PC Building as a Hobby?

[Guest]

I built my first PC recently and enjoyed it. I would like to build them more often, but I don,t have the money. Is there any way I could keep building them and not lose money? It would be more about fun than profit.

 

[zyh1987]

i enjoy the game, pc building simulator.

in terms of pc building, you can see if your local computer shop is hiring.

 

[Guest]

Thanks! I will look into the game. I don't really have any shops in my area other than best buy.

 

[WildCard999]

Yup it's an expensive hobby. A way to fiddle with systems for free is to find older systems tossed out by larger companies and mess around with those. I usually try to repurpose them and give them to family members, friends or anyone I know that needs a computer but doesn't have the funds to do so.

 

[why_wolf]

It's in the same category as working on a car. Very expensive and no real good way to break even. Best path is just to find friends or family that are looking for new computer and offer to build it for them but make them pay for all the parts.

Downside to this is you will be the person they call when something goes wrong.

 

[WildCard999]

Thanks! I will look into the game. I don't really have any shops in my area other than best buy.

Same, all we have is Best Buy's and a few mom & pop shops. Although every time I go into Best Buy and have someone come up to me I have that Ron Swanson response.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEhHEOIYgMY

 

[stdragon]

Materials + labor = cost to build.

If you're building this computer yourself on spare time, you'll get a great value out of building a mid-high to high-end computer. Because, your spare time is ostensibly "free".

If building computers for others as a business, now that's a hard sell. You can't compete against Dell for price w/ warranty. But, where you can leverage your custom build options is in the ability to upgrade with non-custom standard parts. IMHO, it's not worth it unless the customer is willing to pay for my time. I'm not cheap, so neither are my computers. But that's ok, I'm up-front about it. Want a budget machine? I say buy a Dell or HP (refurbished too if they're that cheap). I'm not being snarky or snide. Just being 100% honest up-front. Saves everyone the grief.

 

[jsmithepa]

Get a job with the Geeksquad, then u will be playing with somebody else's money and get paid at the same time! They probably want u to have an A+ certificate.

 

[zyh1987]

Issue with geek squad is that you will be fixing budget pc and laptop rather than building high end pc.

 

[jsmithepa]

Issue with geek squad is that you will be fixing budget pc and laptop rather than building high end pc.

Well you get to do real troubleshooting, and fix things that don't work.

Is fake fun when all you do is putting the lego pieces together and it boots the first time u do it. Wait 'til things don't quite work then that's when the fun begins.

 

[Karadjgne]

Doubtful. You'll start out as a tool toter, unloading the vans etc while installers hook up Tv's etc. If you survive that, and someone on the bench takes a vacation, you might actually get to do simple tasks like check psus or add the odd ram stick etc. The geeks who actually fix/upgrade pc's, especially expensive models or custom builds have usually been there for years and have IT degrees etc.

It's the mom and pop shops, eBay retailer stores etc where you might catch a break if willing to work on commission or minimum wage.

 

[stdragon]

Good grief! Geek Squad is the worst! I'm the guy people come too after they screw up a PC from bad to worst. They also devalue any IT degree they might hold.

Examples of eff ups by GS include:

1. Installing new AV without removing the prior. Antivirus suites will conflict and at the very least, performance suffers and RAM consumption becomes higher than normal.

2. Forgetting to plug in SATA data or power to the CD/DVD drive.

3. Deleting customer data.

4. Selling NICs when the onboard is just fine (original issue was a corrupt WINSOCK setting in Windows).

5. Botching a Windows upgrade and not having a system backup image to roll back to for the customer.

There are other examples, and yes, the customer should always back up their data first anyways. But the lack of communication by GS to the customer is unforgivable.

My recommendation is to take any PC to a reputable mom and pop shop with a good track record. Often the techs their have been around awhile and are experienced enough. GS however is probably just a revolving door of employment.

 

[ArchitSahu]

@OP:

Run a PC building service. List yourself on the local market, and advertise that you have the lowest prices for PC parts if building a PC. Then do a lot of research for the cheapest PC parts you can find WITHOUT compromising quality.

Now, you have the fun of building computers and playing with them for a bit and make a bit of money on the side.

I did this in my local market (Singapore) and sold enough PC's over 3 years (after a bit I started outsourcing slightly) and make a tidy commission of 10% of whatever the PC total cost was. I made enough that I will be able to pay for one year of fees for Uni when I apply.