No more builds for me.

In 2007 I built my own rig.
I spent almost $6k on all the parts, best of everything, supposedly...
After all the crap I've been through I'll never do it again.
So many claim you save so much money by building your own and that by purchasing high quality components you'll have a much better system.
Well I'm hear to say that it's all B/S. After spending all that money I had nothing but problems and no support, except for specific manufacturer support which leaves something to be desired.

Here's the system:
Case: Gigabyte Aurora 570
M-Board: EVGA nForce 680i SLI
CPU: Intel Core2 Extreme Quad Core QX6800
Memory: 4 GIG Corsair Dominator DDR2
Video: 2X EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra (SLI)
H/D: 3X 150 GIG W/D Raptor
DVD burner: 1X Phillips Blu-Ray/1X Phillips DVD
CPU cooler: Ultra Ultra ChillTech
P/S: Ultra X3 1,000W

Like I said, I spared no expense.
I'm not going to go into all the ugly details but I've had nothing but problems since the build leaving a very bitter taste in my mouth. One really bad taste was when I had to RMA the motherboard and found out when I got it back that I had to buy another O/S because the one I had registered was for the bad M/Board and not transferable...

Since 2007 this rig has nickel and dimed me to death.

From now on I'm buying pre built systems and will add things like video cards, extra RAM, drives etc to suit my needs.
Mainstream system builders like Gateway and Dell put together matched systems and unlike so many haters say about how horrible their parts are, they aren't bad and all the systems I purchased in the past performed perfectly and I've owned a few over the years like Sony, Dell and Gateway.

I know everyone will nail my butt to the wall on here but all I can say is I didn't save money, I didn't get the performance and all I got was a migraine from it all and an empty wallet.

Anyone looking into their first build, don't do it!
Go buy a decent PC from a respected manufacturer and then purchase upgrades that you really want, you'll thank me in the end, especially when you have problems and only have to make one phone call to the Co who built your system and not have to call multiple manufacturers to get help.

Home built systems are for tinkerers, not for people who just want their system to work.
I'm not trying to diss home builders and over clockers, just let people who've never done it before be forewarned that building your own isn't for everyone.

Just had to vent, don't take it personal... ;O)

u mad bra?

Not mad, just bitter, very bitter, LOL!

Yes, it was Vista...
As for "Watered down versions" I guess you could use that argument and I won't argue the point. Yes, you won't be able to do as much, but you can upgrade the system with better parts i.e. GPU's RAM etc once you get the system, that's why I never get the upgraded stuff like CPU, GPU, RAM etc. Well, I do get the RAM upgrade because I figure it's all matched when the system is specked out by the manufacturer of the PC.

I did have fun building my own, until I had so many problems getting it to run and yes, I blame allot on Win Vista.
But allot had to do with the M/Board, it was a POS from the get go.
I hope nVidia has improved their QC because the 680i M/Board was junk.

I might build again, but I'll never build another like the first, it really was overkill and I never got close to the benchmarks I should have, I guess because of Win Vista and a crappy M/Board.

start fresh and small. get win 7 home, you can pick up C2duo's/quads for £30/£130 quid these days..thats...im guessing around $60/$240 ish? (cant convert in my head) find a DDR3 skt LGA775 mobo for the cpu, DDR3 ram and a GTX260/290... Im building a budget pc for my GF, i have a 30quid gygabyte board, 2.5ghz duel core cerleon and 2gb ddr 800mhz ram and an 8800GT(which i bought for my self a few years ago, since upgraded to a GTS250) with that set up, i can OC the cpu to about 3ghz. It wont be a crysis killer but itl run casual games, some APB, a few lego games, borderlands and such at a nice 25fps plus. Yes its out dated, but my GF isnt a hard core gamer soe she doesnt need all the newest and shiniest stuff about.

as for me, im thinking of upgrading my C2Q 2.3ghz (OCed to 2.81 with a pre set), asus p5kpl, 4gb ddr 2 ram and windows XP pro to an i5 2300, a Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 and 8gb of G.skill Ripjaws + windows 7 64bit

i didnt think till after i had ordered her new bits that if i go ahead with mine, i could have saved my self £90/100 and just given her my old stuff =D. Such is life.


if you do decide to get back into building, start small and cheap, work your way up and best of luck to ya.

n00b.

+1^ , just buy more intelligently next time.

Really, your system is a nightmare in retrospect. I can't fault you or your advisers though.

We here on this forum have progressed over the last three or four years. More is known about what makes a good build and there is more help in choosing and building your own rig.

So, let me pick it apart a bit.

