Pair up with a friend who does it before? Share the fun!
I am a software guy and not fond of messing around with hardware, but a couple of tips. Research is a must, so find out what you want before you hit the stores, and have backup plans because they may not the stock for your preferred choice.
If you want to put the computer together yourself (some stores do provide assembling after you pick the parts, at least for Singapore), get a good motherboard. Some have ‘fasteners’ in place so you don’t even have to mess around with screws.
The only thing that could go wrong is static, so just be sure to ground yourself, and putting too much force when plugging in graphic cards, RAM and etc. It has gotten easier over the years to together a computer now, especially if you get a roomy casing. Don’t skimp on the fans too, especially if you are building a 3d graphics gaming powerhouse.
I built one (my first and so far only) last year. When I finished it I pressed the power button and nothing happened. It was indeed a little scary and it took a day to sort it out on various forums, but I did get it to work. I had basically misconnected some of the fan control connections and grounded the motherboard.
I will probably do it again (build a computer, that is, not screw things up) next time I need one.
Putting together a system is a lot simpler than it used to be (Or maybe, just very
different) getting all the jumpers just right was a real pain.
You turned it on, it didn’t work, you shut it off, changed jumpers.
Repeat as needed.
On another note, Some versions of Linux will let you put
just about any pile of junk into a working machine.
I use suse 11.1 and bonobo
When I was looking for ideas on how to build my first machine, I spent a lot of time searching for things like “budget gaming machine” on Google. Then I would pore through guide after guide and forum posts. Eventually, I settled on a forum post that was getting a lot of praise from other forum members. I knew it was going to be a good machine and the person who’d created the post had listed in detail every part he bought - this alleviated a lot of my fears about buying incompatible parts. I wrote down this information and went looking for parts on NewEgg. They didn’t have a few of the exact parts I search for, but this was okay. By that point, I had an idea what was similar enough (RAM that was the same type, but different brand, etc.) and was able to modify my needs to fit their catalog. Never underestimate the helpfulness of internet denizens who’ve done it all before.
Also, if you put your machine together and it just won’t work, don’t sit and stare at the machine for 2 hours like I did. I was freaking out, sweating, shaking and sick to my stomach. Finally, and wisely, I left the room and went outside for 30 minutes. When I came back in, the problem presented itself immediately. I had forgotten to plug in the power connector for the CPU. I felt like a real idiot, but I learned a lesson. When you’re having a panic attack, you don’t think rationally. Step away from the situation and re-attack it with a fresh attitude later.
I was a nervous wreck when I built my first PC aged 18. I didn’t have a lot of money and I was afraid of breaking things as I put them in. It took me an hour just to put the CPU cooler on due to the amount of force it required me to apply to the motherboard.
Three or four complete PCs later and I am much more confident. I use high-quality (still reasonably cheap) CPU coolers which, while a pain to mount, don’t require you to apply force down on to the motherboard. I research each component meticulously and only ever buy high-quality. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration, if not money, that way.
My next big step was finally getting the confidence to over-clock my first PC. I’d read everything about it, specific to my motherboard and CPU, just couldn’t bring myself to try. That’s despite the fact I’d purposely bought a good over-clocking MB, CPU and cooler. I eventually bit the bullet and now I can’t imagine building a PC without OC’ing afterwards. It’s cheaper and more fun!
My next big step is water cooling. One day I’ll gain enough confidence to try…
Where did you get your parts? I think the smoke may have leaked out of my machine at home, and I’d rather just get a new box, since the monitor and speakers are more than fine.
I bought the motherboard, RAM, and CPU from Computer Direct Outlet in Greenville, SC, and the case (and bundled power supply) from TigerDirect. I had gone down to Greenville with the intent of bringing back all the parts I needed, but they didn’t have a case I liked, so that didn’t pan out and I wound up waiting while the case came in the mail. I was recycling hard disks and (originally) an optical drive from the PC I was replacing. I did wind up buying a new optical drive from TigerDirect, though. Nothing looks uglier than a beige CD burner in a black case.
Overclocking is setting the clock speed higher than the by-the-book specs for components, like running a 3.0 GHz CPU at 3.5 GHz. The benefits are squeezing the maximum performance out of your components. However, this also generates additional heat so you have to make sure you deal with that. It may also void the warranty, not sure. I’ve never done it. It’s really a step for enthusiasts.
Overclocking is a hobby and the people that practice it have a range from casual to extreme. It means making the CPU and maybe other components work faster than they are rated for. The simplest way to do this is just by adjusting the BIOS or using software to adjust your video card. The hard-core enthusiasts however do things like extreme water cooling and custom fans to push things as far as possible as an experiment.
If you just want to use your computer like most people do, the improvements are not very large. In my experience, you are simply better off buying better components in the first place but some people like to tinker and don’t think of it that way. Once you start overclocking too much, you will create an unstable system that generates too much heat and you can blow out components. I have done it in the past (mildly) and it worked but it was just an experiment for me too and I am not sure I got much real-world benefit from it. I wouldn’t recommend it much for a first-time builder unless someone is really just interested in seeing how far they can push hardware.
I was once told that if I didn’t understand what I wanted in the different options, I probably shouldn’t be having a custom musical instrument built and should buy off a production line. That might apply here. If you are wondering if you should build a computer and don’t know the difference in the various components, you probably shouldn’t do it. If you know the difference, you probably aren’t asking if you should do it.
If you can read and follow directions, the difficulty is a non-issue.
