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

After reading many of these posts I'm coming to the conclusion that building your own PC by buying the parts and assembling it yourself doesn't seem to be a cost or time reward. Yet I am curious what the group thinks of a middle ground where you can select the parts and have the box assembled for you.

Specifically, some parts suppliers and even local shops will build a machine for around $100. So I you buy the parts from them, or perhaps some from a few different places, then you can still get known parts but have someone who has done it a number of times before put it together. Also, not all parts have to be new. For example, refurbished power supplies, or a network card, might be almost as good as a new one. Ditto for a case.

You have to trust the assembler and do a fair amount of research yourself. If you make a big error the shop doing the assembly might be able to point it out. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Building your own computer has the following advantages:

1. You can assure it is future proof(that may be expensive though)

2. Each and every one of the components is fully supported by the OEM that made the part; driver support can be vastly superior to buying a brand name PC.

3. Maintaining the PC can be easier in the future, because you can chose the right components that are easier to reach into tight spaces.

Disadvantages:

1. It can take some intensive research to both find what you want and match the components together.

2. It can cost more than just buying a brand name OEM PC.(Brand names are heavily discounted right now)

3. Mistakes can be made if you skimp on research.

For me better part support and future proofing are the best reasons to build you own.

I always start with the case as that is what can become the biggest nightmare for completeing the build. Since you have multiple hard drives as a prerequisite; I'd pick a case that has easy access to drive compartments and in fact, they should be snap-in/out designs. This will make it easier to maintain a RAID environment. Remember that CPU cooling can become an important factor here as well.

You can't have enough power in this scenario, so having too much is better than not enough. Try to select one that is as close to the 80 PLUS gold standard as you can; these PSUs will go to reduced power management to save on energy if you are not maxing out the limit. I prefer modular PSUs because it is so much easier to build and maintain; cable management is much easier this way. I also notice the modular models tend to have more modern connectors in the provided parts.I also like the huge fans these units usually have - the diameter takes up the whole width of the PSU it seems. I've found these type of PSUs help tremendously with cooling the entire PC! Many of the sites online have power selection process tools, to help you determine just what power you will need. Keep future expansion in mind. They are MUCH quieter too!

It may be easier to look for bundle deals online that have these two components already matched for you. I would never buy at a local store because I've never liked the knowlege level of the sales techs at those places. One exception I've found is Micro Center - but then I don't like the parts selection there, so your mileage may vary. The reviews at Newegg, TigerDirect, and Amazon are priceless; so even if you don't buy from those sources, I'd pay close attention to the details about each and every component.

Since you need AutoCAD capability, I wouldn't scrimp on your graphics card or GPU specifications. I'm prejudiced toward ATI, but that is because I find digital design as well as HDTV entertainment to be both equally important. No way am I selecting a card or mobo without at least one HDMI port, and USB 3.0(mobo). I've been disappointed with Nvidia products for 7.1 audio capability. I'm sure many fanboys will disagree with me. I wouldn't go less than 1 Gb memory, and a fast bus speed on the motherboard to assure high bandwidth. You will probably find it confusing as to whether your prospective motherboard supports the new PCIe Express 3.0 standard - the last I checked I saw only one that mentioned it, and I think it took a UEFI configuration and possibly a firmware flash to the motherboard to enable it. Information may be easier to get now. This board was the ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 TUF Series, that supported the latest Ivy Bridge i7 processors. I tend to lean toward ASUS but I also like EliteGroup, Gigabyte, and MSI, to name a few. Bios are obsolete, so UEFI is the new standard. These are much more configurable, and many can be adjusted on the fly now. You may need to assure the particular model of CPU you select can support virtual environments, this can be important for 3D AutoCAD work. I like AMD, but it seems like there is always something lacking in capability or motherboard features, for me to go that way now. Your graphics card/chip needs to support 3D as well.

I also try to pick the fastest motherboard for RAM speed, even if I select slower cheaper RAM to meet present budget requirements. So for future proofing, the motherboard is critical. Very advance mobos can be had for a very reasonable price, and you can always select a cheaper Sandybridge processor for now if that is a budget requirement. The good designs always support several generations of processor and RAM components. Be sure your RAM fits both the speed of the bus, and the support of the CPU. That is where it gets ticklish - but the specs are always listed in the buying guides on Newegg. Amazon is horrible as a place to match specification, but I'd still look at the reviews for a particular product, once you make a selection.

I know my next unit is probably going to have an SSD in it, of at least 32Gb, so the operating system and quite a few applications will fit in it, I tend to lean toward OCZ, but let the reviews be your guide. As far as hard drives, that is going to be a purely individual choice, because you may want 4 or 5 of them and budget may be critical. I like fast access speeds - the RPM and size mean less to me than that. The access speed can reveal the true design of the guts of the hard drive as much as anything else. Be carefull that your SATA port in the motherboard can take the highest speeds, and also several lower settings, if you decide to go slower. You may want to read up on what the pros and cons of hybrid designed drives are all about.

Right now I have old obsolete 500Gb drives that are very fast to scan or do anything I want for now; but I've worked on PCs from clients that had very fast 1.5 to 2 terabyte drives, and they only had a 5400RPM rating, so I think the geometery of the design is why such a slow spin could result is such high access speeds.

