Building a PC - how difficult is it (for inexperienced people)?

[lishaohua]

I was initially going to come here to ask if CybertronPC and CyberpowerPC were good brands, because they seem to have the highest ratings at Amazon, as well as a lot of very enthusiastically pleased buyers. However, I saw that in the few threads I looked at where others had this question, most of the answers said that they could not be trusted to use good components and you never know where they might take shortcuts in their build... and that it's much cheaper and quite easy to build one yourself.

At first I balked at the idea, but after a while I thought it might be a good opportunity to try something new and save some money at the same time. The thing is, I have very little experience with the hardware side of things - it's limited to installing RAM, installing a solid-state drive (and switching the original hard drive to slave), and hooking up an old hard drive to a new computer in order to copy the files. Is building your own PC really a doable option for someone with little experience, as many posters have claimed?

I have received much invaluable assistance previously at this forum. Thank you all again for any thoughts you might have.

 

[USAFRet]

A reasonably intelligent 12 year old can assemble it.
Read the directions (twice), ask questions here, go slow.
There are a multitude of videos on youtube, along with a collective centuries worth of experience here.

The hardest part is devising a parts list, within your budget, that does what you want it to do.
For that, start here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

 

[lishaohua]

Perhaps I should have asked the question differently. I believe that it's doable, based on what I've read here on this board, but the next important question is - how long would it take, for someone who's never done it before? Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time and energy to spend on this, and I'm on a bit of a timetable in terms of when I'd like to have a new computer ready, so if it's something that may take too long, I may go ahead and buy a pre-assembled one this time and perhaps try to build one next time.

 

[Garilia]

The first time I built one, it took me longer to decide on the parts and order them. The actual mechanics of building the machine...putting the parts into the case, installing the operating system, configuring the drivers, etc, took me about 3-4 hours.

 

[USAFRet]

Perhaps I should have asked the question differently. I believe that it's doable, based on what I've read here on this board, but the next important question is - how long would it take, for someone who's never done it before? Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time and energy to spend on this, and I'm on a bit of a timetable in terms of when I'd like to have a new computer ready, so if it's something that may take too long, I may go ahead and buy a pre-assembled one this time and perhaps try to build one next time.

My grandson, at age 11, took about 3 hours to assemble it.
"Here dude, there's a pile of boxes and user manuals. Make it."
1st time, never having studied any assembly videos or anything.

He did 90-95% of the actual assembly.


Basically, it will take you an afternoon if all goes well.
If you go slow and read the manuals, all will go well.
If you try to rush things and not pay attention, bad things will happen.

Mostly, things only plug in one place and in one direction.

 

[mjslakeridge]

Use a site like PCParticker.com to select your parts. It has a compatibility check to ensure the parts will work together. It also has a wattage calculator to help you select the power supply. Put a list together and use the permalink on PCPartpicker to post the link here for comments/suggestions.

As said above, the assembly isn't that difficult (assuming you have decent eyesight for connecting the wires to the front panel header on the motherboard). Installing the operating system and all of your various apps will take longer than the assembly most likely, but that can be done over time as you decide which apps you want to install (Microsoft Office, DVD burning software, MSI Afterburner, Printer utilities, etc.)

 

[lishaohua]

Three hours or so to assemble, in addition to picking parts beforehand, and installing the operating system and programs afterwards. Okay, I think I get the picture. Thanks for the assistance, everyone. I'll decide if all that is worth the time investment.

One last question, one that I referenced in my initial post, does building it yourself save a little or a lot of money compared to buying one pre-built? Let's say for example, at Amazon, which is where I would likely go to buy one. Sometimes there can be pretty good deals, I believe.

 

[USAFRet]

Three hours or so to assemble, in addition to picking parts beforehand, and installing the operating system and programs afterwards. Okay, I think I get the picture. Thanks for the assistance, everyone. I'll decide if all that is worth the time investment.

One last question, one that I referenced in my initial post, does building it yourself save a little or a lot of money compared to buying one pre-built? Let's say for example, at Amazon, which is where I would likely go to buy one. Sometimes there can be pretty good deals, I believe.

It's not necessarily the money, but rather the actual choice of parts. Sometimes it might even be a bit more expensive.
But often, those bundle things skimp on parts that you don't notice. Power supply, no name RAM, etc, etc.
Also, you often get mismatched parts from those things. A high end CPU with a mediocre motherboard.

Buy and build it yourself, and you have absolute control over exactly which parts go in.
AND you have a far, far better clue of what to fix if something fails 6 months from now.
If you just buy one and something happens, its all a black box. You don't know where to start troubleshooting.

