Why do people build their own PC's?

If you are asking someone to build it doesnt mean that you will be asking for every small issue.Thinker_145

Building a new computer is easier than trying to fix a broken one.

I built my computer in a couple hours, zero problems. I checked several major prebuilt places and at the time the parts I was using for my build were of higher quality and cheaper overall than all of what I looked at.

If you do your research and are willing to do a little work (some people are lazy), its easy. If you absolutely HATE working with electronics, then building your own computer may not be for you. If you can read a manual and can spend a couple hours, its pretty darn easy.

Also, I have a strong feeling that handing over parts to a local shop and asking them to build will cost you much more than 50-100 USD, but I don't really know. My guess is that it would cost more like 50-100 USD PER HOUR, and it could take several of those.

PS: Happy New Year

I've been into PC's since 1995, I studied I.T at college and I allways wanted to know more about the insides of a PC. I started to learn how to build by upgrading my prebuilt machines, changing Ram, graphics cards and hard drives etc.

Then I wanted to putmy old motherboard into a new case an old college Pal helped me with that, he showed me only once and I was like "Is that it?" Since then (2003) I've allways built my own machines, I've built about three of my own and about four for friends and family.

Most of my machine builds have had problems, only one of them has ever worked first time! My own current machine had problems, the PSU was a dud and once I replaced that it seemed to be working fine untill it kept turning itself off. I spent over a week trying to figure out why. I finaly found out that it was the power switch on the case that was faulty, once the case was replaced everything was great.

Its not only the building that teaches you its when things go wrong that you learn the most. Allso its cheaper by a mile.

You learn form building your own so if problems come up later or you want to upgrade it's easy, you know what you're getting if you get one built at a shop they oftern make it out of sub-standard parts, you get what you want (no bundles), you don't get rubish put on your PC, you don't get overcharged when fixing it or scammed (shops usually give up if it takes more than 2 hours to fix a PC)

Im getting a barebones system for my birthday in 7 weeks and i was wondering is it easy too build computers?

Any way the link for the page is this:

http://misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=273237&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

I am going to add more RAM and a new GPU but i dont know which one yet, also a 500W PSU as the one with the unit is 350W.

I contacted misco and they will be getting the unit and all the other stuff in for me to order. It doesnt come with a monitor but my uncle has a spare one lying around.

Any thoughts on this?

You tend to forget that there are people out there who is in the computer industry (Myself) or has a friend who can guide them with their first build. Hell, I just helped my friend build his first build a few months back and guess what? He made two mistakes. First he left the plastic piece on the heatsink so there was no contact between the processor/heatsink and then relied on my troubleshooting skills when he couldn't keep the system booted for more than 5 minutes. Then 1 of his 2 gigs of memory wasn't showing up. I told him to reseat his memory and wallah, it showed up. Even though he had issues, he still learned a great deal from his build and even enjoys being able to say "I built that"

Now, I posted this in another thread but it seems suiting here.

Pre-Builts

Pros: Already assembled, doesn't require much computer knowledge to get working, extended warranties with the manufacturer

Cons: Tends to be more pricey, can limit your upgradibility due to proprietary parts

DIY

Pros: Full control over what goes into your system, best bang for you buck, feeling of accomplishment after completing the build

Cons: Requires knowledge about computer systems, requires troubleshooting skills, having to directly contact the parts OEM if an issue arises

I personally am a DIY kind of guy but that is due to the fact that I'm in the computer industry but when it comes to certain people, pre-builts are the way to go. Trust me, no matter how easy you say to build a system is even engineers/programmers get confused with the most simple of problems. (My last job showed me that.)

Just about every time Thinker_145 creates a thread,there's a flame war of massive proportions,makes me wonder why i even post in said users threads.... lol

Building a Pc is like a complicated lego for me , follow the manuals and you will have a computer . My friend bought a prebuilt for about 200$ more than mine , and mine beats it by a moderate marginal.

i choose my parts with great care , looking at price/performance . I just like the feeling of building the computer and fine-tune it to perfection. Just buying a prebuilt one just doesn't do it for me.

