Should I fear building my own pc?

KaBone

KaBone

Member
I'm basically fishing for pc buying advice. I know this gets asked a lot, but I'm thinking that's because there's a reason for it. PCs are a sizeable investment and nobody wants to waste that kind of money. So please be patient with me.
I have $900 to spend. I am not computer savvy; I only know how to use one. The idea of building my own intrigues me but I'm afraid it won't work and then my wife will kill me.
My (as in our) primary computing needs are graphic design (Photoshop style), home office productivity, and web browsing. I like to play games, but am not a "gamer". I don't do those MMO games, preferring instead games like Empire Earth, and Command and Conquer. I have a TV, so I don't understand the need for a TV tuner. I have a blu-ray player, so I don't see the need to have a blu-ray drive, full HD monitor, and THX sound. I rarely burn CDs for music, data, or photos. I don't IM, webcam, blog, have a webpage, and have not the desire to do any of those things.
Let's say I decide to got with a customized pre-built computer. I've read about the bad experiences with Dell, but not so much on who is better. So which company (HP, ibuypower, Northwest, Dell, et al) should I go with? I've also read that it's less expensive (and generally better) to buy a stripped down model and buy the upgrades separately than to go with the pc company's upgrades. Are there particular components that I should max out when customizing the system?
Let's say I decide to build my own system. Given my level of expertise, would you advise it?
Lastly, I live in paradise and as such rarely qualify for the free shipping offers and the shipping costs are murder and will eat into my $900 budget. I'd prefer not to check the internet on a daily basis searching for the best deals on components and thus take 6 months to acquire all the pieces.
Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
 
Well... i can only say do not fear it. Learn from your mistakes.

Buy a book on how to build a computer or just look up guides (of which there are thousands on the internet) and if you have any problems come back here :)
 
First of all, have no worries... i will walk you through it if you need help. Second, where you buy your parts is just as important as what you buy. The last thing you want is receiving parts thrown in a box, especially through christmas shipping.

What i would want for a ~700 dollar build:
Q6700 2.66ghz Core 2 Quad ~240
500GB Hard Drive ~130
6GB PC10600 DDR3 ~70
500-700 Watt ~50
Nice CPU Case ~ 50
P45 Mother Board ~150 This is a good MOBO that will allow you to play simple games using onboard graphics. It will also allow you to add a very nice video card if needed (SLI supported)
2 DVD/RW CD/RW drives ~50
 
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I looked at the assembly guide and I feel confident about being able to put it all together. I'm a bit hesitant on capatibility. For example, a motherboard that supports Crossfire, a gpu that's PCIe 2.0 where I only have 16X, RAID 0, etc. I'm not fluent on these terms; these are just the things I've read on other posts. Any advice or helpful guides on that respect?
Also, if I buy a pre-built I can also get (aka pay for) an extended warranty. How does warranty factor in on self-built systems?
 
I think the hardest action with building a computer is picking out the right parts that are all compatible.

RAID 0: RAID stands for "redundant array of independent disks." RAID 0 consists of an equal amount of space used on two or more hard drives up to as many as 32 hard drives. Data is written in equal blocks to each hard drive disk in the striped volume. A striped volume does not provide fault tolerance. If one hard drive in a striped volume fails all data stored on the striped volume is lost.

RAID 0 isn't good in my opinion. The extra boost in reading speeds isn't worth losing all your data stored on your hard drives if one of them goes.

I wouldn't worry about a motherboard that supports Crossfire or SLI. I would just look at motherboards that have a PCI x16 2.0 slot.

Do you want an Intel or an AMD processor? Do you have any model of processor in mind?

The following brands of motherboards are generally decent in quality:
Gigabyte
ASUS
MSI
Foxconn

I prefer Gigabyte motherboards as Gigabyte makes very good quality motherboards that have great documentation with them.
 
