Desktops forum: Ready to try my hand at building my own PC, what are your thoughts?

Building your own computer can be quite satisfying, when you succeed in building, configuring and finally loading all the OS, and other software.

Downside?: TIME. It takes WAYYYYYYYY more time to build and configure your own unit than to simply buy one retail. And, there are some good retail-boxed values out there now a days.

About 12 years ago, I built my first computer for my office in a Raid Array for network configuration and redundant back-up. Back then you could buy quality parts and the end result was a better computer for less money than you could buy one at retail, especially in/with RAID-based systems.


So, you need to ask yourself why you want to build it. If it's about the challenge of putting the parts together, buying/ loading the OS and supporting software, regardless of time, cost, components and software ~ then great.
A bit of BIOS knowledge/insight (for your particular setup) is also helpful but easily found online.


Today you can buy a lot of computer for about or even less than the total cost of parts to build. And, the parts used in less expensive ready-boxed computers is/are fine. Maybe not the best, but good enough for most users and they will usually last long enough for most users.

You mentioned that you will be using CPU intensive applications. The nice thing about buying parts is that you can hand pick your Power Supply, GPU, CPU, Memory, Motherboard and so forth, BUT, if you are buying good quality, it will likely NOT be cheaper than a similar retail boxed unit.
You can opt for liquid cooling (or other high-end cooling options) for the CPU, better quality RAM, SSD and other drives. Places like Fry's have a good selection and they also have sales persons there who can guide you (if such a store is within your geographic area!).

It is a rewarding outcome when you successfully build a computer. But that reward will come at the cost of time, money and effort on your part! End result? Your Own Custom Computer!

PS, don't forget the case, power supply, fans, cooling, Motherboard, RAM, Solid State Drive, Spinning Drives, Graphics Card, Sound Card/Speakers, Monitor, Camera/Mic Combo, OS Software and ancillary software.

Make sure you have heat-sink paste, basic tools, and plenty of time!

Good luck, have fun!

I was adding to the list in the previous message! ie,


PS, don't forget the case, power supply, fans, cooling, Motherboard, RAM, Solid State Drive, Spinning Drives, Graphics Card, Sound Card/Speakers, Monitor, Camera/Mic Combo, OS Software and ancillary software.

Make sure you have heat-sink paste, basic tools, and plenty of time!

Later I added the following:


Keyboard, Mouse, DVD reader/writer, Blu-Ray reader/writer.

Okay, I think that's most everything you need to get it built!

@Wolfie2k5,

Thanks for your comment about my post:

My post was simply to suggest a store like or SIMILAR TO Fry's, where there is a large selection, and staff that can help with some questions. It was an effort to direct the OP to a place that has a large selection of product, AND where he will likely be able to purchase ALL of the components needed at one place, AND get a bit of help from sales staff.
Of course it's always better to research one's needs before shopping, but at least a store LIKE Fry's will get a person well on his/her way to buying the parts needed for a computer build.

Like ANY store, Fry's has a reputation. Why?, because they sell a HUGE amount of product. It's likely that a company that moves that much product WILL have complaints, and returns. I have purchased a copious amount of product there and have had my share of defective tech-based product, but, that's the nature of these types of products, as they are sensitive to handling, static, etc..

I don't want to diminish your feelings about stores like Fry's or belabor your argument because you've victimized yourself by choice when buying another customer's return(s).
Assuming you purchase factory fresh product(s), the odds of a defect are the same regardless of where the item is purchased, including Fry's, Best Buy, etc..

Cheers, Ron

It's true about Best Buy (in particular). They used to carry more stock of computer parts/components for building and/or replacement of parts.
If they do stock, the selection will be very limited in/with most of the core stuff like SSDrives, and Motherboards (if they even carry them anymore).
I really would not consider them for shopping a new build.

Stores like Fry's
I still feel that as a first time builder (this OP), walking in to a store and having someone assist you with making sure all components are compatible is the best bet. My focus would be on getting the most Graphics power you can afford, and then work to purchase the best SSD, RAM and Motherboard/CPU combo you can afford. The rest of the components are a matter of choice/compromise for example, your choice of power supply and CPU cooling. There are opinions all over the place on these. Only buy factory fresh unopened product(s).

A final thought about the "horror stories" regarding Fry's (in particular)

I think that there are pros/cons to any method of purchasing the components of a new computer.
When comparing online purchasing, vs. going to a retail store similar to Fry's...

Some of what has been said about places like Fry's is true, but much of the downside can be avoided by careful shopping and being fore-armed with research and knowledge. After that, you need a little luck because a brand-new item can come out of the box defective no matter where it is purchased.

So what if you do end up with a defective item?

Mail Order is great if you have patience (handling/shipping) and know what you want.
But, when you receive a defective item, it's much more of a pain dealing with returns/replacement(s), compared to driving back to a physical store location for a return/replacement(s)..

