Buying vs Building

Some time towards the end of the year I've decided I'd like to get a new PC. I've never built one and I don't know anything about electronics. Does it require a lot of knowhow and soldering skills or what?

Does anyone think buying one is the better way to go? Are there any specific sites where you can get good deals on gaming PCs? I don't know anything about this stuff and all I'm ever seeing is these long lists of components with long model numbers I don't understand lol. I'm ignorant about all of this stuff.

So any advice for how someone like me should go about getting a new PC?

Building a PC is as easy as electronics gets. Its literally plug and play. If your solder your doing something wrong.. or something really hardcore lol Your not literally building the parts.

If it's all just plug-and-play then I'm going to be leaning towards building it. Any exceptions to that, is there anything I could really screw up?

Well since you aren't in a hurry to build you have plenty of time to become a pro. Just hanging out in these forums is a great way to learn about hardware honestly... you see all the recommendations for certain price ranges, we like to post news on new hardware and tech coming out, and from what I've seen most people on here know what they are doing in everything from simply building to overclocking.

First, read through the sticky at the top of this forum about buidling your own PC. You can also find various videos on the internet - these are a great way to orient yourself with how the hardware will fit together.

Secondly, start reading about parts. Sites such as anaandtech, tom's hardware, and bit tech all have a great amount of info to help you along the way.

Last, once you have become an expert (which only takes a few days of reading on the interwebs) put together what you feel is a good build. Think of it as your final exam. Post it up on here and we will help make it better if need be, or we may just fail you. Either way, you will end up with a great PC for a great price.

If it's all just plug-and-play then I'm going to be leaning towards building it. Any exceptions to that, is there anything I could really screw up?

ALBELtheWICKED

nothing really jsut have patience.. anything seemingly broken is fixable or workaroundable (that even a word).

building a pc takes all the skills of assembling a lego set, the patience of a dude reading a 10 dollar paperback, and simple sue of a screwdriver.

im serious when i say.. ive seen MONKEYS partially assemble a pc b4 ll even show you a video of it if you like :P

While I'm here and I've got your attention, do any of you keep up with any future tech articles? I've heard it said that the power of silicon will be about exhausted by the year 2020. They've got alternatives in mind such as Diamond with Borox impurities. They're growing diamonds in labs now through a process called carbon vapor deposition. Then they're working on Quantum Computing but there's a lot of interference issues and whatnot.

Anyone know of any impending revolutionary changes? We got any big technological leaps looming on the horizon or what?

Custom built>pre-built, after my 2nd custom build I will never buy pre-built again.

Funny thing is that it wasn't hard to learn to build them.

Since I'm waiting until around the end of the year, mostly for Skyrim, would I be better off waiting for new components to come out, or should I be bargain hunting or something? I dunno how fast things become obsolete or what.

Since I'm waiting until around the end of the year, mostly for Skyrim, would I be better off waiting for new components to come out, or should I be bargain hunting or something? I dunno how fast things become obsolete or what.

ALBELtheWICKED

well AMDs new bulldozers come out next month I believe. I'd at least wait to see some benchmarks and prices on those

No theres no need to wait for new components to come out. Cause anything new is gonna cost you a ton of money. Plus there are a lot of high quality products that are out now that will last for several years. Id advise you to go to newegg.com for all your computer parts. Thats who i go through and i think theyre great.

I guess it depends on how much you want to spend on your computer really?

If there is a microcenter near you they have pretty decent prices. Sometimes even cheaper than newegg. AutoPilotOn

[QUOTE="AutoPilotOn"]If there is a microcenter near you they have pretty decent prices. Sometimes even cheaper than newegg. powerman91

There is one 30 min from me. They got good deals. Like free motherboard with any AMD CPU(probably not a great mobo though i donno). And the i5 2500k is 179.99 and they have bundle deals with nice motherbords for like 290 bucks

While I'm here and I've got your attention, do any of you keep up with any future tech articles? I've heard it said that the power of silicon will be about exhausted by the year 2020. They've got alternatives in mind such as Diamond with Borox impurities. They're growing diamonds in labs now through a process called carbon vapor deposition. Then they're working on Quantum Computing but there's a lot of interference issues and whatnot.

Anyone know of any impending revolutionary changes? We got any big technological leaps looming on the horizon or what?

ALBELtheWICKED

i do and that stuff is still billions of months away from reality

the next big thing is smaller and less power hungry computers

im talking the fusion APU crossing the cpu with a graphics card and getting awesome.

once fusion is out the gpu dies will shring to sub 30nm, northbridge will effectively cease to exist and mobo's will eventually loose about 1/4-1/5 their total size either that or get more bells and whistles.. BIOS will be dead in favr of a much more contemporary system thats easily useable.

id say if you DO build wait till june for fusion apu's then build cpu's will be cheaper games dont even fully use many sub 100 dollar cpu's as of yet and then we will see more other nifty bitz n pieces from other groups.. then build. i also wouldnt get to terribly attached to w/e gpu you coose come then..

If there is a microcenter near you they have pretty decent prices. Sometimes even cheaper than newegg. AutoPilotOn

[QUOTE="powerman91"]

[QUOTE="AutoPilotOn"]If there is a microcenter near you they have pretty decent prices. Sometimes even cheaper than newegg. AutoPilotOn

There is one 30 min from me. They got good deals. Like free motherboard with any AMD CPU(probably not a great mobo though i donno). And the i5 2500k is 179.99 and they have bundle deals with nice motherbords for like 290 bucks

Wow, looks like I'm not that far from a Micro Center. The funny thing is, there's two of them, but the online reviews are funny for one. Don't go to that one, it's a mom n' pop shop, it's not a real Micro Center! D:

Can someone answer my question?D=

Can someone answer my question?D=

mitu123

[QUOTE="mitu123"]

Can someone answer my question?D=

Bozanimal

You people and your microcenters make me jelly :(

But yea, always build your own. Buying a brand PC usually means difficult upgrading, overpaying, and cheaper parts.

My advise!

For your first ever build, pay someone to build it for you and watch closely or ask a friend for help if labour charges are too much in your country. Then once you have your first PC, slowly and steadily play with the hardware and learn. Then do the incremental upgrades yourself, the easiest things to upgrade are ram and graphics card while the most difficult can be casing or power supply. Buy a good easy to use casing that will help a lot and if you can afford one get a modular PSU.

I'm most likely going to build one. However, when I really start to get serious about it and I've saved up a little money I'm probably going to have people in this forum help me select like all of the components lol. There's just far too many to learn about and too many things to debate about which is better or worse. I'll probably come up with a price range of like $800-$1000 and see what people can come up with. I'll try to get the optimal recommendations and then see if I can't bargain hunt for deals on slightly better components if possible...

You people and your microcenters make me jelly :(

But yea, always build your own. Buying a brand PC usually means difficult upgrading, overpaying, and cheaper parts.

wis3boi

I just built one myself and I am terrible at assembling things.

There are tons of video walkthroughs online that tell you exactly what to do

I'm most likely going to build one. However, when I really start to get serious about it and I've saved up a little money I'm probably going to have people in this forum help me select like all of the components lol. There's just far too many to learn about and too many things to debate about which is better or worse. I'll probably come up with a price range of like $800-$1000 and see what people can come up with. I'll try to get the optimal recommendations and then see if I can't bargain hunt for deals on slightly better components if possible...

ALBELtheWICKED

1. Read this sticky
2. Read these blogs (includes video)
3. Visit this external sticky (particularly the "Sweet Spot" builds sticky and "What should I build/buy?")

Good luck with your new build!

Boz