Warning to all newbies, turn back now

1st time post. Rant warning. If you are contemplating building a computer, I urge you to reconsider. Read on.

I would like to begin by cursing our friendly network administrator to a lifetime supply of spam. He’s responsible for my descent into the seventh circle of hell. You see, I was once happy. Blissfully unaware and perfectly content with my ignorance. And he RUINED it. And all because I told him my home computer died.

Occasionally we would bump into each other at Home Depot and chat about guy stuff like cars. He was aware that I am capable with a wrench. Hence he suggested I build a computer. “It’s like snapping together Legos” he says. “You’ll get a great computer for a better price than Dell”. “Wow, that would be a neat project for me and my 11 year old son” I reply. Not to mention I get to save a few bucks, right? The descent begins…..

I won’t bore you with all the gritty details of the component search but suffice to say it was a grueling 3 days. I managed to beat my stingy $450.00 budget cap by about $40.00. Here’s what I got:

Chaintech 7NJL6 MB $30.00
AMD Sempron 2600 $83.00
Ultra 512MB DDR400 PC3200 $50.00
Enermax Mid Tower Case $58.00
Maxtor 60GB / 7200 / 2MB / ATA-133 EIDE Hard Drive $40.00
GIGABYTE ATI RADEON 9250 Video Card, 128MB DDR $46.00
XP home $83.00
Fans and CPU paste $20ish?
SUM TOTAL w/shipping and taxes around $410.00

Re-using CDRW, DVD, and monitor saved a little, but I probably could have bought a Dell and saved a TON of my time. BUT WAIT! The fun is just beginning!

I must say, the parts do snap together rather LEGOish. My son, who up until this point has been enjoying his spare time, decides his assistance is now mandatory. The blind proceed to lead the blind. I try to act like the knowledgeable authority figure that I am but he ain’t buying it. Me trying to stick the modem in the AGP slot might have given it away. He’s reading the directions and I’m sticking round pegs in square holes. My credibility rating is dropping so I ask if he’s finished his homework, cleaned his room, painted the upstairs bathroom, etc. Pecking order re-established.

I’m itching to juice this thing and see what she’ll do. To be continued…….

 

Hey man, thats what it's all about, learning and having fun! You'll learn much more from your errors than if you were to get everything right the first time. Plus, you'll have the satisfaction of having something that you built. You'll know your system inside and out, and won't need to call any stupid tech support if you have a problem, right?

Have fun with it!

Steve

 

your motherboard manual helps alot.
don't force anything into place.
ask questions.
go as slow as necessary.

when your done you won't regret it.


good luck.

 

to be honest ... i think I knew more about computers when I was 11 then i do now

 

Five years ago, I would have agreed with that statement, but, today-- for my typical requirements-- for me it is no longer true. And I have built over a dozen systems from scratch over the years. Plus I now get a one year onsite warranty on the entire system for no extra money, and no multiple vendors cross-finger pointing if something's not working as expected.

 

For me the research of components, the legoish building,the configuration and yes the problem solveing when I mess up or things just don't go right, is all fun and you learn a lot and then are not afraid to work on any computer. That more then anything, priceless

In the end I have much better computers for a little less money, I realize this when I work on brand computers take the advertised $500.00 Dell read the fine print it has 128mb ram and some of it is dedicated to onboard graphics not to mention the quality of the graphics, well you better upgrade the ram right off the bat. Then I think its only 40G hd well better upgrade that to.
I better not just pick on dell how about HP/Compaq, they don't even come with a restore disk anymore they put the OS on a seperate partition on the hd and you have to burn it to several cd's so you can reinstall when something goes wrong and most people don't or don't know how to and they get a virus or something and its to late, time to call the repair man.

Hey I think I just had a rant.

Looking forward to part two

Rick

 

I got off easy building my first computer. It wasn't until after it had been together for a while that it started to malfunction. I've gone through a Motherboard, Processor, and a lot of time and frustration.

 

Just tuesday night my 14 year old son and i put together another computer that was from parts that we bought and some that i had laying around and some others that i got from IT at work(never hurts to know the GEEK at work)
cost less than $200 for a 2.93 mghz machine and i think our time was invaluable spent together putting him a new machine together .

 

My son isn't quite 2 yet and I can't wait to see what kind of stuff there's going to be when he's 6 or 7 and we build our first pc TOGETHER!

