Ever build a Desk Top?

[Stoker1]

I'm sure some of you have built quite a few but I've got to ask at least. I know just the basics if that about PC's but want to venture into another hobby somewhat. A few questions if you don't mind & I'll keep them as simple as possible.

For the layman (village idiot such as myself) how difficult is it to buy individual parts & assemble yourself?

How cost effective is it? Worth the trouble? A few hundred or closer to half a grand cheaper?

Bells & Whistles...
I'd like to build a do all system.
2g processor minimum
2g ram " "
250 - 300g hard drive
Good graphics (not top of the line but close)
sound (basic)
wireless net

Basically just want a good quality system & be able to play a few games now & then.

It sounds like a fun project that could be a bit challenging but I don't want to waist my time & F' something up either. :o

Later,
Jamie

[jphii]

Go to pricewatch.com and price out the components. Then price building one there also. You may be surprised. I have built several, but lately it's easier to have it done.

[Stoker1]

Will do. Heading there now. :)

[cutwater]

I agree with jphii.

I've built many over the years, used to build them for my clients and beat Compaq or Dell. But not anymore. Unless you want to build a really special machine, it's easier and cheaper to a preconfigured or online build your own.

Putting one together isn't that hard, but there's almost always documentation lacking and or bad drivers on the CDs that come with the components. I've spent hundreds of hours researching issues with individual components.

Also, if you buy a preconfig or build your own online, they are covered by warantee and if you literally build your own, you are on your own :eek:

Good luck!

[Stoker1]

Ok,
Lets try another scenario.... Rebuild the old horse.

Has an old P2 processor @ 755mhz & one gig RAm. She's slow to say the least. Graphics are acceptable and sound is fine as well.

How hard is it to upgrade this to have some ass & move out when you want it to? Whats required? A new mother board/processor/Ram?

If so, that sounds good.

[ssent]

TigerDirect.com is where I usaully get our stuff. Great service. Always pretty fair prices, sometimes great deals just depends what's on sale. I know tiger has kits for home pcs (barebones kits) and lots of components. Hope this helped, Stoker1

[ssent]

I know it used to be that dell, compaq, hp, e-machine, etc. couldn't be up-graded. The motherboard had it's own graphics card built into it. And were not expandable. I know that was big gripe at one time.

We've upgraded several times ( rebuilt the old with new motherboard and cpu ). Done it with a Mercury motherboard and used old cpu processor too. The last one ( have 2 home pcs, 1 for kids ) was Asus motherboard, AMD 3500 2.2 gig. processor about 1 year ago. I would highly recommend a barebones kit. They come with all instructions and I've gotten tech help before too. If ya don't see what ya want, call them and they will work with ya.

[1BadAction]

the dells I have had, havent had integrated video cards since windows 98SP1!

[cutwater]

It's probably not worth upgrading the old one...a P2 motherboard will only take P2 processors, so you'd be a few generations behind from the start. You might be able to use the old case depending on the new motherboard's footprint, but cases are cheap and I'd want a new power supply anyhow.

If you're budget conscious, consider an AMD processor system, they are typically less money than Intel and I've always had good luck with them.

[mr.clean]

I completely rebuilt/upgraded my Dell the first time I opened it up. After I got past the initial fear of the unknown it was much easier than expected. Ain't nothin to it but to do it ;)

[Scream And Fly]

Ok,
Lets try another scenario.... Rebuild the old horse.

Has an old P2 processor @ 755mhz & one gig RAm. She's slow to say the least. Graphics are acceptable and sound is fine as well.

How hard is it to upgrade this to have some ass & move out when you want it to? Whats required? A new mother board/processor/Ram?

If so, that sounds good.


That depends mostly on the motherboard you have. Anything that's Intel and over 450MHz will be a Pentium III. If it's a Slot 1 motherboard you may be able to upgrade to the Celeron Tualatin 1.4 GHz with the use of a Slot 1 adapter. Powerleap (http://www.powerleap.com/PL-iP3T.jsp) used to make just such a solution and it worked great, however it's discontinued. I remember upgrading my old Dell PIII 750 about 9 years ago with one of these.

My suggestion: Forget about upgrading if the machine is old and just buy a new Dell. While you may be able to upgrade the CPU, the memory will still be slow, as well as many other things.

These days you can get new Dells for $400 complete with wide screen LCD monitors. Building a machine now just doesn't compete with that. Most of the lower end Dells even have upgradeable graphics as well.

Greg

[Stoker1]

Food for thought as always:)

Its winter, I'm bored & wanted to do something different. I'll try shopping for a new system later.

Many thanks.

[Scream And Fly]

Food for thought as always:)

Its winter, I'm bored & wanted to do something different. I'll try shopping for a new system later.