You learn, you get to tinker and it is something for the CV-seriously, I know a guy who got a job in IT simply through having built his own PC-he had no other qualifications.

Problem wise, there are generally very few problems which are not caused by faulty hardware which would have to be RMAd whether or not you built it, or by the person making a mistake, which is part of the learning curve. It is rare for there to be unexplainable problems, and even rarer for there to be a problem which someone on a forum cannot solve.

I have done both, having a local computer shop do a build for me and have built my own. The system that I had built for myself turned out very well, I researched and purchased all my hardware and software parts and instructed the shop what I wanted done. The reason I did that was I didn't have the time, due to my work schedule, to teach myself how to build my own system and then do it. Since then I made a point of going through the learning process and built the next one on my own (which was a bit frustrating, but in the end very rewarding)

The system I had built for myself by the local computer shop was approx. an additional 175 dollar cost, which for me is very affordable. They stood behind their work if there were any problems, so the customer service end of it was worth it along with the quality work they performed....Now I'm not saying that all local shops or major custom computer companies will do a good job 100% of the time....one will take their chances with someone they are not familiar, confident or comfortable with. But I believe that for someone that doesn't have the desire or time to build their own system and can afford spending a little extra money that wants to have a nice custom system, it is worth it.

Ultimately the best way to go is buy your own parts and build it yourself...you know exactly what you getting and ones computer knowledge is greatly increased and you save yourself a considerable amount of money that can be used to up grade you system even farther.

In the end, IMO, I do see Pros and Cons to this question as to whether or not to build your own computer and the answer is what ever fits that particular person's needs the best.....Because I was very satisfied with how my first build resulted, I am now anxious to do another one sometime in the near future........8)

*+

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"]That's ok.If you actually like it then fine obviously.But comon you actually like to deal with problems?Krall

Eh what problems? I have 2 PCs sitting right next to me that took about :45 minutes to put together and maybe another hour to install XP on - they booted up just fine from the get go and I've never had a problem since.

Most of the problems I see on this forum are for existing builds or people who didn't educate themselves enough before delving in a putting a PC together. There's also those problems born out of cheaping out on the parts you build with. A $25 PSU is going to give you more grief then you need to suffer through.

What I said in bold is what is important, ladies and gentlemen.

Educate yourself before building a PC and you're all set. :)

Point is if you are hesitant about building a PC then just buy your parts and pay someone to build it for you.Building a PC isnt as easy as some say and there can some serious problems in the way which could be really frustrating so you may think the extra $100 would be well spent on someone else building.This thread was basically made to give people some advice but i guess the tone was wrong so i apologize for that.Thinker_145

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"] Point is if you are hesitant about building a PC then just buy your parts and pay someone to build it for you.Building a PC isnt as easy as some say and there can some serious problems in the way which could be really frustrating so you may think the extra $100 would be well spent on someone else building.This thread was basically made to give people some advice but i guess the tone was wrong so i apologize for that.mastershake575

[QUOTE="mastershake575"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"] Point is if you are hesitant about building a PC then just buy your parts and pay someone to build it for you.Building a PC isnt as easy as some say and there can some serious problems in the way which could be really frustrating so you may think the extra $100 would be well spent on someone else building.This thread was basically made to give people some advice but i guess the tone was wrong so i apologize for that.Mr_NoName111

But i dont see this point.Everybody seems to be overclocking thus no warranty.

[QUOTE="Mr_NoName111"]

[QUOTE="mastershake575"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"] Point is if you are hesitant about building a PC then just buy your parts and pay someone to build it for you.Building a PC isnt as easy as some say and there can some serious problems in the way which could be really frustrating so you may think the extra $100 would be well spent on someone else building.This thread was basically made to give people some advice but i guess the tone was wrong so i apologize for that.Thinker_145

But i dont see this point.Everybody seems to be overclocking thus no warranty.