EVGA nForce 680i SLI
The NVidia chipsets ran HOT and were prone to issues. We stopped recommending them about 3 years ago. SLI was just a bad idea for this reason for a period of a year or so, until the Intel chipsets started supporting SLI.

2X EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra (SLI)
A couple hot cards... I bet they were jammed together on that board also. Not very many cards from the 8800 series left around these days... they have been surpassed quickly and most have burned out. Still, they were great performers at the time.

Ultra X3 1,000W
Got at least one good review. Ultra fell from favor due to some shady practices including deliberately mislabeling lower wattage units as higher wattage units. I wouldn't trust one these days.

Generally a good system now shouldn't cost more than about $2K, and can be done for less. A good chunk of that should go into a PSU and case that can be used in the next build.

Intel "Extreme" CPUs? Top-of-the-line graphics?

That's like getting an i7-990X paired with SLI GTX 590s/HD6990s on a ROG board... NOT NEEDED AT ALL. i7-2600K with GTX 560 Ti on any good P67 mobo will do the trick.

In other words, you've wasted a lot of money on overkill parts and now you regret it and try to convince others to stay away from building..

...well, that's why there's Tom's. People come here looking for someone to help them figure out their build.

I've built my first rig this year, before I was only working with outdated laptops. However, I was always messing around with desktops when I had the chance and a year before I built my rig, my friend asked me to help him choose a gaming laptop, and I've learned a LOT while helping him. Shortly after, I started picking parts for my own build, and the only thing that stopped me from getting it was Sandy Bridge and new GTX500 series cards. Once they became available, I re-thought my build and bought it, and it's great. The only mistake I've made was the CPU - looks like it's too powerful, but that'll only come in handy in the future.

TL;DR version: just about anyone can learn about how to build a decent PC with minimum errors.

So, for their own sake, I hope that no one listens to you and stops building. No offense. Don't build an overkill system, NEVER rush the purchase (aka "BUYING TOMORROW, NEED ADVICE!!!!!111", like some people do on the forums) and always look for reviews and advice, and you'll be fine.

Second that opinion about 8800s... hot and noisy. Just got a burned out one from my friend: it burned the same way most of them did - by default, the fan runs only @ 30%, so Far Cry 2 finally killed it. And you'd never think it's on 30%, because it's LOUD. Card works, but nothing except 1024x768 and artifacts all over the screen... I wonder if it'll still work as a PhysX processor =)

That's a good example of faulty equipment. If my friend would've read about the 8800 and its fan danger, it would've lived.

So every PC builder should read about his parts, whether you're planning to buy them or already have them running.

That said... all this cost $6K back then? That's a LOT.

Don't get me wrong, it IS sad that your build failed and I'm not being sarcastic or offensive... but don't you DARE say that ready-made PCs are the way to go. They're overpriced poorly balanced pieces of junk. I've seen too many Dells and HPs with i7s and i5s stuffed on a crappy board with locked BIOS and a lame entry-level GPU in a boring low-grade case for about $1000 to believe that's true. Don't make your failure delude anyone.

BTW, calling tech support is LAME... I once called Dell to find out whether an Alienware I was considering has an onboard RAID controller and they were taking a long time to find out that info for me, and you know what that clerk said in the end?

"Oh, controller? You mean, a *joystick*?"

THAT was a moment which I can safely describe as choking me with laughter. Still think "calling to the Co who built your system" is useful?

I regard myself as a step upgrader, I am not a hardcore gamer so for me I never buy high end GPU's for the reasons that 1] Very expensive for not much benefit, 2] Energy and heat a) Need a big expensive PSU b) High amp drains and heat. 3] GPU's are not good future proof components, a GTX 590 in 2 years will be more than likely off the market.

I buy the main essentials first, then have expansion in the future for more RAM, possibly a CPU change and of coarse a GPU change for another mid-high card in the future. Right now, all I want for christmas is a SSD.

First off I'm not a Noob.
I've built allot of smaller systems for friends, this was my first big build for myself.
I researched parts for over 3 months before buying. It was after the fact that all the problems came out about the M/Board and it was while I was in the middle of having problems of my own.

My argument is that when building new systems, like if I was to put one together today, you can read all you want but if it's a bad product you won't know until it's too late and you've spent the money.

When you buy from a reputable Co and things don't work you have so may avenues to get things right that you just can't get through separate manufacturers.
I have a friend who purchased a Gateway and had problems with it.
When it was all said and done, Gateway sent her a new PC.

Granted, smaller systems work better because the parts aren't as new and have a track record. But when you start building big rigs most parts are very new and there's that scary limited knowledge risk you take when purchasing those high end parts.

