Building own computer.

[MasterMind]

I'm in the process of putting together my own computer. I'm just wondering how many of you guys have tried or have built your own. It seems like it going to be pretty simple. Just waiting for a few more parts to come before I start. Anyone have any tips?

[Gamer]

uhh, one tip, make sure its not plugged in!;)

[GameMaster]

Wash your hands before assemblying and keep all food and drink away. It stinks when you drop a soda on your new hardware. :(

[Ginkasa]

I've thought about building my own computer. But there's one thing that's stopping me.....




I don't know how.....



:D

[gekko]

It's not that complicated. I know how to build one. Just a few pointers:

1) Keep in mind Windows machines have hardware problems. Make sure the hardware is compatiable with all the other stuff you have crammed in your system.

2) Remember to provide the proper cooling to the proper parts. I recommend a liquid cooled system, because it's very quiet without fans.

3) Learn BIOS before you start. Know all the settings and what they mean.

4) You better be good with troubleshooting. No company to call for help. You figure out the problem, you get the replacement part, and you fix it. And when you turn on that computer for the very first time, you may not have a clue what the problem is.

If you know a lot about computers, it's basically common. Building your own computer has a lot of benefits, but sometimes troubleshooting will come back and bite you in the ass.

[thehtownpoption]

Originally posted by MasterMind
I'm in the process of putting together my own computer. I'm just wondering how many of you guys have tried or have built your own. It seems like it going to be pretty simple. Just waiting for a few more parts to come before I start. Anyone have any tips?

Are you an IGNInsider? They have a complete Build-Your-Own-PC guide that I read through and it seemed very good. If you're not an IGNInsider, just ask and I'll copy and paste it all.

db

[Yoda9864]

Yeha, I built my own computer. One tad of advice, know what you are doing or ahve someone nearby that knows what they are doing. Good thing I knew what I was doing.

[Joeiss]

I have never built my own computer, sorry about that. But, I have another question. Is building your own computer cheaper than buying one? If so, what is the price of all the hardware that you buy?

[MasterMind]

Hey guys, thanks for the replys. I've never built one before but I have some close relatives who are into the IT field so I could always ask them for help. The only thing that does worry me is trouble shooting the system once I get it going.


Are you an IGNInsider? They have a complete Build-Your-Own-PC guide that I read through and it seemed very good. If you're not an IGNInsider, just ask and I'll copy and paste it all.

No I'm not an Insider so if you want you can post it but I've read a lot of those how to's already too.

And about saving money, I think you can save some money, but it all depends on what you want. I spent about $500 for my parts

IBM 40gb HDD -> $80
20 x 10 x 40 CDRW -> $75
Athlon 1.4Ghz Cpu -> $110
Asus Mobo -> $70
256mb DDR -> $80 Did the price for memory jump up????
New case -> $70

Plus I'm reusing some of my stuff I have right now like video card, modem, and other things that can be reused. So you tell me, savings or not? Cause I don't even know what I could get retail for $500 that I would like.

What did you guys build and what was your budget?

Sorry for the rant.

[Ric]

I selected the parts I wanted for my PC and had it built for me, that way if it f's up it's their fault and you're not stuck with a chunk off metal/plastic with some fancy circuit boards in. Be careful mate, if you get stuck get help straight away.

[gekko]

Originally posted by Joeiss
I have never built my own computer, sorry about that. But, I have another question. Is building your own computer cheaper than buying one? If so, what is the price of all the hardware that you buy?

Yes, it's cheaper. When you buy from a company you are paying for their labor charges, all that crap software you never use, and a warranty. When you build your own, you do the labor, you pay for all the software you want, and if something breaks, you buy the new part to replace it.

It can be cheaper, but in many cases, it can become more expensive. When you buy a pre-made PC, you may only have a choice between 3 DVD drives. When you go build your own, you might throw in a real expensive one. So I guess if you get carried away, ya, it could cost you more :D

But if you made the exact same PC, when you build your own it would cost less. Like I said before, only problem you gotta know how to trouble shoot, because no one will be on the phone walking you threw it step by step to find the problem.

