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

DON'T- A BIG WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.

If you are going to use an ssd for the system drive, make sure it is big enough. Even if you don't plan to put anything else on it, Win7 can grow to 40 gb or larger. Plus it needs room to work. I wouldn't give it less than 64 gb. I would also get a large power supply, if your machine only uses 450 watts and you have a 1000 watt ps, it will live longer.

If your goal is just to get the PC you want, a custom-made computer (built in your own community by people you talk to in person) is probably going to be cheaper than building.

If you are like me, and you prefer to know exactly what's in your computer and how to make any repairs that may be needed, and you are not all thumbs, and you would rather just do this yourself, then building a PC is not hard. No matter what some have said, it really is a matter of buying the parts and putting them together. It took me less than an hour to actually go from a collection of boxes to pulling out my oem copy of Windows 7 and starting to install it.

BUT... and this is a big one...you must commit yourself to carefully researching and planning before you spend a single dime. I had nobody to help me and I did it easily, but I also researched carefully and for a long time. I took online classes. I examined my options very carefully. I also bugged a lot of people online trying to get advice. I read everything I could find. From the time I determined I was ready to build a computer to the point where I was actually using that computer was a couple of years (primarily because I am poor and it took that long to scrape together the money).

I am my own support, but that's nothing new. I do my own repairs, but that is also nothing new. My computer is the envy of everyone who sees it. It can also be easily upgraded at any time because none of the parts are proprietary and the case is big enough to hold everything I could ever want.

Read through the answers and find all the information you can online. If you still want to build your own, then I say go for it. Just remember to research it to death first!

Denise

NEARBY., or another store .
Prices on everything is very important. However, getting some of the stuff you want might not be available.
Electronic stores might not have the very latest parts.
I've been building my own computers since 1968. Yeah, there were a lot bigger then.
What I did learn is that everything you use MUST be related., and fit and work together. I guess you know that from your note.
It's really fun putting your own computer together, and you'll feel better about it when it's done and working.

However, the competition between computer companies today has really brought prices down.
Do your homework. Make sure you know what you need to build it. Don't leave anything out, including the software you'll need to transfer all your data on your old computer.
Recently I found an ACER computer that had everything I needed at a great price. I went ahead anyway and priced all the supplies I needed, and included tax, etc. ACER priced me out by over $300 bucks. So I bought that computer. It's lasted me two years so far, with no problems.
The only thing about buying an ACER computer and most computer companies, is that more parts are glued in, and you can't do an upgrade, so that's a good argument for making your own computer.

I guess it's up to the person's challenge to build their own computer. For me, I've had that trip, and is what great while it lasted. GOOD LUCK.

Years ago building your own PC was truly cost effective but the those days are long gone.
You can not build your own PC for "1/3 the price"!
At best you can save a modest amount but that comes at the cost of a great deal of effort.
The savings vs. a pre-built are hardly worth it.
Consider a custom built PC that allows you a wide choice of options, multi-year warranty, and free tech support.
You will get none of that when building it yourself.

I've been building and repairing for several years, ever since I retired. I had no formal training or courses so everything I learned was from trial & error and from reading for hours on the net. However, I have become profficient mainly from the school of hard knocks. My customers are happy with my product and
service after the sale. Here's my advice to you for what it's worth.

The first thing you need to do is decide on your mobo. From what you say you want, you must do some very careful planning to incorporate that many hard drives so you would need one that has 10 or 12 sata connectors.
If the mobo you purchase does not include a cpu then make sure you get the right cpu for the mobo you select.

Decide for sure what periperals you are going to run-ram, video card, sound card,fans, any and every thing that will be requiring power. Then make sure you get a power supply that can run everything you want. There are multiple tools on the net to calculate power and tell you how much you will need. Do not buy the minimun size any of the tools say you will need. Buy one larger. Don't forget when buying a power unit to make sure it has the proper type and number of connectors for your drives.

Lastly, running that many components is going to generate a lot of heat in the case. You should consider one or more extra fans.

As far as where to buy any reputable dealer should be ok. I buy most of my stuff from Newegg and Amazon. (that's direct from Amazon not an Amazon partner) The reason I say this is because of their prices and the fact I've never had a problem getting a refund if I ran into a defective part. Newegg has everything you will need at competitive prices.

As far as buying technology that is outdated, I learned really quick that in this business components are being developed so quickly they become outdated before you can get them installed. Don't worry about that so much as making sure that what you buy will serve your purpose for several years.