[QUOTE="Mr_NoName111"]

[QUOTE="mastershake575"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"] Point is if you are hesitant about building a PC then just buy your parts and pay someone to build it for you.Building a PC isnt as easy as some say and there can some serious problems in the way which could be really frustrating so you may think the extra $100 would be well spent on someone else building.This thread was basically made to give people some advice but i guess the tone was wrong so i apologize for that.Thinker_145

But i dont see this point.Everybody seems to be overclocking thus no warranty.

evga's warranty if you look it up it pretty much covers anything you can do bad to a card i if remember correctly. From OC'ing , to taking off cooler for waterblock, and some other random things, and still take it back for a RMA.

Dell will NEVER do that.

overclocking DOES NOT void most warranties realistically. You would have to tell them you overclocked the part. And evga does cover overclocking on their cards.

Also, buying an extended warrenty from dell costs a ton of money. That 1200USD PC would be a 1400-1500 USD PC with a 3 yr warranty, and even that's not as good as my 8800GTs lifetime.

You can actually buy 4 year warranty on everything.

But i dont see this point.Everybody seems to be overclocking thus no warranty.

Thinker_145

Yeah, but like it has been said in the past, the individual companies that sell the parts allow at least some degree of OC-ing.

Dell on the other hand, at least on most of their systems, won't allow that, period. On their enthusiast systems, I'd assume OC-ing is not an issue, but even the higher end "standard" desktops won't let you OC without voiding Dell's warranty coverage.

The point of everybody's answers to you, at least I assume, is that building one's PC is a learning experience that helps you in the realm of computing. Not to mention the fact that if you shop intelligently, you can most certainly get parts that are far superior to what Dell uses at a total price that is lower than Dell's.

Now getting something from a local shop is different. IMHO, it depends on your locale. Overall, you don't see too many small PC shops in the USA, and those that are still around have a lot of contracts with small businesses in regards to repair and maintanence. Even still, from a shop, unless you tell them you want specific parts, they will get you what is best for them. Granted as a smaller business, that means they will get better parts, but sometimes, for the money, you can get better quality.

I know this first hand as two friends of mine worked at a local PC shop during college, and while they most certainly used parts that were better than Dell, if I wanted to get parts that were better at the same price, I easily could (and that applies to anybody). As for OC-ing, I would assume that is a shop by shop determination. I know that the shop my friends worked at set a rule that depended upon the CPU/Mobo/Memory combo one's PC had; basically one could OC up to roughly 300 MHz more, IIRC. Even still, that left a lot of gray area for both the shop and consumers; however, that meant that you could still OC a little bit and still get warranty coverage.

so if i buy a dell and want to replace the on board with a 8600gt it wont work?demon790

That's not necessarily true. It's all dependent upon what motherboard is in the Dell, but most importantly, what the power supply wattage and amps-on-rails ratings are.

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

Quad-Core

[QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

chester706

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

PacoL250

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

[QUOTE="PacoL250"]

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

chester706

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

Well that's quite the lofty assumption.

Regardless, you don't know me and I don't know him so I'll leave it at that. :)

However, like I said, without knowing, you probably have a higher-end Dell which is why you're able to add what you can. RAM, however, can be added to pretty much any PC; it doesn't matter how high-end the PC is.

Adding another 8800GT, well that would mean you'd have an SLI based motherboard, that's for sure.

What Dell do you have anyway?

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="PacoL250"]

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

PacoL250

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

Well that's quite the lofty assumption.

Regardless, you don't know me and I don't know him so I'll leave it at that. :)

However, like I said, without knowing, you probably have a higher-end Dell which is why you're able to add what you can. RAM, however, can be added to pretty much any PC; it doesn't matter how high-end the PC is.

Adding another 8800GT, well that would mean you'd have an SLI based motherboard, that's for sure.

What Dell do you have anyway?

[QUOTE="PacoL250"]

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

chester706

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="PacoL250"]

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

anshul89

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

XPS, eh? Then not many worries there. :D

That's the only thing besides their UltraSharp monitors that I'll get from Dell. I myself have a Dell XPS Gen 2 laptop, and have been quite happy with it ever since.