[Yoda9864]

It was tons cheaper for me.

I got a bare bones system, which included mobo, 1.33ghz Athlon, case and power supply for $120.

Got a GeForce2 GTS for $60
Optical mouse for $15
30gb 7200 hard drive for $70
17" monitor for $90
and some other stuff I can't htink of right now.

Final cost was somthing like $550.
Saved tons of money.

[Cyrax9]

Gekko basically said everything I was going to say, but I'd like to re-emphisize two points.

Number 1: Make sure that what you put together is compatible if it's a windows machine, and make sure you understand how to set it up.

Number 2: There's no tech support so if you fry your CD-R/Rw dribve, you have to buy a new one without warrenty. Building your own computer is cheaper as Gekko said because you don't pay for manual labor and parts, or in some cases shipping. But on the toher hand, you have no warrenty either, so it's up to you to troubleshoot any problems.

I'll actually add some of my own tips now.

Tip #1. Buy some static discharge fingerbands for your wrists and fingers, a little bit of static electricity can do a LOT of damge.

Tip #2. Work in a Clean area with Clean tools and NO Food, food causes deaths to many computers, also be sure to discharge your tools on the Power Box inside your computer (It's the one you plug into the wall and has al the warinings on it).

Tip #3. I know this is hard for alot of people, but READ THE MOTHERBOARD INSTRUCTIONS FIRST!!!!!! If you don't it'll bite you in the ass, trust me on this one. Also read the other component's insturctions, but always read about the motherboard first before you take the plunge.

I hope this helps, if you ned to find static tape, try any electronics store, resist the urge to eat around the machine, and if something isn't compatiblle try to return it unused and buy a part that is compatible.


~Cyrax~

[MasterMind]

Thanks for the tips guys. I new I forgot something, cause I just went to CompUSA earlier today to buy some case fans, and I totally forgot to pick up an anti static wrist strap. Now I have to drive out there again. Well I did actually read the whole manual cover to cover, and I think I got that down, I think. As for compatability, I think everything I have should be compatible. I'll let you guys know how it goes when I get it done. Still waiting for that hard drive to get here.

[jshrimp3]

one of my bro's friends made his own comp, with the help of his dad. it ended up being awesome and a lot cheaper than wut it would cost him regularly. my advice is, have some1 who either has experience or just knows the stuff. it will help A LOT.

[GameMaster]

I think this is what I'll do next computer. It's cheaper and personalized for what you want.

[MasterMind]

I got everything in and working yesterday. Had no problems at all except for one thing, the modem doesn't work. Maybe its a bad modem or maybe I'm doing something wrong?? It was real simple, a lot easier than I expected it to be. I'm gonna try and get a different modem tomorrow and see how that goes. Till then, I'm stuck using the old slow comp for the net.

[GameMaster]

MasterMind, you little engineer you :D

[MasterMind]

Everything is complete. First post on the net using the new comp.
Finally got the modem to work, guess the other one just didn't like my setup so I went and exchanged the thing for a different one. Building this thing was a piece of cake.

If you're not scared of a little challenge or messing up, I suggest you build your own computer next time. Just do a little research on your parts and you should be okay.

[Jin]

Originally posted by Yoda9864
It was tons cheaper for me.

I got a bare bones system, which included mobo, 1.33ghz Athlon, case and power supply for $120.

Got a GeForce2 GTS for $60
Optical mouse for $15
30gb 7200 hard drive for $70
17" monitor for $90
and some other stuff I can't htink of right now.

Final cost was somthing like $550.
Saved tons of money.

Wow, where'd you find a 17" monitor for $90, and an optical mouse for $15? Those are some pretty good deals. Did you get them at wholesale?

[Ric]

Jin was wondering
Did you get them at wholesale?

