OT- Anyone Build their own PC?

[Gdad]

Okay- since my computer seems to be on it's last leg and I was again thinking of finally building my own machine. Every time I get a new computer this is something I consider and- so far anyway- have always passed on. But THIS time I am motivated- still completely in the dark- but motivated.

So asking for advice here- Who has done this? Is it difficult? What is the advantage? The disadvantage? Is there a book or website I can study? Where is a good place to buy the components? What are the hidden costs? (Every project I tackle seems to cost at least 20% more than I figure on) What about an OS- Windows 7? Any tips would be much appreciated.

 

[Ashmanarion]

I build my desktops usually and have been very happy. It doesn't take too much knowledge to do really either. You can look at different forums for what are good products, the avsforum comes to mind. Building your own does mean you will have to spend more time looking up components rather than other things, but you can pick and choose a lot more than buying one out of the gate. Newegg is where I've purchased all my components almost exclusively and haven't had any problems returning items from them when I've needed to. Just realize it will take some more time to research components but in the end it is fun putting it all together.

 

[boBQuincy]

I have built at least a half dozen over the years. It is not too difficult if you are mechanically & electrically inclined and have some tools around. I did have to do some soldering for the last one, to extend some power supply wires.

The advantage is you get exactly what you want and none of what you don't want. There is no point paying for a gaming video card if all we want is to look at photos (that's me). Other advantages are you get to choose the best of power supplies (PC Power & Cooling), cases (Antec), and other components. Careful selection of case & fans can get us a really quiet PC that runs cool and is still fast.

Disadvantages are the time and work, and there is really no savings over buying one ready to go, in fact rolling your own may even cost more! Another option is a custom builder such as Puget Systems.

I buy most of my parts from NewEgg, except for power supplies (the aforementioned supplier's 375 Watt supply weighed three times what the generic 400 Watt supply did, must be a lot more copper in it).

I would go with Windows 7, at least a quad core CPU, 4+ GB of fast RAM, and a solid state hard drive for the boot drive.

 

[WDWFigment]

I have never done it, but I too have thought about it. Good to see you're not one of those fart-wafting Mac fanboys.

I would recommend doing Windows 7 64 bit as the only supplement to what Bob wrote.

 

[Groucho]

I have built dozens and dozens of PCs... (actually, I'm quite sure that it's over a hundred.) Modern PCs practically assemble themselves! They are very easy to put together.

If you are putting together a bottom-tier PC, the price savings isn't huge, but if you start to go slightly higher-end, you can start to save a lot of money.

One of the best places to buy components is NewEgg and this morning's email ad had a pretty good deal for a complete system... $310 after rebate for a case, motherboard, fast (but only dual-core) processor, 4 gb of RAM, 750g drive, DVD burner, and a decent motherboard with HDMI. Saves about $100 over buying the parts individually.

I don't build as many as I used to so I'm not up on the absolute best choices; what I do lately is look for the stuff on NewEgg that is 1) highly-rated by customers, 2) has lots of reviews (so is a popular choice), and 3) is cheap, like me. I tend to go with Athlon processors although I understand that the new Intel i7 is supposed to be good - but still, AMD generally gives you as much or more performance for a good bit less money.

I would consider 4gb the minimum for you since you'll be working with large image files. 8gb wouldn't hurt, but as long as you have four memory slots on the motherboard, you can add the second 4gb if you feel like you need more speed.

If you won't be playing games, you can generally get away with the cheapest video card you can find. Even the cheap ones have half-way decent 3D now, usually enough to run Win7's "Aero" interface smoothly.

Absolutely, positively, Win7 64-bit is the way to go. After using it for a while, XP feels downright primitive (though still very functional.) Home Premium is probably the most sensible version.

You may be able to find some books but the technology changes so quickly that it's hard to keep up. Some of the big sites for PC building include Tom's Hardware, Anandtech, and several others. You can probably find some basic how-tos on eBay, too.

