Everyone who has said building a pc is hard is wrong. It isn't hard, but it is time consuming if you want to do it right. You will be reading instructions, and you may have to troubleshoot. That said, I built my pc from scratch in an afternoon and had it running that same night. And that was my first experience building a pc. I found all the help and information I need via Youtube tutorial videos and Google searching. So people, please stop making this sound more daunting that it really is.
You could just do what I did a few years back and not tell your dad until the parts are literally in the living room. That worked out pretty well for me. Also, it helps if you pay for it yourself.
Well there is a very indepth guide here on Gamespot on how to build your Computer from scratch ( it's in the hardware forum), It can give you a very powerful machine for less money then one already assembled and you get a more indepth knowledge in how a computer works. I've built one computer, which is my current one, which I've upgraded so in a way I've built two. If you plan to build a computer then you need to see if the parts are compatible with eachother and so on while a pre-built is more or less just a plug and play way.
Almost all error messages (including BSODs!) give error codes. Google these. You'll find a specific area where to start and the most common culprits. Eventually, you'll start to understand the BSOD error codes and what they mean.PunishedOne
Well the thing is that those codes dont mean just one thing, so you have to focus on a ton of things to figure out what is wrong!! Thats where you need extra hardware to test its part and see if its a faulty one!!
Yesterday I built my first computer. I'm a junior in mechanical engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison (#14 on USWeek for the program) and I'm not saying I'm smart, but I'm definitely not dumb so when I say building a computer for the first time is a bit of a challenge I mean it. Now you certainly CAN do it, BUT you need A LOT of patience and persistence (even reading the instructions occasionally!). You won't save a TON, but what you will get is a much better understanding of something you most likely use many hours everyday. It also will enable you to upgrade in the future instead of getting an entirely new computer. Your dad may be more willing if he were interested/available to assist you. Another option is going to a site where you pick out your components and they assemble it for you (there are a lot on ebay though I don't know how much the mark up is). Also be aware that actually putting it together is the easy part and the challenge is when you try and boot it and do everything in the software things don't work. Hope this helps.Zcrimson07
Uhm, I didn't have any patience, I jammed stuff. I was 11-12. It was easy lol. It did take a while though. Now building a pc is something I can do while like on xfire or watching tv, I am not joking. It's not even something to show off about, it's really easy lol.
That reminds me: All your parts themselves have warranties, so that is what happens when something breaks.
Log in to comment