It doesn't hurt to see what kind of bundle deals Newegg or Tigerdirect have, not only because you can see how they match components as an example, but you can save on components that way too. Especially on RAM, as I'm sure you are going to want 6Gbs as a minimum there.Sometimes just bundling the CPU and mobo is far enough, but hopefully the RAM is included. At least matched sets of RAM are commonly on sale now.

I hope this gives you some kind of overview. I'm sure comments from others will get you closer to reality.

Good info here...Newegg is a good choice for hardware but you might also check tigerdirect or for good discounts check out techbargains. If shipping is a problem like it is here in Hawaii I suggest comparing pricing at Amazon with free shipping. Make sure that all parts are compatible before ordering

As a (freelancer) PC technician in Brazil, I can't help about where to buy your PC parts, but Google always helps about good and bad shops - and yes, there are some very bad here too.

A built-from-scratch pc is almost always more expensive, but in the end, it's more advantageous. When a retail pc gets a problem, you have to send the whole thing to where you bought it, losing a lot of time and sometimes all your work. A faulty part on a build-up can be fixed, returned (if on warranty) or replaced easly.

I try to follow this order for a build-up: motherboard, processor, memory, graphics card, hdd, dvd/bd reader/writer, power supply unit, other acessories, pc case.

Info about the parts used is mandatory. Reading the manual and specifications, going to homepages and looking for compatible parts, as well as which power supply you will need (graphics card homepages usually gives this information)

Hope this helps - and sorry about my sometimes shoddy English.

Consumer models for most vendors(Dell, HP...) specification parts are now at just a little more than the cost for parts you would buy for a build ; BUT,with pre researched compatibility on bahalf of the vendor's device. This doesn't make it economically sound if you build to the common medium power consumer quality specification. However, you said you wanted a computer that is not "on it's way out" which implies you want to maximize the lifespan of these parts. In this case choosing the high end consumer , or even a professional level engineering build specifications are what are going to "pay off" for you in the long run. By engineering level I mean Supermicro or equivalent XEON or E5 powered Motherboards that use 2 cpu's and handle large amounts of RAM(with hardware parallelization). This spec will prolly last longest for you tbh and you'll want, not NEED, to upgrade by the time new architecture is commonplace. There is not much to elaborate on in this arena of specifications that you won't find out whilst diving in to the build. Use 700 to 1kW PS for the the Xeon boards for optimal cfg.
2ndly, if you want to build a consumer grade device using the best CPU for the money i5, i7 newer etc... just make sure you buy a compatible mobo that can use at least 16 or 32 GB RAM for expansion. Don't get stuck with incompatible expansion or slower chipsets(inefficient is a better word) but if you pick one with larger capacity RAM likely youll be fine in this area. Use at least 650 W or above PS for these single CPU multicores (Intel or AMD).
If you buy a case with limited HD slots you can buy a small 2.5" adapter for any CD slot in the front of the case or HD slot fitting to house the SSD. Then use the rest of the spaces for the 3.5" HDs. So there's room for decision on the case. Your requests for performance doesn't imply the need for a mega power GPU so you can get away with even the Geforce 520 series or above (6xx) NVIDIA. The x70 GPU's(1st# being the generation , the 2nd# reflecting the power) and above from nvidia, only pay for themselves in intense gaming platforms or highly parallelized computation. I have NOT seen Photoshop or most CAD be impressively improved in performance by GPU since they are primarily largely CPU intense instead of GPU optimized. In this regards my experience recalls to me that the multi-core CPU aspect of the CPU is great for stability and improving the memory management operations for ALL programs. While, the CPU clock speeds contributed to improvement in the speed of processing for ALL programs( In WINDOWS) and optimization associated with serial threaded based operation ( Like windows itself, 32or64 vers.).

The technical reasoning for Windows' synergetic relationship to the CPU NOT being optimized has to do with an engineering shortfall at Intel. The limited die innovations coupled with the restructuring of Intel(since P3->4) had facilitated the likes in which decision makers , Mooly Eden and others now in charge of the overall direction of Intel innovation have chosen , quite abruptly, to deploy the multi-core model of engineering instead of improved ALU designs, simultaneously with release of non-optimized single core based/developed operating system kernel that Microsoft has deployed 10s of 1,000's (I kid you not) of programmers to develop. Can you imagine what it will take to translate such a leviathan of code to "true" multicore optimizations? If you were around the last time we doubled our data path (16 to 32; 486 toward Pentium) you'd understand exactly what I am talking about when I say, " We simply do NOT feel the improvement in the release of the new Intel architecture!"

Hi Paul !

I have built my last PC a couple of years ago now, and still add some components like SSD more HD, etc.
And I would gladly built another one any time, which I may consider in a couple of years again.

You can pack much more power for same price as a already built one, since you can select you own parts chasing some incredible deals on a piece by piece basis.

Unlike some other comments, I don't feel it takes that much time, except perhaps when trying fine tuning some BIOS options or the time spent installing the OS. The actual hardware assembly does not take long.
Yes for sure, this takes more time than an already setup box, but not too much more in my opinion.

