Thankingabout tyrying to build my own Desk Top PC

[Lowell]

I've been having so much trouble with my HP PC lately that I am thinking about buying a new one or building one.  My Granddaughter's husband build his  own Desktop which has a lot of capability as he is also into gameing. I don't think I need the gameing performance although I saw that Microsoft is supposed to come out with a new Flight Simulator next year that uses Google Earth so that might be interesting.

I guess I'll start by looking at a lot of You Tube " How to" videos and see if I catch the bug.

 

[TheBar]

I've built several bare bones computers from this company starting 10 years ago but its been a couple of years. I had good experiences but Google their reviews then decide for yourself. Their prices are pretty decent and their components are good not junk.

You can buy a computer in any state of completion and finish the assembly yourself. You can reuse a lot of parts from your old computer like the keyboard, mouse, hard drive, DVD drive, cables, etc. and save money. They have guides to help you choose your components. They will install those components in the case and test to make sure everything works. Then when you get it you just have to install whatever parts you saved from your old computer.

https://www.portatech.com/products/category.cshtml?id=1239

 

[SusanV]

My oldest son (age 24 at the time) and many of his friends have built their own, and they're much happier with the custom features they have than they were with pre-made gaming computers.

 

[LarsMac]

I built my first one in the days of the AT. It was a marvelous machine. 8086 processor with a full Meg of RAM and a 10 Meg Hard drive and 300 baud.

Since then, I've built a number of them, and helped several grandkids build their own.

First thing to remember is you probably can get a decent PC a lot cheaper than anything you will build. so don't do it to save money. But the fun and exasperation you will feel while putting the thing together and making it work is worth the money and time when you first get it to run. 

A lot of good info at Tom's Hardware, https://www.tomshardware.com/
and  MaximumPC magazine

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

For newcomers to building a PC, I suggest a "bare bones" or "Bundle" package in which you get some or most of the major components in sort of a kit form.  The basic components are matched for compatibility so you won't make any serious purchase errors.  You can also use the bundle or kit as an ordering model for what you want, upgrading selective components to tune it for your own needs or budget.

Here's oe place that has "bundles" for both entry level systems and higher end needs.

https://www.newegg.com/Entry-Level-Bundles/Store/ID-1360?name=Entry-Level-Bundles

https://www.newegg.com/Full-Build-Bundles/Store/ID-1359?name=Full-Build-Bundles

 

[xrated]

I'm going to second Gary RV_Wizard's suggestion about Newegg.  I just finished up a new build this past weekend and it's smokin hot

1.  Asus ROG STRIX Z390-E Motherboard
2.  Intel Core I-9 9900K Processor at 3.6 GHz....overclockable to 5 GHz
3.  Corsair RMx Series RM 750W 80 plus Gold Certified Modular Power Supply
4.  Samsung 860 Evo 2.5" 500GB Sata III SSD drive (This one is for all apps/software/data storage)
5.  Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe M.2 250 GB SSD (This is for the Windows 10 Pro 64bit Operating System
6.  Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 Ram (16 GB) Memory
7.  Corsair Hydro Series H100i Pro Liguid/Water Cooler for the CPU with twin fans mounted on an Aluminum Radiator
8.  NZXT brand H500i Compact ATX Mid-Tower PC Gaming Case (RGB lighting and Fan Control)

This a mid to slightly higher level gaming computer build, but I don't do gaming.  I wanted something that was FAA AAA AAAA AAAAAST  and this one is blink your eye and you miss it fast.  I hadn't built a computer since about 2010 and they have changed a lot since then, so a bit of a learning curve and research for me.  I basically used the Newegg website that Gary referenced above and changed a few/added a few things from the kit that I had selected.  Having a latest generation processor, plenty of RAM, and two SSD (Solid State Drives instead of the traditional disc drives), speeds things up like you wouldn't believe.  Also, separating the Operating System from the rest of the stuff on the computer helps a lot in that regard.  All told, parts, Win 10 Pro, and PC Mover Pro software will hit the button at about $1600

 

[Larry N.]

Yup, Newegg is a good place to do business with. Besides the prepackaged "gaming computers" from mainstream companies, there are specialized places such as Digital Storm (mine is now 9 years old, still going strong), Alienware (now a subsidiary of Dell), Falcon and a number of others. These let you select components that are well matched so you can, for example, get a high powered CPU with a very modest video card, or the other way, with power supplies, disc sizes/types, etc., even different cases to choose from.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

How much money do you want to spend on a new system?

 

[Lowell]

Well, after looking at this a bit more, I probably won't build one. I don't think I know enough to spec out a compatible systems and if you can't save money doing it, I don't see the benefit. 

But thanks for all the info. I will look at it further
Lowell

 

[xrated]

Lowell.....There is a webs site...  www.pcpartpicker.com that you can go to that will basically allow you to pick out all the parts needed to build a PC and everything you pick out, it will show you, as you add it, whether or not that particular part is compatible for the system you are "building".  No commitment or anything like that, it just lets you assemble a list of necessary parts to build a computer but shows you compatibility.  If you select let's say a motherboard and the processor you select isn't compatible, it will show that and you can select a different one.

I disagree with the previous comment about not saving money by building your own computer.  The one I spec. out and built would have cost me approx. $500 more to buy basically the same thing already built.....and of course the big advantage there is that you pick each and every part by brand, model, style, etc.  I really like Samsung SSD type hard drives and you can select the exact one or two or three of them that you want and not have to try and buy the "perfect" computer for you and it's got everything you want.......except they put an off brand hard drive in it.........or whatever the case may be.

