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Thread: Building a computer

  1. #1
    0_o Mastermind keezel's Avatar
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    Question Building a computer

    I've never put a computer together from scratch before, but I have installed video/sound cards and I have a decent handle on the guts of one. What I'm thinking of doing though, is to build some higher end computers for fun, and maybe even turn a bit of a profit on ebay. Does anyone know what all I would need to get started? And is it possible to get every component I need from ebay, or would there be a better place to look? As I said, I've never even tried doing this before, and it's mostly for fun.

    I would like to build something with a quick(er) Athlon processor (like 2+GHz), 1-2 gig of RAM, 256 MB video card, custom case of course....something that gamers would be interested in.

  2. #2
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    This link is for building computer :
    http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20020904/

    and these are some guides for building pc's of various gaming budget( they are in indian rupees but they will give you a good idea for a broad range)

    http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/home.jsp?cat=556

    hope this is what you asked for
    It\'s all about sense of power.

  3. #3
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    Found this one too in my bookmarks, missed it

    http://www.extremetech.com/category2...,838239,00.asp
    It\'s all about sense of power.

  4. #4
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    I'd check out http://www.pricewatch.com for stuff. I don't think ebay is a good place to get parts for a new system.

  5. #5
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    yes, you are right, i have checked it myself, for new items prices on ebay are little on higher side. for me it is good only for second hand items( but have to be extra careful for that too :-)

    for new system, if you plan to build in good amount better contact a dealer, you will get discount based on your subsequent orders.
    It\'s all about sense of power.

  6. #6
    They call me the Hunted foxyloxley's Avatar
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    Hi keezel:

    and welcome back to the REAL avatar
    Try to build a PC for yourself first, no time constraints, or price watching ..........
    see what you get ...............

    Then sell THAT ..........

    See what the market is like.

    Use the experience to see just how good a 'budget' box you can make, with your specs, keep the RAM to ONE GB Max
    256 vid card
    400w PSU
    AMD 2.4GHz CPU is reasonably priced and capable enought to run any game or app that your target audience would be interested in.

    Pax
    so now I'm in my SIXTIES FFS
    WTAF, how did that happen, so no more alterations to the sig, it will remain as is now

    Beware of Geeks bearing GIF's
    come and waste the day :P at The Taz Zone

  7. #7
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    I strongly advice to build computers for yourself first, next consider the complete picture when you sell computers to others, first think that you need to work out some garantee agreement, otherwise they will think you give them lifetime warranty. Also consider the sort of clients you are going to get, do they ***** up their box with viruses every week and are you going to offer software support too? Do you know enough about the hardware market to know chipsets and their reputation about stability, speed, ... don't believe all reviews cause a lot are biased. Are you going to search out good power supplies or just going to purchase the first cheap 400w psu you see? Are these boxes custom built for clients or are you going to built thme your self and sell them as is? Did you look at the market? If you look around then you are going to see that a lot of brands exist and that they probably are going to offer boxes that are very close to your price counting parts. A lot of questions, and yep you said it's only for fun, therefor these questions to illustrate that just for fun can be tricky.

    You people speak about 2.4ghz Athlons ??? you mean real speeds or the advertised speeds? I hope you don't wan't to sell 'new' boxes with an AthlonXP cpu (socket A, s462)??? That's completly old, even the s754 is 'low budget' now. A new made high end box based on a AMD cpu should have Athlon64 s939, FX or normal, or the AthlonX2 dual core cpu.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Raion's Avatar
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    My brother is also building a computer to take to college, he's buying all his parts from http://www.newegg.com they have really low prices and good items. Check it out Here's another site for buying parts, they also have good forums that can help you lots on making your computer (but so can AO ) http://xoxide.com/
    WARNING: THIS SIGNATURE IS SHAREWARE PLEASE REGISTER THIS SIGNATURE BY SENDING ME MONEY TO SEE THE COMPLETE SIGNATURE!

