Slow internets got you down? Keep getting pwnd in-game because of choppy video rendering? Thinking about a new computer? Should you buy one or just build a quick fast setup?
I had the same questions 3 years ago and I ended up just building a cheap setup with the fastest components at the time, also was able to salvage some leftovers from a previous purchase.
I ended up with the following items for about $300 shipped from Newegg:
Almost all of those items were refurbs or open-box discounted (2011) I already had a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and I was going to use it as a Linux box so I didn't need the extra $100 for an OS. This was an easy and cheap build to get online and do what I needed. Eventually I was able to upgrade the video card and even got to run Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, DOTA2, and other medium load games on it with low settings.
The motherboard and processor are the bottleneck on this system.
Anyway, the point is that you can build a decent computer very cheaply now if you have the main peripherals already. It's been this way for a while, but a new piece of hardware has emerged to help us build even cheaper than before: The Raspberry Pi
I'm a little late to the scene here but I'd like to write about it anyway, because I plan on building a small Pi cluster in the near future.
From my understanding of a simple Pi Cluster (let's say 5 nodes), you'll need:
Wi-Pi wifi dongle = $10
5x Cat6A Ethernet Cables (1-Foot lengths) = $25 (this is one exception where you could go with quality-tested cables for a total of closer to $60)
Don't forget the typical desktop peripherals you'll need too: keyboard, mouse, monitor, ethernet cables, etc. (Think of this project as an extension of your existing desktop setup)
Items above are priced at MCMelectronics.com and BlueJeansCable.com
For a custom-built rack, sized to whatever specifications and dimensions you can think of, check out Sheep Plastics, very affordable and very customizable pieces of acrylic to mount your Pi onto.
Heck, you could probably even build a full-size tower from them too.
Sources:
Blue Jeans Cables
MCMelectronics.com
How-To build a Raspberry Pi server cluster
40-core cluster with 20GB RAM & 5TB Storage
Mini-Cluster Setup
Small cluster from Southampton
Custom-cut acrylic
I had the same questions 3 years ago and I ended up just building a cheap setup with the fastest components at the time, also was able to salvage some leftovers from a previous purchase.
I ended up with the following items for about $300 shipped from Newegg:
Almost all of those items were refurbs or open-box discounted (2011) I already had a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and I was going to use it as a Linux box so I didn't need the extra $100 for an OS. This was an easy and cheap build to get online and do what I needed. Eventually I was able to upgrade the video card and even got to run Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, DOTA2, and other medium load games on it with low settings.
The motherboard and processor are the bottleneck on this system.
Anyway, the point is that you can build a decent computer very cheaply now if you have the main peripherals already. It's been this way for a while, but a new piece of hardware has emerged to help us build even cheaper than before: The Raspberry Pi
I'm a little late to the scene here but I'd like to write about it anyway, because I plan on building a small Pi cluster in the near future.
From my understanding of a simple Pi Cluster (let's say 5 nodes), you'll need:
5x Raspberry Pi = $210
Pi Power Hub = $30Wi-Pi wifi dongle = $10
5x Cat6A Ethernet Cables (1-Foot lengths) = $25 (this is one exception where you could go with quality-tested cables for a total of closer to $60)
Don't forget the typical desktop peripherals you'll need too: keyboard, mouse, monitor, ethernet cables, etc. (Think of this project as an extension of your existing desktop setup)
Items above are priced at MCMelectronics.com and BlueJeansCable.com
For a custom-built rack, sized to whatever specifications and dimensions you can think of, check out Sheep Plastics, very affordable and very customizable pieces of acrylic to mount your Pi onto.
Heck, you could probably even build a full-size tower from them too.
Sources:
Blue Jeans Cables
MCMelectronics.com
How-To build a Raspberry Pi server cluster
40-core cluster with 20GB RAM & 5TB Storage
Mini-Cluster Setup
Small cluster from Southampton
Custom-cut acrylic
