Custom Built PC?

[Guardian]

(OMG where do the jumpers go on this thing?) Everything is mostly jumperless and switchless nowadays. So much easier believe me.

Ooh, jumpers. I hated those things.

 

[niightwind]

I don't know a thing about building my own PC, so nah - never had one and probably never will. People can call me lazy if they want (seen a lot of comments on other places that people who don't build their own are just lazy and spoiled) but... I'm just not good in that area of things.

 

[Kaitara]

Just wondering if any of you guys own or thought about building your own PC? I know that very soon I will be purchasing the parts to build my first PC. Getting really excited about it and just hope I won't get a faulty ram or something. What do you guys think about custom built computers?

I built my own current PC a couple years ago, cost $1000 on the nose which is about what I expect a good rig to cost. You save a bit of money putting it together yourself vs buying a prebuilt, and you have complete control of everything that goes in which is very nice - plus leaving room for upgrades later is nice too.
If more people understood how easy it is to build a PC themselves they probably wouldn't buy prebuilts anymore. All you need to know is a few basics on what's compatible and the rest is pretty self-explanatory plug and play. Only gets more complicated if you get into complicated parts like water cooling and other specialty stuff.

 

[BulletBiter]

I've built my own. I was really scared at first, but if you take the right precautions, it's like Legos for older people. Custom built PCs have more pros than cons, with the main advantage being better price relative to performance, and the biggest downside is that each part has a different warranty time (compared to prebuilt computers with 2-3 year old warranties).

 

[Ahab]

I love building my own PC. I've always done that. It's not just because it's cheaper than a pre-built and probably more powerful in most cases and easy to upgrade, but I love the feeling while I'm building it piece by piece. There's an inherent satisfaction in making a PC by yourself that makes you feel amazing once it works perfectly. It's almost like playing with LEGO or something. You shouldn't be afraid of faulty parts, because even a pre-built may come up with some broken hardware already inside it.

 

[jrhoads]

I don't know a thing about building my own PC, so nah - never had one and probably never will. People can call me lazy if they want (seen a lot of comments on other places that people who don't build their own are just lazy and spoiled) but... I'm just not good in that area of things.

Don't worry about not being good at building a PC. I built one when I was 10 and I had absolutely no problems for 6 years. I continued upgrading the same PC and never had any problems. The manuals tell you exactly what to do and as long as you can follow directions reasonably well it's not very difficult. If price is a concern then building is definitely better for gaming. When you buy a prebuilt PC you are essentially paying for the convenience of just plugging in the computer and it being ready to go. If this is important to you then prebuilt is the way to go. Prebuilt and building are both good options depending on what you want to do.

 

[Dabstin]

I built my PC 3 months ago and I regret nothing I saved a lot of money (which I invested in games and peripherals instead) and I experienced the satisfaction from booting it for the first time and installing the OS, as well as doing quick benchmarks and tests to make sure everything is in place (and to feel excited about the new power packed in my beast ).

 

[Nemto Tadak]

What do you guys think about custom built computers?

Computers are as good as the components. I have assembled machines since the early 1990's and there is really nothing to it.

The one mistake I have seen others make, just as a warning, don't be too confident. If you really are not sure about something, look it up! YouTube is packed with thousands of how-to videos for every aspect of machine assembly.

Be sure you understand about static electricity and take the noted precautions to avoid frying your components. That is the number one killer of custom builds. I have had several friends proceed without taking time to discharge the static electrical charges and end up wasting a good motherboard or memory stick.

If you get bad RAM, there is not much you can do. The good news is I have had only one issue with bad RAM out of hundreds of sticks purchased.

Building your own machine will be rewarding in that it saves you money and it will be your own creation of which you should be immensely proud. Good luck!

 

[Joel7050]

I think custom built PCs are way better than prebuilt PCs. After saving, you finally get the buy all your parts in one go, and the satisfaction after months or even years of saving, planning, researching and waiting, to finally come home with your boxes and boxes of parts you chose, is indescribable. Even the case is chosen by you. Everything is picked by you. It's truly YOUR computer. Your creation. Assembling it, you can use your best effort and know how much precision you put into your build, and appreciate it even more. Coming home and simply unboxing a prebuilt, plugging it in and then just using it, really isn't the same.

