Built My first PC Succesfully! (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

Only one or two problems along the way, and one false power supply buy that had to be returned, and things are working perfectly so far, for the first week!

Athalon 64
Asus A8n Premium
THX Certified Speakers, Creative Labs
THX certified sound card, Creative Labs
DVD Dual Layer drive, 5X DL
HDTV Fusion 5 Card
ATI AIW X600
256 MB's memory(Last thing to be ugpraded to a gig)
Seasonic 380 Watt Power Supply....
Windows XP Media Center
Just PC Black/Silver Case


Took about a month of ordering parts, and about 30 minutes to put together...

Too bad I can't make a living out of this

 

[Diallo B]

congrats neil. good job. nice looking system, need more ram though

as with anything the first is always the hardest. now you can try and keep upgraditis off of you because now that you see how easy it is you will always want to upgrade something. and with all of the options of that asus a8n your pocketbook will be constantly be thin!

 

[Diallo B]

double post.

 

[StevenFC]

Here's to ya' Neil. It's a blast no doubt about it. And you can make a living at it btw. Do yourself a favor and buy a bigger PS. They lose power over time. But looking good.

 

[Scott L]

Now you get to scoff at people who buy pre-made systems like the rest of us.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

if the market wasnt so saturated with others, maybe you could

it's not that hard to build your own comp as long as you research it enough. before i built my first, years ago, i thought it would be very difficult. i've probably built hundreds by now, i had a job where i built about 3 a day for a nonprofit foundation who takes donated computers (old POS components) and lends them to people with disabilities, most of the time even adapting a part of the computer to help the person use the computer, keyboard or screen mods...building a computer out of nice new parts was a breeze after dealing with all that old stuff we got donated!

CJ

 

[Joe D]

I also recently built my own PC, it was a lot of fun and I got a better computer than what I could have bought from other companies.

I don't think I'll ever buy one again.

 

[Jeff Peake]

30 minutes is pretty good for a first-timer.


I always take at least 20 minutes trying to figure out how to plug in the little tiny cables for the front panel buttons, speaker and hard-drive lights! Those always seem to be a pain.

 

[StevenFC]

Yeah, they could make that easier. That's about the time that I start getting a headache from squinting.

 

[Arthur S]

I thought that you could not build a computer as cheaply as you can buy one. There must be more to building one then. Other than the experience of building, what is there to gain by building?

 

[Christ Reynolds]

getting the exact components you want, instead of what manufacturers happen to have contracts to stock.

CJ

 

[Scott L]

In addition to what Christ wrote, check this thread old out:

http://hometheaterforum.com/htforum/...hreadid=206713

If all you do is browse the web & check email then a $400 Dell may be your best bet. But if you want to do more it's best to build it yourself.

 

[DeathStar1]

30 minutes is pretty good for a first-timer.>>>

Well, minus another 30 minutes I gave for the t hermal paste to be spread by the preasure of the heat sink . b ut all in all, thirty minutes to set the other stuff up is a pretty good estimate .

 

[Stacey]

For the last year or so I've been thinking of the possibility of building a PC myself. The one main problem I seem to have is that I live in Canada and there seems to be a lack of companies to get my parts through. (I really don't want to order from the USA, the dollar exchange and shipping costs are a killer).

Can any of you HTF PC-guru's direct me to reputable Canadian companies that sell quality parts for computers?

Oh! And congrats, Niel, on the fab PC!

 

[Chris Dias]

Where are you Stacey? I recently built my first computer and I got all of the parts from www.canadacomputers.com. they have good prices and a large selection. I picked up the parts locally at the college street store in Toronto, but they have others stores in different cities as well as online ordering. I'm not sure what the delivery charge is though, if anything.

Check them out.
Chris

 

[Stacey]

Hi Chris,

I live in New Brunswick (Moncton to be exact) and the Local businesses we have here for computer parts are:

1) PC Medic - http://epcmedic.com/index.html

2) Compu Smart - http://www.compusmart.com/

3) The Parlor - no web site available but they sell new and used (refurbished) computers & parts

Plus several other "small businesses" that sell new and used. (i.e Pawn Shops, Run from home)

Now they are all "ok" but I'm always looking to price compare.

I've been to Tigerdirect.ca as well but never found the link you posted. I'll have a look and any other stores you know of, please pass them on!

 

[Mark Shannon]

Chris, I've built two monster machines, both in the last year, and also got all my parts from Canada Computers (the Mavis and Eglington location). They're the greatest place for some cheap parts.

I'm not too sure they're exactly legitimate though. I work at Staples, and our price match policy refuses to match anything from Canada Computers. Apparently, they're not even a legal retailer of Logitech products, but somehow they still carry them.

Nonetheless, great parts at great prices. Can't go wrong there.

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Stacey,

I have been getting my parts from:

Link Removed
www.vibecomputers.com
www.anitec.ca

all out in BC, but there is no provincial tax on out of province deliveries.

 

[Aaron Gould]

I'll second NCIX.com. I've ordered a LOT of stuff from them over the past couple years, and they're amazing. Both with service and pricing. Always my first choice when shopping.

Some other places:

Frontier PC -- www.frontierpc.com
PC Canada -- www.pccanada.com
Bigfoot Computers -- www.bigfootcomputers.com

I've got about 25 stores bookmarked from across Canada, so there's no shortage of retailers here!