Anyone have experience building a barebones PC?

[burythehatchet]

I'm curious and want to see if its a good idea to go that way. If so, what's a good resource for the novice?

[meegbear]

1. I've done it several times ....

get a basic book on it. I would recommend that you buy a cabinet that already has a power supply in them (some don't) and get a motherboard with the CPU installed. Everything else is just a phillips screwdriver and pushing things into slots.

Good luck.

[burythehatchet]

3. that's encouraging

thanks

[tridim]

7. I disagree on the case w/ power supply

Unless it's a high quality case (with an equally high quality power supply), the power supplies are usually crap and can cause problems down the road.

[meegbear]

9. Haven't had a problem with 'em ...

and I've gotten middle of the road boxes.

[tridim]

12. You're lucky

I've burned out three of the $15 power supplies in the past 2 years. I'm now using an $80 power supply with variable speed fan. Just the fact that it's about twice as quiet makes it worth the price.

[tridim]

2. Tomshardware.com

Will tell you just about everything you need to know about hardware. I've only purchased one pre-built machine, back in 1991. Since then I've always built my own. The price/performance ratio of home built machines is amazing. I like buying exactly the hardware I want, not settling for what Dell wants me to have.

[burythehatchet]

5. funny you mention Dell

that's the reason I'm exploring this. Michael Dell aint gettin another dime from me to give to bushco.

[salvorhardin]

4. Ars Technica

Has excellent system guides to help you get started.
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200411.ars

[ET Awful]

6. It's VERY easy to do, I've built dozens of them.

Just finished one last week as a matter of fact.

Depending on what you're planning, two good resources that I can think of right off are www.amdmb.com and www.hardocp.com

Both have forums where you can discuss hardware, get advice, etc. Just be prepared to be a bit overwhelmed at first with the technical level of what they say. Once you explain you're a novice, they'll tone it down.

It's not hard to do though.

A good source for the parts is newegg.com Excellent prices, and good customer service. I've been using them for about 4 years and have only had one issue (they shipped late when I was working on a deadline, and the part, through no fault of theres, was defective, so I had to return it).

Go for it though. Once you've built one, you'll be reluctant to ever buy an off the shelf PC again.

[last1standing]

8. I build all of my systems.

It can be as expensive or as cheap as you decide and the end product is so much better than any of the cookie cutter computers out there because the equipment you get is usually of a much higher grade.

I've been going to www.newegg.com for my parts lately. If anyone knows of another reputable source that's cheaper, let me know. :)

Anyway, if you need any advice on what parts to use, PM me and I'll be glad to offer any help I can.

[qnr]

10. I do it all the time. I try to buy at salvage places, like Mardens

in Maine, Walls in Oklahoma. I've bought 120g drives for $20 that way (doesn't happen often, but I keep my eyes open)

[burythehatchet]

11. This is why you gotta love DU

within 20 minutes you've provided enough info to get this done.

Thanks to all.

[lpbk2713]

13. I wouldn't do it any other way.

I have homebuilt my last several PC's. That way you get a new PC at a minimal expense. I reuse what doesn't need to be upgraded (like a CD Burner or an Ethernet card) and only pay for what I really need to upgrade (mobo, processor, new type of RAM). Where you really save is on installing the software that you have on discs on hand. A good part of the price you pay for a PC off the shelf is in licensing fees. No sense in paying for it twice if you already have it.