 

My first PC build was uneventful, in that everything worked when I turned it on. The only problem that I experienced was that the video card/monitor didn't seem to work if they weren't turned on in the proper sequence/right time. I dealt with this for quite some time, and attributed it to a quirk of the motherboard or bios. As I use this computer for a test bed, I found the source of my monitor/video card problem last week, when pulling memory out of it to upgrade a machine that I was working one for a friend. The original 256 meg ram chip that I installed in the computer had never been fully seated. Reseated the chip and it cured my video problems.

 

like the one guy said take your time and dont force anything...be gentle,hehe computers can be very fragile...they also dont like any shaking around or vibration..also make sure you got the correct power setting and a good surge protector...o yeah compaq sucks..building your own computer from scratch is worth it if you get the right parts and know what your doing...good luck with your build..

 

So do you get disconnected from Internet if you turn off your monitor?

Welcome to MG!

PS. If there is no one around to ask for instructions, the manual that came with the item might help!

 

good luck dude!!!
i built my first pc a couple years ago, and i just built a brand new rig in my sig a couple of weeks ago
its loads of fun, especially after it works

 

I built my first one this year and had a few sleepless nights when the thing was doing a blue screen death thing every day and couldn't locate the HDD. Simple stuff but if you don't know, you don't know. One thing that I would stress to anyone going to build is to keep your old PC running so you can still use the internet to troubleshoot. And if you don't know anything about part selection follow a build from someone else with tweaks, rather start it yourself. But it is great fun, and what makes it cheaper than dell is that you have the confidence to change anything and just replace parts, whereas with dell the space restrictions and so on make that impossible sometimes.

 

Keeping the old one running is a great idea, unless like me, you're using parts from the old to build the new. Namely the modem.

 

First post in this forum. I have been reading it for several years and it is very interesting and enjoyable.

Only thing I would say is that building a pc should not be seen as an alternative to buying ready made in that you can save money. You need to be interested in the first place. Then once it's built comes the upgrading. I am sure that I echo the views of many here when I say that (over time) my rig has cost me a lot more money and time than anything bought from dell.

 

I must say, I am a bit overwhelmed by the positive attitude all of you have displayed. My rant was negative yet no one criticized me for it. My part choices were, ahem, cheap yet no one said “What were you thinking?” Last, but certainly not least, was the obvious fact that I was feeling a bit of buyers remorse yet everyone encourages further work on the project.

You all are absolutely Major Geeks. And I thank you for it. Had I found this site prior to my build I may have chosen some different parts. But I probably would have still attempted to build it myself. Don’t be fooled by my glass half empty attitude. I am having fun and learning alot.

THANK YOU

On to the saga.

Perusing the manual is akin to asking for directions. Manly Men shouldn’t be required to consult the documentation. During a particularly difficult replacement of a 1977 Datsun Z distributor my father said to me “The manual is for people who shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” Advice and opinions bear a striking resemblance. Especially when one applies the old adage that “everyone’s got one”.

Maybe that explains why I was annoyed at my son for consulting the manual and pointing out the obvious. I knew he was right, yet I was doing the exact same thing! In my haste and hubris I was wasting my time and jeopardizing the build. Time to swallow the pride, slow down, and crack the book.

Except the manual is in Chinese. What the heck? O.K. never mind. I was looking at the wrong section. If anyone ever wanted to know the oriental characters for “Insert Here” I now know them. Could come in handy some day.

My boy also had a bit more luck with installing the stubborn memory card. Memory is a funny thing. Do computers get Alzheimer’s in their old age? Occasional, constant infrequent headaches? I feel one coming on now, yet I digress…..

CPU paste. It doesn’t “paste” anything! It never sets! And it tastes like crap! Neat name though, “Arctic Silver” I feel like I’m part of a Peppermint Patty commercial, with snow, and sled dogs, igloos, etc. Penguins would certainly be amused. I do have the CPU, cooler, memory, and graphics card on the the Mother Board (mother ship?)

Time for a break. More later.

 

Don't get discouraged by anything that may crop up. I built my first box 7+ years ago, and believe it or not, it is STILL working. I just finished upgrading it from Win95B w/USB support to Win98SE. I'm in the process of putting together my next one (5th) but I'm keeping this one.