For me? I'd rather buy my items from a location I can walk into, ESPECIALLY on a first-time build.

...Tiger Direct does not have a brick and mortar store within about 1500 miles of Los Angeles. The nearest one would be somewhere in Texas. Not exactly convenient nor local. But, yes, they are good for online shopping.

I would also agree - use a non-sales oriented review site - such as Tom's Hardware - as I mentioned in my own post further down.

MOST of the horror stories you hear about Fry's happen to be true.

Careful shopping at Fry's ONLY works if you're aware of their business practices.

Many moons ago, I purchased an IDE card that allowed you to attach up to 4 drives to a motherboard. Given the board in question only had ONE PATA channel, I could only connect 2 drives to the system. I did my research (as well as you could before the Internet) and went shopping at Fry's. I saw two boxes of the item in question on the shelf. One was pristine and unopened, the other had a sticker saying it had been opened previously by a customer - and was being offered at a significant discount.

Being "budget conscious" (read: Cheapskate, tightwad), I thought it was my lucky day. I went ahead and bought the discounted box - much to my regret. The IDE card, was indeed in the box, but there were two very important items missing from the box.

1.) Jumpers. There were no shorts you could use to jump the card to various settings.
2.) Instructions. The cheat sheet for how to set the above jumpers was MIA.

Needless to say, the card did NOT function at all.

As it was, it was fortunate that I had to drive past the Fried I bought the device from the next day. Otherwise, it would have meant a 50 mile round trip (at that time, that was the closest Fried to my home.)

Add in the extra time spent in the return line waiting, time wasted explaining to the guy what the problem was, and having to go through the checkout line again, to buy the pristine version of the card was pretty much NOT worth it.

Add in that Fry's employees tend to NOT exactly be computer experts. People in that category tend to get better paying jobs than what Fry's is willing to pay. So while it may be true that for whatever reason, there may be one guy who does know his business and is stuck working there, the odds of getting that one person's time and attention may be slim to none... The majority of the employees I've met are about as bright as a small appliance bulb when it comes to computers, their parts and how to build a system.

The problem is, you see, we're dealing with someone who is new at building systems. And sending him into the proverbial lion's den without warning is generally a bad idea. You and I might be comfortable navigating through the pitfalls that come with shopping at Fried, but I wouldn't want to send anyone who isn't fully up to speed about the place.

Guess I'm naive...I'm shocked and disgusted that places like Fry's don't bother to test returns. That is a completely unacceptable, B.S. business practice. I WANT B & M stores to be around for shopping in person, but with this crap going on, might as well buy at NewEgg or Amazon. At least I will NEVER consider an Open Box anything from these clowns!

Upgraded an old Dell desktop PC with two new internal hds (500 and 1t) when I installed Windows 7 (this in November, 2010). Tower already had a two yo power supply and a GeForce media card. Thing has quit and I am thinking salvage of hds,etc. to build a "new" desktop (the dead one was used so seldom toward the end that I was a real surprise when in would no longer turn on...check of power supply with a tester, fan runs and components appear to be getting power per the tester just no juice to motherboard...). Have come to conclusion that I might be able to get away with a new motherboard and CPU reusing other parts. Thoughts? BTW while I am no novice this will be a first built from zero. Replaced/added plenty of RAM, done power supplies and sound/media cards. Issue with new mb and CPU is compatibility also...

Corollary is hds. I want information off of them and have an external hd case on the way from monoprice. Hope to be able to do a little "plug and play" on existing Windows 7 laptop with the info on the OS hd (other was backup and only has subsequent info not the recovered info on it from previous desktop ...long story...). Again thoughts. Formatting is the only issue I can think off...

Terry Combs
tlc_lla@msn.com

Webserf has most of it right except the time involved. You mentioned having some experience upgrading your system so that would be a big help in building your own computer.
I assembled my computer in no more than two hours a few years ago and it has functioned flawlessly.
if you decide to build your own the most important part of the build will be to get a CPU and Motherboard that are good matches. The rest of the hardware is up to you. It took me much longer to load the OS and my Apps than it took to assemble the computer.
Another thing is to think about what your're going to use it for and match the rest of the hardware IE. ram, video card, sound card, hard drives, burner, power supply, case and fans accordingly.

MANY big-box computers skimp on the power supplies, especially those for vendors who demand the absolute lowest price so they can sell it to you only a couple of cents cheaper than [other] big-box stores. Oh they'll get you by for a little while, but then they'll start to fail. I've seen them not only die, but take out the motherboard and CPU with them. Usually about as fast as the warranties run out. I've also heard of cases where memory and hard drives were toasted as well.

Solid state drives, while adding plenty of speed are not mandatory, you still can get by with a normal mechanical hard drive. Plus solid state drives are still fairly expensive for their size and have a limited amount of writes to them before they start to fail.
Also, the quality of integrated audio solutions on modern computers allow one to not need to buy a sound card. So, they are optional for the average person or gamer.

