GR Gigabit LAN |
| I/O | COM, DVI, Ethernet (RJ-45), SATA II, SATA III, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, VGA | Expansion Slot | PCI Express 2.0 x1, PCI Express 2.0/3.0 x16 |
Memory
| Name | Kingston DDR3 8G $\times$ 2 | Price | 248 RMB ~ 35 USD |
Storage
| Name | Kingston Digital 120GB SSDNow V300 SATA 3 2.5 | Price | 0 (reused from old PC) |
| Size | 120GB | Model number | SV300S37A/120G |
| Dimension | 2.74 x 3.94 x 0.28 inches | Weight | 1.87 ounces |
Where Did I Bought?
All the extra parts that I bought comes from the biggest second hand online market in China, which is called Xianyu (咸鱼). In this platform, there are all different kinds of hardware components that you can buy. Actually, I got my current laptop from that platform even if this is the brand new product. This is because the laptop I am using right now was very limited when it first came out. I spent several days online trying to get one as it is not available all the time. I eventually gave up and spend extra 100$ on Xianyu to get one immediately.
Price for GPU
The GPU that I got from Xianyu is RX470. From the description and the photos that is shown, I am pretty sure that this one is a used mine card from 2018 (the first peak of cryptocurrency and mining). After the mining rush is gone, the quality of the card cannot be guaranteed so I can get it with a low price. However, the price of this card was getting over controlled in the next few months. This is the main reason that I can still make money after I built this PC.
Build Steps
Preparation
As a PC enthusiast, I am comfortable about my PC build technique. I also played the PC Building Simulator before, so I am like half-pro on building PCs. However, I still met some issues before I actually build it. Firstly, I am not sure if my graphic card can be fitted to my motherboard, the card looks too big compared to my motherboard. I did not realize this problem until I finally tested it in my PC case, and I found out that the size actually fit. Another big problem I have is related th thermal cooling (definitely the biggest problem for PC hardware) I used to have a Intel i3-4130 CPU, which also comes with a default fans