When I built my system I went with what I'd read and yes, I made some wrong decisions. My biggest problem is that after you buy you're stuck with it, Co's will only replace, they never refund. So, if you get stuck with a sub par item, you're stuck, unless you want to spend more money an something else and eat the sub par parts cost.

When you buy a Co built system you only have to deal with the Co that sold you the computer which really is a relief when things go bad.

I jumped the gun when I said I'd never build again, I would, but only small systems with parts that have a solid track record.

As to my 8800 Ultras, they where obsolete 2 months after I purchased them, so goes computer technology, LOL!

The big punch line to my build is I was going for a future proof build, LMAO!
I think what my biggest problem has been is dealing with my F/U M/Board, it never worked right from the start, I knew I should have went with the Asus PN 32-E SLI, it was my second choice, LOL!.

As for my hot case, it's never been an issue because I used the ventilated window instead of the plexiglass. I knew right from the start that if I used it with the 2 8800's I could have grilled hamburgers on the top of the case.
I also modded the case and added a fan that took the heat from the GPU's right out the back of the case so heat was never an issue.
The biggest problem was the M/Board which now I can't get a replacement that is very good as for performance. In fact, I think that the ones available now don't support SLI anymore so, so much for the 2 GPU's.

I'm going to keep looking and maybe someone knows where I can find one with SLI support and an LGA775 socket.
If I get a new M/Board I'll need to get new RAM and a new CPU, I can still use the 8800's because they still work fine, but I also know that a $200 nVida card will blow away both 8800's together.

I think my biggest problem was timing. Why? because only 3 months after my build, everything changed, like computers often do.
But if I had waited I could have got a system that cost less and lasted longer before becoming obsolete.

Will I ever build again? Most likely yes.
Will I ever build a monster rig again? It depends...

All I know is that if you're a casual user looking to save money, make sure you know what you're getting into before you start buying parts over selecting a pre built system. One rule you need to know before you build yourself is that when things go wrong you're on your own, other than manufacturer warranties.
If you're going it on your own you need to understand at least the basics of what makes a computer run.

Home builds are great, just make sure you know what you're doing before making the leap.
Otherwise, you'll be much happier just buying pre builts because there's always some tweaking when building your own and if you don't know what you're doing you'll soon drown in all the technical aspects surrounding computers and what makes them work.

Thank God for sites like this, but without basic knowledge you'll need a big bottle of Tylenol... ;O)

speaking as someone who has not bought a prebuilt computer since the end of the 1980s, I can only say I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.

I personally NEVER build a system with a time horizon past 2 years, though I'll stretch to 3 sometimes.

building your own is just better. In my sig, I have the latest build for myself, which cost $600, plus windows (and reusing my old monitor and keyboard). It is a POWERHOUSE in every game I throw at it... 62 FPS in APB, 59 FPS in Dragon Age II, 48 FPS in Second Life, 240 FPS in DC Universe Online, 65 FPS in Duke Nukem 4Ever, 48 FPS in 8-man teams in COX, 150 FPS in LOTRO, all at the highest quality levels.

Why would I need more than my $600 PC for anything?

The #1 way to lose money is to somehow try and maintain different components of your system (besides PSU). I don't want to sound harsh but if you want to do any gaming with any recent games, the first thing you have to do is trash your WHOLE system. Buying component parts to maintain a LGA 775 socket or those ultras is foolish and ultimately will cost you money.

Save, save, save, and then upgrade.

People have these attachments to their first major builds like its their first son....at the end of the day, it's a piece of hardware that will become obsolete with the only suitable destination being a trash bin.

I see people holding on to their first oldsmobile car and replace every single major part which adds up to the price of a new car....but at the end of the day, they are still stuck with their 1990 oldsmobile with a new engine, new brakes, new transmission, new etc.

It's really ridiculous.

I predict that kentuckyranger will be building his next computer. Just like me, and many others, he will look at Dell's (and Alienware's) gaming builds and scoff at the limited choices and prices. Then he will check out the boutique builders, like CyberPowerPC and IBuyPower, and realize he can save $300 by building it himself.

The basic human needs for control and saving money will take over. And hopefully, he will select affordable components instead of splurging on the fastest ones that offer that extra 5% speed for hundreds more.

NVidia is entirely out of the motherboard business now, except Tegra-based tablets.

My suggestion is lay out a budget, Peopl here can help you from as little as $300 up to ridiculously expensive builds ($5000 render stations, for instance). but for a standard home PC with gaming and such, $600-1000 tops is where you shoudl aim.