Is it especially difficult to build a PC?
 

I'd quite like to give it a go. Not just for the sake of saving money, although thats nice, but for the challange. Our current computers nearly four years old now and theres not much room for any improvements although the power supply is an OCZ GameXStream 700 watt job which I only recently bought so will use on the build.
I'd like a motherboard with easy overclocking, good quality memory (OCZ?) HD DVD maybe a non philips dvd burner (my current model is alright but very flimsy) as good a graphics card as possible as I play a lot online and an intel processor (I guess?) not really up on the current crop of processors but I've never had any issues with Intel so would like to stick with them.
The budget is about £750.
Can't really go beyond that to be honest.
Can someone be kind enough to offer some feedback on what I can expect to get for that kind of money and also any good links suggestions on a DIY attempt?

Thanks,

Andy.

i`m posting via the 1st pc i ever built, around 5 years ago :D

to be honest, it was a doddle, much easier then i expected!

Yeah it's easy, just take your time and ensure you buy matching components e.g. motherboard/cpu/ram/psu - rest tends to be plug and play

It's not all that difficult really.

The CPU/Heatsink always used to be the hardest part but the recent designs are much easier (no screwdriver rammed into mothrboard) :D


I was always an AMD fan but the Core 2 Duo's (and even quads) are the way to go right now.

I like Asus motherboards - not sure how they are for over-clocking though.

Don't buy cheap ram (I prefer Crucial - good price, reliable but again not sure about overclocking)

And you've got a good PSU by the sound of it.

Yup:D this thing was built without any knowledge. It is 3 years old but can still run ultimate. And when gameplay sucks too bad I dual boot xp

tbh depending on what you want to do with, its cheaper and easier to buy a prebuilt pc + you get the extra warranty, only buy HP / FSC / DELL / IBM, not any of that pc world crap...

have a look here;

Coding Horror: Building a PC, Part I

In general , I would say you get a much higher class of component building yourself. It's easier to get your exact specification and upgrade as you go.


Dell for example are not all standard parts/expensive upgrades and picky. Oh and the build quality is crap!

For £750 hmm...

Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6600 2.40GHZ 8MB Cache Retail - Socket LGA775 - £148.95

Asus P5KC Intel P35 1333FSB DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard - Socket LGA775 - £69.95

Inno3D Geforce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 - £149.95

Corsair 2 x 1GB PC6400 CAS 4 Dual Channel DDR2 (TWIN2X2048-6400C4) XMS-2-6400 TwinX - £35.95

Samsung Spinpoint HD501LJ 500GB SATA II 16MB Cache - OEM - £52.95

Samsung SH-S203N SATA Lightscribe 20x Dual layer DVD±RW Black - OEM - £16.95


Acer AL2416WB 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - £178.50

Comes to about £767 ;)

ADMI Limited - AWD-IT - Computer components video memory hdd motherboard pc modding hardware software abit asus

Thank you :)

Like most have said its not that hard. Prob on about my 4th build now although even this has received several upgrades/transplants to keep it decent.

The main thing I would say is read up a bit and see what everyone recommends. The forums at Overclockers over some good insights as have a dedicated forums for each main component.

CPU - Intel Quad Core is really the only option at the moment
Mobo - Lot of good brands but like most Ive always bought Asus and never had major problems (apart from recently but thats more down to Nvidias Nforce chipset). P35 chipset is your best bet as Nvidia chipset are really unpopular at the moment and unless you really need SLI arent worth bothering with.

Make sure you have the latest drivers for everything (go to manufacturerer websites) and its very handy to have access to another pc/laptop whilst building in case you need more drivers, to search for help etc.

Its a good feeling when your first build boots up first time no problems. It is when you buy two components that dont get on well and cause you some grief that it gets a bit tricky :)

Simon

P.S. Id also build a legit copy of Windows into your budget. You can get Xp Home for £45. Pro for £85 or Vista Premium for £50. I used to use erm "dodgy" copies back in the day but at these prices its really not worth the hassle of getting cracks and not being able to get all the updates from MS.

Yup, that'd do nicely - good spec...

Mate of mine has virtually identical key components (Q6600, Asus MB, Asus 8800GT) and get's around 13000 on 3DMark06. The Q6600 will take quite a bit of OCing, and so will the 8800GT.

DN

Thanks thats all really encouraging. The replies have been great! I've done an awful lot to our pc over the years. Changed/modified different components and understand how everything works. Components that don't like each other. Yeah know about that one as well and will hopefully be lucky :D
One thing I'm not sure about though is our operating system (XP). If I build a new computer am I 'allowed' to use it again or am I obliged to buy a new one? It is a legit copy.

Building is easy.

Specifiying is a bit trickier. PSU requirements, cooling and fan noise being things to consider.

Building the pc is pretty easy. Its just a case of slotting things together to get stuff working. As with everything though, there is always an art to doing it well.

There is real skill involved in getting the airflow necessary for cooling at low noise levels. There are lots of little tricks that you can do to help things along. You can learn about these at silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers

The major headache with a self build is when you happen to specify two (or more) components that are meant to be compatible with one another, but just don't get on. Its reasonably rare, but it does happen. You are then at the mercy of your supplier to take things back, while also facing the issues of identifying just what the issue really is.

A couple of examples for you:
1) I bought an AGP card years ago for my new machine. In my machine whenever a game was playing an incredibly loud squeal came from inside the case. The noise was coming form the card/cpu/PSU area, but was impossible to pin down due to its incredible volume and how the sound was distorting inside the case. The noise could be clearly heard throughout the house. I was staggered that any component could make so much noise and not instantly break. Technically it was "coil whine" and was almost certainly coming from the PSU.

After lots of time fiddling, it turned out that the card/mobo and PSU just did not get along. Changing any of these items curred the problem. Each item worked perfectly well in another machine, just not together.

2) I bought 2xSamsung Spinpoint HDD. They were identical in every way, apart from serial numbers. About once a week the primary drive would wipe itself of all data. No smart errors reported. When the drives were switched (primary used as secondary) the new primary drive also wiped itself.

Turned out it was the ATA controller on my ASUS A7N8X version 2 Deluxe (THE mobo to have at the time) not being able to reliably tell the difference between the drives. From time to time it would write the data intended for one drive to the other, making the most awful mess of the MFT of the primary drive :(

Neither Asus or the supplier would listen. I just used only one drive in the machine for a month, then the ATA controller stopped recognising any drives in the machine at all. Changed under warranty, but that was nearly 2 months of constant reinstalls and a whole month for a replacement board. I'd be right all along and the replacement worked fine. Still, it was 3 months of having a non reliable machine.

The time wasted on this issue was immense. If it had been a Dell, they would have just come out and fixed it/replaced it.

Personally I still build all my machines simply because I want to. I enjoy it, and have built an awful lot of machines in my time. Sometimes though, it just does not always go to plan :lol1:

Loomy's rule of thumb for building a new machine.... make sure you have a spare machine you can rely on during the process.

easy stuff as long as you are patient


only reason i lose my rag building pc's is because my hands are to big to work inside the case - always drop little parts and end up taking a hissy fit LOL

Should be ok with XP tbh as long as ur just running it on new PC as 1 key = 1 PC licence. If not its literally a quick call to MS to get a new code and job done. Took me less than 3 mins when I had to do my old mans and that includes a massive number they read out to you.

Simon

as said building them is easy, the time consuming part is installing the operating system, drivers, updates etc etc.

What I would do as well, if you are putting a wireless netwrok adapter in there, install the operating system first and then add the card later, in my experience some wireless cards can be a bit finicky