Self Build Concerns

Drake

Drake

Drake

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Joined
14 May 2006
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186
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Stoke-on-Trent
Im currently toying with the idea of building my next PC myself, Ive never even attempted to build a PC before and I plan to spend as much as £3000 or just over.

My question is how easy is it to damage hardware accidently when installing it or make mistakes in genral which will ruin a peice of hardware? Getting the cooling wrong is also a big consern. I know theres a build guide on here but I was wondering what everyone elses opionions on this are.
 
do it........
building a pc for the first time can be daunting, but thats natural. ive built many a pc and my main tip would be......
BE PATIENT! theres a wealth of information available on this forum and floating round the net, get as much info as you can and go for it.
£ 3000? that'll be one hellish pc for that price, infact if youre self building you can drastically reduce the price compared to high street prices :)
good luck,
steve.
 
The first thing that you will want to do is to ask people here to spec you some hardware and see if you like the looks of it, around here we really know how to get the best bang for the buck.

On top of that you should take time to think about your budget before committing to it. Building computers is an expensive hobby, but £3000 is a huge amount even in this area, and depending on what you want to use this computer for it will probably cost much less.

As for safety, as long as you follow instructions and read plenty of guides you will be fine. Computers aren't actually difficult to setup, most things are colour-coded or fit in a specific place, and anything needing a little more will usually be indicated in instruction manuals.

Hope this helps as a little starting point, if you have any questions you're in the right place.
 
Thanks guys, I use my PC for gaming only and recently purchased a 2407 so I want a rig that can run games maxed at 1900x1200. The budget isnt realy a problem for me and Ive recently purcahsed new monitor, speaks, mouse and keyboard anyway. :)

Ill request a spec on a new thread and see what people come up with. thanks again . :)
 
I'd say build.

I got a spec made up from contributions made on this site (which has been great) and there's a load of interesting information out there.

Best tips I can offer are ask the wise to make sure things go together before you buy, then, using the advice offered go out and research the recommended items, order in bulk to save on delivery, then make time to do a good job and pay attention to the small things as they make a big difference.

I had never built my own before but now I have I wouldn't buy pre built again. I am now looking to build again (and mostly for the sake of it now the new chips are out, tragic extravagance!).

You have to be prepared to do some troubleshooting yourself, but people are pretty helpful around the place (even if you are new) and if, you work through things methodically, you can solve most issues. I had one issue with my build which turned out to be a faulty stick of RAM. A fast RMA later and its been better than my pre built machines since.

I did quite a lot of research, put together build guides and a pack of stuff to get me started and it was useful to have a PC working on the net while building, just for reference and in case you need to shout help.

My only word of caution is once you start its surprising how keen you are to mess more with things! I certainly have found its increased the knowledge of what happens inside my machine and why. Makes PC owning far more interesting having done it yourself and its no longer just 'the work box'. And then..the upgrading in earnest begins.. I can honestly say I'd never have been thinking 'Conroe' had I not built my own. Mixed blessing I guess. :)
 
The scariest thing about a first build is turning it on for the first time and expecting some sort of explosion. Which wont happen... well, unless you manage to get the 24 pin plug in the wrong way somehow, or you get stung with a dodgy piece of hardware.

Just read the manual... many times, have a plan of what you need to plug in and in what order, it'll give you confidence when you actually make a start cause you wont be going in blindly, you'll have some idea. Plug everything in, in groups so you dont confuse yourself. Like plug all the case lights/switches in at the same time, once you've got them all in, double check them and move onto the rest.

Once thats all done, fire the weapon up, and jump into the bios. click on "Load Optomized Defaults" then go in and set your time/date/boot order etc. While you're in there, have a look at your cpu temps and stuff, leave it running for a while to make sure everything is being cooled well.

If all is well, stick your Windows disk in and away you go.

Its really not hard, you'll be fine, you can always post here if you have problems. :)

EDIT: I noticed your cooling concern, i dunno about anybody else, but if you're going for a socket 939 setup, i found the stock coolers on these to be an absolute pig to attach to the motherboard. Mine took a lot of force, anger won over in the end and everything clicked into place finally.

Hopefully you wont have that issue, but if you do, just know that the board/heatsink assembly can take more abuse than you'd think... well in my case anyway. :D
 
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Price up a budget, look at some common parts, get together a full specification sheet, post it on here get some people to look at it, if its the all clear buy the parts then post on here once you get them. Start to build it bit by bit, any problems you have the hand of the forum at your pleasure. Honestly once you built one pc you thought what all the fuss was about. Its just knowing what to do in specific areas, for example setting up bios or installing windows e.t.c. Trust me once you have the componants you will be laughing. Good luck

PS a budget of 3000 is massiv in IT. Once system for that is a killer system.
 
