Build your own PC?

[MattyC64c]

As the title suggests, who here builds their own computer/s?

[rossi46]

I build linux desktop machines out of old stuff. Laptops are far harder to build and tinker with.

[TMR]

i build and rebuild desktops all the time yeah, got three in pieces waiting for upgrades at the moment that'll need attention in the new year.

[NorthWay]

I don't see the point in buying machines pre-packed.

I shop my ram, cpu, mb, case, media etc as I like and see fit. You don't see many machines coming with a silent gfx card for instance.
But then again, I run linux on it.

[AmigaJay]

Yeah i buy my own parts cheaper, though i'm beginning to see the end of the PC as we see it, i longer see the need for a bulky tower, i hardly use the dvd drive, i may just buy a raspberry pi for £16 and attach my 2tb hdd and printer!

[necronom]

For my first PC I picked the parts, then got the shop I got the parts from to stick them in.

The second on (my current one) I put it all together myself, and I used to cobble together parts from several work PCs to upgrade ones there.

I've never considered buying one pre-built. It would always have something not good enough, or too expensive and over the top. Much better to pick the bits I want.

[markopoloman]

Yep. Built my own PC's for years and upgrade when needed. Also built the other 3 desktop PC's in the house and for mates as well.

Mine is a watercooled beast

[IronMaidenRule]

Yep, been building my own for years, tend to find I get a lot more value for money when you can pick all the separate components. I tend not to build anything hugely fancy, just upgrade the system when I feel it is a little tired in comparison to what is out there, current build is 18 months old, only just thinking about doubling my RAM and getting some bigger HDD's, prices seem a little crazy at the moment.

[BennyTheGreek]

only my first ever pc was prebuilt, then I decided to upgrade the memory and gfx card...the next logical step was to build a new one...I have since built loads for mates and family, but have eased off recently....

My pc is probably low spec compared to markopoloman, but it runs all games really sweet, so i will stick with it for another 9 months at least......

saves money and gives me a real buzz when it works.....

[Rinoa]

I built my last PC, and the one I had before that I also heavily modified. I've since converted to laptops though, especially as I'm limited to space living in an apartment and I don't really need anything high-spec like I used to.

[boggyb68]

I built my one, an HP D330 tower, from bits n bobs from PCs at work as we are allowed to cannabalise older machines when a component goes pop.. It's only a Pentium 4 running Win2k with 1gb but it runs all the old DOS stuff really well.. And when things go wrong I just visit the storeroom at work and get a 'new' part.. I leave it at my folks as it gives me summat to do when I stay in a Wi-Fi free area..

B.

[Waz]

I build mine, and tend to do builds for other relations in the family if they want something making that'll be for less cost than they'd get retail. Plus of course you can mix/match components to performance or price range to suit.

It's not that difficult to do, the main thing is to match the components you want before purchase so you know they'll all work together.

[PubZombie]

I have always built mine too. It was the only thing that finally dragged me away from my beloved Amiga 1200. The fact that U can build to your own specifications and save money is great. Saying that I still think the Amiga was a better machine and I still have and use several of them.

[rtrgrl78]

Considering it, as I want to get playing some 'World of Warcraft' and few a other PC games. Have upgraded my laptop and friends and families with the usaul memory and keyboards. With the PC it's knowing where to start, I guess casing then motherboard, I know me though I probably won't get round to doing it, I always put things like this off, frightened I might break it. But, I really want to and I'll be staying in a hell of a lot, theres my motivation.

[PubZombie]

Considering it, as I want to get playing some 'World of Warcraft' and few a other PC games. Have upgraded my laptop and friends and families with the usaul memory and keyboards. With the PC it's knowing where to start, I guess casing then motherboard, I know me though I probably won't get round to doing it, I always put things like this off, frightened I might break it. But, I really want to and I'll be staying in a hell of a lot, theres my motivation.

Dont hold back - its much easier these days than ever before and pretty hard to make a catastrophic fail. There is a great supplier online [Sc*n] that offers build insurance on purchases so if you epic fail and break something they will send u a new item - even though i have always built my own rigs i still use this service for peace of mind. Also buy an antistatic wrist band - you never now when the static will get ya!
Then join a couple of forums with tech sections [Hex*s is kewl] and post on here as well when you encounter problems - in fact post a new build thread/log, they are great for helping others in the future and it will help build a real sense of achievement for you and the community.
Post up the specs you are thinking of, and take digital pictures with phone/camera of everything and log everything on your post - even unpacking your goodies when they arrive. Clear a table, relax, smoke a cigar, and work slowly and ask for advice whenever u feel the need.
My rules of thumb -
save up money to buy the best case, psu and mobo you can afford. these are the future of your build everything else is secondary.
then cpu and cooling.
dont worry about jizzing loads of cash on gfx card - you will be upgrading these before u know it anyway.
My current rig is an 920 quad core with an nvidia 460 on a 23'' 3d monitor @ 1680*1050 - i get amazing frame-rates and run Skyrim on ultra with ease. if i fancy going bigger i switch to my 27'' monitor for higher rez on less demanding games. I used a top of the range gigabyte mobo so have loads of expansion options including SLI etc if i wish.
its all personal preference of course - I used to build epic over clocked rigs and super water-cooled gaming rigs but they all show their age quickly.
The secret i find is starting off with quality building blocks on a basic build - you can expand from there and get as complicated as you like at a later date.
A good case/psu and monitor are an investment that last successive builds.
pz