I do recommend MicroCenter to get your stuff due to their 30 days return policy; this may happen that something does not work or is not quite the right thing after some further thoughts, like say not enough watts out of the power supply or too noisy fan, etc.

CompUSA is typically offering the best price to get Windows OS.

Motherboard: 6Gpbs mandatory. MSI or Asus.

Fastest RAM speed you can get; careful with pairing the chips, say by pairs and all 2Gb or all 4Gb for correct interleaving.

Go with an SSD to put the OS on and programs, say a 120-128Gb; Samsung and OZC have good deals.

And then for data go with a SATA 6Gpbs 1TB 7,200 RPM at least; 10,000rpm if you can afford.
Be careful with the "green" and 2TB: they are usually quite slower and most have 'parking heads' to save energy, not good for frequent access, but good for storage of large files like HD Videos and HT TV captures.
Sumsung had the best, but now Seagate bought them and I am not sure they are really the same any more.
Hitachi has good ones too.

Good luck and have fun ! (I did !)

On-board graphics cards are acceptable for the most basic uses: office suites, email, and some video. They are entirely inadequate for most video or graphics programs (such as Photoshop). This poster specifically mentioned some graphics-intensive work. In fact, Photoshop was mentioned specifically. An on-board graphics card will not supply these needs in an acceptable fashion. I know because I tried it. The only way to go in these situation is with a good graphics card, and it is getting to the point where there are not many people left who don't need one for what they plan to do. Even something as simple as streaming online video from Netflix is unacceptable with an on-board graphics card.

Photoshop requires much more graphics capacity than you realize. It really does need a decent card. The other mentioned uses should require, at the very least, a really good one.

Not at all, if you read my original answer you will see I have used Photoshop & movie programs etc etc etc for years & found my i7 onboard graphics superior because I wanted a quiet PC not a graphics card with with fans sounding like jet planes landing!
NB. I don't play games so can't comment on them & maybe you tied the wrong way.

I do agree it can be cheaper to buy 1 from a shop but do you ever get want you want???
I say building a PC was the best thing I ever did, apart from sex!

Bought the case/w PSU 380w, hard drive, motherboard, from Fry's. Tools, CPU coolers, etc.. from Tiger Direct and How to build from CNET. The experience is still so rewarding and it runs like a champion today with Windows XP. After 6 months upgraded the CPU to a Intel duel-core, installed a G-force 210 graphics card, 3 years later its really all I still use. Only problem I had was understanding BIOS and overclocking, Just stay on the web because there are plenty articles.
PS, only cost $250.00.

I don't recall ever owning a PC that I haven't built or at least configured myself.
Except my laptop, of course.
My advice? DO IT! It's so easy to assemble a PC a trained monkey can do it.
Of course, it is a little harder to select WHAT to assemble. However, technical sites, as well as component data-sheets can offer useful insights and always, when in doubt, ASK. You'll surely find someone who's been there before you.
So, welcome and good luck!

Whenever I get the urge to build a new PC I usually start by checking out www.pricewatch.com they have a good setup of tracking prices and in many cases you can get a motherboard and cpu combo and then select the other components. They have a variety of vendors and I can't vouch for them all. I will say that I have never had an issue with any of the vendors I have used and in many cases they will check the parts (for a nominal fee) to make sure the memory and cpu is OK.

Good luck with your first attempt. I will say it is nice to say that you built your own computer when people ask but beware that your relatives will then be aasking you to build one for them.

In California, I would seriously just consider buying everything from www.newegg.com

With the price of gas it is hardly worth driving to a brick and mortar store because not only to you have to pay for gas, you have to pay sales tax also. Just compare the difference. There are some other shops like www.dicrectron.com. I like newegg the best because they have a lot of comments and I like all their photos. I live in the midwest so I would not have to pay the Calif sales tax. Illinois is not far behind. Of course there is nothing wrong with a purchase at Fry's of a Microcenter. Just make sure they have what you want ahead of time. Dont settle for what some underpaid sales associate is trying to sell you. That is the biggest danger of going to a brick and mortar store. The sales people want to push specific sales items or equipment that is out of date and hard to sell. Done that, been there.

Hi Paul,

Hope I'm not too late to throw in my two cents worth of advice. I applaud your willingness to build your own computer. I built one several years ago and found it to be very rewarding; and, I have changed equipment in the box several times since including motherboards. It's fun looking for the best parts at the best prices - I used Pricewatch.com for equipment inside the case. I wanted durability for the long haul. For the case I looked at a great number and ended up buying a Quiet Case http://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiCase-SoundMaster-360-Acoustically-Lined-Quiet-Computer-Case-P214C80.aspx. It was pricey and the design has changed since my purchase, but I'm glad I bought it.
Good luck with your go at it.
Chuck in Boston

Yes it does take time but I found it both rewarding & money-saving. It took me longer than 3 hours searching etc also the case can be the biggest problem.
I am also 'OLD', 71 in fact so have plenty of time!
I ened up with the best PC I've ever owned, more reliable, powerful & upgradable but more important what I could afford at the time.