Could I build my own computer?

corblimey

With my laptop on its last legs, I'm in the market for a new machine, and am thinking of doing a self-build. I have no concept whatsoever of doing this, but I'm sure there's plans, etc online. Up til now, my experience of doing this sort of thing has been limited to putting in new cards, memory and hard drives. I can find my way around inside a computer and know a little bit of slave and master, that sort of thing.

So what sort of level would you think is necessary before a self-build is possible?

Also, where's the best place for parts? I see PC World in Waterford have a whole section for it, but would I be better off looking for a mom-and-pop place in Cork, or just getting it all online.

Also, finally, is there a shopping list I should adhere to (what parts I'll need more than specs, etc)?

Any help, hints, and comments would be great. My laptop is dying fast, so I think this will be a project for the Christmas holidays.

youcancallmeal

There a lot of questions there that will all be answered in good time but first off your in the right place .
Building your own PC is not that hard and also is quite rewarding

MrJoeSoap

I did it and I'm thick, heres a rough guide to the parts you need to order:

• Case
• Motherboard
• Processor
• RAM
• Hard Drive(s)
• CD/DVD Drive(s)
• Sound Card
• Graphics Card
• Fans
• Peripherals (Mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, etc...)

As I said above, I'm thick, so I've probably left some stuff out, probably the most crucial components. www.komplett.ie is your only man for this type of job, they have bundles that incorporate a motherboard, CPU fan and RAM (see here), and their site has links to how to build your own PC. If you have any questions about which is the best value just ask, I probably won't know but someone else here certainly will.

It is a great and rewarding experience and will certainly save you a few quid on what the shops charge.

Stephen

Like MrJoeSoap said, get all your parts online - Irish shops will just rip you off.

youcancallmeal

A good guide can be found here
It'll give you a good idea what needs to be done in order to get started.

Rollo Tamasi

corblimey wrote:

Also, where's the best place for parts? I see PC World in Waterford have a whole section for it, but would I be better off looking for a mom-and-pop place in Cork, or just getting it all online.

i take it your from waterford. Check out WMS (waterford micro systems) down on the mall next to The Bowery Bar (previously axis mundi). The guys in there are very helpfull and the prices are a lot better than PC World.

corblimey

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

i take it your from waterford. Check out WMS (waterford micro systems) down on the mall next to The Bowery Bar (previously axis mundi). The guys in there are very helpfull and the prices are a lot better than PC World.

I'm a Cork biy, but will be going through Waterford next week on the way to Wexford. Have no idea where The Bowery Bar, but I'll see if I can find WMS online. Tks.

I would assume that Komplett would still be cheaper, though.

peepsbates

corblimey wrote:

I'm a Cork biy, but will be going through Waterford next week on the way to Wexford. Have no idea where The Bowery Bar, but I'll see if I can find WMS online. Tks.

I would assume that Komplett would still be cheaper, though.

the bowery is near the quay not the bridge end the other end near the tower:D

elexes

building a pc is like falling when drunk

your not sure if you wanted it to happen but your glad you in a better place now then you were

corblimey

I'll take a look next week, thanks peepsbates.

I've done a small bit of "research" today, and the options are a little wide-ranging, IDE or SATA, PCI or AMD, all that jazz. And of course, you have no guarantee when it's all bought that it'll fit together. I guess the packs from komplett in JoeSoap's post are already tried and tested for compatibility but everything else is still a question mark?

This is fun?

steveland?

www.buildyourown.org.uk < priceless...

I bought all the bits for this PC from the FS Comp Hardware section on boards and haven't had any problems withit...

Once you get all the bits it's like putting together Lego.

Motherboard manual should sort you out with where everything goes.

One or two small things to make sure you keep in mind:
Make sure if your motherboard says Socket A, get a socket A processor, if it says Socket 939, get a Socket 939... etc...

Also don't get a SATA hard drive unless your Motherboard supports it... most new mobos support sata though

jozi

Things move prety fast in the computer world so i can imagine your somewhat confused on what you need.
There's only really 2 choices for cpu's Amd and Intel, amd have 64bit cpu's out for some time which intel doesnt keep well away from anything celeron or sempron (grand for every day stuff but not gaming)
Harddisks - 2 types IDE and SATA (1 or 2)
IDE is old, SATA is new and faster. Get a good mobo and it should have sata ports on it.
if you know what cpu your going with look for mobo's that take the same socket. try make sure the mobo has PCI-EXPRESS (or PCI-X) slots on it (no point going agp anymore) along with normal PCI slots.
Ram depends on you mobo/cpu combo again, dont quote me on this but i think all amd skt 939 is still DDR400 (PC 3200) ram and intel (depending on cpu) is DDR2 533 (i think, someone clear that up).
Graphics cards - look for pci-express ones (agp wont be around for much longer so no point getting that) provided you got a pci-express mobo. More ram doesnt always mean a better gfx card, you'll only need a very good (expensive) one if you want to play all the latest and future games at high settings.
PSU's - make sure to get on thats more than able to power your systm (wattage wise) stick to the good proven brands, ovoid the likes of qtec.
There are some other part like case, dvd drives etc most come down to preference i think, stick to well know proven brands all you should be ok quality wise.