The most important thing is to have a plan and check it backwards, forwards, and sideways before you jump in. And as another poster said, prepare to spend quite a bit of time and do it right the first time. If you've planned it correctly and all goes well you will feel good about the finished product and the fact you did it yourself. If it doesn't go well, you will be kicking yourself for not special ordering one that will fit your needs. At least with those you have support for at least a year. With a build your own, you're the one that will have to deal with any problems that may arise.

Good luck to you.

I never built one because I didn't want to bother with the education process. i simply didn't care to research the specs of the various components and the many manufacturers. I am building my first because there is assistance for the less knowledgeable. http://www.pcpartspicker.com/

Building your own PC can be fun, or it can be headaches, it depends on if you do your homework or not. I've built quite a few over the past few years, including the one that I'm typing this from.

Do your research on what you want under the hood. Make sure you get parts that will work together (i.e. A motherboard for an AMD CPU will not work with an Intel CPU, and vice-versa.)

One major piece of advice: as tempted as you may be to go cheap on the power supply, you usually get what you pay for. Most cheap power supplies won't deliver what they promise and can cost you way more than getting a good power supply to start with. Many cheap power supplies have a hard time safely delivering even 1/3 of their rated load.

If all you do is surf the web, any of the big-box computers will do. If you need power for apps, you will need the most powerful CPU your budget will allow. (I hate to do this, but that will probably be an Intel I5 or I7. AMD is still pretty good for budget mindedness, but at this point in time, they are getting a bit overran in performance.) Most OEM type cooling solutions are somewhat on the weak side, so investigate cooling solutions and decide if your usage will be worth the third-party cooling.

A mid-range video card will be fine for the average game, and a high range one will do super at super-high resolutions. Integrated graphics is dominated by AMD right now, otherwise it's a close race in video cards.

Try to build evenly as possible between graphics and CPU for a well rounded machine.

Solid State Drives are fast, fairly expensive, and have limited write capabilities (can write to them to store data only so much before they begin to fail) so weigh the benefit of its speed and size against your real needs. You can always add a regular hard drive for data storage. Get the most you can afford without sacrificing in areas you can't afford to.

RAM? As fast as possible, DDR3-1600 is probably fast enough for most instances, although faster can come in handy with some integrated graphics solutions. Get 4GB minimum, 8GB is probably good for a major amount of tasks. More than that, you probably are doing video editing, system/application development, and/or do a ton of multitasking.

Visit other sites than just here to do your reviews. One good site is http://www.tomshardware.com and they also have forums you can ask tech questions in and get real answers by enthusiasts and not by those who think they know, or are looking for an advertising dollar out of it. I've read way too many reviews that were just regurgitated marketing data (they don't help you at all).


Don't skimp on cost on the power supply (did I already say this? It bears repeating) A bad one will cause you to at the very least replace it sooner than later, and in the worst case, force you to rebuild from the ground up. Big-box computers have fallen prey to this idea, and usually had many problems down the road because of it. I've replaced more than the power supply in many of them because of it. Also look for the certified 80+ units, go for the gold if you can afford it.

Go for it. I've built 8 or so over the past 15 years. it's a blast. There is nothing at all like the feeling you get when you put all those pieces (plastic, metal, silicone and glass) together and power it up and BINGO it works.

Without a doubt one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done.

I currently have a RaspberryPi (Linux OS) and an APC (Android PC OS) motherboards .. just got my case to build for the Pi and waiting on the case for the APC... fun little experiments ;-}

i'm such a geek and sooooooooooooooo proud of it
peace
j

Hello Paul,

I've built a fair number of PC's and I'm here to tell you, once you build your own you will NEVER want to buy a "store bought" PC every again.

Given what you've said in your statement I would say go with Socket 1155 and use intel Ivy Bridge CPU.

It all depends on your budget for the particulars. If you want to go whole hog then go with a Core i7. If money won't allow then a Core i5. You can use newegg and just click on motherboards and look for socket 1155. If you want to go cheaper right now as in a core i3 you'd have to go with "Sandy Bridge" since I have not yet seen "Ivy Bridge" CPU's out in the core i3 sku. Definitely get an SSD for your system drive. I like Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe, but there are other reputable brands out there. Read the feedback statements. Also, I believe with "Ivy Bridge" you could use 1600 Ram. I like GSkill, but there are other good brands, probably better. Again, read the reviews and check the timings. Never skimp on the RAM. Get the fastest with the best timings that will fit your board.