Many thanks.

I love upgrading/building computers - especially the older ones. Most of my older computers have been given away, but I still have three old towers here and I may take one out of the closet and load up Windows 98 on it for some old-school DOS gaming. I remember when the Pentim III 1GHz was introduced in 2000 - that thing ran so hot you could fry eggs on the heat sink. Ah, the good old days...

[Stoker1]

GT or anyone else...

can you provide the Dell discount codes? Wife said she wants her own notebook instead. :o

I'm going to mess around with the old desktop unit & see what can be done to speed it up a little. I just want to play the flight simulator a little.

Many thanks,
Jamie

[Euroski]

Not worth building a system anymore considering what you get with a new system including the software. A near top of the line system today may cost as an example $2000, but wait 60 days and the price is usually drops a lot. I started loooking at the new quad systems a few months back when they were well over 2k. But today I can buy one at BestBuy for under $1300..

[1BadAction]

so are you going to build this computer using metric or sae hardware?


:D :p

[Stoker1]

@ jim..... Fugger~!:D

EuroSki,
I understand. Its a tough pill to swallow.

[Scream And Fly]

GT or anyone else...

can you provide the Dell discount codes? Wife said she wants her own notebook instead. :o

I'm going to mess around with the old desktop unit & see what can be done to speed it up a little. I just want to play the flight simulator a little.

Many thanks,
Jamie

Jamie - I think the Dell discount codes work in the US only, not sure though...

Greg

[kimswang]

CompUSA is going out of business, they have sales all over and is selling everything. I ended up with a few parts I really didn't need as well as a killer camera... They have the coolest cases ever....

[Euroski]

Go to http://www.notebookreview.com/ and they list discount codes for them. I got a HP and got $250 off a few months back.

[Stoker1]

Ordered a new notebook for the wife.

Euroski, the codes were good but it linked me right to the Dell website & still got $300 off. Just ended up paying taxes. What a crock :p

Greg, you was right about shipping. Got to have it delivered to a family member then forwarded here. No problem.



...........................
Now for another question.
I'm still pressing for a good gaming pc. Anyone buy refurbished off of ebay?

[Slider]

For the wife, I buy Dell. But for myself, I still build my own.

First, for the operating system and other MS software, look into purchasing the "Action Pack".

https://partner.microsoft.com/40016455

Just a few painless hoops to jump through. Click on the Standard Contents link to get an idea of what you get.

Then, for a very nice gaming rig.

Asus Maximus Formula motherboard.
Intel Q6600 quad CPU.
PC-800 Ram
Zalman CNPS9700LED Ultra Quiet Cpu Cooler
<!--aoeui-->A nice computer case.
A nice 500-600W modular power supply.

Pick your poison as far as video cards. I won't go there. All I will say is this motherboard supports ATI crossfire. If you want to SLI Nvidia, you will probably need a different motherboard.

If you really want to make a hobby out of it, pick up a Swiftech water cooler. I recommend the H20-200 Apex Ultra.

http://www.swiftnets.com/

Then overclock. On air, you can get a quad CPU 2.4 GHz to 3.4GHz-3.5Ghz without breaking a sweat. Now you have a hobby:)

[Stoker1]

Wonderful info Slider. Sounds like something to stay busy with.:)
Will have to check the hobby funds and maybe sell off some rc junk to start up this new venture.

[1BadAction]

Wonderful info Slider. Sounds like something to stay busy with.:)
Will have to check the hobby funds and maybe sell off some rc junk to start up this new venture.

I need props for a 1527 Neumotor on 12s LiPo. :eek:

[Scream And Fly]

Everyone knows Nvidia SLI is better than ATI Crossfire! :D I've been using an Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX SLI setup on my work computer here for a while now and it rocks the house.

Long live 3dfx and Voodoo2 SLI! The badass setup back in 1997 - maximum resolution of 1024x768 and it would run Unreal with all goodies maxed out. That was the pinnacle of high-res gaming back then, and the game still looks amazing today.

I worked for 3dfx until the company was bought by Nvidia in 2001. I still have all my 3dfx stuff too :)

Pic is of old Voodoo2 setup (not mine)

http://www.drunken-student.co.uk/pics/pc/voodoo_sli%282%29_sized.jpg

[Stoker1]

Still considering a new build & know some of you are not fan's of AMD but what do you think about this particular system...?

Greg, don't flame me too bad, but this about the best I can afford at the moment. Video isn't the fastest, but its better than most anything I've ever used.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=2219333&sku=M452-2822

Graphics card.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3445092&sku=P450-8670

Thanks a bunch,
Jamie

[Scream And Fly]

I think those components are fine, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with AMD. I've always been partial to MSI components too :)