Anyone here build their own computer? After looking and seeing how expensive everything is to get a complete system,I think I am going to try and build my own. Anything I should look out for? Think I am going to use the Pentium D processor. Want something very fast,use for internet,music,gaming,photography and also work.

 

Building a computer is easier than playing with legos. The components only go in one way so it's pretty foolproof.

AMD is dropping their A64 prices to very attractive levels now that Core 2 Duo is the new performance leader. I'd save money on the processor by picking up an AMD and put the money towards a good video card if you're into gaming.

 

Dude,

Do your research on Tom's Hardware.com and Sharkyextreme.com for the components and then use Newegg.com to purchase them. Sharkyextreme.com has a monthly "value system" for $1000.00 and "gaming rig" for $2500.00. Basically you want the 3 things, system RAM (the more the better), fast and large hard drive(s), and the best video card you can afford. Putting the PC together is a snap, give yourself 2-3 hours including OS install and software updates. Set yourself up in a spacious area where everything is laid out nicely. And have at it. Take your time, don't force anything into sockets on motherboard (like heatsink/fan onto CPU). Don't buy the hype of a special heatsink/fan, usually the one that comes with CPU is just fine.

Post your results.

G

 

The speed of the processor is not near as important as the ram and hard drives.
If your gonna use it for gaming AMD is def. the way to go. Plus youll save some money going with AMD. Spend your money on the ram, video card and hard drive.

 

I just built my new machine over the weekend...

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (AM2 Socket)
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe
2GB DDR2 533
2 250GB Seagate SATA 16MB HD
XFX Geforce 7600GT 256MB PCI-X DDR3
Sony DVD Rom
NEC DVD Burner

all for about $1100 bucks shipped...

i got a new Antec Case and 550W power supply, for free from a friend...

also i bought a Dell 1907FP 19" LCD for about $245 shipped... great display, good price...

Overall i cant complain about the new system, huge improvement over what i had (P4 1.5GHz)...

If the price of the video card drops some more i will get another one and run SLI, otherwise i dont think i really push it hard enough for this...

I will be running 3DMark on it when i have some time if people are interested in performance...

 

One of the best deals I have seen in a while: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...7498&CatId=333

 

Honestly if you don't need a cutting edge video card and CPU you can get a machine from dell cheaper than you can build one.

Watch
www.techbargains.com
www.xpbargains.com


I have seen this setup go for $760 /w free shipping (**note it comes with a 20" widescreen LCD**) You can overclock this sucker to 3.2Ghz and easily buy a new video card and still pay less than $1000.

In fact it's running again now but only has 512MB RAM (you can upgrade)... deal expires tomorrow 7/27. They seems to run these once a month...

http://www.xpbargains.com/index.php/send_deal/57330

Dimension E510 Dual Core Desktop:

Dual core 2.8ghz (i.e. two 2.8gz processors in one)
80GB HD
1GB RAM
DVD/CDRW
Keyboard
Mouse
128MB ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory PCI-E
20.1" 2007FPW Widecreen LCD

 

holy crap! WOW! I'm ordering one now. (Although I don't need the case)

And if anyone hasn't read this article yet, I suggest you take the time

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/..._41_ghz_cores/

 

Just got the 2007 Ultra for $300

And as said, building your computer is easy. Make sure you leave yourself room for upgrades in the future, and before you buy anything check to make sure it will be supported for a while
(like dont go with a motherboard that uses and older type of RAM, as if you want to upgrade later you'll be stuck with that type)

 

Thats a good price. However even at $300 your only paying $470 for the dual core box which is a complete system.

Where did you find it for $300?

 

Bah, I don't like the mobo much. I'll hold out a bit longer

 

My boss was ordering a new XPS system and asked me to help him design it - he was like "oh, i have a monitor, I dont need a new one" - I saw that it could be added for an additional $300 and jumped on it

 

if ur cheap, and patient...

what u do is, every week look at the fry's ad's, each weak something new will be on sale, as items are on sale, pick them up one by one, within a few months you'll have all the components of the computer and can put them together, prolly get a near top o the line pc for $400

 

I have always like to have the latest up to date stuff that is out. I am in no hurry. I want to buy the Intel Core 2 Extreme 6800.

 

So in other words, you have money to burn.

 

Lol. Yes I have the money to burn. I use my PC for work,so I am looking to build something with ultimate graphics,ultimate sound,and tons of storage. What should I look at if I want top of the line graphics,sound,and storage space?

