Solved Is it hard to build a computer?

Chuck38

Chuck38

Just livin life
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Hey guys!
I noticed that many of you have custom or self-built computers. I would love to build my a computer, but is really as easy as it looks? Also, if you have any motherboard suggestions or video card suggestions, I would like to hear them. (Or read them, since we're on a forum)

P.S This is my 100th post!!
 
Congrats on your 100th

Putting a computer together was once as simple as hooking a DVD player up to a TV. The good this about building PC's is that specific components fit into specific places, a PCi card will only fin into a PCI slot, ram will only fir in a ram slot, if you have to force it, you may be doing it wrong.

These days, the biggest issue with building a PC is compatibility. In the industry things are moving way too fast, companies release new product literally every day. Video cards in my opinion are the worst, too many too fast.

Computers these days are like cars, once you walk out of the shop with your parts, they are pretty much obsolete and worth 60% less. Some may disagree, its just my opinion.

I would recommend building your own PC to anyone, having said that, research is key, compatibility is imperative, forums are your best friend. PC enthusiast forums like toms hardware and ROG (ASUS) and especially here are extremely important.
 
It's really not hard to put one together, it's simply a matter of getting parts which are compatible with one another. For example, you need to get a motherboard which has the right socket for the CPU. And you have to get RAM that matches the specs that your motherboard supports. It used to be a fact that you could build your own computer and save money over buying a pre-built system. However, I don't really find this to be true anymore. When you build, you get EXACTLY what you want...and you typically pay a little more for that.

Your best bet is to come up with a budget and then tell people what you want to do with your computer and what your budget is and then we can make suggestions on which parts to buy.
 
I think the biggest issue for a novice builder is the poor quality control of component manufacturers. I've built 5 systems over the past four years, and had some frustrating times dealing with: 1 bad memory set, 2 failed motherboards, 1 failed power supply, 1 failed fan, 1 faulty case, and a third motherboard with more minor issues requiring an RMA. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but when you fire up a new system and things don't work, it's usually difficult to resolve. The average novice builder doesn't have testing equipment to help troubleshoot (I do have some now!). These were not bargain-bin parts; they were all top of line manufacturers.

I'd be interested in hearing from others that build a far greater number of systems to hear what failure rates they've experienced. If you look at the reviews of--for example--power supplies and motherboards on Newegg.com, the DOA rate is just scary. I know you can't compute failure rates based on those reviews since many satisfied customers don't write in, but the numbers are still awesome (in a bad way).
 
Is newegg a good site to use when looking for components? I'm looking at a Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 and for CPU, I was going to get a Intel i5. I probably want to stay under $1,000.
[h=1][/h]
 
I would sign up at overclockers find the forum section where youre allowed to ask for advice on buying a PC. Start a thread, tell them your budget, Profit $$$

that's what I did. Now Im sitting in front of a super computer
 
Chuck38 said:
Is newegg a good site to use when looking for components? I'm looking at a Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 and for CPU, I was going to get a Intel i5. I probably want to stay under $1,000.
Click to expand...

Newegg is a great site; also compare prices at Amazon, Tiger Direct. You might want to compare prices for a 1150 Intel Z87 system--not too much more for the newer Haswell system components than for Ivy Bridge. Also, if you're not going to overclock, you'll save significantly going with the non-"K" model CPUs.

pcpartpicker.com might also be quite helpful to a new builder.
 
Well, considering I don't even know how to overclock, I won't be doing that. So should I go with AMD then? Another question, is Intel and AMD the only CPU's out there?
 
AMD or Intel can both be overclocked or not; it's a function of the model. You can save money going with AMD, but currently the Intel chips win on performance (in general).

Go with 64-bit.

Since you're not overclocking, you might save going with an H87 motherboard. However, the new motherboards make overclocking very easy if it's something you'd like to learn and experiment with. That's part of the fun of doing your own builds.
 
If you can allow it in your budget, a 120GB SSD for the operating sysytem. A 1TB hard drive for your alt date.
A 230GB SSD would be expensive (in australia) So downgrading to a 120GB SSD should allow you to afford a 1TB 6gb/s HDD
 
rchris said:
I'd be interested in hearing from others that build a far greater number of systems to hear what failure rates they've experienced. If you look at the reviews of--for example--power supplies and motherboards on Newegg.com, the DOA rate is just scary. I know you can't compute failure rates based on those reviews since many satisfied customers don't write in, but the numbers are still awesome (in a bad way).
Click to expand...

I've built somewhere in the ballpark of 20-30 computers over the past 15 years. Honestly, I've had almost no failure of any component during the build outs. I once had a video card that was bad, and a case fan, but that's about all that I can remember. Never once had a bad motherboard, bad stick of RAM, bad power supply or a bad hard drive. EVER.
 
antspants said:
If you can allow it in your budget, a 120GB SSD for the operating sysytem. A 1TB hard drive for your alt date.
A 230GB SSD would be expensive (in australia) So downgrading to a 120GB SSD should allow you to afford a 1TB 6gb/s HDD
Click to expand...

Oh, Wow! They are expensive!! But what is the advantage of having two separate drives?
 
SSD drives are super fast. Some argue that continuous writes onto the disk is detrimental. There is a strong argument that it isnt. (Search in here) Having an SSD as a main drive will overall speed up every day activities (noticeably to some people) Having a HDD to store your stuff just takes a little pressure off your SSD

Personally I believe that if you arent a power user, get two HDD 6GB/s drives, a 500GB and a 2 or 3 terabyte. Youll be able to afford that just from not getting an SSD

Main reason to have 2 drives, if your OS drive dies for whatever reason, your stuff is safe. You can tell Win 8.1 to move the location of personal folders etc to the 2nd drive, you'll learn that later ;)

Backup configs can me made in many ways, you may just be happy with a external in which case a terabyte OS with a partition may suite you.
I personally dont have partitions, I just keep buying drives. Currently I have 10 drives in my PC case and a few externals. But I'm apparently insane.
 
Sites like Newegg and TigerDirect will have bare bones systems listed. The parts in that system have been tested to work together. You assemble it yourself. I'm not saying you should buy one of these but they can help you sort out what works with what motherboard. The low end systems are pretty basic and not what I would call high performance but for some first time builders it can take the headache out of making sure all the parts you buy will work when you power it up. They have more expensive higher performance systems too depending on what your budget is. I bought one years ago and slowly upgraded all the parts. Now all the original parts are back together as my spare PC. Motherboards will have a Qualified Vender List for download that will list all the RAM that has been tested and certified to work on that motherboard. They will also have similar list for what CPU's are compatible. You can download and look at these before you even buy the motherboard.
 
Here's a screen shot of what I picked out on pcpartpicker.com: Screenshot (6).png
 
antspants said:
SSD drives are super fast. Some argue that continuous writes onto the disk is detrimental. There is a strong argument that it isnt. (Search in here) Having an SSD as a main drive will overall speed up every day activities (noticeably to some people) Having a HDD to store your stuff just takes a little pressure off your SSD
Click to expand...
SSD's have a limited # of writes..there is no argument there...it is FACT. However, with that said, if you write hundreds of GB's of day, every day, it will take well over 5 years for that SSD to run out of writes. So, it's not much to really worry about.

Having a secondary standard HDD is not about relieving pressure on the SSD, it's for storage. SSD's are small in comparison. If you are going to store 80GB worth of videos on your computer and another 40GB of music, you don't want to chew up your entire SSD with those files. They usually don't benefit from faster storage anyway. So, you put those on the HDD and keep your OS, your apps and your working files on your SSD.
 
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