Build a new PC, with no experience.

look at the benchmarks on this site. I guess the first thing you have to decide if you want an Intel or Amd/ single vs, dual core. Then find a compatible mobo. from this the ram is decided (ddr vs ddr2 with the different speeds). Choose a gfx card by the benchmarks. then add all the random hw (open up your old pc and see if you have everything it has). Ask lots of questions. if you look arond the forums you notice that most users are patient and nice.

Thanks a lot. I think I'll spend time learning about stuff for now and then eventually decide what exactly to buy. Keep in mind, I'm building this around December, and in that time, there will be many new things out and prices will be bumped down on other things  

yeah by dec. conroe (new intel chip) and AM2 (new AMD chip will be out). Vista will be nearlxy there, and dx 10 gfx cards should be there.

To learn i suggest to take some old pc you have (if you have one, if not just ignore this) open it up and take a look at everything, take it apart and put it together again, you get a giant amount of experience and confidence and if it breaks, well you messed up some worthless pc and not you new rig

As a first time builder these are the things you need:









And finally for you or your PC depending on your mood:

Seriously, though there are plenty of guides to build a PC on the internet, like this one.

Places to buy are www.newegg.com, and www.ZipZoomFly.com, but there are plenty of places out there.


To learn about hardware there's www.Tomshardware.com, Anandtech, XBit Labs, Silent PC Review, HardOPC just to name a few.

I laughed pretty hard jaguarskx...that was funny.

I would suggest buying a barebones pc and adding to it yourself.

Take for instance, Monarch Computer Systems.. They are a large supplier, similar to newegg and zipzoom. However, they also build systems (both full and barebones).

You get a lot of control on what you want in your rig. You pick the case, the power supply, motherboard and cpu. They will assemble it, flash the bios on the board and give it a 24 hour burn in test.

It's not a bad price either....they charge $45 (last I looked) for the labor. The price for each component is exactly the same price actually sell that item for.

You could then buy the hard drive, memory, ect and add them yourself.

Thank you all, nice advice. I think I'm going to take apart my dad's computer >.>

heya prozac:

lets go over a few basics.

1) good strong lighting.
2) flat surface to work on, a card table is good, also do not work over carpeting, static electricity is bad.
3) wear a grounding strap, if you dont have one just work bare armed, and make sure you touch the bare metal of the case often.
4) remove all jewlery, watch, rings etc etc.
5) always unplug the power, and hold in the power button for five seconds to discharge any residual energy from the system.

next lets talk about some not so comonly thought about issues.
Ask yourself.

1) Are you the type of person that is generaly good with mechanics.
2) when you put something together do you always have left over parts, and dont think twice about why?
3) Are you a patient person?
4) Do you find technical challenges irressistably intriguing?
5) Does the thought of working with computer hardware make you extremely excited?

If you find yourself answering other then what my answer key indicates then building or troubleshooting computer hardware probably isnt the best thing for you.

Answer key: 1)yes 2)no 3)yes 4)yes 5)yes

On the brightside if it isnt for you then you could always make friends that are techinically inclined -=D

Hey Jag,

LOL

       

If you decide to purchase from the web Newegg is always a defacto standard but there are others trying hard to make your money too.

You have to be careful though.

my old standards for price comparison in order of use:
www.pricewatch.com
www.gotapex.com
www.fatwallet.com
www.streetprices.com
www.pricegrabber.com

If you decide to buy the great deal from someone you have never heard of please look here first:

www.resellerratings.com

great site just type in the name of the seller and you will likely get a lot of good information.

Hope this helps!

Also,

There is no good substitution for experience. SO, if you have a reliable friend that has done this before and will actually let YOU build the PC it is always good to have them around (feed them pizza or something).

Allright, forget about getting a bare bones kit or having a PC shop assamble it for you. If you do your homework, by December, you should have no problem building this yourself. Plus you will be happier knowing you did it all youself. I taught myself how to build computers. It's pretty easy, most parts now-a-days fit only one way, the right way, in the right place. It's not very complicated, and if you do run into any problems, you know where to come for help. Windows XP installs are alot easier then when I started back in the good ole' days of the Windows 98 era.

Just make sure you properly insert the Flux-Capacitor into your Interociter, otherwise you could could tare the fabric of the time-space continuum, casuing a galactic meltdown, in which case, you would have to come back here and ask us for help.

ME TOO

I started building comps a couple of years ago.

The new MBs these days give out quite good detailed instructions on how and where to install stuff.

Better than buying any PC mag.

BTW i still like the way the zalman website has instrucitons on how to install their HSF mini movie clips!

1) hell no, usually have trouble doing anything mechanich, but pcs are different. You dont need to be a carpenter to build a pc
2) yes, always have leftover scrs when i work on my pc. (maily cause im too lazy to put all 6 screws ind to the hds though)
3) no
4) its a pc not a fighter jet
5) no relaxed

so you see you dont need any of the mentiones skills


i do howerver agree with that
i dont want to star a war but i leave the psu plugged in and switched off to ground the pc

Tomshardware actually has a pretty good guide with pictures. It's from 2002, but it cover all the basics. The only real change is when it comes to the motherboard. You will most likely have a PCI-e slot instead of an AGP slot. But like I said, the basics are there.

Building Your Own PC, Part 1: Know-How for Do-It-Yourselfers

Building Your Own PC, Part 2: Assembly Step by Step