I'm not really a big graphics intensive user. I have a humble GTX 550TI and it seems to work fine. I've seen some good prices on GTX560 also. The 600 series is out now and is your budget will allow check it out.

The best thing you can do is read alot about pc parts. ALWAYS double check compatibility especially with regard to CPU and motherboards. Sometimes even if a board will take a cpu it may be after a certain BIOS release.

Also good clean power from a good quality power supply is critical. Never skimp on the PSU.

Get a couple standard 2TB hard drives to store data on. SSD is very fast but is too expensive to use for storage.

There is a bit to learn, but if you stick with it you will be building your own PC's from now on and never dealing with a store bought system that is bogged down with crapware. Once you've done it you won't want to go back.

Good luck!

I have been messing with the hardware part of computers for a few years. I have built multipe computers as well. I've ran into very few and very minor problems building a computer, I suugest a barebones computer kit from Tigerdirect or microcenter.com Many prices and many choices.

There's some really good advice in this thread. But from what you've said it appears you definitely have to make some correct choices if you're going to be satisfied with what you're going to have to work with. E.g. for video editing you obviously require the capacity to handle lots of data quickly with an adequate amount of memory.
However, there are some niggles you can avoid too - like making sure you have enough USB ports (some printers can foul up doing complex work if they have to share a USB hub for example).
I strongly urge you to compile a list of products you consider suitable based on some careful research and then to calculate its cost (make sure the case you choose will accommodate the stuff you want to insert - I've come across a case where all the memory slots could not be utilised due to a second DVD player being fitted.)
Once you've calculated the cost of your creation contact a reputable company like DELL and talk through your requirements with them - because they are willing to swap and change and omit things you don't require - such as a monitor perhaps. They often prove cheaper and, what's more, you get a guarantee with the product without the hassle associated with ad hoc purchases.
I speak from experience here because I built four computers over the years but went to DELL following a recommendation - they were pence dearer in my case but their back-up service (updates on non-Windows supported equipment especially) was particularly helpful.
Finally, don't rush your fences - are you going to opt for the new, much faster type of memory for example? THAT is one of the most important of choices.

To start with I can't agree with Paul M of Los Angeles. I found it impossible to find a PC to my specs online & believe me I spent several weary days searching & contacting dozens of companies, the only ones coming close to my specs, & ONLY CLOSE wanted 2000-3000€.
I got fed-up with all the problems incurred using 2 ready made PC's. The 1st a Hewlett Packard, 2nd from Puterz, a custom build company in the UK which was OK but slow & crashes frequently, it cost just over a 1100 pounds including W7 64 bit.
So I decided for the first time to build my own. I wanted it for everything in a smallish case to use as a Home Theatre base unit to fit under my TV & including multi-tasking, movie making, Photoshop, music composing, music composing, & of course internet, finally a quiet PC, always a problem with my old ones.
So where to start..........do your research, (this takes longest), make a list of components you want, then for me I ended up at Amazon because everything I wanted was there & reasonable value, also the ability to return after trying post free! I decided to have a budget of 1000 euros............. I live in France.

I ended up with an Asrock Z68 PRO3-M Micro-ATX Motherboard (Socket 1155, Onboard Sound and LAN)
Good product, great packaging, useful S/W, easy to install. I had previously tried the Intel equivalent which was just mailed in a plastic bag & an Amazon card covering, no instructions so took ages on the net finding info. When installed = no sound! Returned it & bought an Asus equivalent which was packed better & had instructions but found the Asus box a little damaged, installed & all Dead, be warned! Also remember the power supply goes in 1st so if you want to remove it everything else has to come out. This is for my case, it may not be if you use a full size case, if you use a full size case, use a normal size ATX board.

