sully04 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 So parts of my old laptop that I had been using as my main computer for about 4 or 5 years went bad on me, and instead of spending money to repair it, I decided to get a new one. I always thought I was capable of building my own computer, but I was nervous about it. I argued with myself about it, and finally I convinced myself to take the plunge. After its all said and done I was able to build myself a computer that I am loving so far for a reasonable price, and now I know that I'll never buy a desktop any other way. My message to those who've thought about it themselves but haven't done it yet. It really isn't that hard. I was able to properly prepare myself with less then a full days reading, and plus I had a blast doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieaces Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I just got done with my first complete build yesterday and I feel the same way. The thing zinggggsss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrigleyville33 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 im planning on building mine next year... ill be running cross fire vid cards way more powerful than 8800s and will be playing crysis at highest settings with no troubles... as for right now i also currently have a laptop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 im planning on building mine next year... ill be running cross fire vid cards way more powerful than 8800s and will be playing crysis at highest settings with no troubles... as for right now i also currently have a laptop The 8800 with max settings can't run Crysis on high performance mode Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuanshuowu Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I've thought about it alot too, and I think im gonna do it. Just some question, what do you need for the comp to run in term of softwares? All i know is we need the Operating systems and drivers, anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleD Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Yeah I remember building my first computer, really good feeling from it. I was so never too because this was when I was....I think I was 14 at the time and I speant ALL of my money on it that I had been saving up since I was a little kid (over 1k) and was terrified I'd ruin it. Was so euphoric when it turned on and worked But it's normally cheaper to just by a refurb'd case. Well, depending on what you want. I think most people spend too much on computer specs they don't need. I'll take a cheaper computer with less specs than paying for something that I'm not going to use. In that case it's cheaper to buy refurb'd. But if you want top of the line, building your own is the way to go. Also when people find out you built your own...get ready for a lot of people asking for you to fix their computers, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philliesphan18 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I've thought about it alot too, and I think im gonna do it. Just some question, what do you need for the comp to run in term of softwares? All i know is we need the Operating systems and drivers, anything else?Software - Besides the basics like that it would be rocommended to have word processing, antivirus, and anti-adware software. For that you can get: Open Office (Oxygen Office) - Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Power Point, etc... AVG - Antivirus Adaware - Antiadware/spyware All these programs are free. Also, AVG and Adaware offer very good protection and do not slow down you computer as much as Norton. -- Note -- I am not advertising for any program, software, etc... These are just my presonal recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrigleyville33 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 The 8800 with max settings can't run Crysis on high performance mode yeah i know that is why im going to do cross fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPaPa Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 ive built many computers mostly for other ppl and its very quick and can be a rewarding process. A few things to watch for however are: 1) Go invest in a proper tool kit I/E anti magnetic a grounding band ect... 2) steer as far clear of windows vista as possible b/c compatibility issues with many many pieces of hardware are still a year or more from being worked out. 3) You might want to start with a bare bone kit that comes with a mother board, because not all mother boards fit in all cases and such depending on the size and how much money your willing to spend a case can really constrict your hardware and cooling options. 4)Don't invest in processor over 3 GHZ they are expensive and 99% of programs don't show improvement in function or graphics over about 2.4 -2.5 if you want a speedy comp get as much memory as you can afford, a quad core processor and the nicest graphics card you can afford. 5) OEM operating systems are your friend. If you know enough to build a computer id hope you know enough to set up and run windows correctly so theres no need to pay 100+ dollars for tech support. Ubuntu and Kubuntu are 2 very nice linux operating systems that are free but i'm guess you want windows. 6)Hard drive speed is something very under rated i recommends having one extremely fast ahrd drive for installing programs you want to run and load quickly and then having a large more mundane drive for files and such 7) these things can get extremely expensive so if your on a tight budget try to spend the good chunk of your money where its important for me thats, cooling mostly your heat sink (liquid cooling is awesome), memory, graphics card and a well known well rated Processor (though the speed of this processor above like 2.2 doesn't matter too much). as for software 90% of essential software can be gotten for free i recommend searching around on Download.com almost any piece of popular software has a workable free counterpart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyt Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I'm wondering how much you all spend, on average, on your zinger comps? I'm asking so I can judge if I can handle the bill or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sully04 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 Personally I'm not going to bother with Crysis. I know its beautiful, but from what I understand of it beyond that its a very average shooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sully04 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 I'm wondering how much you all spend, on average, on your zinger comps? I'm asking so I can judge if I can handle the bill or not. I personally spent about $1700. If I had more money I could have easily spent