Why did YOU build your own computer, instead of buying one?
Mine was running great with Raid 0 until i shut down tonight to disable the acoustical management on my maxtor's had to take the HDD's off the raid channel and put them on the standard went to power up and it wouldn't unless i did it at default... disabled whatr i had to set it back to how it was and still a no go went through ever bios they have for it and it won't post at anything but 133 FSB now... GRRR RMA here i come
Buying a pre-built computer has never entered my mind. I was never into computers until I got ran over by a car. Because of injuries I had the Dr's said I could no long do the job that I was doing so I was able to go to vocational rehab. I chose a course to become a computer repair technician. Toward the end of the class we all went to a computer trade show and purchased the parts to build our own computer. LOL my first computer was a Cyrix 200MMX with 16 megs of ram and a 2 gig hdd.
id say learning experience if its ur first time. most people really hate 'touching' anything to do with computers with the fear of breaking it. i personally have built a few, and love it. first off, it screws those high end company's that are most of the time jakass's and just want your money. imho. but hey, mebbe theres one out there i haven't seen yet =) also, customization is a great plus. bragging rights fall close behind, but who needs those ne way right? =P for those of u who haven't, def try it. u learn sooooooooooooooo much. comps are jus like cars, know what urs can do, and how far u can push it, it'll run like a baby. otherwise, that grinding noise is becuz u lost ur tranny 3 bloks bak. hehe
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Must st ay a wa k e zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
Must st ay a wa k e zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
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EvilHorace
- Life Member
- Posts: 6611
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 7:14 am
- Location: Greenfield, WI
My first PC was a store bought POS that was (not only) very troublesome but came preloaded with a TON of useless software that was nothing more than pure clutter. The tech support then for that PC was TERRIBLE and the only way to get tech support was to call a long distance #, wait on the phone for at least 1/2 hour only to have an inexperienced person attempt to blow you off with some vague, BS answer or say "hold on, I'll have a ask a senior tech guy" as my phone "meter" was ticking.
The store bought PCs then often came with built in periferals like sound and video cards as part of the mobo which would later make them more difficult to upgrade if that became an idea.
I later found what was then AGN (the site that started this one) where I started reading threads on building PCs and discovered that it's not really that difficult to do. Sure, there's a tough learning curve at first as many things can go wrong and one learns by trial and error but now, I'd never buy a pre-built EXCEPT for laptops as one seemingly can't do that do to lack of parts (mainly).
I wouldn't recomend building PCs is for everyone as one has to be pretty much a "techie" type person to do it correctly and one does need experience as well to do it right the first time. Your average person who's not a DIYer, techie type should probably just go out and buy one from BB or whatever as most people don't really want to become PC gurus in their spare time.
The store bought PCs then often came with built in periferals like sound and video cards as part of the mobo which would later make them more difficult to upgrade if that became an idea.
I later found what was then AGN (the site that started this one) where I started reading threads on building PCs and discovered that it's not really that difficult to do. Sure, there's a tough learning curve at first as many things can go wrong and one learns by trial and error but now, I'd never buy a pre-built EXCEPT for laptops as one seemingly can't do that do to lack of parts (mainly).
I wouldn't recomend building PCs is for everyone as one has to be pretty much a "techie" type person to do it correctly and one does need experience as well to do it right the first time. Your average person who's not a DIYer, techie type should probably just go out and buy one from BB or whatever as most people don't really want to become PC gurus in their spare time.
<img src="http://www.pcabusers.org/images/evil2.gif">
Dang, forgot to include the useless software included. Oh well.. 
EH, your right about the techie part. I have a friend that's considering it, but He will probably run into problems. I knew NOTHING about computers exactly one year ago, other than having a hard drive. Hell, I thought all mobo's had onboard video..
Now I know soo much, that I can't believe it.. It's just amazing how much you can learn when you're interested in something.
Ahh, a full 3 days of no homework.
EH, your right about the techie part. I have a friend that's considering it, but He will probably run into problems. I knew NOTHING about computers exactly one year ago, other than having a hard drive. Hell, I thought all mobo's had onboard video..
Now I know soo much, that I can't believe it.. It's just amazing how much you can learn when you're interested in something.
Ahh, a full 3 days of no homework.