 

bulding a pc like most will tell you its easy me personally i say start by picking out mother board/cpu setup and go from there with whats compattible you can find lots of good deals on www.newegg.com i buy most pc stuff from there i also highly recommend western digital harddrives they make great drives and they have a customer service that is willing to work with you 1 example i had a 80g hd die on my while i was on deployment when i got back the warrenty had expired but they sent my a new 120g hd for about 75% off and i didnt even have to bother and send in my broken drive they did that with no hassle. i say estimate about 50watts for every thing ie 1mb + x hds + x rom drives... then add 100 watts for comfort and you should have all the power you need check out www.atxpowersupplies.com for some great cases http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/atx-...CA-c-2628U.htm

thats the case i have i love it thats about all the tips i can think off for building pc and trust me once you build one you will become damnnear expert

 

Be careful when you say "top of the line" because that line is pretty high these days.

Look at the Dell XPS700 if you want to get an idea of what a top-of-the-line model looks like: Core 2 Extreme, Quad-SLI, AGEIA PhysX, 4GB RAM, 1.5TB Storage, etc...
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs
~$6000
Of course it will be worth $3000 in 6 months.

It's a much better idea to go a couple steps below the top end and plan on upgrading some components regularly so you keep near the top, but not necesarily at the very bleeding edge. It's much better value for your money. In 18 months, you'll be able to get the power of the quad-sli setup in a single GPU.

Or you could just get an xbox and not have to worry about buying upgrades, or continually updating drivers just to play games. You don't need a powerhouse computer for general work stuff.

 

Have your cake and eat it too

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1853580,00.asp

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/0,120...=170858,00.asp

 

Mostly everything is pretty straight foward. Just take your time to avoid silly and costly mistakes. The trickiest thing for me was getting the CPU cooler on because both levers had to be lowered at the same time, and it was a pain setting it on the chip just right for that to happen. Later on, it was very difficult taking off the factory chipset cooler from the motherboard so I could install a Zalman cooler. Another thing that was trial and error was figuring out which pins on the motherboard went with the power/reset button and HD LEDs connectors from the case. In my case the colors didn't always match up.

For me the savings over a store bought brand wasn't THAT drastic, probably about $300, but I was able to build a PC without all the useless manufactuer crap on it. And plus I know everything that was put into it. I built my first PC in April/May of last year.

MSI K8N Neo Platinum
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Upgraded to 3400+ yesterday)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Upgraded to 800XL a couple of months after I built it)
1GB Corsair PC3200 ValueSelect Memory
200 GB 7200 HD
DVD Burner
CD-RW
Creative Audiogy Zs
Floppy drive
XION case
The PSU that came with the case died after a few months, so I had to get another one.

I know the PC is certainly not the best out there anymore, but it has been able to run any game I've bought very well with no slowdown whatsoever (Doom 3, Quake 4, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Halo, etc).

It cost me around $800 I believe, I got most of my parts from newegg, but some parts I got from Ebay. In either case newegg and Ebay where a hell of a lot cheaper than the local Microcenter and other retail stores.

The computer my wife uses is a POS so I'm going to let her use the other computer I have, and I will build another one using the A64 3000+ I pulled from my "gamer" PC. Building PC's is very fun in my opinion, and I don't think I'll ever buy another prebuilt computer again and I'd like to get in the habit of building at least one every year.

As far as getting top of the line, I personally wouldn't do it because prices go down so fast, its just wasted money. When I built mine I was aiming towards a middle range PC that could still run the latest games, and could also be upgraded as needed. My MB still has a lot of room for upgrades and I will probably max it one out before I build another gamer PC.

 

I built mines, but I think next time I'll just go with a built one.

 

I built mine a couple of months ago.

Full tower case w/550w
Athlon X2 4800+
ASUS motherboard dual x16 PCI Express- w/xfire support
ATI Sapphire 1900XTX - 512mb (can add another one if needed)
Western Digital Raptor 10,000 rpm drive for OS and game
Dual SATA internal 160GB drives for storage.
External USB 2.0 250GB Western Digital hard drive.
Dual Samsung 16x DVD-+RW drives w/lightscribe.
24" Acer 6ms LCD.
Logitech Desktop mx5000 wireless laser mouse and keyboard.
Klipsch 2.1 speakers.
Windows x64

All together I spent about 3K. So far, it's been awesome and I can play any game at full resolution.

 

Just build a box for my friend last night. 90 minutes including windows install with all patches.