I believe the tearm is, they *fell off the back of a lorry*

[sdtPikachu]

Originally posted by Ric
I believe the tearm is, they *fell off the back of a lorry*

No, there are computer fairs around where you can get stuff really cheaply. There was this one over here which had Windows 2000 on sale for like £10 and... oh, hold on, you may have something there.

Really though, building your own computer isn't that tricky. Things like monitors and whatnot you can often pick up second hand (in London my mate Mikey was lucky; graphics people are always byuing new monitors, so you can buy f**king excellent monitors that they've gotten rid of cheaply - he managed to get a Dell 19" for about £50 I think.

Just to reiterate what other people have said (plus some other stuff):

Always use static prorection
Never make your computer in a thunderstorm (this can cause your static protection system to become charged if it's earthed via your mains)
Make sure you buy a heatsink that can deal with the processor you're going to use
REMEMBER TO USE THERMAL GREASE WHEN YOU ATTACH IT!
Make sure you mobo can support enough devices (a floppy doesn't count) and (obviously) is compatible with your processor
Make sure your power supply unit can give enough power for it all (300 W is a good bet)
Buy good core components (mobo, processor etc.) so the crappier ones can be upgraded later if you need the computer now but can;t afford a full blown spec just yet

I've always found loading the OS to be really easy... just go into BIOS, select boot from CDROM (instead of floppy, unless your OS CD comes with a boot diskette in order to tell BIOS to do this), and you're away.

I could also start advising people to give Linux a whirl, but I imagine most of you couldn't care... sniff. Hey ho.

[Cyrax9]

Well, I'll be assiting in the Construction of a PC at the Computer Camp I'll be working at this Summer. While the Campers will be installing most parts, I'l probably be helping a technican named Jim Miller, who has repaired my PC's several times, put together core components. He'll probably handle the MoBo, and other parts, but I'll probably be doing RAM, and Possibly a Drive of some Kind (I'm hoping to do the DVD-ROM Drive, since mine needs repair). We'll be installing windows on it, only because it's what most of the campers currently use, although we're trying to get away freom windows, and I'll be teaching CD Burning, which should be fun. It'll be interesting to see how this thing comes out in the summer. Granted, It'll be for the camp, but I just want to get a chance to work with some new stuff. We've repaired old PC's in the past, but thisa will be the first time that everything is installed from scratch, and Static Discharge will be a top priority of mine.

[MasterMind]

Originally posted by sdtPikachu


I could also start advising people to give Linux a whirl, but I imagine most of you couldn't care... sniff. Hey ho.

I actually have to use linux at school. I'm no expert at it or anything, but I would like to give it a try at home one of these days. Its free right?

[sdtPikachu]

Yep, it's free. There are two (easy) ways of going about it though:

You can either download the install images from the web and burn them to CD (seeing as my discs occupy three full CD-ROMs, I'd onlt recommend this if you've got a high speed connection). Apart from the time it takes and the connection costs, this is the "free" method.

Or you can buy copies of these images that somenoe has burnt onto CD so people don't have to go to the hassle of downloading them. This is how I did it, and I spent £9 (about $12 I think) having 3 CD's burnt and posted to me.

If you want more money to spend, then you can splash out on one of the official boxed distributions from Mandrake, SuSE, Redhat or the like. These cost about £30-50 and come with full documentation and about 8 CD's worth of stuff, such as the full source code and whatnot.

If you have a high speed connection, apparently you can even install directly off the internet... but this sounds a bit complicated to me!

And if there's any budding programmers out there, mine and I imagine al other Linux distros come with a comprehensive set of developing tools, such as compilers and whatnot.

The main thing to remember that Linux is free in the sense that you can do whatever the hell you want with it... you can write or modify existing programs and redistibute them by yourself if you want. The cost of the CD's is all you'll ever pay for (except that some of the distro's come with applications that aren't free, such as Sun's Star Office), and virtually anything can be downloaded from the internet for nowt.