Maybe Building Your Own PC is a BAD Idea

[kitekrazy]

 

[hockeyjx]

When I first started building in the 90s, I treated the PC Build Engineer(yes, that was a real job back then) to lunch to help me build my first PC. He was a wiz, and he explained everything.

I'm proud to say I've had boot up  first time every time 30+ builds down the road. I enjoy the nuance of it, and having all the cables the way I want them. Also, very few problems over the years with Asus motherboards and Intel processors. The two AMDs I built back in the day just were bears and I sold them off.

Edited March 6, 2023 by hockeyjx

[scook]

It's just an assembly job - easier than car, harder than a hammer.

I elect to buy all three preassembled and use my time in other ways.

 

[craigb]

I've built dozens (and those are just the ones for me!), but I had Jim (@Jim Roseberry) build my last one. 🙂

[Starship Krupa]

The tradeoff of building a brand new computer vs. buying an off-the-shelf pre-built has seldom been this simple for me.

She had no existing components whatsoever, whereas when doing an upgraded build, there are usually multiple components that can be reused: case, power supply, hard drive, RAM if it's between generation changes, CPU cooler if it will work with the new CPU.

So you wind up getting a new motherboard, CPU, and graphics card. And, I hope, giving or selling your old ones to someone who can use them in a budget Frankenbuild.

Recycling/reuse of components is the true advantage of doing your own builds vs. off-the-shelf. If you have to buy 100% brand new parts, that's when I'd weigh the cost:benefit. How much is your PC building time worth? To me it's recreation time, so it doesn't factor in at all.

My most recent build was around a better CPU and (really nice) cooler I got for the cost of shipping. Case and PSU on Craig's List, hard drive and RAM from Amazon, and a graphics card and optical drive I already had around. There should have been a motherboard to go with the CPU and cooler, but I never could get it to boot, so that added an eBay purchase.

[Shane_B.]

I love the process and just tinkering in general. I used to build them for work and I built every PC I've ever owned except for my very first one. That said, when the time comes for my next upgrade (when Fallout 5 lands and the current hardware is finally capable of running Fallout 4 at an acceptable framerate) I'll be getting a pre-built from Jim. I trust him and he's helped me so much here over the years it's the least I can do.

The other thing about getting a system from a builder like Jim is you don't get overloaded and bogged down with bloatware. That is huge. Anything off the shelf from a "name brand" is going to take a ton of time just to clean the crapware out. And yeah they may be slightly cheaper but there is always a reason why. PSU lacking, RAM speed and amount lacking. Cooling inadequate. There's always something in the fine print that screws you when you need quiet, cool,  low latency and/or consistent reasonable framerates.

[kitekrazy]

  There was one on a under $50 gaming PC.   Companies sell of their workstations for cheap.  Some of these will have nice older Xeon processors.   Some older chips had great architecture.  

 

 I still get nervous doing a PC build.  I live where you have to buy components online and any exchange is time consuming.  I remember trashing a board with AMD socket A systems trying to get the cooler on. 

 I use to live in a more humid climate.  I lived in a unit with carpeting.   The static wasn't as scary as having sweat drip off killing a board.

I live where there is hardly any humidity and ceramic tile so no worries. 

Yet the after assembly there is the nervousness of first pressing that power button.

I know of many accidents users had like losing a screw and it shortens the board. 

I only use Asus, Gigabyte, and AsRock boards.   I remember when there was a company called ECS and their boards have many features and cheap.  They lived up to cheap. 

 I think Intel is out of the consumer board market and I also liked their boards.

RMA service is also a top priority when I buy components.

It's sad when you send stuff to be recycled.  I still have  2 M-Audio AP2496. AP 192 in an older system.  I have a FW 410 that was a great unit not installed and debating whether to send it to the electronics graveyard.

   

[Rain]

I "built" a few of mine back in the days ... So to speak. Actually, a friend of mine who's a computer geek did all the work.  Since he is more of a gamer and into video more than audio, I had to do the research for my own needs, usually on the Cakewalk newsgroups. I'd bring my findings and requirements to him and we'd figure out how to make that work within my budget. Once we had all the parts, I'd buy a case of beer and we'd spend an evening working on it. Or more accurately, I'd watch him work.

Then I'd wake up hungover the next morning and find my new PC all put together, vaguely remembering the rest of the evening.

I guess it's not entirely surprising that I ended up switching to Mac. I never really liked the challenge of figuring out the parts and planning and putting them together.

Heck, I've played guitar for 40 years and I never adjusted a truss rod or changed a pickup. I prefer to let other people do that. I admire people who like to tinker, build their own guitars and all, but it's not for me.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Rain

[craigb]

My laptop's getting a bit old, think I should upgrade? 🤔

😜

[Rain]

26 minutes ago, craigb said:

My laptop's getting a bit old, think I should upgrade? 🤔

😜

But that's like a time portal! You even have access to the old Cakewalk forums, and probably Gearslutz.

 

I have my own time machine, stuck in 2010 - before Apple got rid of coverflow (I've not yet forgiven them for that one).

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by Rain

[craigb]

7 hours ago, Rain said:

But that's like a time portal! You even have access to the old Cakewalk forums

Click here!

😁

[Shane_B.]

On 3/11/2023 at 2:52 PM, kitekrazy said:

I think Intel is out of the consumer board market and I also liked their boards.

I always liked Intel boards too. I was very disappointed when I discovered I could no longer get them. Always had bios issues with Asus. It always needed some update they would never put out.

I use Gigabyte now. My last build is stuck on Windows 10. It says I am one generation too old for Windows 11 even though lesser CPUs than mine are deemed acceptable. Frustrating.

[jesse g]

I always enjpy building my own PC ever since I found out how it was done.  After building the first one years ago and it worked as expected,  I was hooked and never went back to the  store to purchase another PC.  Now laptops, that's another story.    🛠️+🖥️= 😊

[hockeyjx]

On 3/12/2023 at 5:57 PM, Shane_B. said:

I always liked Intel boards too. I was very disappointed when I discovered I could no longer get them. Always had bios issues with Asus. It always needed some update they would never put out.

I use Gigabyte now. My last build is stuck on Windows 10. It says I am one generation too old for Windows 11 even though lesser CPUs than mine are deemed acceptable. Frustrating.

I've never had one BIOS update issue with Asus through the years, but oddly enough had them with Gigabyte ...which you had the opposite. So strange.

[craigb]

I've never had a BIOS.  Only those written in other languages...  😜

[Shane_B.]

16 hours ago, hockeyjx said:

I've never had one BIOS update issue with Asus through the years, but oddly enough had them with Gigabyte ...which you had the opposite. So strange.

I may have got the names reversed. It's been almost a year since I turned on my DAW. I do remember that I always had one little thing I needed an update for that they would never put out. But I admit I may have reversed the brands.

Side note ... 2 days ago I had to connect a large color MFP to a new laptop that was running Windows 11 ... I Am not a fan of Windows 11 and Am not looking forward to the day I have to "upgrade" to it.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Shane_B.