Newly-bought refurbished computer frequently freezes and crashes.

I am sure I could fit a blu ray and plenty of other things in this coolermaster case. This system was much less than $400.

SIW2 said:

I have a b365 motherboard and a i5-8400 in an old coolermaster case. Lots of room and front bays. Pretty cheap to do nowadays.

How powerful is that i5-8400? Can it run DaVinci Resolve well? From what I can find, it's only 2.4 Mhz, compared to 4.2 for the i7-7700K.

The problem with building a PC from scratch (at least from the calculations I've made) is that all of the components add up to the total. It might seem cheap at first when it's just the case, motherboard, and CPU, but add in the heatsinks, fans, thermal paste, GPU, RAM, a Windows license, etc, and the price quickly climbs to something far higher than a refurbished computer.

UserBenchmark: Intel Core i5-8400 vs i7-7700

It doesnt have to be i5-8400. The i7-8700 is only £65 now

i7-8700 cex

currently in the Uk
i7-8700 £65
2x8gb ddr4 £35
b365 mobo £60

approx £160.

for the 8700 something like Thermalright Assassin King 120 SE cpu cooler £15.90 should be good enough was well reviewed by gamers nexus.

( the motherboards go fast because the ram and cpu are so cheap a lot of people are after 300 series mobos )

any old large case and a reasonable psu.

SIW2 said:

currnetly in the Uk
i7-8700 £65
2x8gb ddr4 £35
b365 mobo £60

In my case, though, I'd have to buy almost everything, as I don't have any old cases or PSUs, etc, lying around to reuse, the RAM I have is DDR3, etc.

For me, the purchase list would be something like this:

1. CPU

2. Motherboard

3. GPU

4. RAM

5. Case

6. Heatsink for CPU.

7. Fans

8. Windows license.

9. Thermal paste for installing CPU and heatsink.

10. PSU.

And I'm probably forgetting a few other things. All that would add up to far beyond my budget, even if I would only get 16 GB of RAM like in your list (I'm used to working with 32 GB, and would like to upgrade to 64 GB or more).

And that's not even factoring in that many of the parts are more expensive here in the U.S. For example, an i7-8700 is around $170 over here.

Second hand case about 30-35 if you dont have one already. You can probabaly find a decent size old case in a car boot sale ( or garage sales in the US ). They are occasionally left out on the street for the binmen to dispose of.

And in the last year or so I bought a couple of psu because they were so cheap. £34.95 for an open box Pure Power 11 FM 550 .

Sounds like you are making excuses because you cant be bothered with thrill of finding the stuff and putting it together. Looking for the good deals is part of the fun.

windows 7 pro license activates win10 fine and it cost £2.50 ( I already had some win7 and win8 lying around but decided to buy one to see if it works - and it does )

SIW2 said:

Second hand case about 30-35. Andin the last year or so I bought a couple of psu because they were so cheap. £34.95 for an open box Pure Power 11 FM 550 .

Sounds like you are making excuses because you cant be bothered with thrill of finding the stuff and putting it together.

Moreso trepidation that when I would put it all together, it might not even boot up, driver issues, etc. I'm not as knowledgeable about what components are better than others, what parts are compatible, etc, as people used to building their own computers are. I'm afraid of messing something up.

The price is still the primary issue for me, though. I don't have much money, and am used to stretching every dollar as far as it can go.

I guess maybe it would be a good idea for me to put together a concrete list of how much it would cost me for each component rather than guessing, though (making sure to confirm with people who know that sort of stuff that each component is high-quality and compatible). It's possible that it would be more affordable than it seems now, although I have my doubts (especially considering how costly Windows licenses are for consumers compared to how cheaply refurbishers can buy them in bulk).

More so trepidation

ah.

SIW2 said:

windows 7 pro license activates win10 fine and it cost £2.50 ( I already had some win7 and win8 lying around but decided to buy one to see if it works - and it does )

I just saw this part (maybe you added it in an edit?). I never heard about this. Where is it possible to buy them so cheap (and be sure they're genuine)?

SIW2 said:

Welcome To Mikes Unboxing Reviews & How To - YouTube

Thank you for that info.

I'll have to look into putting together a list to see if if would be affordable for me to build my own computer. I'll have to ask around a lot to find out what components are compatible (and capable of doing what I want them to), what heatsinks are good enough for what CPUs, etc, as I am completely in the blind with that sort of thing.

Regarding cases, it is possible to take everything (motherboard, etc) out of a broken Dell OptiPlex 9020 MT that I have, and reuse the case? That would save at least few dollars, although I don't know how well it would compare to a Coolermaster.