Intro

This build is a compilation of some of the best used parts deals I've found this past year. Since the price to performance is so good, this is actually my personal build that I use to play Starcraft 2 and Path of Exile @ 1440p 144hz. Here's the breakdown of how I got this build so cheap.

CPU

I was rocking a 4670k OC'd @ 4.5ghz before picking up this one in April 2019. A seller on Craigslist was selling his old server that had a H81 board with this CPU in it for only $120. At the time I bought this, the 4790k was still selling regularly for $180-200, so this was a killer deal. It even came with 16GB ram, SSD, and HDD, so I was able to use those parts in other builds. The value from that $120 server was incredible and I'm certain the previous owner didn't even overclock it since the board it came with didn't have those capabilities. I ended up pro-rating this CPU at $100 for this build but I'm sure I got a lot more value out of that deal.

CPU Cooler

This came from another Craigslist deal where the seller was selling this AIO in like-new condition. He wanted $80 for it which was a decent deal considering he didn't even use it for more than 1 hour, but I was able to leverage a separate posting to lower his price. Since I browse used computer parts so often, I found a posting for a Corsair H115i for only $50 and linked it to the seller. He agreed to take my $60 offer and after unboxing that cooler, it was indeed in very like-new condition with all the packaging and accessories. I was very happy and love finding like-new parts for used prices.

Motherboard

This motherboard came from an old build that I flipped and kept this motherboard with the 4670k that was paired with it. Since I flipped the parts from that build for a profit, this motherboard/cpu was basically free! This was pretty much the start of this build, so I'm very attached to this motherboard. I even like the thermal armor and aesthetics and as such, this build is named after this board :)

Ram

I originally had some Corsair Vengeance sticks in this build but had to remove them due to the size of the head spreaders. Since then, I've switched to these Patriot Vipers and I actually like the idea of having animal names in all of the parts, so thus, the Sabertooth Viper build name was created.

SSD

Cheap SSD. Wish I bought more Samsung EVO's on Black Friday, but there's always next year.

HDD

Upgraded from an old Seagate Barracuda to this shucked Western Digital Mybook from B&H Photo. I wish I could've kept the animal theme going with the Barracuda but I'm happy with moving on from Seagate.

Video Card

Upgraded from a Sapphire Nitro RX580 8G. Very minor upgrade but I wanted to use that RX580 in my girlfriend's build so I ended up picking up this card on /r/hardwareswap back in December 2018. At the time GTX 1070's were still going for $240-250 so my deal was ok. If I were to buy a video card at time of this writing, I would save up for the Sapphire Nitro Vega 64 for $400.

Case

Fractal Design was never on my radar before this build. I liked the quality look of the cases, but the features never justified the price for me. When I saw this case being sold brand new on Facebook Marketplace though, I immediately offered the seller $60 and she actually took it! I ended driving 45 minutes, waiting 20 minutes in my car, almost gave up and went home, before the seller's brother finally came out with a brand new box with this case in it. My patience ended up paying off and this case was worth every penny and second.

Other Features

To finish off the build, I ended up adding some cheap $2 white led strips to the top and front of the case. I normally hate white LEDs in my cases but I think they look ok on this case. There are also some cheap uphere extensions that look amazing also.

Conclusion

Thanks for making this far in my story. I still want to make some improvements aesthetically but this build is never finished. Any recommendations or suggestions would be appreciated! Cheers