 

Well, to help out a friend with his home build system, I prepared this photo album with little notes online using Sony Imagestation site, it was not as detailed and well thoughtout as I wanted it to be since I couldn't invest much time but if there are any newbies interested in checking the links below, you are welcome to do so and you might learn a few new things in the process.
Welcome to all newcomers!

First link is for the album is the most detailed one. I am building a multimedia system using an ASUS A7N8X mobo with AMD XP2600+ and 2 60GB Maxtor HD with 7200RPM and 8MB cache using a SiliconImage RAID 0-1 IDE Controller card.

Second link is for my latest system, though the HD has been upgraded to a 74GB WD Raptor with 10000RPM and 8MB buffer.

Third link shows the funky fan mod I apply to my systems to keep them cool. It may look corny but works better and hella cheaper than a lquid cooling system.

 

Hats off to you on your adventure!! I too was a newbie so much so that I was excited when the Windows booted up with sound, and now almost 5 0r 6 years later, with education, I am still learning. So have fun and you will be amazed at the excellent knowledge this site has and great support you will receive. Here no question is a dumb question...it is a question to ponder and challenge us on this board.

 

I first have to say this is one of the more enjoyable threads I've read in quite some time.

Everybody is right. When you hear that Windows chime it will be like the sound of angles and it will all seem worth all the effort you put into it.

If anything the education will be worth the money and time you put into it. I've only built a few PCs so far and I've learned something new everytime and it becomes more fun with each one.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Jackson

 

My wife is beginning to show a bit of concern. I come home from work, change into sweats, and instead of going for a jog or walking the dog I go upstairs. For the rest of the evening. She says she hears cursing and that our boy is afraid of the creature in the spare bedroom. Nonsense.

Much progress has been made. The Mother has been nested. She will remain in her Tower for all eternity, shepherding over her digital herd. I know that she is well because I have gotten messages.

The fountain of energy has given her sustenance.

Her Sempron has displayed its might. 1.83

The RAM is remembering. 512

And her visual display is making the communication path available for all to see.

Now she must accept her suitor.

His name is XP.

I hope they get along.

More later.

 

Good luck!

 

Once XP is up and running don't forget to go to blackviper.com and shutdown all those additional services that run automatically which in the main are not required and use up system resources.

fjm1, the undertone to your last post indicated that you were beginning to enjoy your build......BEWARE, addiction is only a small step away.....!!!!!!!

 

Well, he's either beginning to enjoy it, or he's on medication of some kind. Either way, it's all good.

 

That remids me first computer i ever built i snapped the motherboard in so hard and tight which was doing fine. Few month later i started adding add on cards such as graphics, tv tuner etc in a the smallest case originally intented for celerons by factory. It got to the point where i had ruberbands holding everything together not to overheat since it was overclocked. Very smart isn't it!?
After sometime i was grining because 1300$ a.u was better then most 2500$ computers on market...... Ehhhh how stupid do you feel when u realise you're wrong. Know the feeling?
Cuting the crap down after opting for thermaltake xaser III skull and taking the old mobo out I realised it had died together with the processor. Constant overheating , cooling down and missplacedand pushed in at first by force. Wow what a nightmare just about i spent nearly thousand dollars on case, psu dual dvd , round cables and some other stuff. New processor and mobo, down the road and then 19' lcd with speakers and other stuff the computer ended up costing me over 3500$. Great joy when you have no idea what you're doing.
Anyhow enough laughing on my behalf the major computer companies sometimes squeeze in so much together? Why? Bigger. Better and what not. It's a bit like considering to cook dinner with 30$ worth of grocceries or KFC 6.95$

 

fjm1 was definately on a buzz when he posted that last one. I love putting stuff together. Havent put together a computer yet but have done plenty of upgrades on mine and lots of friends computers.

I remember the first time i installed something in a computer. It must be about 6 years ago at this stage. My brother had gotten his computer literate friend!!, up to install a new harddrive on our old dell 450Mhz piece of crap but its still going strong. They spent about an hour trying to install it with no success. They left for a few drinks so relax and it was my turn to have a go.

Step 1. Read the piece of paper that came with the OEM Harddrive.
Step 2. Set the master/slave connections the way the paper says.
Step 3. Connect the power and turn on the pc.

It worked first time. Was very happy with myself.

I really want to build a pc but im a broke student and any money must go towards drink and partying. I will attempt to save some cash over the summer months and build one during college next year. Will give me a valid excuse to miss class instead of just being hungover.lol.