Make a computer.........

[jonnie comet]

Hi

I appreciate that this is probably a big subject, but does anyone know of a web site, that can lead me through the do's and don'ts
of making a computer. I would also need to know the best place to buy components...motherboard...hard drive.....etc. I work with PCBs and circuits regularly, and just fancy a go at putting a computer together.........well, it is winter.......

I may well be " biteing off more than I can chew " but I do know some of you guys have done this, so hopefully you can advise me

Many thanks

 

[richie]

It's a piece of piss to build a PC. Can't give you any links but can advise you not to waste your time.

PC are so cheap now its hardly worth doing.

I'll sit back and wait for the replies to this one...

 

[Snooky]

Have to agree, yes you can build what you want, but at quite a cost these days, much better to buy a nice machine with the option to upgrade as you go, or buy cheap and put more memory or better graphics card in it, Dell are doing some really stupid deals at the moment and as long as you don't want a full blown games machine then go for them or see my link in the discount offers.

 

[richie]

Or (MAC Convert mode) check out the prices on Ibooks these days... Very Coke resistent they are too...

 

[cookie]

it's usually a piece of piss except for choosing the right componants. nicking the specs from a decent manufacturer can make that bit easier.

i think it's quite rewarding to make your own pc, but realistically, it's considerably cheaper to buy ready made.

if you want to go ahead, there are websites on the subject, try a google search.

buy the componants from somewhere reputable. i wouldn't touch these useless twats with [someone else's] shitty stick.

i know it makes more sense to buy a complete machine, but i still like making my own

 

[Wraithwrider]

Building a PC may not be the cheapest way to go but I find it fun and satifying.

And I know that what I've got is EXACTLY what I want.

 

[ferguscawley]

Links here :


www.buildyourown.org.uk

Support here for free at www.techseekers.ie

Good parts @ www.komplett.ie


Ferg

 

[welder8uk]

I have to agree with all the above comments, I've just been through the loop myself. Comes down to either you:

1 Buy off the shelf, bottom line is you'll be pushed to build the same spec for the same price

or

2. If you build your own you get a lot more piece of mind if things go wrong, you know how the HDD is formatted, have all the discs, you get the spec that you want , not what the manuf wants to give you.

The biggest cost is the cost of Software (assuming you are one of these people who pay for it)

I couldnt build a basic system for the price I bought off the shelf (even though I had the software). So I bought 2 from Dell (one for my duaghter for Xmas)> At the moment they are great, but I have a horrible feeeling that I may live to regret it when it starts to go wrong/ gets a virus ect.

If you can build your own I think you get a lot more piece of mind. As someone pointed out they really are pi55 easy t build, like servicing your bike.

Steve

 

[bigkuri]

I build them up - kind'of a hobbie (yes, sad), but I need pretty specalist stuff for some of the mapping applications and servers.

Best place for what to spec and buy is Toms Hardware Guide which you can trust, and don't just give you the dearest option. I researched and specified all of my last PC there, and their reviews did not go wrong once. Plus you'll learn a lot about the practicalities of building up PCs.

The other comments are right though - unless you want a really speific setup and power, I would not bother. It is almost always dearer to build than to buy package.

 

[Bob]

Top tip for today !!

Purchase an application that let's you make an image of your new system, such as Symantec's/Norton's "Ghost" before you start to use it.

Then, if your systems needs a rebuild as a result of a crash, virus etc. then you are able to reformat the HDD and then re-apply the Ghost image.

Have fun buying or building !!

Bob

 

[Tobers]

I went through the same thought process a few weeks ago. I contacted lots of PC component shops (well, 2 actually) and both said that, like-for-like, they could not beat Dell.

I have 2 Dell PCs for my kids and they were pretty cheap (around £500) and are fast enough (2.8Ghz). Cheapo graphics though but that is easily sorted with an £80 graphics card.