What i useually do is have a look for the products within your budget and google reviews for specific items and try find out which offers best bang for buck.

Putting it all together isnt to bad, take your time about it and it should be grand. ALWAYS disscharge yourself!!!!

Fire away with questions here and someone is bound to help you.

Good luck building

Jozi

EOA_Mushy

Exceptionaly easy to go about it -
Pick you mobo on komplett and all compatible parts will be listed below it (well at least, ram, processor, hdd...)

corblimey

Okay, so with a little shopping around, and looking at reviews and stuff, here's my list:

case: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304339&cks=SPC 113
mobo: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=311244&cks=SPC 122
ram: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=300699&cks=ACC 214
psu: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=311653&cks=SPC 133
processor: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307202&cks=ACC 175
harddisk: Hitachi SATA2 x2 (40, 250)
dvd drive: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=314948&cks=SPC 46
sound card: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312203&cks=SPK 75
video card: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=316379&cks=PRL 128
fan: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312504&cks=PLS 13

How does all this stack up? Total cost (not incl hard drives) is 1019. Is this a lot or a little? I can get a pre-built machine for certainly less than that, so perhaps I'm going overboard. I don't need (or want) top of the range to begin with anyway.

Also: I need a bunch of USB ports - do I need to buy an adaptor - I see no mention of them on the mobo (should I?)

Do I need a fan? I had no idea with most of the things on that list, and the fan seems superfluous to me?

What about cables? Shouldn't everything come with all cables intact?

Do I need a sound card? The mobo claims 7.1 sound output, I assume that I still need a sound card?

(Note: I guess it would be handy to know what the machine is going to be used for. It's mostly going to be used as a media center, all my music, videos and pictures will be put onto it. However, it still needs to be fully functional as my development machine, so I'll be running the likes of Photoshop, etc on it. It will also have multiple versions of Apache webserver running on it, but I doubt that will have much effect on the config.)

jozi

That looks decent enough.
1 thing im no sure about it the gfx card thou, it might be enough for your use but it still try stretch to a 6600gt like this one: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307935&cks=PRL
The mobo has onboard sound so you dont need a soundcard but a dedicated sound card will give better sound than on-board 7.1.
Thats a nice case, friend has one and its easy to work with. The only reason you need fans is to have good airflow trough the case to keep everything from over heating. I dont know what them fans are like really, i have 2 120mm papst fans and swear by them (got from www.hitide.ie )
You should get enough cable with the mobo.

I can get a pre-built machine for certainly less than that, so perhaps I'm going overboard.

Your getting your self a nice system there with good upgrade potential for some time, i dont know would you get a better setup prebuilth but i doubt it

EDIT: get samsung spinpoints Media centre so you want it to be quiet

Rollo Tamasi

corblimey wrote:

What about cables? Shouldn't everything come with all cables intact?

Do I need a sound card? The mobo claims 7.1 sound output, I assume that I still need a sound card?

all the cables come with the motherboard and you don't need to get the sound card, the motherboard's on board sound will do. If i were you i'd get a more powerfull processor and i certainly wouldn't pay €133.00 for a PSU.

jozi

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

all the cables come with the motherboard and you don't need to get the sound card, the motherboard's on board sound will do. If i were you i'd get a more powerfull processor and i certainly wouldn't pay €133.00 for a PSU.

Thats what you pay for a good PSU

Using a under powerd (or crap) PSU can lead to all sorts of problems and ultimately it could damage your expensive components.
That PSU can be used for quite some time as its got plenty of wattage

corblimey

Thanks, Jozi. I thought the Hitachis would be quieter than the Samsungs, that's the impression I'm getting from reviews and stuff.

Also, I'm still a little iffy about fans. If I understand correctly, most of the stuff I buy will pop into the casing somewhere, connected to the mobo, but how do I know I'll have space and fittings for fans? And wouldn't fans be the noisiest items in the case?

jozi

Maybe the hitachi's are??? I kow samsung used to be very good.

