building your own PC.. how difficult is it?

[geek rock]

yeah.. my computer is pretty out-dated, and I'm thinking of building my own. I've fitted CD-Rom drives and sound cards and so on..

how hard is it to build your own PC from scratch? are there any websites to help?

thanks!

-Mark

[vcd4me]

you can do it! First let me start by telling you something about my computer experience

bought a 386 got outdated
bought a 486 got outdated
bought a pentium 100 got outdated
Gave up for quite a few years

I then decided that it was time to get a new computer but this time I bought a kit and built it myself so I could upgrade it with paying thru the nose.I didn't have a clue but read everything I could find. I just built it in oct 2001. check your library for some books there is one I think this is it HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN COMPUTER- I think the authors' last name is Rosenthal, and it was for a PIII but even if you build a P4 it should help you. If you have done sound cards and drives then you should be able to do the rest. If a computer ilerate person like me can do it so can you. GOOD LUCK

[pacmania_2001]

Yeh, like vcd4me said read up as much as you can in books but also computer mags generally are more up to date with that sort of stuff or check out te net for some good sites. It's also a good idea to read up any installation or user manuals that come with the parts to see how to properly do it.

Another good tip is to know someone who has done this sort of shit before and can help you out if you get stuck.

[jexster]

Its not hard a t all if you can put a card in your system you can build one.Yeah i was leary of building one myself to even thou its cheaper so i bout a p4 1.8 from dell then my brother was in need of a new comp and i decided to help him out so i bout all the stuff for it and everything i nedded to know came with it there's a book that comes with the mobo that makes it really easy. Know im a little bugged thou my brothers is a amd 1.7 for way less then what i got my dell for.

[zzyzzx]

Actually it's very easy to do. About as hard as say changing the oil on your car. The hard part is picking out the compatible parts and sometimes doing the initial HD format and OS load. (Of rather it is when you put in too much ram for a particular OS like I did when trying to use 2GB with Windows 98SE).

[d4n13l]

Its easy.
Remember to use spacers when mounting your motherboard - Otherwise, the motherboard may ground on the chassis and you get all kind of weird things happening. Most important things to get right - motherboard and monitor. Dont scrimp on a monitor if you use your computer a lot, cheapo monitors can give you migranes and shit. Make a bad choice of motherboard and you are in a world of hurt; get one with a reputation for being solid AND speedy. Go to www.tomshardware.com and ask in the forums for a recommendation; those guys eat, sleep and drink hardware (I think it is all they do=). When buying RAM, get the fastest latency, CAS2 (CL2), it's faster than CAS3. If you want a really solid system, buy ECC RAM, it costs a bit more and it is a tiny bit slower, but it is more reliable.
Oh yeah, dont forget a nice optical Intellimouse Explorer.

[mrtristan]

*jumps on the bandwagon*

It's not that hard to do. If you read the instructions of all the parts, it's pretty cut and dry. Like other people mentioned, it's always good to have a friend who really knows his stuff, on tap.

It might also be a good idea to keep your current computer connected to the 'net, so that you can troubleshoot online, as you go along.