Building a computer

Vivi

Could someone who has done it give me their experiences, or maybe some tips?

MillerCross

I built a computer once.

Well, technically, more like...paid a company to build a computer.

well, more like, paid them to gimme a computer they had built once. 

IanExMachina

I did work experience at a computer building firm in my town and from that I can tell you:

If the man across the road is on speed and starts attacking the shop make sure your bosses are amateur boxers and that they take a very knifey letter opener out with them when dealing with the noise.

ClockworkUniverse

I built one over the summer.

I had to send back the motherboard because it was shot, but other than that bad luck, it was pretty easy.

Vivi

What do you use if more mostly INUH and how much did the whole thing run you?

ClockworkUniverse

It's a high-end gaming PC. It cost me $1400, but you could get a pretty decent computer for less; I just wanted a really awesome one.

Vivi

Yeah, I'm look at a guide that tells you how to build a gaming pc for $500

because me and money don't get along.

Kinkajou

Ah, building desktops. One of those things you can't do with a Mac.

Vivi

Factoring out the moniter, keyboard, speakers, mouse, operating system, and games, this $500 system seems affordable, and able to run games well, I hope.

ClockworkUniverse

Hmmm...I dunno too much about parts, but I'm looking at the hard drive...

Do yourself a favor and get a solid state drive along with that. Use it to run your OS and your most computationally expensive games. It'll speed things up quite a lot.

Vivi

Where in the process would that be installed? Along side the hard drive? What exactly does it do?

ClockworkUniverse

It's basically another hard drive, but one that uses flash storage instead of disc storage. This makes it able to provide the computer with information fast, reducing load times. The downside is smaller capacity, so you generally just put the OS and a few games on it.

Vivi

So it would be along side the hard drive, or in lieu of it?

delta534

Based on the link,Vivi if you could spare another $80 you could go with a radeon 6850 instead of the 6670. The 6850 will run almost anything you throw at it on the high level settings.

ClockworkUniverse

Either. My computer only has an SSD for the moment; I'm planning on getting either a second SSD or a terabyte hard drive around December. If you go that route, though, you'll need to buy and install a hard drive to use alongside it at some point; the biggest SSDs commonly available are only around 120 gigabytes.

Vivi

Okay, thanks. I'll look into that, I guess.

Icalasari

Can you build your own laptop?

ClockworkUniverse

With difficulty, yes. I've never tried it.

I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone who didn't have quite a bit of computer-building experience.

Nyktos

From what I've heard, you don't actually end up saving that much money building your own laptop anyway.

Icalasari

^^ Eh, lack of experience never stopped me from doing stuff before

Vivi

I think I might just buy a computer.

Also is there such a thing as good gaming laptops

ClockworkUniverse

^You'll get more out of your money building.

As for the second question: no.

Vivi

I'm just worried ill screw something up while building it and/or get ripped off on a part I but or something

MillerCross

Yeah, unless you want a laptop, building is far better and more useful to you. 

ClockworkUniverse

Screwing it up irrevocably is harder than it sounds.

Partially because you're going to be scared shitless that you'll break something the whole time, and thus be more careful than you actually need to.

Vivi

Prehaps you could be my shopping consultant INUH? Since you have done this and all.

ClockworkUniverse

Mine was mostly from a guide, and the changes I made were all things mentioned in the guide.

Vivi

Ah, alright. I should be able to use that guide then with the appropriate changes you suggested.

ClockworkUniverse

Cool. Are you going to substitute an SSD or add it? Because if you substitute it, you'll probably need a second storage device at some point.

BlackHumor

I've done it too, just this summer; I've got a fair bit of experience. Plus, since I spent about $750 INCLUDING the OS, I wasn't that far above your budget.

My advice:

1. It is going to be very difficult to fit an SSD into a $500 budget. Don't try unless you can get a REALLY good deal.
2. Do NOT skimp on the power supply. Bad power supplies can damage your whole computer, and REALLY bad power supplies can set things on fire when they blow.
3. That said, most people tend to overestimate how much power their system needs. If you're getting a power supply greater than 500 W, you are DEFINITELY overdoing it.
4. For gaming, the graphics card is significantly more important than the CPU. Don't get an entirely crappy CPU, of course, but if you have spare money you should spend on the GPU not the CPU.
5. Just in case you were considering it, 4 GB of RAM is plenty. Do not even bother thinking about 8 GB before you have enough money to put in an SSD.
6. Especially right now when a lot of new stuff has just been realized, old tech will tend to cost less than it really should. Don't get a brand-new part when an almost-new part will do.
7. INUH is right that you are not seriously going to be able to screw up the building. I have to admit there are some inelegant pieces of my build (there's a gap in the back where I pulled one of the slot protectors off without thinking and couldn't get it back on), but it's not terribly easy to actually break a part all the way; things that are easy to mess up don't fry your computer and things that fry your computer aren't usually easy to do. (Just be careful with your CPU's pins and DON'T put the firewire connector into a USB port.)
8. Oh, and don't factor mail-in rebates into the price. They are bonus money for AFTER you put it together, often LONG after.
   

ClockworkUniverse

It is going to be very difficult to fit an SSD into a $500 budget. Don't try unless you can get a REALLY good deal.

Good point. I forgot how much they cost; looking back, yeah, a 120gb SSD would cost twice as much as the HDD you were planning on getting.