I then got fed up with the fact that their PCs were faster than my old notebook so I had to buy a new one. Main criteris:

- Had to run Half Life 2 at full resolution
- Had to be powerful enough to do decent video editing

I did some research on the web (and Toms Hardware as recommended above is excellent). I worked out that I could build one but would probably cock up.

I decided to go for an AMD 64 3500+ processor - 64 bit, fast as f***, and seriously upgradeable. That was the basis. I also wanted a decent graphics card and 1Gb of RAM.

I ended up looking on Ebay and found just the right bit of kit for £700 inc postage and postal insurance. The damned thing is amazingly fast. I had to nonce about installing Windows XP on it (for which I had to pay another £170 - rip off!!!) and get the display drivers, disk drivers etc up & running.

However, now it is running smoothly it is a pleasure to use. I reckon actually I could have built it myself no problem. In reality, it is pretty simple. Get a case with power supply included. Buy a motherboard which suits your desired chipset. Buy whatever hard disk you want (I got an SATA 160Gb drive which is majorly fast), get a load of RAM of the correct type, add a graphics card if you dont want on-board graphics from the motherboard, and plug it together.

You'll find sites like Toms Hardware which will list which motherboard goes with which processor etc so that's not too difficult.

Just take it stop by step and it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

[cookie]

re: ghost.

very good advice, and not just for ppl who build their own PCs.

personally i'd avoid ghost v.9 which is based on powerquest's drive image 7, which has failed on me every time i've tried to restore HDD/migrate to new HDD.

previous ghost 2003 is a bit more fiddly to use, but is bulletproof.

 

[cookie]

a couple of tips:

if you're going to build a gaming PC with a heavy current drawing CPU & especially a top end graphics card, think about getting a really decent 450W+ PSU from someone like antec or enermax. cheap cases come with cheap PSU's that can fail under load. it can take ages to trace the culprit.

personally, i now want a PC that's quiet. that's why i've bought one of these at top of page. ready built PC's do not generally have that level of quality

windows xp home can be bought for about 65 quid if you shop around & pro for under a hundred. these are OEM editions, same programs as retail but with slightly different licensing agreements.

 

[jonnie comet]

Hmmmmm...........As ever, some interesting, and thought provoking responses, I'm really not too sure what to do now. It never occured to me that there would be so little price difference between build your own, and, ready built. I havn't been put off, but it has made me think a lot more, about what I want to do and why.
Thanks very much for all the replies, and links, I really do appreciate it

Cheers

 

[schnauzer]

It tends to be the software costs that make building your own dearer as something from say dell will have xp, a heap of other stuff and maybe something like microsoft works, and by the time you add up the cost of those from somewhere its £100's........
I always use www.scan.co.uk for my pc bits, excellent service,price and support in the 10 or so years I've dealt with them........ Its good fun to do though and now with all these clever components its heaps easier than the old days when motherboards used to have loads and loads of jumpers to configure manually!

 

[Wraithwrider]

Tobers

I finished HL2 this week - gutted! A long time to wait for HL3!

Best game I've ever played by a ways.

Now to try it on a harder level.

Wraithwrider

 

[Markoh]

If you want to build one on the cheap, try ebuyer.com and select from their clearance/special offers. On the other hand I have also found them hard to beat for top end components.

E.g Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 8 40Gb ATA 133 7200rpm Disk Drive - OEM £28.13 inc VAT.

I have bought quite a bit of stuff from them over the last few years and so far, no problems.

Cheers
Mark

 

[cookie]

[jihad] ebuyer [/jihad]

 

[Keith Chapman]

Tobers, or anyone else who can give an answer.

If you are into video editing, can you give me some advise please?

I am looking for a good piece of software to convert Video to DVD/CD

I have tried one or two bits of freeware but the results are not particularly good.

 

[Tobers]

I am using the free and really very good Windows Movie Maker (download from Microsoft site). I am not writing to DVD with it - not figured that out yet - but am doing plenty of humourous editing, adding soundtracks, titles etc, and saving in WMV for putting onto CDs for relatives to watch on their PCs.

I think I need a separate DVD writing programme to do the burning of the DVDs.