Just recently, I decided to go onto Newegg.com and do a mock selection of all hardware I would need to build my own computer. The grand total of the system I selected just over $1000, this pc was a beast. This is astonishing to me because this same PC would cost me $500-700 more then getting it through Avadirect.
Avadirect is where I bought my current PC. They are like Newegg.com that sell all parts separately, but they get to put it together for me. There have been a few past blogs where I have compared Dell and Alienware to Avadirect prices and both Dell and Alienware would fail. Howvever, comparing prices to a home built PC to a PC I could get with Avadirect, the home built PC wins.
Today, I got really serious of building my own PC way later in the future. My current PC is just fine for another year or so before I like to upgrade. Perhaps I could do a total rebuild next summer, when much better video cards come out and 4 GB dimms are more avaliable and cheaper. My current case, power supply, and dvd drive can be reused for the new system if I decide to build it myself.
The biggest concern I have about building my own PC, is not getting it to work. There is no one I know who could help me look at my PC to make sure I have all the connections right, to test to see if my motherboard is working fine, my power supply have enough power, and so on. The problems I could experience may be my fault during the building. Do I really want to gut this already working PC for another PC I built myself that may not even work? Do i really want to save $500-700 to go into a world of total hassle or spend $500-700 more to let someone build it for me so I could be hassle free?
Ill go honest with you guys and some of you I talk to on Xfire may not know. Some nine years ago I tried to build my PC, twice. Both times i thought I knew what I was doing because I asked everyone on the internet for help. When I got all my parts assembled and was ready turn it on, nothing happened. I didnt know why and nobody on the internet didnt know why either. It was way beyond frustrating, heavily disappointed and a complete waste. It is really one time of my life I really really regret and that is building a PC Do I really want to do this all over and spend $1000 and end up wasting it?
However, we now have Youtube where there are alot of videos showing how to build your own PC. It was much more helpful then nine years ago when there was no such thing as Youtube back then. My only question is about the hard drive and dvd drive hook up to the sata ports on the motherboard. Does the bios automatically know which is the hard drive and dvd drive? Someone on Gamespot Hardware forums posted a very very nice tutorial on how to build a PC and at the end he didnt mention anything about the bios.
Those who may think I may be building a PC within a few weeks, I am not. Again, I may wait until next summer or fall to decide what to do. In the meantime, I could continue learning how to build a PC, but at the end I will decide to get another pc from avadirect or build my own.
Comments
BIOS will most certainly recognise your DVD drives and hard drives. To be honest you don't really need to spend much time in BIOS, the only reasons you might want to venture in there is for Boot priority (for example my computer doesn't bother reading the CD rom drive on bootup since the only time I want that is when I repair windows or something and I can just turn it back on then) or maybe overclocking or checking timings - most of that can be done in windows. If you ever have to flash bios however I do not recommend flashing in windows.
The big thing for me about building my PC was the reward I got out of it, and the confidence in PC hardware related problems. I remember an earlier PC I put together and switched it on and got nothing, later realizing I forgot a power plug. The hardest parts when installing a new PC for me are 1) CPU heatsink install - these suckers require quite a bit of pressure and at first I was worried I would snap the motherboard and 2)the case switch / LED / USB plugs. I won't say my hardware adventures have been smooth, I had some problems with power supplies (tip: pay a bit more for quality) and some other issues but once you get passed that the ability to diagnose problems is nice too have.
What's the rig looking like?
Nutcrackr is right. CPU heat sink and LED lights are probably the trickiest, but I got it done the first time around, so its not as if its insanely difficult. You just need to be careful.
To me that was a really fun project and a huge learning experience.
Still I never buy too expensive PC, It wastes a lot of money, Always buy something one year older saves a lot of money & The system even runs fines & PLays games on highest Resolution & Graphic Settings possible.....
BTW Youtube is very helpful for ppl, Who have trouble in doing these kinds of stuff......
The_PC_Gamer