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is building a new computer that hard?
Gamer_17
Member Posts: 202
I was planning on buying a new computer latley but i was just trying to decide if i should try and build it myself so i could save a few hundred bucks. so i was just wondering if building a computer is extremly difficult because i have never done much with a computer not even install more ram and never opened a computer to see what it looks like but the pictures that i have seen and the articles ive read on it it seems difficult but ive heard its not. is this true just wondering?
Comments
Kind of depends. If you plan on buying all the parts and putting them all together yourself, then yes it's a bit hard. If you only want to choose the parts you want and have a pro put them together then no it's a piece of cake; if you're asking for advice on what to buy then please say so along with your budget.
Given that you have never opened one before, it may be too tough. But, a lot depends on your ability to build things in general. You have to have an understanding of safe electronics practices, IE dont touch certain things with your fingers, try to be grounded if at all possible, dont set your processor on the carpet..things like that. There are specific steps you need to follow for the CPU as well which may not be documented, you need to purchase thermal compound and properly apply it.
I built the second computer I owned from scratch without too much trouble, but I also grew up building RC Cars (no, not the radio shack type) so that helped.
No it is not hard. Usually you will have nice colored diagrams with the MB, Processor etc that show where they go and how to attach the cables etc.
Its basically like putting a model airplane together, if you can do that you can build a pc.
Just follow the directions really closely and if you get stuck then google what you are doing and you will find an answer.
Good luck
No, it's not "that" hard but then again niether is juggling or riding a bike once you know how. The quesion is how many cpu's are you willing to drop before you figure out how to juggle them.
I wouldn't attempt a costly build if you had never built anything before. All it takes is for you to screw up once and any savings you may have had are fdown the drain in replacement parts.
As a computer technician I can tell you if everything goes as planned then it's easy to build a PC. However as any tech will tell you that hardly ever happens. 1st off make sure everything you order is compatible. Then try to put it together yourself, gently. Then if it doesn't work take it all to a computer store and just have them put it together.
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The consequences of screwing up your PC and a model airplane are quite different. As the other poster said, if you've never opened a PC before then maybe you should get some help.
they're actually not hard at all to put together, i'd say the hardest part is knowing what you want to put together. there's various books and magazines that give you great tips about building, and some people here are great about hardware advice. don't jump into it right away and look at slapping one together, part of making is a good build is not railroading yourself into corners with it, and leaving yourself enough room so that's it's upgradeable.
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TheCore
If You don't know or are asking is it hard, then it's hard for You and You should allow someone help You with it. It's not that hard to learn, if that's what You asked?
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I was just like you, but i decided to go for it and try building a computer. It took 2 days for me to get it up in running but it was well worth it, now i know a lot more about the parts and i feel like i can easily do it again. Hers some suggestions.
Watch Videos on people building them, take note on how the processor is installed (the only tricky part).
Everything is pretty much done with a screwdriver so its not really difficult at all installing the parts.
Bios setting are important, set things on auto if your new to configuring a bios.
Here are some tips.
Use a Fresh Hard Drive, a brand new one with no OS on it.
You only need a small amount of thermal paste on the cpu to attach the heatsink
Dont cheap out on the power suppy, buy one seperately. don't use the one with the case!
Dont be afraid of putting the parts in, you cant really break anything as long as your carefull and you know what your are about to do from watching videos of others doing it.
Take your time installing the CPU, its very important you dont rush this part. Watch videos of how to install a cpu before you attempt
Ohh btw, the PC will not start untill you have all the jumpers connected correctly. So dont panic if your pc doesn't start when u push the power button. You probaly just have the jumpers in the wrong spot. Look inside your mobo manual to check how the jumpers should be placed.
Thats it, Its very easy and enjoyable. Have fun!!
1 last thing
When you have everything in the pc working, and your getting ready to install the os. Make sure you have your boot device set as the CD ROM drive (you do this in the bios), NOT the HD. So that way, when you put your windows xp disc or w/e u have in, it will pop right up on the screen and begin installing.
i've never had a motherboard manual that's been error free and complete, there's MUCH better sources of information available.
OP.. research parts for 3-4 months, see if you can get your hands on an old computer, working or not, to dissect and see generally how things go together. the first computer i built was the first one i took apart.
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TheCore
I built my own computer 2 years ago and I never did anything on the inside of a computer previously. Its not hard. First I got a book from amazon.com on how to build a computer which gives you good info on shopping for parts, assembly, etc. Then I went to newegg.com and started shopping for parts and making sure all the parts were combatible with each other. For example, I chose the processor I wanted, then I looked for mother boards that are combatible with the processor I chose and then chose between those mother boards with the tech specs that I needed. It was actually fun and I am still loving my computer and every game I tried so far has worked great. I am complete noob at building a computer but its not hard. Just get a good, cheap book on how to build a computer to give yourself an idea of how to shop for parts, assembly, how parts work together, etc. and then go do it. Good luck.
You may have noticed my thread asking for advice.
I have built about 5 computers now. Most recently I put together a p3 system for my 10year old daughter to do her school work on.
It's not super difficult to do. But it is easy to screw up. I burned out a mainboard on the computer I use now when building it. Fortuneatly it was only an $80 replacement and a 3 day wait.
