How long do you take to build?

Stu999

Stu999

Stu999

Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2015
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Just built a new machine at the start of April and it took me about 3 hours to build and another 30 mins to an hour to sort out Windows and other software installs. TBF it was only my third build and first for 5 years. How long does it take you?

I think I was too worried about getting everything right and cable management. Front panel connectors and M.2 screws took me ages due to my large hands.

I had to re-assemble it today due to mobo replacement and I rushed as much as I could and it still took an hour with cable management already in place.
 
Days... Every build takes longer as I do more mods and specially fitted bits. I have two builds on the go and they're both barely started because I'm still planning, buying bits and researching.

Building is the fun bit :cool:
 
Build usually 3 to 4 hours, but then a couple of days of tweaking, tinkering, refining. I like building Mini 7-8 litre ITX, so is a refining process.

Planning can take a year though, buying case first, then planning components to fit. the case can often take 3 months to arrive.
 
LuckyBenski said:
Days... Every build takes longer as I do more mods and specially fitted bits. I have two builds on the go and they're both barely started because I'm still planning, buying bits and researching.

Building is the fun bit :cool:
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That makes sense. I probably should have specified a fairly standard build, just air cooled with no water cooling or modifications to the case, etc.
 
hyperseven said:
Quite quick. Have learnt to build on the mobo box on my desk before putting everything in a case and then troubleshooting.
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It took me 3 very frustrating builds to learn to do this. Assemble on a bench, check it posts and boots, THEN figure out how you’re going to loom up the cabling before putting all it all into the case.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
It took me 3 very frustrating builds to learn to do this. Assemble on a bench, check it posts and boots, THEN figure out how you’re going to loom up the cabling before putting all it all into the case.
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Sometimes even that is not enough - my current build started on the test bench, was installed in the pc and is now back on the test bench as I seem to have a dodgy motherboard (well the memory, graphics cards (multiple) and cpus (multiple) all work elsewhere but crash on this computer as soon as an nvidia driver appears.

So, so far this build is 3 weeks in planning, 2 days in building and 1 day unbuilding so I can identify which part is wrong.
 
My record is something like 20 minutes assembly and then 15 to get Windows up and running on a really simple build. I take a bit more time over my own stuff though - the PC in my signature took me about two hours of carefully stealthing cables and making sure absolutely everything was going to be correct first time because I wasn't in the mood to throw together - test - pull apart to fix - test again :)
 
My last build took maybe half an hour to assemble all the parts. It used to take longer, but there are some really nice quality of life features that help speed things up these days - easier to fit backplates, stand-offs with one raised prong to hold the board in place while you screw it in, screwless expansion card and HDD fittings, aggregated case header connectors.

I do not miss the days of fighting with the case to get the motherboard in position with one hand as it strains against the poorly fitting backplate while I try to drop in and tighten the screws with my free hand. Overtightened screws in flimsy expansion card case slots. Fiddly drive cages with holes that didn't quite align with the drives themselves. Case fans with holes just slightly too small to fit the included screws. That lovely razor sharp finish on case edging that would gouge a line in my hand and see my bleed on to my components. The horrible fiddly process of connecting each individual connection for the power, speaker, case lights, and USB ports.
 
strumpusplunket said:
I do not miss the days of fighting with the case to get the motherboard in position with one hand as it strains against the poorly fitting backplate while I try to drop in and tighten the screws with my free hand. Overtightened screws in flimsy expansion card case slots. Fiddly drive cages with holes that didn't quite align with the drives themselves. Case fans with holes just slightly too small to fit the included screws. That lovely razor sharp finish on case edging that would gouge a line in my hand and see my bleed on to my components. The horrible fiddly process of connecting each individual connection for the power, speaker, case lights, and USB ports.
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Ahhhh the good old days ,remember them well :D
 
I usually do builds together with a friend of mine. Typically they're watercooled, these days.
Basic assembly is split between us. He'll do the initial bits like RAM and CPU, all the mobo fitting stuff. I'll generally chuck it together. He'll do the fiddly bits that need small hands, we'll figure out teh best tubing runs. I'll do all the cable routing and tidying, then hand it over for him to mess about with OS and any overclocking.

Using standard components with no fancy modding, it takes about an evening, ie from 8pm to about midnight. This includes phonecalls, doing your dailies on mobile games, customer visits, food, social banter and arguing about whose turn it is to make the tea.
 
It's good to know I'm not massively slow when building then :) You sometime see YouTube vids where they claim to have banged the system together very quickly, which seems unlikely. That said some of them are building all the time.

I wonder how long OcUK staff take.
 
Including building it, stress testing, software, updates, tidying up the software installs etc, customising the OS/programs to how I like them.... a couple of days to a week based on previous times.

Actually building the computer depends on what I'm building and how much time I spend on keeping it all tidy etc but I'd say 2-4 hours but then I'm not rushing, not to mention big hands and smaller cases don't exactly go well together lol.

Could I do it quicker, yes most likely but I don't build pc's on a daily basis so usually like to double check with the manual etc.
 
It depends on the build.

If it's a case without a window I tend to do the bare basics in terms of cable management as it doesn't really matter so much, so generally under an hour.

If it's something more complex with a Window and RGB etc 2-3 hours to get everything looking smart.

Obviously this varies depending on the case being used, some are more fiddly than others, and if building a custom loop or something you can add on a fair bit of time.
 
Something I'm not very experienced with so I take my time, though I do enjoy it.

I built my current system last October and I still haven't really finished it yet.
 
20 minutes to plug it together and 3 hours p%!*@g around. In my last build was removing a fan from an old case and the self-tapping screw shredded itself inside the fan casing, use rubber ones now cos I grew an extra braincell since 2010.
 
Everyday basic box, mobo, gpu, memory and hdd/sdd - 20 minutes. Done windows/office etc.. all in the hour and then leave to update. My own or a high spec with non air cooling can take hours to days.
 
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