Build or subcontract?

grandpa

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I've pretty well settled on my components based on the wisdom contained in these forums. For about $1240 from Newegg, I can get:

Intel Core i7 920 CPU
ASUS P6T Deluxe Mobo
Cooler Master RC-690 Case
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W PSU
EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB Graphics Card
OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit OEM
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM SATA

My problem is that I'm a bit reticent about tackling this thing from the ground up. You hear horror stories about bad parts, bent pins, etc. I've swapped out Optical drives, Hard Drives, RAM, upgraded OS, BIOS, but nothing this inclusive. The installation instructions for computer parts are infamously incomplete, in manglish, or tell you "absolutely do not do this" 3 pages after you've fired it up.

Is there an on-line "Bible" for home builts? Should I tuck my tail between my legs and go with somebody like Directron for a little more money? What say you?
 
Its not difficult to build a computer .


It just requires some reading of the manuals [ particularly the motherboard one ] and then attention to detail as you handle a screwdriver .

You do need to take precautions against static , but again that is not difficult .

Google for articles about building a computer . The basics havent changed much in decades .


PS if that seagate hard drive is a 7200.11 you'd be best to swap it for a Western Digital or Samsung
 
I would just completely avoid Seagate at the moment. The 7200.11 drives are garbage and the 7200.12 drives don't look like their going to be any better:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16472

This is the most popular drive on these forums for a very good reason.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals $79.99

The Blue version is also a great drive and is currently on sale for a very low price.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=wd6400aaks $59.99 !!

Reading through this checklist might help you avoid some of the common new builder mistakes:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-build-post-checklist
 

grandpa

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I've got a wrist strap, will ground to the case, wife says there ain't nothing electric about me. Seagate is a 7200.12 but I went back and relooked. Less percentage of bad reviews for WD. Might look into Samsung. Thanks for the other info.
 

grandpa

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Thanks for the info. Probably go with the WD, maybe 1TB.
 

grandpa

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They were out of a couple items. Prices not bad, some cheaper. Directron is only $39 assemble/test. Thanks for info.
 

grandpa

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Other than the hard drive issue, looks like I'm good to go. With Neweggs normally good service, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and dive into it. I get stuck I can always come back, right? Thanks for the encouragement and I can always Google for a paddle.
 

Arkon4ever

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Build it yourself, it educates you about your own computer and you know exactly what you get.

What you want to take a closer look at is:

Applying thermal Compound/CPu Cooler attachment
GET a Wristwrap.
Read the manual.
Never Force a connector, nowadays all parts on the computer are designed to fit in only one(the correct) way.
Since there are no ide devices in your build you should be well able to build it and if all fails there plenty of people here to help.

Arkon
 

kubes

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There's also a lot of resources out on youtube.com that can help you. A lot of people post themselves in movies as they put together computers. This might help you if your worried that the instruction manuel's won't be enough.