How Hard is To Build A Custom Computer?

[BurningCake]

Question up in the title. Also, do you guys have any tutorials for someone who is a beginner knows nothing about computer engineering?

[freakachu]

it's really not all that hard, they even come with instructions for most of the stuff you need to do.

it's just putting in some screws, plugging some stuff in, MAYBE applying a little thermal grease, and moving a small lever or two. that's really about it.

[BurningCake]

it's really not all that hard, they even come with instructions for most of the stuff you need to do.

it's just putting in some screws, plugging some stuff in, MAYBE applying a little thermal grease, and moving a small lever or two. that's really about it.

Yep, just found a nice article on PCWorld on the topic. Maybe I can finally build a nice rig to run Technic smoothly on.

Of course that is, one I get some sort of income. Ha.

[Neowulf]

Seating the ram, processor, and heat sink can be a bit hard and dangerous expensive if you get it wrong. Getting the case front panel buttons/lights connected can be a real pain too.

But most of the physical building is pretty easy.

Making sure what you bought plays nice together is rather hard. Making sure the processor, motherboard, and ram are all compatible is a pain. As is making sure your power supply not only can cover your needs but also has all the needed connectors.

Bottom line: If you're asking this question then you need experienced supervision. Bribe a geekier friend or see if you can bribe a local repair shop to supervise your choices and build.

Who knows, if you're still in highschool it may lead to a part time job.

Or there's always checking your local college for an A+ certification class. That can be a nice bonus on a resume as well.

[NightKev]

It's usually not that hard to make sure everything is compatible with the motherboard, it should list everything it's nominally compatible with.

For example, if you look at the page for this motherboard* and scroll down a bit, it lists the specifications in a convenient table. If we take a look at the first two things listed, it says "Processor Socket - Intel" and "Processor Interface - LGA1155". So it only works with Intel processors, and they have to use the LGA1155 interface. So, if we take a look at one of the CPUs for sale (say, this one*), well it's an Intel processor, so that's one down. Next, scrolling down to the specifications information, it says "Processor Interface - LGA1155"; perfect, it matches. These two parts should be compatible. Not that hard at all, they tell you everything you need to know.

The most difficult thing is probably making sure the power supply is good for your needs though, yeah.

* Picked by virtue of being the ones at the top of the listings

[BurningCake]

Thanks guys (or girls, not really sure anymore) for the advice. My HS has a computer engineering program, so I could check stuff out with the staff there.

[Bahnmor]

A great starting point is the neweggTV YouTube channel. They do a good 3-part guide for building your own pc, going into some of the theory behind making your choices for components and essential software.

They were what I used when I finally took the plunge (having previously commissioned a custom build and upgraded/replaced components over the years). I'll admit it can't tell you everything, but it will give you a much better understanding of what will be involved.

[BurningCake]

Thanks Bahnmor. Will check it out.

EDIT: Anyone want to go out on a limb and guess how much a higher-end custom gaming rig will cost me? Like ordering the parts and such?

[Eldmor]

It depends on how hard you want to run your PC and what you want it to be able to do.

I built my friend a computer for hardcore gaming that can max every single graphical setting imaginable for any game to be released in the next few years and it rang in at around $900.

I'm sure though, for under $500, you can get something that maxes current games and will be good for several years.

[Bahnmor]

Eldmor's got the right of it there.

It varies a little depending on which country you're in, but a good rule of thumb is to look online and find how much it would cost to order a pc already built to the specs you want (that isn't made by Alienware) and expect to spend at least half of that.

That should give you a comfortable margin to work with.

[freakachu]

EDIT: Anyone want to go out on a limb and guess how much a higher-end custom gaming rig will cost me? Like ordering the parts and such?

honestly it depends on how "high-end" you are trying to go. my current rig ran me over $2k, but it was absolutely bleeding edge at the time. SSD drive, SLI GTX580 video cards, 16G RAM, etc. you can make a rig that will do great for $600-$1000 I'd say. it'd last you for many, many years.

[hoho]

Hardest part about building a custom computer is plugging in the front panel cables.

Price of a "high end" highly depends on what you define as high-end. If you are good enough with non-steroscopic 3D at 1080p resolution then 560gtx will last you for a LONG time and costs <200 vs 1k-ish for the 680gtx SLI.

Next biggest variable is the monitor. Random 24" 1080p one without 3D costs you around 150-250. If you want 3 or 4 screens at 2560x1600 each then be prepared to shell out 1k per monitor.

SSD is nice but doesn't really give you almost anything for gaming except lowering loading times a little bit on some games. Obviously that assumes your games actually fit on it (stupid Steam not allowing to split stuff over multiple drives. I'm at 1TB with half the stuff not being installed even).

General rule of thumb is that for gaming you should always invest (significantly) more to GPU than to CPU. I'd say getting a GPU at twice the cost of CPU is a decent choice.

The rest is really not all that important and prices don't vary all that much. Sure, you can shell out 500 for a motherboard instead of <100 but unless you are into liquid nitrogen cooling then it won't do you much.

[Eldmor]

Something I recently learned the hard way: get a good PSU! A 750W eco-PSU, from a good brand, will run you around $90 but it will save you electricity bills and it will be reliable. Cheap PSUs tend to get finicky at running anything 50% or above capacity after a few months.

[hoho]

Also, never buy a PSU by it's advertised output power. I remember videos of some cheap "600W" one that literally exploded before users reached around 450W load on it.

[Pilchard123]

Something I recently learned the hard way: get a good PSU! A 750W eco-PSU, from a good brand, will run you around $90 but it will save you electricity bills and it will be reliable. Cheap PSUs tend to get finicky at running anything 50% or above capacity after a few months.

And catch fire for no apparent reason.

[gotyaoi]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/12/ars-technica-system-guide-december-2011/

A pretty good article by Ars about parts and prices. They come out with a couple of these over the course of the year.

There's also an update post from their forums. http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1173184

[BurningCake]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/12/ars-technica-system-guide-december-2011/

A pretty good article by Ars about parts and prices. They come out with a couple of these over the course of the year.

There's also an update post from their forums. http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1173184

Hm, thanks, I'll go read it.