Dealing with fancy aftermarket cooling devices can be tricky. And you have to be carefull with your parts.
Maybe adding ram or swapping out a graphics card in your current PC might be a good learning tool.
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
The only other thing I can say is this. I work with someone that attempted building a bleeding edge gaming machine about two years ago. The parts costs him thousands. I am not sure specifically what he did, but he had a wire exposed that should not have been and it fried the majority of the components.
So, take that for what its worth, but, I would recommend you use a place like cyberpowerpc.com and just pick what you want and have them put it together. Get one with a clear case if you are curious what goes on inside, open it up and clean it out from time to time, just those small things will put you in a better position to maybe build one down the road.
I build computers on a regular basis for my job, as well as I've built every computer I've bought with my own money aside from my laptop. Building them isn't really that hard, but troubleshooting it should it not work is if you don't have the experience to have a clue on what to do.
To build you'd simply be selecting a case, ATX size most likely. Choose an ATX or mini-ATX side motherboard, using it's compatible listings, get appropriate type RAM. Buy a video card of your choosing, and a sound card if you get a motherboard without on-board sound or you just want better sound in general. Get a hard drive or recycle one you already have, same with cd/dvd roms. SATA hard drives are the newer style with neater/smaller cabling. Perhaps purchase some extra case fans to go on your case.
Generally your case and/or motherboard will come with all the screws and cables to get everything connected together. Most, or actually all cases that I've seen at most places will have power supplies already installed in the case for you. These are generally not as reliable as better power supplies apparently, and I've had several die a loud smokey death.
Your processor usually comes with a heat sink with a thermal paste slab already on it so you shouldn't have to deal with applying any manually. The processor itself is really the only hard part to installing during the entire building process. It has hundreds of tiny pins, and if you break one then you just threw away whatever money was spent on that processor. It's also possible to accidentally break clips or something on the motherboard slot while putting the head sink on, I've seen it happen before. Be careful doing that and follow the directions precisely.
Everything else is generally straight forward and isn't as easy to break as the processor is. But when you believe you've finished building the computer and power it on the first time, and it doesn't work, you could end up totally lost without proper guidance, but the most basic thing to do first is ensure all your connections are correct and especially make sure the little case pins are correctly connected to the motherboard.
Your motherboard instruction manuals tell you how they should be connected. This allows the power/reset buttons and LED lights on the case to work.
Building a computer isn't all that hard if you plan it ahead of time. Know what parts you want by reading a few reviews. It's really pretty simple to put the pieces together if you do it carefully.
I've been building my own system and repairing systems at work for years. It's not that difficult really. Getting everything connected and such is always the easy part though. Things get interesting when you finally power it up, and things go horribly wrong, and you spend the next hour or so trying to figure out that horribly stupid and simple thing you did to screw things up, or that something isn't exactly playing nice with something else and having to work around it. If you don't know, at have at least some computer literacy, it's definitely worth while to learn. I personally won't buy pre-built systems anymore. it's more personal and more customized to buy all the parts and assemble it myself.
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core its really not hard at all, but its easy to make a simple mistake. Follow the instructions carefully from each piece of hardware, and I advise taking apart your current computer and putting it back together before you attempt to put together a much more expensive one. I'm sure there are some good sites around the web that can give instructions and advice, and of course we're always available here if you have any questions
. good luck!
If you don't know computers that much I would get some help on what components to buy so you know that everything is compatible. Actually building the computer is easy. Just take your time and be careful with the components, and you'll be fine.
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It's easy when you get the hang of out. For the first time its not that easy. There are alot of parts and the instructions are completely bogus sometimes.
For example I sat there looking on the internet on how much "Artic Silver" I had to put on the CPU because if you screw up you can have a fried CPU within a couple of hours or a highly overheating one at that. They ask for a "small" amount, how vague can you get?
For the most part, you'll connect all the parts together eventually within an hour or so. But then when you hit the power button you are getting jack squat you start to panic because you do not know whether your mother board is fried or your power supply isn't working. Then you get massive errors because of corrupted or defective parts ..... and then all hell can break loose from there on.
So all in all, easy if everything works fine when you hit the power button. HARD if you encounter some trouble if you have LITTLE to no knowledge on how a computer works to figure the problem out for yourself.
But then again, if you encounter trouble and you troubleshoot the living hell out of it, that's some very very nice knowledge you gained since you'll be tinkering around with the computer itself and all that nonsense.
Well .. something like that ... or you want to be cautious just order a prebuilt with the minimum ... memory,mobo,cpu,case,hd (preinstalled OS), fans, .... then buy the rest .... monitor, graphics card, sound card from Newegg and save money from there ...
I never felt building my first computer was hard. I really enjoyed it so it felt pretty easy. The main thing you have to do is research. Mainly all you have to do is match the numbers, versions, pins, etc of the ram / cpu / gpu with the motherboard. Putting the pieces together is really easy so a 5 year old could probally do it.
If you don't understand the bios setting I would just do what i did and test each setting to see what happens. Play around with it.
The best thing to do now is google for a site about computer building. If you are interested in building a computer you will find it easy.
Go to www.scan.co.uk It's the site i normally use to buy computers but it's in the uk so im not sure if it's any good for you.
Also if you're not sure if a certain build will work just PM me and i'll have a look at it for you.