Here is a complete list of my recent (January 2012) home built PC costing 720 euros.
Case Cooler Master Elite 360 - Mini tower - ATX CPU CPU
CPU - Intel Core i7 2600K / 3.4 GHz - LGA1155 Socket - L3 8 MB
Motherboard - Asrock Z68 PRO3-M Micro-ATX Motherboard
Memory Corsair - CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 - Memory - DDR3 1333 - 8 GB
Graphics Card None ................ i7 3000, I tried a GT520 Slower than the integrated Intel, sent back!
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black - Internal Hard Drive 3.5 "- 1 TB SATA III
INet - Wireless TP-Link - TL-WN851N - Wireless N PCI Card - 300Mbps - MiMo - 2 antennas
Power Supply Be Quiet - BQT L7-530W - PC Power Supply - ATX - 530 W. Not so QUIET not good, buy another. DVD R / Writer - Liteon iHAS324
Internal multi card reader - LECT-MUL-CAR -C109 Multi-card Reader Internal 3.5 "
Logitech wireless keyboard & mouse, not a good choice, it's USA layout has no POUND symbol, also sometimes misses other symbols when typing, avoid Logitech!
Finally I used 2 dust filters - DEMCiflex dust filter 80mm & 120mm also Silverstone SF01 internal system noise reducer foam, to try to get rid of noise from Power supply, best to install this before all else otherwise almost impossible. Actually I have not found the Silverstone foam to decrease the noise!
The whole deal actually took about a day to construct, not including the bits I had to send back so extra time was spent. I thought this was quite good considering it was my 1st attempt, also it has been 100% reliable to my surprise. I never had this syndrome before! I use W7 64bit which I bought with the previous PC. I suppose this is the weakest link!
If you require clarification on anything please respond by email.
NB. Also I tried a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-4400, to watch & record, it worked although the signal was abysmall, took it out, if you like good quality TV / Sat do not bother, find an external box! I ended up with a Clarke-Tech 5100 HD. It has good signals but has been back for 3 mainboards in 6 months because recordings get corrupted on playback, so avoid this company also! I should like another that records properly................any suggestions?

Really guys you would goto best buy for parts hmm, why build it, why not, and go online to get your parts, I've been building systems for quite a while, for my self, for friends and bussiness. Think about what you want, then think about what you need. Make a list of the two, then combine the want and need with what you can afford. Do a little research and make sure your not buying incompatible parts, example; make sure the moterboard is built for your version of CPU, you know AMD or Intel, since its your first build ( I can't stress this enough,), try to keep it neat and avoid the excess heat, modular power supplies do a great job of keeping excess wires out of the way, thus no air flow blockage. Get enough of a power supply to handle more than what you are running. the comment it takes way more time to build and configure than one from the store, well of course it will your building it, (that's like saying buying a new car will take less time than building one) still an hour, maybe 1 1/2 tops to unpack and assemble the parts, I mean thats really taking your time there, basically heres what you have,
1) install cpu (and heat sink, use thermal paste before you put on the fan) in motherboard before you put it in the case.make sure you plug in the fan to your cpu 2). install memory in MB, 3) put the risers in the case and install MB in case, 4).install modular power supply (if you can afford modular great) stop there and look to see how the wires are going to be run to the MB, keeping in mind not to restrict air flow through the case, plug in those wires to the MB, 5.) install DVD/CD blu ray, 6.) install hard drive, 7). install video card. now you plug in the drives and video card, there will be around 7 to 8 wires total you will have to plug in, that will include the wires you plugged into the mb, if you have case fans it will be 9 to 10 wires, 8). go take a break, 9). come back take a look at everything, check your connections inside the case just to make sure, 10). plug in the monitor, mouse and keyboard, dont forget to plug in the power supply, 11). power up the pc, you might have to go into bios to set the boot sequence (dvd / cd set to first boot device), once thats done, save it and exit, it will reboot, break out your windows 7/8 dvd put it in the drive and let it do it's thing.

I am a gamer but like you I had bought computers from stores like Staples and then modified them to perform better. Several years ago I decided to build my own and since then I have built several. I had no knowledge about building computers but I had on-line gaming friends to ask questions. If you want to do it for the challenge, then you should go for it but don't think you will save any money. You will find that is like many other things, it gets addictive and costly. I buy almost everything from Newegg. I have shopped around and they have as good if not better prices than anyone else and their service is way better then anyone else. You will have people say that you have to go with Intel verses AMD but just like anything else it all opinions. AMD cost less which allows you to do more, but I have friends that wouldn't build a computer with anything else but Intel. Same with every other part on the market. I like ASUS and usually go toward buying their products and have never been disappointed. If you go to a place like Newegg, and for example chose a motherboard, they will give you options of Processors that would work with that MB, and so on. Have fun with it, if you decided to do it. You can always go to places that specialize in Overclocking and post question on their forums and those guys have always been helpful. If you are a gamer find a group that plays a game that you also play and go to their forums and they are always very helpful. However, If you think you are going to do this and save money, you are wasting your time and a lot of money.