  9. #9
    0_o Mastermind keezel's Avatar
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    Thank you all very much for your input, and especially thank you VictorKaum...that's good stuff.

    Originally posted here by VictorKaum
    you need to work out some guarantee agreement, otherwise they will think you give them lifetime warranty.
    1 year, parts/labor, which is just the warantee that comes with the parts that I could buy from stores connected to pricewatch.

    do they ***** up their box with viruses every week and are you going to offer software support too?
    Prolly not, but I might could put a .txt file on the desktop with some links to programs I recommend. Basic free for personal use firewall, spyware removal, virus/trojan removal stuff and instructions on how to update and run them.

    Do you know enough about the hardware market to know chipsets and their reputation about stability, speed?
    Not hardly. I don't even know where to look to find information about them yet, but as I said, this is mostly for fun and as a learning experience. If I make any money on the side from this at all, I'll be pleasantly surprised. My goal is to at least come out even without pissing/ripping anyone off.

    Are these boxes custom built for clients or are you going to built thme your self and sell them as is?
    I'm planning to build one at a time (all slightly different until I find something I like) for myself, and then hopefully auction them off one at a time on ebay.

    Did you look at the market? If you look around then you are going to see that a lot of brands exist and that they probably are going to offer boxes that are very close to your price counting parts.
    You're right, of course. And there is plenty of competition from people that have been in the market for a long time who know exactly what they are doing, and are able to get parts for cheaper (and thus sell cheaper) and offer better warranties. It doesn't look like it will be easy...

    Are you going to search out good power supplies or just going to purchase the first cheap 400w psu you see?
    Although I'm still learning the differences between power supplies, the one I'm looking at is 550w.

    You people speak about 2.4ghz Athlons ??? you mean real speeds or the advertised speeds?
    I'm not sure yet, I'm still looking into what kind of chipset/motherboard I should use. Right now, the 2.4GHz Athlons look like a good deal to me. They aren't nearly as expensive as others but offer decent performance (afaik).

    I have much research to do still, and many things are open to change. Right now I have a 2.4GHz Athlon 3400 system, 256MB vid card, decent sound card, 10/100 networking, 550 power supply, CDRW/DVD drive, 80 GB HDD, and a pretty sweet looking case. Not including shipping...the cost right now would be $564.

    I'm very much open to suggestion about what should be tweaked, and I'm looking especially at different/faster cpu's.

  10. #10
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    550 watts...hrm...sounds a lot like the PowMax Demon..which is a cheap powersupply with an undersized power output circuit that is prone to failing and taking out parts with it.

    In some cases the transformer (input side) goes out first creating a spectacular *bang* and the output side usually dies around the same time killing components.

    The fact that the PCB on some of these cheaper boards is made of corrugated cardboard instead of silicone (some crossover-circuits on speakers from Bose suffer the same cheap-ass cardboard design) leads to environmental problems with humidity, and of course heat/burning. You really want to avoid the low-end/imitation stuff if you are building these computers to sell to people.


    I'd recommend starting by looking at the relatively new XClio power supplies, which have been recognized by those "in the know" to be decent stuff. Forton Source (FSP) / Sparkle should also provide you with reliable power supplies for your budget builds, while Antec's TruePower II series can provide slightly-better-than-spec power regulation for higher end builds.

    This will keep you on the right track for your average gaming & wordprocessing machines, which will likely be most of your sales.



    Things like the chipset and the processor are important for certain features and performance numbers. But few things are as vital as a quality power supply unit.


    BTW, has your analysis of people selling new computers through *bay shown that there is profit to be made? Many people try getting stuff dirt-cheap on *bay, so I'm not sure how successful that kind of model will be. If you can afford to "invest" in the market of limited supply goods there is a small margin to be made online. But it isn't easy work and requires a lot of work to keep up with which supplier has what, and how you can get it from them to people who are willing to pay an extra 10% to have it NOW (who hopefully don't know your supplier - this is rare now-a-days).

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