Bill gates knows a crapload more than most people on earth about computers. Could he build a console that is stable this gen ? NOanshul89

Actually, Bill Gates really had nothing to with the Xbox 360 besides really marketing it. Actually at this point, IIRC, Bill Gates just owns the largest share of stock in the company. He's not even CEO; that's Ballmer's post now, I think. :P

Regardless, now the Xbox 360s are far more stable, thankfully. Although I'm happy I haven't been hit by the RROD even with a system from last year.

Anyways, I'm thinking that this thread has finished...just my two cents.

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="PacoL250"]

[QUOTE="chester706"][QUOTE="Quad-Core"]

Nope, sorry. I don't want anyone else monkeying with my setup. I like to purchase each and every part and put together myself so if something goes wrong, I don't point any fingers. Besides, most pc gamers enjoy these problems. I've been hassling with computers since about 1984 and wouldn't pay a cent to have all those problems corrected at the blink of an eye.

If everyone started paying others for labor unable to accomplish themselves then all of a sudden labor would run out. Innovation and achievement would be lost. It's acceptable for some who just don't give a damn, or doesn't have the time, or too old or young to understand. But if you have the time to game, then why not spare a little more and build your pc? If you have the time to understand, their shouldn't be any problems.

Speaking of problems.. life is one big problem after another. Get used to it.

anshul89

I will be able to add another 8800GT to my Dell and more Ram if need be. I have confirmed it with an expert that I know.chester706

You really think that everybody at Dell are experts? Besides who is this expert you speak of anyway?

Sure RAM is never an issue, but being able to add another graphics card to your system means that you have a PSU that can handle having another card to supply power to. I'd assume you don't have one of the standard Dell systems...

XPS, eh? Then not many worries there. :D

That's the only thing besides their UltraSharp monitors that I'll get from Dell. I myself have a Dell XPS Gen 2 laptop, and have been quite happy with it ever since.

[QUOTE="anshul89"]Bill gates knows a crapload more than most people on earth about computers. Could he build a console that is stable this gen ? NOPacoL250

Actually, Bill Gates really had nothing to with the Xbox 360 besides really marketing it. Actually at this point, IIRC, Bill Gates just owns the largest share of stock in the company. He's not even CEO; that's Ballmer's post now, I think. :P

Regardless, now the Xbox 360s are far more stable, thankfully. Although I'm happy I haven't been hit by the RROD even with a system from last year.

Anyways, I'm thinking that this thread has finished...just my two cents.

If that's the case then why is everybody calling that dell system which i customized to be cheap and unreliable cuz it is also an "XPS".Thinker_145

Theyre not unreliable, theyre just overpriced. And typically, DELL doesnt use the nicest parts from the nicest vendors for their pc's. They give you value ram with little cheapo xps heatsinks, cheaper brand hdd's, and cheap proprietary mobo's/psu's.

You dont get Corsair memory, or seasonic PSU's. You get cheaper products. That's why dell's so rich. They charge you more than the price of premium hardware and give u cheapo stuff for the most part.

Best Buy charges $20 just to install an antivirus(separate purchase) and run a scan for you. I shudder to think how much they'd charge to set up a computer...Nentindoh

Anyone who needs to pay someone to install a program shouldn't even use a computer. They deserve to get charged that much.

Anyways back on topic. The worst thing to do is get someone to build you a computer. You might as well get a prebuilt one, at least you'll get a warranty. Most companies, stores, etc that will replace your GPU, or whatever usually overcharge anyways so thats why people do it their selves.

Thing is this guy actually build PCs so your point is invalid. But this thread is over. C ya.
chester706

I actually build PC's, but I'd never lie to someone and tell them they're getting a "customized" PC from Dell. If I build you a computer, you get it customized. If you get anyone like me to build it for you, it's customized. If you go to a botique builder with good parts selection, it's customized. If you get it through Dell, you get assembly-line contruction and quality, nothing more.

Its not that difficult. The only tricky part for me is connecting the CPUTheDarthvader

You mean the heatsink not the CPU, CPU's are easy to install. The standard Heatsinks aren't too difficult, well not now that I've done them so many times but some of those third party ones can be troublesome to install. The rewards are great though as your rig no longer sounds like a 747!