- Sean
Alrighty, here it is. If you find anything wrong, don't tell me, I want ti believe I will get at least an A on this. Yes, it's about 3 and a half pages long, double spaced. Enjoy. 
(Note: My teacher like adjectives..)
Its that time of year again. New video cards are appearing on store shelves and better processors are hitting the assembly line, time to upgrade! Whoa, before you head on over to your nearest Gateway or Compaq.com to order your new up-to-date computer, consider spending some quality time building one! When it comes to getting your own new up-to-date computer, the best way to reach your goal is to build your own. The total amount of money you will save when building your own computer will absolutely astound you. Additionally, due to all the research involved in a project like this, you will find yourself learning more than you ever thought imaginable, which can then be used to upgrade your computer when needed. Lastly, there are only a few downsides of building a PC, which can easily be argued against.
Building your own computer will save you a huge amount of money. When most consumers begin shopping for a new computer, they either begin at a store similar to Best Buy or online at a computer retailers website. As you yourself begin browsing through computer systems and trying to find the ideal system, you will notice that the prices of systems can range from as low as $500 to around $3,000 (Somers). Of course, the price always depends on what kind of system you want to get. Cheap systems are usually Celerons (Somers) and the higher end systems most likely consist of a Pentium 4 or Athlon processor. Most systems that you will buy pre-built can be grabbed for at least 75% of the price you will see on a store shelf or off a retailers website (unless you get it used). If you made the wise choice of building your own computer, you would have the choice to use whatever computer hardware you’d like. Get that fast CD Burner, or that awesome video card without all the huge costs retailers would charge you for a simple upgrade. To help prove my point, I went to Compaq.com a put together a PC with the following specifications: Athlon XP 1.4 GHz 1600+, 256 MB of Ram, 40GB HDD, 48X CDROM, and a 17” Monitor. Now, these are just the basics, everything including (no shipping) ended up at around $1,400 (Compaq). Then I went on over to my favorite online computer store, NewEgg.com, and put a similar system together: Athlon XP 1.4 GHz 1600+, 256 MB of Ram, 40GB HDD, 52X CDROM, and a 17” Monitor. The only difference between the two was the CDROM drives. Believe it, or not, but this system (with all needed parts) was only $756 (Newegg)! As already stated, the price differences are miraculous. Even if you were to upgrade a few parts in the above setup you would end up with a much lower price than paying retail. This just goes to show you that building your own computer really does save you a large sum of money.
Researching may seem like a chore when you first begin, but you will be shocked at how much knowledge you will soak up. Before you venture into a huge, long-term project like this, you have to do your research. (Build) It’s a must in any project you want to complete successfully. Researching about building a computer is fairly easy, if you know how to use a basic search engine. There are so many tutorials and guides on the Internet that you would never be able to read them all, which are a great resource to follow even if you know nothing about computers. As you read more and more on what makes up a computer system and what you can do with it, you will find yourself being sucked into a new hobby (I did). All you need to know to build a computer are all the parts required and basic directions from all the parts you buy. When you do finish your system, you will most likely run into a few problems. But, it’s possible to have an error-free computer on the first run. As time progresses and you use your hand-built computer continuously, you will find new hardware will come out occasionally and may spark a huge urge to upgrade. But, this time you don’t have to buy a new computer. Due to everything you learned on your computer building venture, you now know what parts to upgrade and how! Using the strategy of buying the parts yourself, and installing them will save you a remarkable amount of money. Upgrading your computer will become a ritual, and you may likely upgrade every other weekend with some small piece of hardware. Not to mention the fact that when you upgrade your hardware, you will be ahead of all your friends. That’s right, you can brag. Bragging is a huge plus that comes hand in hand with building your own computer. You will know exactly what to brag about, and how to make all your friends jealous. Of course, you don’t want to go overboard, but bragging about your system every once and a while can be quite fun.