 

[SirJoe]

I have built various pc's, it's great fun and there is nothing like building exactly what you want. Now days desktops have become so easy to build that what ends up taking more time is installing all the software. Be careful when you buy the components, some of them might not be compatible with one another.

 

[OutOfSpoons]

I have two PCs I've built. The one I use for gaming was built by me and my dad, and it's pretty awesome. Building it sparked my desire to build more computers, so I cobbled one together afterwards out of my mom's old desktop, my sister's old laptop, and a few spare parts lying around. It's pretty crappy, and I had to install Linux on it because Windows got really angry about detecting another motherboard, but it's still a pretty neat project.

 

[moosesbroose]

Every since I first learned about PC gaming I have been building my own rigs. I have found nothing more satisfying than when you step back after completion and marvel at your beautiful, custom rig that you put sweat, effort and bloody fingers into.


What parts will you be purchasing? I love helping people with their builds, and if I do say so myself I've gotten fairly good at PC part picking over the years. I specialize in bang for your buck builds, I can't tell you how many Pcs I've built for friends on a budget just in the last year. I'm really stoked about the New GPU selection lowering prices further and allowing for monsters of cheap builds.

If you ever need any help with part selection, or if you run into a problem while building please feel free to hit me up and ask away. I'd be more than happy to help.

Good luck

 

[SirJoe]

I've built my own. I was really scared at first, but if you take the right precautions, it's like Legos for older people. Custom built PCs have more pros than cons, with the main advantage being better price relative to performance, and the biggest downside is that each part has a different warranty time (compared to prebuilt computers with 2-3 year old warranties).

Building a desktop from scratch is much easier than what people think. Most of the components that you need are already prebuilt into the motherboard so if you want to add anything to it you can do it in phases. It can be a lot of fun to do.

 

[Steamroller]

Assembling a custom PC is more simple than it looks. I have been assembling my own pcs back when I was a teenager, you only need to observe someone else building a custom PC to learn. And is cheaper than buying an assembled PC.

 

[SirJoe]

Assembling a custom PC is more simple than it looks. I have been assembling my own pcs back when I was a teenager, you only need to observe someone else building a custom PC to learn. And is cheaper than buying an assembled PC.

There is one thing that you have to be careful with and that is static. If you earth yourself often and handle the components in the right manner and as little as possible, you shouldn't have any problems. As you said it's easier then what it looks.

 

[cgrey]

I started building computers back in 2008 and really enjoy it. You can really make a computer your own with the look of the computer and performance. Each build I take on is a blank canvas to come up with another great creation. I have mastered the performance building and now am looking to come up with some creative ideas for computer cases (i.e. internal desk computer, computer fish tank, etc.). The sky is the limit when you trust your inner genius.

 

[Hux]

I've been building them for a good few years now. Built 3 PCs for my friends too. Most recent is the one I'm currently using for gaming.

 

[Tucker933]

I've been building them for myself and friends for more than a decade now.

 

[phatlytridivo]

I'm planning to get a custom built PC as well and I wanted to experience gaming to the maximum level. I'm currently playing on a old Lenovo core i5 laptop. It runs game pretty slow though. Say if I play Skyrim, the game would scan my system and put me at the lowest graphics. Yup, that's how slow my laptop is. I have to turn off a lot of stuff which takes away the whole aspect of gaming. I have to play in low details, short field of view, this is the reason why I wanted to upgrade and invest in a strong gaming PC instead and get the most of out of it. I'm no tech genius so I will need some helps as well. If anyone has any recommendations and is a tech genius, feel free to help me out.

 

[missionreport]

I had this idea once, of building a pc designed specifically for gaming. But I'm really a novice when it comes to computer specs and I really don't know half of what's written on the box so it's tough for someone like to start building my own pc. You think you guys can give me some resources on how to understand computer hardware and what the jargon means? Thanks.