For your money, and yes, it probably will not be cheaper than most big-box solutions, when you spend it right, you will get higher quality parts. (don't ruin that with an el-cheapo power supply)... but I'd wager that it might be cheaper than a pre-assembled solution that matches quality and specifications if you shop wisely.
Fortunately you can probably move your mouse, keyboard, monitor, and other peripherals over to the new system.

I wont say its easy, but with all the goodies they have to offer i would say its worth it , especially for a high end system. I have had my best luck with tiger direct, they will have everything you need. I would combine at least motherboard and processor, but not go with the barebone kit, because the case is often cheap and of poor quality. I like amd processors cost versus performance just a better value. Gigabyte boards, corsair memory, and definately a solid state hardrive. everything is graphic intense these days so get a good ati graphics card, although this will set you back a couple of hundred dollars. Nzxt makes big roomy gaming cases, and you can talk to the people at tiger direct about other options, corsair also makes an excellent power supply. As far as the build, patients, there are a ton of videos on you tube for this find the one you like the best be patient and you will have something you can be proud of without bloatware. dont forget the operating system. good luck.

If you've never done this before imagine building your own car, boat, or motorcycle for the first time. Put that into your perspective.
Making a large investment in hardware to assemble could prove very costly for a first attempt. Rather than build your dream machine first, build a machine more suited for web browsing, google earth, and that kind of thing. That way you will have lower expectations, lower costs, and a better idea what to do to avoid failure...and there will be a lot of those.

You have to make sure the parts are all going to work for your intended usage...if you want more than 64GB ram then you need a 64 bit operating system...the work around for a 32 bit OS is a performance drag.

SSD might not be right for your boot drive but maybe your data drive for videos, photos, and cad. What you're going to save mostly with SSD is head seek time, but a well managed SATA will do just as well with good disk management practices.

One thing you can consider also is winding up with a very large machine....lots of ram and disk space but utilize it by puutting your apps in virtual machines that you can recover to known states should they get fouled up.

And I would suggest a VM for your practice at building a machine. You can host it on the machine you have now, see how it works, experiment within confines of the host's hardware, but you'll learn a lot before shelling out a bunch of money.

Just a note of emphasized caution with all the sound advice given so far. Consider that you will be the technician and the troubleshooter. If you run into any problems you'll probably need support and there could be a lot of trial and error before a boot screen ever appears. So if you feel very enthusiastic about the whole process and don't mind if you get bogged down and have to repeat many steps or re-configure them, go for it!

If you're just wondering what its like or takes to build a system, probably not such a good idea, especially if you start out with high end components and take on quite a fiduciary risk.

It is a very satisfying feeling to put one together from scratch, hit the power button and it fires right up. Conversely, its also quite an "oh, no" feeling when it doesn't. Good luck.

But I'm counting on the fact that I rarely rely on tech support to identify or fix my problems. Should I expect significant headaches beyond what I might have experienced with having to replace HDDs and performing fresh OS installs? It just occurred to me that I have never even considered the BIOS implications.

I just built a box and founf that SSD is absolutely the way to go for a boot drive, especially if you are going to use Windows Media Center or XBMC for media management and playback purposes. First, the drives boot in nearly no time; I go from pressing the power button to a live Win 7 Pro 64 bit screen in under 10 seconds. Second, the drive draws almost no power. I believe mine draws 1.4 watts at full honk, and less than a half watt at idle. Considering how good late-model mobos are at managing power, you can have a very powerful box that draws almost no power most of the time. Just be sure to read the mobo documentation, as not all SATA III ports can be used for boot devices. If your documentation is vague, call the manufacturer to be sure.

Cooler Master Storm Trooper case (it's huge but unbelievably well-thought-out)
Intel Core i5 3770
Asus P8-Z77-V Deluxe motherboard (full ATX, more room to work than mini/micro)
Cooler Master Hyper 612 cooler
Nvidia 640 GTX WHDI video
Corsair TX750 Enthusiast Series PS
OCZ Vertex 4 128 GB SATA III SSD (OS)
WD Caviar Green 3 TB SATA III (data)
Corsair Vengeance 2 x 8Gb DDR3 1600 memory
LG SATA BluRay drive
legacy DVDRW and SATA II drives

This took maybe 10 hours to assemble properly, including OS load and setup, and we were very precise about every aspect of the build. The case made things easier, as it is very well made and sensibly laid-out, but we spent extra time on cable routing and clearances, and in the end everything got cable-tied just to be sure. Final cost was about $1350 or so, and I got it all from Amazon. Sign up for Prime and you get free 2-day shipping, too. This is the fastest computer I have ever owned, and I think it was pretty reasonable, all things considered. I don't think there was any aspect of the project that someone with a modicum of technical skill and the ability to pay attention couldn't do. Just read the documentation 2 or three times before you do anything, and call the manufacturer if you are stuck; they can be very helpful. Good luck!