Building a computer does have its downsides. As most people may know, computer components are very delicate. Most people avoid touching computer components because they are too paranoid. This assumption is true; computer chips are prone to being destroyed by a humans touch. However, the only reason this happens is due to static electricity. Static electricity can fry any computer component in seconds, without you knowing. I once was also as paranoid as the general public. Nonetheless, when I finished my PC without setback, I learned that components could take a lot of abuse if you handle them correctly (following directions). The next reason consumers buy instead of build are included warranties. All computers you buy come with at least a 1-year warranty, covering any problems or malfunctions (Hayes). With a hand-built system, your warranty is yourself. Many believe that if something goes wrong, and a piece of hardware dies, you’re out of luck. But, they are incorrect; all major computer components purchased from any manufacturer carry a minimum of a 1-year warranty. If anything goes wrong, within the warranties amount of time, you just send it back and its replaced, no questions asked. The last reason people may avoid building a computer are the incompatibility problems. Some components may not work well with others. However, with a little effort, all minor problems can be easily solved.
Building a system may seem like a huge, long, hard, backbreaking, dangerous, nerve-racking adventure when you first consider it. But, once you get into it, you’ll realize that it is actually quite simple. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives, proving that building your own computer really is worth it. The money you save and the understanding you will have acquired will pay off the time and effort put into building your own system. Your future dream computer that you always wanted is finally within your grasp, hurry and go buy your parts before they are all sold out!
Oh, and if I wrote something incorrectly, don't bother telling me, too late now anyway.. LOL
(Note: My teacher like adjectives..)Its that time of year again. New video cards are appearing on store shelves and better processors are hitting the assembly line, time to upgrade! Whoa, before you head on over to your nearest Gateway or Compaq.com to order your new up-to-date computer, consider spending some quality time building one! When it comes to getting your own new up-to-date computer, the best way to reach your goal is to build your own. The total amount of money you will save when building your own computer will absolutely astound you. Additionally, due to all the research involved in a project like this, you will find yourself learning more than you ever thought imaginable, which can then be used to upgrade your computer when needed. Lastly, there are only a few downsides of building a PC, which can easily be argued against.
Building your own computer will save you a huge amount of money. When most consumers begin shopping for a new computer, they either begin at a store similar to Best Buy or online at a computer retailers website. As you yourself begin browsing through computer systems and trying to find the ideal system, you will notice that the prices of systems can range from as low as $500 to around $3,000 (Somers). Of course, the price always depends on what kind of system you want to get. Cheap systems are usually Celerons (Somers) and the higher end systems most likely consist of a Pentium 4 or Athlon processor. Most systems that you will buy pre-built can be grabbed for at least 75% of the price you will see on a store shelf or off a retailers website (unless you get it used). If you made the wise choice of building your own computer, you would have the choice to use whatever computer hardware you’d like. Get that fast CD Burner, or that awesome video card without all the huge costs retailers would charge you for a simple upgrade. To help prove my point, I went to Compaq.com a put together a PC with the following specifications: Athlon XP 1.4 GHz 1600+, 256 MB of Ram, 40GB HDD, 48X CDROM, and a 17” Monitor. Now, these are just the basics, everything including (no shipping) ended up at around $1,400 (Compaq). Then I went on over to my favorite online computer store, NewEgg.com, and put a similar system together: Athlon XP 1.4 GHz 1600+, 256 MB of Ram, 40GB HDD, 52X CDROM, and a 17” Monitor. The only difference between the two was the CDROM drives. Believe it, or not, but this system (with all needed parts) was only $756 (Newegg)! As already stated, the price differences are miraculous. Even if you were to upgrade a few parts in the above setup you would end up with a much lower price than paying retail. This just goes to show you that building your own computer really does save you a large sum of money.
Researching may seem like a chore when you first begin, but you will be shocked at how much knowledge you will soak up. Before you venture into a huge, long-term project like this, you have to do your research. (Build) It’s a must in any project you want to complete successfully. Researching about building a computer is fairly easy, if you know how to use a basic search engine. There are so many tutorials and guides on the Internet that you would never be able to read them all, which are a great resource to follow even if you know nothing about computers. As you read more and more on what makes up a computer system and what you can do with it, you will find yourself being sucked into a new hobby (I did). All you need to know to build a computer are all the parts required and basic directions from all the parts you buy. When you do finish your system, you will most likely run into a few problems. But, it’s possible to have an error-free computer on the first run. As time progresses and you use your hand-built computer continuously, you will find new hardware will come out occasionally and may spark a huge urge to upgrade. But, this time you don’t have to buy a new computer. Due to everything you learned on your computer building venture, you now know what parts to upgrade and how! Using the strategy of buying the parts yourself, and installing them will save you a remarkable amount of money. Upgrading your computer will become a ritual, and you may likely upgrade every other weekend with some small piece of hardware. Not to mention the fact that when you upgrade your hardware, you will be ahead of all your friends. That’s right, you can brag. Bragging is a huge plus that comes hand in hand with building your own computer. You will know exactly what to brag about, and how to make all your friends jealous. Of course, you don’t want to go overboard, but bragging about your system every once and a while can be quite fun.