That case has room for 2 120mm fans, 1 at the front (blowing air over your hd) and one at the rear just below the PSU.
You can get fans that are very quiet, i have 2 120mm papst fans in my pc with a fan controler and i can sleep with the pc on (there still is a slight hum thou). I dont know what the fan komplett have is like.

If you really want to go down the quiet rout have a good look here: www.silentpcreview.com check their message board to very good site about silencing your pc.

EDIT: pretty much verything just slots into place alright. all you really need to do is fit the cpu and heatsink to the mobo before you put that into the case, everyting gets put in after

Alkers

The graphics card you chose is a passively cooled one, if you want silence it's a good choice, otherwise one with a fan will be cheaper.

corblimey

jozi: heatsink? Er... is that something I have to buy?

Simona: the video card was the one thing I just threw a dart at. They all seem to be about the same. "Passively cooled" is not important to me, nor is quietness, so can you or others, recommend a 'cheaper' one

Winning Hand

Hate to butt in on somebodys thread but I have a question re building your own pc. I already have a dell 8300 with windows XP, if I build a new computer am I allowed to transfer that copy of xp as I have the reinstall software from dell or will I have to get a new copy?

masteroftherealm

Winning Hand wrote:

Hate to butt in on somebodys thread but I have a question re building your own pc. I already have a dell 8300 with windows XP, if I build a new computer am I allowed to transfer that copy of xp as I have the reinstall software from dell or will I have to get a new copy?

start your own thread man or it gets too messy. yull get loads of help that way

Mad Mike

A few words of caution about self build.

0. Don't even think about self build unless you can answer the following questions (plus a whole heap of others I can't think of):

Whats the difference between an Athlon64 a P4 a Sempron and a Celeron?
What is the difference between PCI, PCIe and AGP?
What is the difference bwteen DDR400 and DDR533
What is the differnce between SATA and IDE
How do I re-install Windows?
How do I upgrade my graphics card drivers?

1. Don't underestimate the time and effort involved. Even though modern PC parts fit together like lego there are many hidden pitfalls - like some brands of memory not working with some motherboards. Also The software installation and driver setup takes at least as long and is at least as complex as building the hardware.

2. Unless you are looking for bleeding edge performance self build will probably cost you more than buying a ready made machine. You can buy a decent mid range PC for a lot less than a grand these days particularly with the January sales coming up.

3. To keep the cost within reasonable limits you have to buy most of your kit online. (komplett.ie, overclockers.uk and dabs.co.uk are reasonable choices). However this will involve you in a world of pain and frustration if ever you need to return something and believe me you will have to return something.

So with all of these caveats why would you bother with self build?

1. First and foremost for the pleasure of building and owning your own machine. Unless you are enough of a techhead to get a kick out of this then don't even think about it.

2. If you want a very specific type of machine - for example a fancy case or a particular type of monitor then self build is the only way to go.

3. If you need bleeding edge performance (For example for serious gaming or for video encoding) then self build will probably save you money.

corblimey

Well, mad Mike's little cloud of doom has totally put me off a self build. I can't answer any of his questions, and I don't want bleeding edge or have specific needs when it comes to my machine.

Can anyone repute Mike's points, or are they all valid?

Mad Mike

And not to be a complete killjoy I've added some comments to your list.

corblimey wrote:

Okay, so with a little shopping around, and looking at reviews and stuff, here's my list:

case: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304339&cks=SPC 113
MM comment: Seems like a fine case to me

mobo: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=311244&cks=SPC 122
MM comment: Excellen mobo but overkill for you application. SLI motherboards are designe to take two graphics cards for bleeding edge gaming. I suggest you look for a cheaper socket 939 mobo with nforce 4 and with all the ports (USB and possible firewire) that you need.

ram: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=300699&cks=ACC 214
MM: Overkill again. Your Athlon64 3200+ doesn't need this expensive RAM. For less money you could buy 2Gb of "value" DDR3200 and this would serve you a lot better.

psu: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=311653&cks=SPC 133
MM: A fine PSU but very pricey. Its bo harm to sepnd money on a power supply because it is a linchpin of the whole system but you could get a very good 400W PSU for under a €100 which will power your whole setup.

processor: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307202&cks=ACC175
MM: An excellent value processor. If you wanted to spend more money you could consider a dual core 3800x2 processor. The dual core processor won't be noticeable faster while running a single program but will make multitasking a lot smoother.

harddisk: Hitachi SATA2 x2 (40, 250)
MM: No comment - I assume you mean 2 250G hard disks. That seems reasonable for a media centre where you could have a lot of digital media files.

dvd drive: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=314948&cks=SPC 46
MM: No comment - seems reasonable though.

sound card: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312203&cks=SPK 75
MM: Don't need one. On board sound is good enough these days unless you are into creating audio or very serious gaming.

video card: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=316379&cks=PRL 128
MM: A reasonable card but not great for gaming. If you are serious about building a media pc you should probably consider one of the all in wonder series from ATI with TV tuner and video capture ability.

fan: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312504&cks=PLS 13
MM: I reccommend not buying any fans untill you get your hands on the case. Some cases come with fans. Even if it doesn't you can nip down to you r local PC shop and buy a fan that fits.

