Just Finished my first home build!

[Ringel05]

Using it now.
Asus 4A78 Pro mobo (1 gig onboard graphics w/512 shared) $74
(Crossfire, hyper-threading, etc....Can upgrade to Phenom II x4 later if I so choose)
AMD Phenom II x2 black edition chipset $109
OCZ (2x2GB) 240 pin SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $59
WD 320GB SATA2 7200rpm HDD $49
Ultra L Series Pro 650-watt power supply $26
Samsung 22X DVD/RW w/lightscribe $32
2 18" Round cables $14
Already had an old full size ATX case
Total cost $363

Just for gits and shiggles I loaded XP. It took 45 minutes not including upgrades because it couldn't find my internet and wouldn't let me set it up. Reformatted the HD and loaded 64bit Ubuntu, it took 15 min, including updates and found all my hardware. Looks like I've made my OS choice.
Blazing fast medium/high end system for under $400

 

[Midnight Marauder]

BYO is much less expensive, and will always give you a better machine.

That's upgradable!

 

[Ringel05]

BYO is much less expensive, and will always give you a better machine.

That's upgradable!

What was funny was I've "rebuilt" old machines and in putting this one together I was expecting to have to connect so much more. Not the case, with almost everything being built into the mobos now-a-days the need for add on cards is rapidly disappearing for general usage systems.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

 

[Ringel05]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

BBD, it's actually very easy and I'm self taught. There are so many online tutorials and help pages it's hard not to figure it out. First question to ask is "what type of system do I need". Simply put do you do extreme gaming, work with lots of graphics or videos, download tons of music files or just regular usage and internet surfing. That determines what components to look for. After that the number one issue becomes upgradeablity. I selected most of my components based on recommendations from a site on building gaming systems for my price range, The mobo (motherboard) I selected in particular because of the built in features and the fact that I could have put an AMD Athalon (P4 type chip for you Intel types) or an AMD quad chip.
The process took me about 4 months to research (familiarize myself with components and terminology), a week to determine exactly what I wanted and another week for everything to arrive,
Each part comes with a user guide which generally is so easy to follow a blind monkey with no arms could do it. Once you've put it together all that is left is to load the OS (In almost all instances the BIOS have already been loaded, if not insert the CD that comes with the mobo and follow the instructions).

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

Can you put together a puzzle which has only seven pieces and they only fit one way?

Then you can build a computer.

 

[KittenKoder]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

As they said, not as tough as people think, things only fit where they are suppose to go so as long as you don't touch any of the metal you just have to look up what you need. Fear, fear makes people buy the premade junk stores cheat you with.

Don't fear the reaper.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

Where'd you get a 650 PS for 24 $?

 

[Fatality]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

you may need a screwdriver

 

[Ringel05]

Where'd you get a 650 PS for 24 $?

$26 actually. Did I type $24?? Got it on E-bay.
Just a month before I picked up a three month old Chemei 22" monitor for $110 shipped. It's an awesome monitor! I think they retail for around $200 to $300.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

Good job
I built on an Asus M2N32-SLI-Deluxe.
running twin 500 mb ddr3 graphic cards.
Next time 3 slots for cards.

 

[DiveCon]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

hell, with PnP its easy
it not like the old days when you had jumper pins and IRQ's to think about

 

[Ringel05]

I worked out a parts list for a friend who now wants to build his own. He does basic computing and internet with minimal gaming.
These items & prices are all from Newegg:

Asus M4A78 PRO (The same one I have) $100 (price just went up)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Chipset $65
Ikonic Taran A30 IC-T3DBC ATX case $50
Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200rpm hard drive $48
Light-On Black 24X DVD+R Optical drive $32
G.Skill 4GB (2 X 2GB) 240 pin SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC6400) dual channel memory $80
Total $375

A unit like this could cost from $800 to $1200 retail just for the box without monitor, keyboard and mouse.
This unit is highly upgradeable and with a half a gig of onboard graphics you don't need a graphics card unless your doing graphics intensive projects/gaming.

Here is one that I selected from Tiger Direct.
It could fit in a micro box but I selected a mid tower.

Gigabyte G-452-8010 mid-tower ATX case $40
Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H motherboard $80
AMD Athlon II x2 Duo-core 2.90GHz chipset $70
Corsair XMS2 DHX 2048Mb dual channel PC6400 DD2 800MHz (2x1024MB) memory $35
Coolmax 500 watt modular power supply PCI-E 120mm fan $55 (they are offering a $20 rebate making your price $35)
The same West. Digital HD as listed above $45
The same optical drive $32
Total $337

Again most everything these days are built into the motherboard which works perfectly for the average user. The real beauty of these systems is upgradeablity, Need a bigger hard drive or a second one, buy it and install it. Need more graphics, or TV tuner buy new a card. Want to get a faster chipset, take the old one out and replace it.
I'm hooked and I already have friends and co-workers asking me to build them computers, I can make a little money on the side, cool.

 

[KittenKoder]

Wish I was smart enough to build my own computer. I am not though. I'm smart enough to know that. You guys that build your own computers have all of my envy.

hell, with PnP its easy
it not like the old days when you had jumper pins and IRQ's to think about

I built my first one from scratch ... wait, scratch 20 years ago ... you know, transistors, capacitors, and resisters ... mounted on whatever I can glue metal to and home made PCB.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

God skill rulez

 

[KittenKoder]

God skill rulez

All true techies rule! We geeks made this world.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

God skill rulez

All true techies rule! We geeks made this world.

Check this, my uncle , now long deceased , blew his own tubes and built a television .
That is beyond sick.
He did it before there was even any broadcasts of TV.

 

[KittenKoder]

God skill rulez

All true techies rule! We geeks made this world.

Check this, my uncle , now long deceased , blew his own tubes and built a television .
That is beyond sick.
He did it before there was even any broadcasts of TV.

Um ... though possible, you'll excuse me if I don't believe you.

Though ray tubes are still the toughest technology ... they are immune to EMP while all our current technology would be wiped out by one.