Building a computer does have its downsides. As most people may know, computer components are very delicate. Most people avoid touching computer components because they are too paranoid. This assumption is true; computer chips are prone to being destroyed by a humans touch. However, the only reason this happens is due to static electricity. Static electricity can fry any computer component in seconds, without you knowing. I once was also as paranoid as the general public. Nonetheless, when I finished my PC without setback, I learned that components could take a lot of abuse if you handle them correctly (following directions). The next reason consumers buy instead of build are included warranties. All computers you buy come with at least a 1-year warranty, covering any problems or malfunctions (Hayes). With a hand-built system, your warranty is yourself. Many believe that if something goes wrong, and a piece of hardware dies, you’re out of luck. But, they are incorrect; all major computer components purchased from any manufacturer carry a minimum of a 1-year warranty. If anything goes wrong, within the warranties amount of time, you just send it back and its replaced, no questions asked. The last reason people may avoid building a computer are the incompatibility problems. Some components may not work well with others. However, with a little effort, all minor problems can be easily solved.
Building a system may seem like a huge, long, hard, backbreaking, dangerous, nerve-racking adventure when you first consider it. But, once you get into it, you’ll realize that it is actually quite simple. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives, proving that building your own computer really is worth it. The money you save and the understanding you will have acquired will pay off the time and effort put into building your own system. Your future dream computer that you always wanted is finally within your grasp, hurry and go buy your parts before they are all sold out!
Oh, and if I wrote something incorrectly, don't bother telling me, too late now anyway.. LOL
- Sean
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EvilHorace
- Life Member
- Posts: 6611
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 7:14 am
- Location: Greenfield, WI
or else :jedi
cuz it's a zen experience...
it's like giving birth ... but not...
bah who am i kidding? i just don't like proprietary oem parts inside my PC.
it's like giving birth ... but not...
bah who am i kidding? i just don't like proprietary oem parts inside my PC.
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that is a good paper Sean, and a good topic, too.
about 1 year ago i became fed up with the type systems these companies were putting into the retail outlets for those prices, so i went and got the same thing at the local computer shop for quite a bit less, except for all the added software junk. but when i went to upgrade, i just felt like i was getting screwed.
so i started doing some research and came to places like this, i learned what to look for and how to put it all together; and also some online stores like googlegear and buy.com. i found that certain sites are good for certain parts, and other sites offer some pretty good deals on other things.
and if you want to learn, you can figure out the basics pretty quickly. So, i put a system together, with the parts i obtained %90 from the internet. it has twice the performance of the computer shop pc, at half the price.
so basically, by building my own system, i have something exactly how i want it, that i paid around $600 for, plus about $300 worth of stuff i already had laying around the house, whereas you could go to dell or gateway, or the retail outlets and get something similar (but never exactly how you want it) for about $1500.
and by the research i did, i knew exactly what i wanted and exactly how these parts would perform together.
also, the knowledge you obtain can also save you money. a couple weeks ago i went to another of those computer shops and looked at an athlon xp 1700+ and the price was $179.99 plus tax. i asked the guy is that the price for an OEM in the box, he was like, no, that is just the chip, just like you see it there in the display case. i asked him how much to order a GA-7DXR+ and he was like $185.00 plus shipping plus tax. if i did not have the knowledge and experience, i would not know that this stuff was overpriced.
that is just my story, and there are probably many others out there who started out just like that. i don't respond too well to commercial hype, i respond to product specs and reviews.
however, my next project is to build a rackmount. looks like i have do do a bit more reading...