Dont Forget - you will need to buy Windows XP Home or MCE. You can't just use the versionyou got with your old machine because of the registration process.

How does all this stack up? Total cost (not incl hard drives) is 1019. Is this a lot or a little? I can get a pre-built machine for certainly less than that, so perhaps I'm going overboard. I don't need (or want) top of the range to begin with anyway.


MM: You should seriously consider a pre-built machine. Have a look in your local PC world during the January sales.

Also: I need a bunch of USB ports - do I need to buy an adaptor - I see no mention of them on the mobo (should I?)

MM:Look at the motherbpards specs. The MOBO you selected has 6 high speed USB (USB2)

Do I need a fan? I had no idea with most of the things on that list, and the fan seems superfluous to me?
MM: Yes you need at least one fan - depends on the case so wait till you see it.

What about cables? Shouldn't everything come with all cables intact?

MM: You should get all cables with MOBO.

Do I need a sound card? The mobo claims 7.1 sound output, I assume that I still need a sound card?

MM: No.

(Note: I guess it would be handy to know what the machine is going to be used for. It's mostly going to be used as a media center, all my music, videos and pictures will be put onto it. However, it still needs to be fully functional as my development machine, so I'll be running the likes of Photoshop, etc on it. It will also have multiple versions of Apache webserver running on it, but I doubt that will have much effect on the config.)

Mad Mike

I was in PC World yesterday in Carrickmines and they had a very good Athlon 64 machine (3400+ without monitor I think) with 1G of Ram and a DVD rewriter for around €600. Here is some general advice when buying a PC:

Athlon 64 is best performance/value option,

I reccommend 1Gb of RAM for todays use. Chances are you will need to upgrade this later so if the machine has some unused memory slots so much the better.

Make sure the machine has a PCI-E graphics card slot. This will allow you upgrade the graphics later if you are into gaming.

Make sure the machine has plenty of spare USB ports for connecting peripherals (Remember the mouse and keyboard will use up 2)

Try to get a machine with a few unused PCI slots - This will allow you to upgrade the machine later (eg better sound, Firewire ports etc.)

Don't be tempted by extended warranties. The standard warranty is typically one year and by the end of a year your new PC will only be worth a fraction of its value so why pay full whack to insure it for three years.

Bundled software used to be a big advantage of shop bought computers but nowadays most bundled software is only limited period free trial so read the small print.

hobie

Some very good advice from Mad Mike .....

only one small point from my experience (and I realize it's probably only valid if a user is planning to keep a machine for a few years) ......

Warranty extention to 3 years cost me a 135.00 euro ..... that's not a lot of dosh if your planning to keep the m/c for 3 years ...... I lost a HD on my last m/c after 2 years and got a replacement f.o.c. ..... I suspect that was equal to the warranty cost alone(installed) :rolleyes:

astrofool

I'd disagree with MM on two points.

SLI motherboards do not necessarily have to be used with two gfx cards, they're usually the best of the bunch premium boards with all the bells and whistles like extra sata ports, extra PCIe ports, better on board sound, and often come with firewire and extra USB connectors. On top of that, they're usually only about €20 more than a cheaper non sli board.

I got an A8N32-SLI myself, not using it with an SLI setup (the gfx cards available can't use the 2 x 16lane PCIe slots anyway), but it also comes with passive cooling, 8 phase power, 10 usb ports/headers, firewire, lots of overclocking features, and has a perfect layout. Now that might be a bit overkill (I work with pc's so wasn't paying for it myself), but the A8N-SLI Premium is a bit cheaper, and is a rock solid passively cooled board.

Also, when gfx can actually utilise 2 16 lane ports, I have the board for it (tho will probably have upgraded to M2 by then... ).

On board sound is nowhere near as good as an add-in solution, even the 6/7 year old soundblaster live is better than on board sound, and the audigy2+ and X-Fi will certainly make a difference a) to performance in the newest games and b) sound alot better when paired with good speakers.