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Thread: Building a computer

  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Building a computer

    Does anyone know of a website or a tutorial devoted to the topic? I'm interested in building my own computer.
    It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

  2. #2
    Old Fart
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    I wrote one about a year ago, you can find it here. If you need to ask any questions, feel free to drop me a PM or ask in your thread...we'll all be happy to assist.
    Al
    It isn't paranoia when you KNOW they're out to get you...

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Also, I have a university in my town. Would it be smarter to buy supplies from their surplus store? And, any idea on how much the cost of building your own compares to buying a pre-made computer?
    It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

  4. #4
    Originally posted here by Jareds411
    Also, I have a university in my town. Would it be smarter to buy supplies from their surplus store? And, any idea on how much the cost of building your own compares to buying a pre-made computer?
    Depends on what you want to build, with Dell and eMachines nowadays, you can buy a decent family use computer for very cheap and it comes pretty decently packed, but if you want a power house machine for gaming or video editing or etc, odds are buildling your own will cost you less than buying from a manufactor. Warehouses like Global (http://www.globalcomputer.com/) can sell parts very cheap as opposed to companies like Alienware who overprice their **** just because of the logo and 'labor' they put in.

    I looked through a few tutorials, and the one here (http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/index.htm) seems very well written and organized by each step and it goes in detail on everything you need to do, so if you're interested, you should take a look.

    I've never actually built my own, but have taken apart computers and put them together as well as tweaking parts, so if you need some help, feel free to drop a line over here as well.

  5. #5
    albn
    Guest
    It all depends on what kind of computer you want. If it is something top of the line, then the university surplus is not for you... then again, they may have good stuff.

    Anyway, building your own vs. buying a premade is another thing. Depending where you buy parts. http://newegg.com has decent prices, and also check http://pricewatch.com to see current prices on parts as well.

    I made a computer for my friend for about $1000, and made him a very nice puter. If you need help, contact me via PM

  6. #6
    Blast From the Past
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    Jan 2003
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    if you want a computer to just play small games and surf the net and do misc other tasks then you could buy one

    if you want to do some gameing you should build one

    eitherway you should build one just for the fact that you learn what is going on, every part you have, and how its configured

    if you know where to look you can build one for 400ish...but its not gonna be able to do much

    if you want a good gameing rig your looking at 800 EASY
    what do you plan on doing with ur comp?
    work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger

  7. #7
    Senior Member
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    One more question - What is overclocking?
    It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

  8. #8
    Blast From the Past
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    overclocking is pushing your equipment past recommend/tested limits.....keep in mind overclocking is extremly hard on your hardware

    you can do hardware overclocking wich can get a few hundred mhz extra out of ur processor...and you can also overclock ram and videocards....but when you do you cut the lifetime expectency down by HUGE amounts.....overclocking is fun to play with but dont mess with it, especialy if you dont have the funds to replace anything you break
    work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger

  9. #9
    Old Fart
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    Originally posted here by Jareds411
    One more question - What is overclocking?

    http://www.overclockers.com/
    Al
    It isn't paranoia when you KNOW they're out to get you...

  10. #10
    ********** |ceWriterguy
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    Jareds - good luck building your first system. It's a blast. Here's a couple tips to get ya started.

    First, stay away from that surplus store unless you're looking to build a legacy (older) machine. A reputable computer shop is much better, and their techies can offer advice, and usually will for free.

    Second, cost is always based on how 'state of the art' you want to get and precisely what bells and whistles you want to add - I like building boxes with uber buff processors and a high amount of ram, but use 'last year's' video cards and sound. Last time I built a box on my own nickel was about 2 years ago. I paid all of $500 for the parts, excluding monitor, and built a system that'd cost around twice that at the retailer's. Never skimp on memory. Never skimp on processors, but weigh out the options between AMD and Intel (I looooove AMD).

    Third, if you talk to your parts guy beforehand and let him know what you're doing, he'll most likely cut you a break on putting an OS on your hard drive. (I bought the 40gig drive at the going rate back then, and got XPhome fo free ).

    And Finally, When assembling the box, watch your jumper settings, on both motherboard and drives, nothing will fuxor you faster. (from experience there - fried a 333 with the wrong jumperset on the motherboard once.)

    Good luck!
    Even a broken watch is correct twice a day.

    Which coder said that nobody could outcode Microsoft in their own OS? Write a bit and make a fortune!

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