Read the manuals at least once & have them by your side when building, is what I have to say :)

Also, research is crucial. Check the stickies in each of the Hardware sub-forums. Also, search Google for usefull guides like this (save or print out) :cool:

EDIT: £3000's OTT especially considering whatever you buy now will be obsolete in a years time (& or price will reduce by more than 50%). But, it gives you a chance to concentrate on parts outside the PC case such as peripherals, monitors, speakers, etc which can stay unchanged for more than 5-years ;)
 
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hp7909 said:
EDIT: £3000's OTT especially considering whatever you buy now will be obsolete in a years time (& or price will reduce by more than 50%). But, it gives you a chance to concentrate on parts outside the PC case such as peripherals, monitors, speakers, etc which can stay unchanged for more than 5-years ;)
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Ive always payed over the odds for PCs :( but it doesn t bother me so much, I only bought new mouse, monitor, speaks and keyboard within the last month so those are already sorted. :)

I started a seprate spec thead here so please go make lots of suggestions. :D
 
Add me to msn, its in my trust and under my avatar. :)

I really recommend you build your own, but change your budget to £1500, you will get a TOP spec PC for that, and have £1500 left over for three years time when it is looking old! GIves you a much better PC over a longer amount of time. :)

If its your first build it makes more sense aswell.
 
I built my first PC about 4 months ago dude. It's daunting, and you fear you are going to mess up big time, but it is relatively simple.. really the hardest things for me were getting the motherboard in to the case, which can be fiddly unless your case allows the motherboard mounting plate to actually be taken out (handy) and connecting all the cables at the end. The cable thing was more down to me being a dummy than it being difficult though. :p Once you've completed your build and you know everything is working, you'll realise you could do it again without breaking a sweat.

Components are somewhat fragile, but I generally believe some people will have you believe they are easier to break than they really are. And static charges aren't as big a problem as people make out either, although of course you should still discharge yourself of any static energy.

Take your time mate, and you'll be fine.

Take a look at this too: http://sysbuild.corsairmemory.com/report.aspx?id=2
 
Guides can be highly confusing, read them but then do it your own way.

Ive done well over 400 rigs now, of varying vintages and I have only ever killed some EDO ram through static, I chuck bits about onto my bed with no ill effects.

If you treat the stuff right, not Yewen style then its quite sturdy kit compared to 20 years ago.

With your budget, you could buy and build a £500 PC to get used to it, then give it to a relative, THEN build your own rig getting it exactly right!
 
Looking at that guide very briefly Im left wondering do you need to mess about with the BIOS or is tha tjust something for people who want to tweak their PC to their own taste? also is it better to buy extra stuff like thermal paste and not use the stuff that comes with the mboard?
 
Taught myself to build them 6 years ago and so glad i did, saved a fortune over the years. May look hard from the outset but it's a lego set tbh and with regards to the Bios; manual + forum like this wont take 1/2hr to learn what does what. ;) Not broke any component so far in 6 years so not fragile as some might suggest but do be very careful none the less. :D
 
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Drake said:
Looking at that guide very briefly Im left wondering do you need to mess about with the BIOS or is tha tjust something for people who want to tweak their PC to their own taste? also is it better to buy extra stuff like thermal paste and not use the stuff that comes with the mboard?
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Yeh, £5 on some Atric Silver 5 is one of the cheapest ways to make your CPU you a few deg cooler.

Add me to msn and I could give you a video guide to doing anything you were unsure of if you like. :)
 
Yewen said:
Guides can be highly confusing, read them but then do it your own way.
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Definitely agree with that, but I still think it's worthwhile reading them because you get a very basic idea of what will be going in to your PC and how they'll be going in.

Reading that guide certainly helped me along with mine.
 
You could practice on your current PC too. I don't necessarily mean you should take the entire thing apart, but pop it open and just see how it all connects. Try disconnecting and connecting stuff, removing and installing cards or hard-drives.

At least you'll be a bit more prepared for when you have to do it with your new hardware.
 
hp7909 said:
Read the manuals at least once & have them by your side when building, is what I have to say :)

Also, research is crucial. Check the stickies in each of the Hardware sub-forums. Also, search Google for usefull guides like this (save or print out) :cool:
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I whole heartedly support that :)
I would also suggest possibly getting a couple of books out from your local library or finding a good guide to building/troubleshooting on the internet and printing it off.

Self builds can be a great deal of fun, and a good learning experience (not to mention knowing exactly what is in your new machine), but please read the manuals/do some research first :)
 
Oh they are fun, I would not bother if I did not enjoy it.

When your at the point that I am thinking of spending £80 on some fans, then is the time to start worrying about your sanity. :D

First builds can be tricky, but if your other PC / work has net that you can use any trouble you get you can post in here and someone will no doubt be able to help, people are the best resource, and this forum is full of a lot of very knowledgeable individuals. :)
 
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