 

[lishaohua]

I thought that would be the last question, but your answer raised another question - how great of importance is it to have good/better versions of those things - power supply, RAM, motherboard, etc. Good power supply versus bad power supply, is there a lot of difference, or is it not that significant? Good RAM versus bad RAM, is there a lot of difference, or it is fairly minute? Good motherboard versus bad motherboard, etc.

 

[USAFRet]

I thought that would be the last question, but your answer raised another question - how great of importance is it to have good/better versions of those things - power supply, RAM, motherboard, etc. Good power supply versus bad power supply, is there a lot of difference, or is it not that significant? Good RAM versus bad RAM, is there a lot of difference, or it is fairly minute? Good motherboard versus bad motherboard, etc.

Motherboards, mostly features.
RAM, speed, sort of.
PSU? A bad PSU can actually die early, and actually kill other parts. Yes, this happens. That would be like being at the hospital, and cheaping out on a pacemaker.
"That's OK, Doc...I'll just take the cheap one." (Said no one ever)


Come up with a budget and use, and the good people here will suggest many parts lists. Often to the point of arguing.
Start here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

Or, look through these lists, in your budget range:
$500 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314070/builds-2017-500-budget-category.html
$750 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314074/builds-2017-750-budget-category.html
$1,000 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314080/builds-2017-000-budget-category.html
$1,250 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314096/builds-2017-250-budget-category.html
$1,500 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314101/builds-2017-500-budget-category.html
(I'll stop there)

 

[mjslakeridge]

Decide on your budget and select your parts using PCPartpicker.com. The only component you don't want to get a low quality one is the PSU. A bad one can take out your entire rig (and maybe burn down your house). You don't need the best PSU, but avoid Tier 5 completely, and if you are going to be overclocking or have expensive parts, I would probably avoid Tier 4 also.

See this list:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

If a PSU you are considering doesn't appear on the list, post back here and someone will probably know about it.

 

[lishaohua]

I thought that would be the last question, but your answer raised another question - how great of importance is it to have good/better versions of those things - power supply, RAM, motherboard, etc. Good power supply versus bad power supply, is there a lot of difference, or is it not that significant? Good RAM versus bad RAM, is there a lot of difference, or it is fairly minute? Good motherboard versus bad motherboard, etc.

Motherboards, mostly features.
RAM, speed, sort of.
PSU? A bad PSU can actually die early, and actually kill other parts. Yes, this happens. That would be like being at the hospital, and cheaping out on a pacemaker.
"That's OK, Doc...I'll just take the cheap one." (Said no one ever)


Come up with a budget and use, and the good people here will suggest many parts lists. Often to the point of arguing.
Start here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

Or, look through these lists, in your budget range:
$500 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314070/builds-2017-500-budget-category.html
$750 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314074/builds-2017-750-budget-category.html
$1,000 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314080/builds-2017-000-budget-category.html
$1,250 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314096/builds-2017-250-budget-category.html
$1,500 - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3314101/builds-2017-500-budget-category.html
(I'll stop there)

Thanks for the links. Should I start a new thread to ask for suggestions on a build for my specific price range and desired specifications? Or just ask it here?

Regarding the PSU, I didn't know it was that important. I'm glad I know that now. The part about making other parts go bad made me think of an external hard drive I had going out after just a bit over a year, but those have their own power source, so I'm guessing it didn't have to do with the PSU of the computer.

Just curious - do people build their own laptops as well? After doing a quick search I found this - http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-2040567/build-laptop.html - where it seems there are conflicting opinions (including one from USAFRet).

 

[Wushupunisher]

I just built a new computer myself yesterday. Took me about 4 hours just to build lol still figuring out drivers and such. It's all a tad confusing but just follow some guides and you'll get it. I had no experience first hand going into the build, just information I read off the internet. Having a small issue with something but other than that it's gone smooth.

 

[USAFRet]

1. Yes, start a new thread on this.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

2. Yes, a PSU can indeed kill other parts. I now have a potential wall art due to a bad PSU. Corsair CX 600 PSU ate my Z77-D3H motherboard.

3. Building a laptop? No.
From some places (Sager) you can customize a little bit.
But laptop parts are not standardized like desktop parts.
In that thread you link, if you are referring to the comment of:
"Nonsense, of course you can. I did of course put the stipulation that one would need the technical ability; you don't have this ability so that would exclude you, but just because you don't know how to doesn't mean it can't be done."

...Notice he gives no real details.

Motherboard A will not fit in Case X, nor work with CPU Y or GPU D.