more. I also hit black friday for my peripherals though, so I saved a handsome sum there. As soon as I have some more spare cash I'll probably upgrade my RAM, but until then I'm happy with what I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pujols Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I've always wanted to build my own but I'm afraid I'll screw something up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sully04 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 I had a moment when I thought things were going to go bad on me. My mobo arrived in a damaged shipping box. I didnt even open it to look at the retail box. I made a phone call and RMA'ed it on the spot. Eventually got my mobo but it took an extra 3 weeks. I figured something had to go wrong though, so since that was the extent of it I was ok with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPaPa Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 yeha something always goes wrong as too how much you'll spend no less than 1000 and no more than you can imagine you could spend 1500 or even twice that!!! just on a video card really the skies the limit id say tog ewt a good performance computer while being semi frugal youll be looking at 2000 dollars give or take a few hundred depending on prices at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrigleyville33 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 wait so sully you bought your stuff at retail stores? newegg.com is so much better the prices are a whole lot cheaper. that is where i plan on getting mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieaces Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I got my monitor from Newegg great prices, super fast shipping. I paid 220 for a 22 inch widescreen monitor with HDMI and got it in 3 days. And I ordered a SLI Barebones system from TigerDirect, overall price of just under 850 bucks total for both. Took me a couple of hours to get everything up and running correctly but it was well worth it. I can play Crysis on the lowest settings at 1650x1050 and it still looks AMAZING. Overall, I am freaking stoked!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrigleyville33 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 what monitor was it? cause i might check it out lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieaces Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 what monitor was it? cause i might check it out lol http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824254024 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrigleyville33 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 the only real negative is the resolution issues... like i guess it will lack in quality if your vid card doesnt carry the monitors resolution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieaces Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Yeah, I got an 8500gt and so far all my games look excellent, Crysis, Call of Duty 4, MVP,Tiger Woods and a few others. x264 and WMA HD files play stutter free too. Once they actually release another Baseball game is probably when I will get another card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 love this thread. i was just thinking about building one myself, but i've never done it either. what are you guys reading that can explain a newbie on how to build one...things to look out for and such, you know? i'm not ready to do it yet, so i won't ask about specs and such, but i will...later. but for now...for you guys who have build yours, if you could do it over again, and you could do it without fear of price and could get your dream set up, about how much would it run you? just trying to get an idea because when i'm ready to do it, i'm doing it no holds barred. so, your dream machine, how much roughly are you looking at spending? keep in mind every last piece of hardware, down to every last screw you would need to purchase too if you could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sully04 Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 wait so sully you bought your stuff at retail stores? newegg.com is so much better the prices are a whole lot cheaper. that is where i plan on getting mine I personally spent about $1700. If I had more money I could have easily spent more. I also hit black friday for my peripherals though, so I saved a handsome sum there. As soon as I have some more spare cash I'll probably upgrade my RAM, but until then I'm happy with what I've got. I only bought my peripherals in retail stores, Keyboard, mouse, monitor. I bought my 22 in Samsung LCD at Best Buy on Black Friday for $200 Everything else was online. I hit Newegg for the majority, but I found a few other deals elswhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sully04 Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 love this thread. i was just thinking about building one myself, but i've never done it either. what are you guys reading that can explain a newbie on how to build one...things to look out for and such, you know? i'm not ready to do it yet, so i won't ask about specs and such, but i will...later. but for now...for you guys who have build yours, if you could do it over again, and you could do it without fear of price and could get your dream set up, about how much would it run you? just trying to get an idea because when i'm ready to do it, i'm doing it no holds barred. so, your dream machine, how much roughly are you looking at spending? keep in mind every last piece of hardware, down to every last screw you would need to purchase too if you could. Without going back into my reseach, and really going hardcore on the math I'd say with an unlimited budget I could have easily spend 4 or 5 grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP_Frost Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I also built my own computer a little while ago ... well I didn't actually build it, but there's this dutch site which allows you to create your own computer and they will build it and test it for you. Great stuff, very good customer service as well -- they would call me whenever one of the parts were out of stock and they'd recommend me similar parts in the same price range. I don't think I would do it myself, since I'm incredibly impatient and scared to death to mess something up. Homer, if I were you I'd look for a website that can do the same thing and perhaps go to some computer forums where you can ask for advice. There are a ton of people out there that sort of want the same thing and you can easily look at their setup to see if it's got something you might like as well. If you really want to do it yourself then I'd definately do some research before starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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