building your own pc

lil_chooa

elo peeps , having problems with my 733mhz pentium 3 and was just wondering how difficult it is to upgrade it to say a dual core pentium 4 2.66ghz or similiar. I will keep my exisiting graphics card and cd drive etc. my main worry is when you change the motherboard etc will it fit in the case and be adaptable will the psu etc? help!!

theCapt

tbh you'll probably can use your case and optical drives but every thing else will need replacing. because it will be a big leap in upgrade terms you may be better off buying a new base unit from say pc world etc. it will be cheaper than buying a new system and will also be guarenteed.

lil_chooa

cheers captain, is it pretty shraightforward to build your own pc??

Tallymanjohn

To be honest, unless you're going for real 'up to the minute' technology then you'll find it cheaper to buy an 'off the shelf' Dell, Compaq etc. By the time you've bought a new motherboard, CPU, power supply, memory, operating system, etc. you aren't saving a lot, if anything, by building it yourself. You'll find that even your graphics card and optical drives are 'old technology' now.

If you're intent on building your own PC then yes, it is very straightforward - you just plug the cards & connectors into the appropriate slots, shove in the CD & away you go. The difficulty comes in choosing the hardware & sourcing it at decent prices - hence the 'box shifters', Dell, Compaq et al, have the advantage of volume purchases which you & I cannot match (you try getting Windows XP for much less than £70!). The only time I would say to build it yourself is if you want to go for very high-spec hardware, with specific capabilities, & you're looking to spend £1500plus - gaming & video editing would be the sort of thing that requires that sort of planning/outlay, otherwise get a decent branded system for £500-£600 plus monitor & you'll be well away.

theCapt

lil_chooa wrote:

cheers captain, is it pretty shraightforward to build your own pc??

I'd say it is like Lego but I have a degree in I.T. and have been in the computer industry for over 10 years, so I can say that, to a novice it has never been easier. but this is nearly a complete rebuild and will be cheaper to buy for a retailer.

suggest you buy from a retailer this time and buy upgrades in the future and fit them your self and learn as you go along. remember dell use non standard parts to stop people upgrading them selves so they have to go through dell to upgrade.

ollyk

Tallymanjohn wrote:

To be honest, unless you're going for real 'up to the minute' technology then you'll find it cheaper to buy an 'off the shelf' Dell, Compaq etc. By the time you've bought a new motherboard, CPU, power supply, memory, operating system, etc. you aren't saving a lot, if anything, by building it yourself. You'll find that even your graphics card and optical drives are 'old technology' now.

Freekin annoying isn't it :mad:

Tallymanjohn

Yes, it's annoying but.... - I gave up building systems some time ago: low margins; competition from the box shifters; unable to supply the same warranties economically: Now I just make a living picking up the pieces when things go wrong - far simpler, less turnover for greater profit - I'm not complaining.

micoli

I built my pc, (my first and only), about 15 months ago. It's actually pretty simple when it all goes well. Have someone handy who is online as you may need some info about something specific. Also get all the parts together and make sure they are compatible, such as an AMD will only fit on an AMD compatible motherboard etc. Make sure you get all the cables as well. I found I needed a SATA cable when I came to building my PC and had to make an urgent visit to the component shop. I can't bear to spend my money in PC World and found Maplin Electronics surprisingly well stocked and cheap for screws, cables and things like that.

I think you will need to upgrade the case as I believe there is an insulation / suppression problem with older cases (or something like that!). I bought my stuff from Novatech, (Google for them), who I found were well priced, held the stock, and delivered promptly. They also have an excellent returns policy - I know because I had to return some wrongly ordered memory chips and there aren't many companies that will take them back and give a refund without a quibble! You might also want to look at the compatability or usefulness of mixing older hardware, like HDD's or graphics cards, with a new MB and processor.

BTW Novatech also do a barebones system, but I prefered to research a bit and specified the parts.

Tallymanjohn

Actually, wouldn't want to disagree with theCapt (though I am....) but even Dell are having to move with market forces & are using majority generic, standard hardware on their systems so upgrades are far more feasable by end-users (though you should still refer to us techs of course, otherwise I'd be back to working for someone else!:rolleyes:)

lil_chooa

thanks guys mite just settle for one of these babies : DimensionTM 5150
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 805 (2.66 GHz, 2x1 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
1024MB DDR2 RAM
17" Analogue Flat Panel Monitor (17.0" v.i.s)
160GB SATA Hard Drive (7,200rpm)


would prefer a 2 core duo but bit out my price range

wolfman

Tallymanjohn wrote:

The only time I would say to build it yourself is if you want to go for very high-spec hardware, with specific capabilities, & you're looking to spend £1500plus - gaming & video editing would be the sort of thing that requires that sort of planning/outlay, otherwise get a decent branded system for £500-£600 plus monitor & you'll be well away.

I wouldn't say quite £1500 plus. I always self build, but in order to do so you need to spend at least £500-600 on the base unit. My most recent build was around £750.

The advantage of self building these days, is that you get to pick the parts yourself. Dells often have standard/average cases, psu, mouse, keyboard, memory, basic motherboard etc...

So self building will generally cost you more, but by doing so you'll get a much nicer, more complete system given you pick the right parts.

Also I wouldn't say self building is easy. Putting the parts in the case is easy. Buying the right and compatible components isn't. I've yet to have a build where it runs completely smoothly from the first boot. It usually takes a few weeks to wear it in and update any firmware etc...