There are no hidden costs as long as you get all the components. Make sure to buy the OEM version of Windows 7; you can legally do that as long as you're buying the hardware to put it on and it's a good bit cheaper than the retail version.

The actual assembly is pretty easy. Install power supply in case if it's not there already... screw motherboard, hard drive, and DVD burner into case. Drop CPU into socket, mount CPU fan (the fan can sometimes be the hardest part of the whole thing!)... Put memory into its slots... connect power to motherboard and the drives... connect the front USB and power/reset/LED connections to motherboards (easy as long as you follow the motherboard's instructions)... install SATA cables to hard drive and DVD... install any add-in cards like video... then boot it up and install Win7 (which is trivial!)

USB3 is starting to appear now, you may want to look for that if you want to keep on the bleeding edge. You could also grab a Bluray reader/DVD burner if you want to watch movies occasionally... or even a Bluray burner, I think they're under $150 now. Not bad, but DVD burners are usually $25 or less! You'll probably want to put in a card reader, too.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

[YesDear]

Piece of cake Jeff. Since you work with electrical stuff you should have no problem. Just follow the instructions with the motherboard.

I have built my own for the past 10 years. I agree with Groucho that you can get some great combo prices. I will default to others for the current tech specs.

The process is pretty straight forward.

 

[Gdad]

Okay I am feeling completely empowered now.

Some of the kits on Newegg look pretty good-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.354213

What is an OEM version of Windows?

 

[mrodgers]

Why would I build my own. At work we supply packaging material for Dell, and thus we have a fantastic supplier discount. I was just on the site yesterday and looked up a Dell laptop on both the normal site and the site for my discount. You and everyone else can get the laptop I looked at for $1100. Sad for you when my fantastic "discount" can get me the same laptop for...... $1400

 

[MarkBarbieri]

We build the PCs we use at our house. My wife and 10 year old each built theirs. My 7 year was supposed to, but his attention span wasn't long enough, so I did most of the work.

I can't add much to what has been said. Don't forget to add the standoffs to you case before mounting the MB if they aren't already there. I love the big Lian Li Luminum cases, but the aren't a good value.

Go big on the monitor. I love my 30" for photo work.

 

[photo_chick]

I've built 4 of the one's in my house. to me it's a lot like building with Legos but in the end you get something that's a whole lot more fun to play with. My dad had built two of our systems and after he passed away I had to replace a fan, and the next thing I new I was ordering a case then a new motherboard and it snowballed from there.

My last build cost $500, but I already had the processor, fans and OS.

Advantages for us...

-we're gamers so we're particular on the video card, memory, etc. And my husband also does 3D work, so that takes something different. I have a hard time finding an affordable system off the shelf that meets what we need.

-My black case with red LED fans (The Cylon as my son calls it) looks way cooler than a beige box.

-Off the shelf systems do not come with purple fans or cases, like my daughters.


Disadvantages.... You are your own tech support, and if it doesn't work there is no one to blame but yourself.

And I second going big on the monitor. At what they cost now, get as large as is appropriate for your space.

 

[Gdad]

I have a 24" monitor right now- rather than upgrading I was thinking of getting a second one and running two. Is that complicated?

 

[VVFF]

I have a 24" monitor right now- rather than upgrading I was thinking of getting a second one and running two. Is that complicated?

If you can plug in a second cable you can handle it

aka, it's easy

 

[Gdad]

If you can plug in a second cable you can handle it

aka, it's easy

I thought I needed another part inside also? I remember trying with my old machine and it was not set up for it.

 

[photo_chick]

I thought I needed another part inside also? I remember trying with my old machine and it was not set up for it.

If you are running your video off the motherboard there may not be a second port. You can get an adapter that will work in many of these cases.

If you are using a video card it probably has 2 ports. If one looks different than your monitor cable (usually there is one dsub and one DVI) you can get an adapter.