 

[SeilerBird]

My current Chromebook costs $159 and it is blazing fast. Boots in 8 seconds, can't get a virus or malware and never needs to be backed up or updated, that is all done automatically.

 

[Daffy]

Lowell.....There is a webs site...  www.pcpartpicker.com that you can go to that will basically allow you to pick out all the parts needed to build a PC and everything you pick out, it will show you, as you add it, whether or not that particular part is compatible for the system you are "building".  No commitment or anything like that, it just lets you assemble a list of necessary parts to build a computer but shows you compatibility.  If you select let's say a motherboard and the processor you select isn't compatible, it will show that and you can select a different one.

I disagree with the previous comment about not saving money by building your own computer.  The one I spec. out and built would have cost me approx. $500 more to buy basically the same thing already built.....and of course the big advantage there is that you pick each and every part by brand, model, style, etc.  I really like Samsung SSD type hard drives and you can select the exact one or two or three of them that you want and not have to try and buy the "perfect" computer for you and it's got everything you want.......except they put an off brand hard drive in it.........or whatever the case may be.

I second this.

 

[Ernie n Tara]

Rather than start from scratch I bought an Acer Aspire E 15 laptop and upgraded by substituting a 500G SSD drive  and 8G of fast ram. This is a basic computer with a HDD and limited memory (economy screen). It has DVD drive and multiple USB ports. The changes result in much improved speed (boots in a few seconds) and fully suitable for any use except gaming or really heavy number crunching for about $500.

If you go to Amazon and scroll down the comments you'll find detailed instructions with part numbers for this upgrade. Simple and quick to do and results in a truly useful system.

 

[Lowell]

What about the software when you build your own computer.  I assume you don't get any along with the hardware.

 

[TheBar]

Did you check out the link I posted earlier to Portatech.com? 2 versions of Windows 10 are part of the package which you can select or ignore. One of the advantages of Portatech is it will not allow you to select components which are not compatible.

 

[DavidM]

Lowell how old is the old HP and what are you having issue with?  You might have options with the old one that would help the performance without even buying a new PC. 

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You can save money building your own by selecting the specific features you want rather than getting a pre-configured system that typically upgrades every component at each price level. That presumes, however, that you have some notion about what is important to you, e.g. graphics quality and/or speed. compute performance, amount of RAM, amount of drive space, etc. But you need to have some notion about those to select a packaged system too.

I'd suggest you spend some time educating yourself about the tech aspects of a computer, e.g. SSD vs disc drive, how graphics boards/chips affect system performance, how much RAM is enough, etc.  It can be mind-boggling because the tech gurus typically debate arcane features and the latest gimmicks, even though many PC owners won't even notice them.  And they often view the "average PC user" with disdain and actually under-spec their recommendation for them (any PC at all is "good enough").

Seilerbird recommends his Chromebook and for many "average users" it's an excellent choice.  If your PC usage is strictly browser-based, i.e. viewing websites, participating in forums like this, maybe Facebook or Instagram, and send/receive email, a Chromebook is perfect and inexpensive as well.  But if you have a favorite interactive game or or like to edit photo or videos, a Chromebook can become too restrictive if you are doing more than the basics.  If not sure, consider buying one of the inexpensive models and give it a whirl. You aren't gambling big money and can probably sell it for half what you paid if it doesn't work out for you. The biggest shortcoming with Chromebooks is no displays larger than 15.6". If you want (or need!) a larger screen, use of an external monitor is the only option.

 

[xrated]

What about the software when you build your own computer.  I assume you don't get any along with the hardware.

Software.......several choices for Windows operating system.  You can buy the disc and install it that way if you have an optical drive.  Second way is to download Windows via the Microsoft website and then purchase the key code.  Doing it this way requires that you either burn that I so file onto a disc or use the Windows Media Creation tool to download Windows and make an iso file that goes on a USB thumb drive.  Any of those methods are all "bootable" and recognized by the motherboard's BIOS or the latter version of BIOS....UEFI.  The simplest is buying the disc version of Windows, but more expensive than doing the download version and making your own bootable i so file.  I downloaded mine from Indigo software.com and the retail version of Win10 Pro (64 bit) was $59.95........which is less than half the price of buying the boxed version with the disc already made for you.

Software Part II:  You probably want to move all or some of your existing software from your old computer to your new one.  Probably the easiest way to do that is PC Mover Pro software....approx $60.  This software is the only one that Microsoft recommends for moving your "stuff".  Having said that, there are MANY other software's that are capable of doing it too.  Just be aware that if you are going from Win 7 to Win 10, some of your programs/apps may not be compatible....or at least require an updated version of the software.  All of this is time consuming, but so is buying an already built computer and either moving everything from the old to the new or reinstalling all those programs/apps and starting over.  Using a software like PC Mover not only brings over the software, it brings all of your data for those programs.

 

[johnaye]

I have built quite a few computers over the years, starting with a 286.  I quit building my own when I realized I could buy a better computer that was built by a manufacturer.  Building is fun, but find someone who knows what they are doing to guide you. 

 

[Lowell]

After thinking about it, I decided that I could get by for the next year or so with something simpler.  And with the Amazon Prime thing going on now and other suppliers lowering their prices, I just purchased an inexpensive touchscreen Chromebook.  I am amazed at how super fast it is. Still learning about how do do a few things.  I found the spreadsheet feature would open my excel spreadsheets from the flash drive but not the .ods files. Not sure why that is. When I send something to the printer it is instantaneous. My desktop takes a couple of minutes to print.