about 1 year ago i became fed up with the type systems these companies were putting into the retail outlets for those prices, so i went and got the same thing at the local computer shop for quite a bit less, except for all the added software junk. but when i went to upgrade, i just felt like i was getting screwed.
so i started doing some research and came to places like this, i learned what to look for and how to put it all together; and also some online stores like googlegear and buy.com. i found that certain sites are good for certain parts, and other sites offer some pretty good deals on other things.
and if you want to learn, you can figure out the basics pretty quickly. So, i put a system together, with the parts i obtained %90 from the internet. it has twice the performance of the computer shop pc, at half the price.
so basically, by building my own system, i have something exactly how i want it, that i paid around $600 for, plus about $300 worth of stuff i already had laying around the house, whereas you could go to dell or gateway, or the retail outlets and get something similar (but never exactly how you want it) for about $1500.
and by the research i did, i knew exactly what i wanted and exactly how these parts would perform together.
also, the knowledge you obtain can also save you money. a couple weeks ago i went to another of those computer shops and looked at an athlon xp 1700+ and the price was $179.99 plus tax. i asked the guy is that the price for an OEM in the box, he was like, no, that is just the chip, just like you see it there in the display case. i asked him how much to order a GA-7DXR+ and he was like $185.00 plus shipping plus tax. if i did not have the knowledge and experience, i would not know that this stuff was overpriced.
that is just my story, and there are probably many others out there who started out just like that. i don't respond too well to commercial hype, i respond to product specs and reviews.
however, my next project is to build a rackmount. looks like i have do do a bit more reading...
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plucky duck
- Posts: 2116
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 12:35 pm
- Location: Earth
- Contact:
pretty much same reason here myself,
Started way back in early 1990s when our family picked up our 1st pc, an IBM PS/1 Expert 486 machine. Came time to upgrade? Hit the propietary brick wall. Options were much limited. We purchased one with its touted expandability in mind. Yet it wasn't as flexible as we had initially thought.
Curious george as me and my bro were, we read a few computer books, did some web surfing, and with a little tinkering around with the old system, we were finally comfortable enought to pick the parts to building our first computer in 1997. The system wasn't great, but it was cheaper than retail and suited my needs at the time just fine.
Soon after that, learned what overclocking was all about. Got more in dept into product knowledge and best places to find them (online and on the forums).
Having realised our basic technical know how is good enough to solve our own troubles, the cost of buying retail and paying for warranty and tech support is unjustified.
With so many different products out there, I can mix and match and let the ideas in my mind flow as they wish. Thus, my custom PC. Nothing to brag about, but a personal accomplishment and a sense of satisfaction and comfort.
Question for those who are like me, building away now, would we ever go back to buying retail from a vendor? That question really depends.
If it's for myself, definitely not. But if its for a relative or friend who is new to the scene, who values warranty and tech support over cost (which they should), then I whole heartedly recommend they buy retail. As much as I would like to help them save money, buying retail would be the best decision for them.
Plucky
Started way back in early 1990s when our family picked up our 1st pc, an IBM PS/1 Expert 486 machine. Came time to upgrade? Hit the propietary brick wall. Options were much limited. We purchased one with its touted expandability in mind. Yet it wasn't as flexible as we had initially thought.
Curious george as me and my bro were, we read a few computer books, did some web surfing, and with a little tinkering around with the old system, we were finally comfortable enought to pick the parts to building our first computer in 1997. The system wasn't great, but it was cheaper than retail and suited my needs at the time just fine.
Soon after that, learned what overclocking was all about. Got more in dept into product knowledge and best places to find them (online and on the forums).
Having realised our basic technical know how is good enough to solve our own troubles, the cost of buying retail and paying for warranty and tech support is unjustified.
With so many different products out there, I can mix and match and let the ideas in my mind flow as they wish. Thus, my custom PC. Nothing to brag about, but a personal accomplishment and a sense of satisfaction and comfort.
Question for those who are like me, building away now, would we ever go back to buying retail from a vendor? That question really depends.
If it's for myself, definitely not. But if its for a relative or friend who is new to the scene, who values warranty and tech support over cost (which they should), then I whole heartedly recommend they buy retail. As much as I would like to help them save money, buying retail would be the best decision for them.
Plucky