 

[Master Mason]

I used to build my own, it was fun and it was good because I could upgrade compenents whenever I wanted, I knew it inside and out. However I have gone to a laptop as my only computer, so those are more difficult to make yourself obviously. I know I could get better PP with my pictures with a tower and monitor, but the ability to take all my stuff with me currently outweighs that benifit to me.

And an OEM version of windows is the same as a regular version, it just doesn't come with the support. For instance if you get an HP computer it comes with an OEM version that your first line of support is HP, not Microsoft. You lose a little support, but you usually spend about half or less to aquire.

 

[AndrewWG]

I built my desktop about 5 years ago (now completely outdated of course) and it was a lot of fun. I learned alot about the components that a computer needs to run and how to fix them if need be. At the time, it was a bit cheaper to build a system that you really wanted versus buying one from a place like Dell. However, nowadays, I think that the prices of systems can be so low and you get all the software with it, that it is probably a lot cheaper to buy a system rather than the parts. I'm sure I will build another one eventually, but only if there is a real good bundle deal that I just can't pass up on NewEgg or on Tiger Direct. Remember that you have to fork over at least the $150 or so for the operating system as well as all the money for the parts.

 

[YesDear]

If you are building your first pc I would get a dual head video card. The card may be a little more but you are assured it will work with dual monitors. There are other ways to do it but it takes more tweeking in my opinion. Yes some may have a vga and dvi output. I would find one that has dual dvi.

 

[Evad]

Hey Jeff we built one here as well, a very fast gaming comp for my son Michael.
90% of the parts were purchased at tigerdirect. We have a local store near by.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Bstanley]

Funny - how many Photoheads are also Computerheads these days...

Chalk up one more on the list of those who have built all of my family's desktops for the last 15 years. It's straight forward if you have any mechanical skills at all - as most everyone has mentioned. If you happen to have any family or friends that work for Microsoft (assuming you are going to install Windows) you might ask them to buy your operating system for you. My sister works for MS and they offer their employees a massive discount on any of their software.

Or you could get adventurous and build a Hackintosh - ie. load Snow Leopard on your new machine and skip sending an extra $1000 to Steve J. You'll need to be a bit more thoughtful in your selection of components though.

Another vote for Tigerdirect and Newegg. I just built a new machine a couple of weeks ago and bought parts from both. They offer very competitive prices, lightning fast delivery (especially Newegg) and excellent customer service. I built a Quad-Core (2.5GHz), 8GB RAM, 1 TB HD, ASUS motherboard with all the modern conveniences (7.1 sound, 1 GB ethernet, 10 USB ports, etc), 400 Watt QUIET power supply, Radeon 4670 (QUIET, dual head - 2 monitors) video card - all for $625 give or take a buck or two - including Windows 7 Home Premium (gotta love that 90% discount).

I use a pair of 24" monitors - and getting Windows to recognize them is painless. I love Dual monitors - they vastly improve your efficiency and have a relatively modest price. If the motherboard you buy has built-in video skip installing the dual-head video card until after you install Windows 7. Once Windows is running then install the 'new' video card and I'll bet that the install process for the card will basically take care of identifying and activating the 2 monitor setup for you.

And the best part - when you get done you can dance around the new machine ala Tom Hanks and proclaim you have made a computer!

 

[Zoesmama03]

Its fairly easy to do. All of my PCs have been custom built. I've never owned a store bought premade computer.

The hardest part is plugging all the wires into the motherboard but the plans that come with them tell you where everything needs to go. Some like the drives are easy to figure out but the little pin ones can be tricky but again they come with a diagram or one can be found easily on google to tell you.

I don't know your level of understanding of the parts of a computer but I can say I dont know as much as my brothers do and have built one. The OS is pretty easy to install it does it all you just click.

I think the biggest advantage is you can put exactly the parts you want and chose the case you want. Plus you learn enough over time that you can diagnose and repair your own stuff.

I have heard newegg is great. My brother has used them. Basically we have local shops we compare prices with and usually they are quite cheap when you factor things like shipping. The bigger store is called Fry Electronics.