Homemade computers

[personman]

Pics if ya want them!

http://www.digitalpose.com/a/sa.jsp?p=16048_690990_0&vid=1

[Trench]

It is not all that hard... I did one with a guy once and now I think I should be able to do one by myself...

[Miscue]

I personally do not go by review sites, I learned my lesson a long time ago. I have found on numerous occassions that they are full of crap some times... giving a great review on pieces of junk... or making things seem better than they are. They get sponsorships and get free stuff/perks from vendors... don't forget.

Remember the $120 or so Kenwood 52TrueX and stuff? OMG they sucked, I got a $30 Lite-On that blew it away... but they got awesome reviews.

The people doing the reviews are not necessarily experts, and normally what happens is: They are given some random part, they plug it in, play with it for a bit, then give it a review. It's like you test drive a car for 10 minutes and then tell everyone to go out and buy it, or whatever... not knowing how it handles on wet roads, off roads, long trips, camping excursions, trips to the dentist... etc. You just drove it around the block once.

I'm more prone to trust a bench technician that has installed the same part a hundred times in a hundred different computers... throwing everything at it... and has REALLY had the chance to play around with it.

All those performance charts and stuff? Honestly, they're pretty much worthless. "Looky here! Look at my skewed charts that have nice numbers! Sure, when you plug it in you won't know the difference, but you have that psychological advantage!"

Those numbers don't tell you anything about a parts behavior... particularly odd behavior... or if their driver sucks... etc.

<B>Question: What computer/parts should I buy?
Answer: What do you want it to do and how much do you want to invest in it?</B>

-Miscue... your friendly neighborhood bench tech

[Crimson_Turkey]

www.pcmech.com is a nice site. Thats where I learned. Also lian-li cases are really good.

[xmetal2001]

Just look around and eventually you'll learn alot more than you ever wanted. A month ago i knew ZERO about building a computer, now I know way too much crap about it:)

If you have any questions, PM me.

BTW, the PC Mech tutorial for building is a great starting place.

[RamboPreacher]

Originally posted by personman
Really all you need for a working computer is a:
Motherboard
Case & Powersupply
CPU
Cord from power supply to wall
:) Thats all.
Of corse, if you want to use it, you will need a:
Video Card
Moniter
Hard Drive
Keyboard
If you want to use it with ease you will need a:
Mouse
Operating System
CD Rom & Floppy
Network Card
Sound Card
Speakers

I just so happened to have alot of old crap that no one uses laying around my house.. I bet I could build another computer out of it too! I have like 6 motherboards laying around that look fairly recent

:) yup, typical "black-box" builds. depending on what the original opster was asking (I think this answered his question) - some of us aren't satisifed with that, we gotta build our own parts too.

I liken it to a cocker. Person's explanation allows you to build a cocker, maybe even a custom one (depending on your definition of custom). If you want to really build one, though, you will need some specialized tools and creative thinking, especially if you want a Level 10 cocker! :)

[Timmee]

Hmm, I'd have to recommend brand name parts if available. AMD (I consider them brand name), Creative Labs, Maxtor, etc, etc, are all good brands to look at. One place to get help when your building a system (assuming you'll be getting at least some of the parts through them) is your local computer store.

[Thordic]

It's really pretty easy to build your own PC.

One option is totally building it yourself. In which case, you make a list of exactly what you need, then shop the net. Pricewatch is good for this for some parts, others you may want to shop around for. Your important parts are the motherboard, processor, and hard drive. Some people swear by brand-name RAM, CDRW drives, etc; I've never really found it to be an issue. If you are a performance nut who wants the maximum 110% out of your system, then go for it, but usually the other stuff is cheaper and works just as well. For example, I got a HiVal 24x10x40x CDRW for $17 that works beautifully and flawlessly. Why pay over $100 for an HP that does the same thing?

Pick your processor first. Decide what you want (Intel, AMD) and what speed you want (Something around 1600 to 1900 should be fine, and at a better price than the 2000+ chips)

For motherboards, go to the tech forums and ask around. Everyone will have an opinion, but if you weed out the good opinions, you should be left with 2 to 3 good motherboards that will support your processor. Now you can look at options. Do you want onboard sound? Onboard video? Onboard LAN? How much ram do you need to support?

For hard drives, I only buy two brands. Maxtor and Western Digital. Hard drives are too vital to cut corners, IMO. Maxtor and WD aren't really any more than any other brands, and in my experience they are reliable. Again, you may hear other opinions from other people, so its up to you to decide which is right for you.

As for everything else, buy generic. Get a cheap CDRom and a cheap CDRW, get 256 or 512 of DDR off of Pricewatch, etc, etc.

I built my computer a few years ago for $400, all inclusive. It was top of the line at the time.

The second option for a "custom" computer is www.micropro.com. They put together really nice systems, and their prices are fair. My brother uses one of their machines. The only problem is their online configurator now forces you to purchase an operating system. If you wanted to buy from them, I'd call them on the phone and tell them you want to load Linux and you are not going to pay for Windows.

Then again, if you need an operating system, you can get it :) It depends on your views on piracy I suppose. :)

[The Frymarker]

Yes it is pretty simple

http://www.tigerdirect.com

They have tons of parts or you can get a lot off of ebay. SDRAM is pretty cheap now.

My pc is home built and I think works better than my old hp


I went to a trade show here in RI that they had a one of the colleges I got all the parts I need for my pc for $500.

Including a new monitor 19", keyboard, speaker with subwoofer, dvd rewritable cdrom, 1000 sdram, amd athlon processor, case, zip drive, and a all in one scanner, printer, fax machine.

So shop around you can do it.

[Thordic]

I used to use Tiger Direct a lot, but when you start doing price comparisons, they come up a little pricier on average.

They are a good company, though, I used them for years.

[xmetal2001]

If your looking for a place to buy check out:

https://www.newegg.com

Its amazing, great prices and great service.

[digitard]

Building computers is easy, its getting everything to work "just" right thats a pain ..

The main problems are

1) Grounds: Make sure you properly insulate the board from the case/screws so you dont cause a short

2) Processor damage: People LOVE to push down on the heatsink top when mounting it to the processor causing it to crack the dye ... make sure you dont press DIRECTLY down on it.

I built my computer and about 300 others (its my job to fix/etc them) ... Here's my current system:

- AMD XP 2100+
- ASUS A7V266-E
- 768mb PC 2100
- 60gb HDD
- 40gb HDD
- 128Meg GeForce 4
- 16X dvd
- 20x CDRW
- SB Audigy Sound card
- 4.1 Speaker setup
- Sony Memory adapter
- Logitech Optical Mouse
- Hauppage WinTV PCI card
- 10/100 NIC w/ 1.5mb DSL connection
- WinXP Pro sp1

Sincerely,
Dave K

[The Frymarker]

Thor you are too funny, I didn't know you put that in your sig

LOL

[Thordic]

Heh heh :)

[FordPrefect]

Okay, heres a question that seems simple enough. Will any case support any motherboard? Because I might be able to get an old ~1995 case for free. Would that be able to hold modern motherboard.