2048Megabytes said:
Do you want an Intel or an AMD processor? Do you have any model of processor in mind?
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I've had 1 pc experience with AMD and it was not pleasant. In their defense it probably had little to do with the actual cpu. Needles to say I'm gunshy on AMD. My thinking is that the more on the leading edge you are with the cpu, the longer it will take for your computer to become obsolete; more so than with any other component. If I can put an i7 and still be under budget I will. Otherwise it's a quad minimum. For what I intend to do, I don't think a Q9650 will be worth the extra money over a Q6600. Of course, I may be totally wrong.
 
KaBone said:
I've had 1 pc experience with AMD and it was not pleasant. In their defense it probably had little to do with the actual cpu. Needles to say I'm gunshy on AMD. My thinking is that the more on the leading edge you are with the cpu, the longer it will take for your computer to become obsolete; more so than with any other component. If I can put an i7 and still be under budget I will. Otherwise it's a quad minimum. For what I intend to do, I don't think a Q9650 will be worth the extra money over a Q6600. Of course, I may be totally wrong.
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The new Socket LGA 1366 motherboards (motherboards that support the Intel i7 processors) are very expensive. DDR3 RAM is more expensive than DDR2 RAM as well.

I would steer toward the Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 processor. It runs at about 35 Watts less than the i7 processors and it's currently $270 at NewEgg.com. It also has 6 megabytes of Level 2 Cache (which is very good) and it runs at a 2.66 gigahertz clock speed.

If you don't know what cache is here is a decent definition of cache:

Memory cache is also referred as static random access memory (S-RAM). S-RAM is a small amount of memory that is much faster than primary storage RAM. It speeds overall computer performance by temporarily holding data the processor may use in the near future. There are three levels of cache. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (abbreviated L1, L2, and L3). Not all processors have Level 3 cache, but almost all modern processors manufactured presently have Level 1 and Level 2 cache.
 
Its great if you learn about how to build computers through books and video's but just be careful on who you take advice off check if these books or video's have good ratings and recomendations that meet your standards i would recommend this book as its easy to follow and is great for a beginer as it gives good tips on building your computer and setting it up it also tells you about problems that may occur during your build and how to avoid/fix them.

Hope i was a help (Link is below text)

PC Building (BOOK)
 
I truly appreciate the support from everyone, but before we go into component specifics, could we discuss the warranty issue(s)?
 
2048Megabytes said:
The new Socket LGA 1366 motherboards (motherboards that support the Intel i7 processors) are very expensive. DDR3 RAM is more expensive than DDR2 RAM as well.

I would steer toward the Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 processor. It runs at about 35 Watts less than the i7 processors and it's currently $270 at NewEgg.com. It also has 6 megabytes of Level 2 Cache (which is very good) and it runs at a 2.66 gigahertz clock speed.

If you don't know what cache is here is a decent definition of cache:

Memory cache is also referred as static random access memory (S-RAM). S-RAM is a small amount of memory that is much faster than primary storage RAM. It speeds overall computer performance by temporarily holding data the processor may use in the near future. There are three levels of cache. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (abbreviated L1, L2, and L3). Not all processors have Level 3 cache, but almost all modern processors manufactured presently have Level 1 and Level 2 cache.
Click to expand...

The differene between DDR3 and DDR2 in terms of price is not too bad. 3GB tri-channel for ~100 dollars is worthy IMHO. It's about 35 dollars for a gig of PC10666, when prices for a gig for a PC3200 is about 30...

-Dust
 
KaBone said:
I truly appreciate the support from everyone, but before we go into component specifics, could we discuss the warranty issue(s)?
Click to expand...

Because this is your first build and the parts you will be buying are still within warranty, do not overclock. As long as each component has the neccessary power, you're fine.

Buying quality products buys peace of mind. Good manufacturers will give you 1+ years of manufacturer warranty.
 
KaBone said:
If I can put an i7 and still be under budget I will. Otherwise it's a quad minimum. For what I intend to do, I don't think a Q9650 will be worth the extra money over a Q6600. Of course, I may be totally wrong.
Click to expand...

For $900.00 there is no hope to build a new i7 system complete and have it shipped.

Your best to look at Intel quad system..say with a Q8200 cpu or something similar!
 
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