How long did it take to build your first PC?

[RYB]

My first build was a Q6600 machine back in 2008. I decided to take things slow so it took me an entire day. I remember what a pain in the bum installing the Xigmatek CPU cooler was. A 2500K build in 2011 took me half as long. Take your time, read everything, and all will be OK.

On the plus side does anyone like that new PC component smell? am i the only one?

I'm indifferent to component smells. I like the smell of the plastic bins for sale at work though, they smell fruity.

 

[bitslice]

I was the same, the empty socket needed filling


Heh, Civilisation - three years gameplay on a disc
such things are unheard of now.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

My first build was a 386SX25 with 4 meg Ram and a 256k graphic card.
It took longer to write the commands into autoexec.bat and config.sys to get it all working and installing DOS.
Also remember that there was no IDE back then and hard drives came in RLL, MFM and SCSI flavours.

 

[almoststew1990]

I am a sucker for getting exciting and rushing, that is one of the things you have to avoid! Plan for an afternoon to get it set up. It will be quicker and smoother if you have tidied the room a lot too, so you have lots of clean surfaces to put things on, and you dont lose a screw driver etc.

Also think ahead so you dont end up putting in the hdd first only to find out the GPU needs to go in first, but the power connectors need to be threaded around before that even...

I'm just going to go there and say your first build it kind of like losing your virginity, nervous but also exciting, doesn't go perfectly and you'll probably encounter some things you hadn't expected, but it gets better and more fun the more you do it

 

[foster grant]

My first build i think took me about 8 hours ...i think , i had to keep stopping as the woman in my flat kept on making me cups of builders tea

 

[Aod]

My first build took about three hours to get the hardware together, and then about another six to get windows up and running with software installed.

Windows XP just took ages to install!

 

[Hitman_Leon]

Mine was a Cyrix 686 P150+; I would say today's builds a simpler, it was the awkwardness of the older parts not the complexity of them and case internals like razor barb didn't help.

Took around 10 hrs including OS.

 

[Zbornak]

Is there a webpage or YouTube video that's a must read before you build, or is it all dependent on the type of hardware and case that you buy?

 

[ObixConstant]

6 hours on my first build and current PC 3 hours (5 years between the builds) much easier the 2nd time though 0 issues when booting up for the 1st time.

 

[LfcGazza]

Is there a webpage or YouTube video that's a must read before you build, or is it all dependent on the type of hardware and case that you buy?

What I did was watch videos of people putting systems together to know what goes where. Then just follow the manuals what you get from the components. My build took me about 2-3 hours to do. The hardest part was installing the fan on the cpu but luckily there was videos showing how to install it.

 

[WKN]

My first build i was too excited to sleep, so i rushed it because i was tired. Took me 5 hours, No problems

 

[Ghosteh]

A few hours for my first ever build, but that was under supervision. I was only 9, but the systems back then where much simpler to build.

First one I did without supervision probably took me about 45 minutes, as once you know what you're doing, it's pretty simple.

My current rig took hours, but that's because I've got a custom watercooling loop in it with crossfired cards, which I needed to take the stock HSF off to put the cooling block on, which was a bit of a nightmare lol.

Just take your time and do things methodically, and you should be fine. They're pretty simple things to put together, but it's great when it's all done .

 

[eatcustard]

It too me about 1 hour to bolt everything together, then a few hours to install windross ect.

 

[RomanNose]

5 hours.
I think I was about 14/15. I can't remember though.

 

[Phate]

Hard to say, I was young so I gradually bought the parts over about 8 months and assembled it as I got the parts.

However ive built a pc in less than 15 minutes before like others say, it isn't a race...take your time, be patient...any questions, just ask!

 

[wordy]

it'd probably take me a total of 25 hours and then go bang when i switched it on.

that's why i have never attempted it.

Exactly this!

I'm happy buying pre-built gaming rigs from here. Run like the mutts nuts and only cost about £60 more than building your own and no stress about spending 25 hours on it only to blow the processor, motherboard & gfx card up on 1st power up.

 

[atpbx]

I can honesty remember, the first PC I built myself was a combination of parts from a PC world sack of crap and parts I'd bought myself.

I should think it was round about 4 hours from start to finish.

Earlier this year I stripped out my PC In its entirety, refitted everything into a new case, fitted a H100 and actually did proper cable management for the first time ever and it took me 3 hrs to do it properly.

 

[platypus]

Think my first build took me about 4 hours. My dad supervised though.

 

[ThatAsianGuy]

Im 19 at the moment nearly 20, and i feel like a kid man, whenever I go theme parks or look foward to something i cant go sleep 2 days before or even a week .

 

[wannabedamned]

My first machine took about 3 hours I think, It was an upgrade, keeping in mind, I think the only thing I kept from the old machine was the floppy drive

386 > Cyrix 166mhz in a new case, etc, etc. So yeah, I literally only moved over a floppy disk drive

Old style computers were much harder to build though, the cable management wasnt there, everything was just red and black cables, and really sharp edges!

Watch your hands, as the sharp edges still exist, and they cut you like stealthy ninjas!