can someone tell me the best way to build a desktop never done it before

[dreaderus]

i need some help.

which sites should i buy form? (i would like to buy from all sites)

I have never "built" a computer before but am not an idiot, i could do it but is there any major advantage disadvantage?

should i consider a pre-built computer? with everything in it? some of these deals we are seeing it seems like a good idea to just start ordering the parts.

Can someone break down "what I need" exactly. I have a ati 1800 256k card so i think thats gtg there.

what else?

thanks guys

[goofball]

You need to order a pre-built, or talk to someone who will build it for you.

If you have to ask what you "need", you're probably better off letting someone else build it for you. Find a friend who knows how to do this, and ask him if they would do this together with you so you can learn.

[ImprezaSTi]

I would rather build my own computer. You pay the same price or less and you get the parts you want. IMO, I would rather buy parts at a retail store because if anything goes wrong (especially computers and electronics), you can easily return the product to the retail store.

Which stores you should go to depends on where you live.

[Sash[DSL]]

I would rather build my own computer. You pay the same price or less and you get the parts you want. IMO, I would rather buy parts at a retail store because if anything goes wrong (especially computers and electronics), you can easily return the product to the retail store.

Which stores you should go to depends on where you live.

for that exact reason it is much better to buy a pre-built PC. If something goes wrong you font have to figure out what happened and how to fix it, just return the whole thing.

To the OP: unless you're up to invest tons of time/money into learning how to build PCs on your own don't bother. I learned the skill in my time thinking it would save me money but in the long run screw-ups(which are inevitable when u're learning) offset any possible gains and if I was to account for time spent, I would probably be in negatives as far as value goes.
There was a time when all dell PCs were Intel and if you wanted a fancy case with lighting and watercooling and soundproofing you had to do it all yourself. Believe, PCs manufacturers really caught onto demands of customers in recent years and usually you can't get much more value out of a hand-built PC than a pre-built one with all the sales and clearances going on. Only if you REALLY indulge into deal-hunting and skimping out on parts like PSU, cooling and case.

[Deals Deals Deals]

The prices of computers just keeps dropping.

[Riffer]

First, I don't know if this is the best forum to post this question.

Second - are you comfortable with swapping components in and out of your current computer? Have you wiped your hard drive and reloaded the operating system? Have you added a hard drive?

If so, you might be a candidate for building your own computer.

[board123]

i need some help.

which sites should i buy form? (i would like to buy from all sites)

I have never "built" a computer before but am not an idiot, i could do it but is there any major advantage disadvantage?

should i consider a pre-built computer? with everything in it? some of these deals we are seeing it seems like a good idea to just start ordering the parts.

Can someone break down "what I need" exactly. I have a ati 1800 256k card so i think thats gtg there.

what else?

thanks guys

The impression I get from your post is that you simply aren't knowledgeable enough, at this point, to go and build your own computer. You don't need to know every little detail about computers but you do need some basic knowledge, which I don't think you have.

Computer forums are good places to start learning. Just read other people's posts.

[Keas]

well basically you have to ask how comfortable you are even exchanging parts in your machine. like someone asked have you ever changed anythign such as a hard drive or video card? the hardest parts are the cpu and mb with the psu being 3rd only for the ammount of cables you have to get to places that can be difficult to get too.

if you are comfortable enough inside your current comp or you can take the time to take it apart and put it together again and see how well you do and your willing to read up on computer forums for help and advice on the best proceedures then you can do it.

as for buying everythign from a retail store you might as well buy premade. the cost will be twice as high as it would be from custom computer stores that sell mostly oem parts and if you screw up you will be in the same shape. retail stores have about the same policy for eternal parts but charge alot more and ussually not as good as warantees.

most people that end up building thier own machine started by first upgrading parts here and there and basically took the jump when they felt comfortable inside the computer. so that is the main question - how comfortable are you?

[dreaderus]

The impression I get from your post is that you simply aren't knowledgeable enough, at this point, to go and build your own computer. You don't need to know every little detail about computers but you do need some basic knowledge, which I don't think you have.

Computer forums are good places to start learning. Just read other people's posts.

lols thats quite a bit of assumption on your part.

Cheers

Dreaderus

[matkun]

lols thats quite a bit of assumption on your part.

It does seem to be valid.. Really, if you haven't exchanged parts in your computer often and are completely comfortable doing that, then I would say your chances of destroying the cpu while mounting it are quite high. Not to even mention hooking everything up correctly, and troubleshooting.

I've built about 10 machines now from scratch, and still occasionally I hook cables up incorrectly or forget to do something and need to troubleshoot when the PC doesn't start up.

[vrus]

ti's best to research every single piece of hardware you're going to be using, esp low/mid range system because there can be quite a few incompatibility issues confilcting between hardware. When I built my machine, I saw people on the net with the exact same specs and hardware having problems. I just happened to get lucky . As long as you've done a little tinkering and upgrading here and there you should be fine.

[anabeces]

just buy the parts and then take it to a local computer shop to get them to put it together for you the 1st time. the important thing is to find a shop that willl let you watch them as they work. i did this once to learn how to put it together and how to install winxp and since then i troubleshoot everything computer related myself.

[DuDe1411]

read customer reviews. there's nothing better than customer reviews for each and every product. if you see too many negative comment, it's most likely it suck.

first you need to know what you want so, write down what is your min criteria for your new computer. a Budget is always important.

once you have a list. look for price. have them all priced individually. whichever store you feel confortable buying from. it doesnt matter if it's from 20 different store.

you have price for all your components. you can go to a store and get a quota from them and see if it's any cheaper to what you have.

[akito925]

learn by taking a part your old computer, and piece it back together again. this way if you break something, you will know better to be very carful with a new one.

[ppl4golf]

I like building from scratch...my personna would not allow any bloated crap from OEM on my computers :~)

But for most, it is probably better to get an HP of something Dell when they have fire sale.

I currently have 3 AM2 systems to switch parts around, I can say I minimized my chance for incompatibility but there are some mobos that are duds out there.

Take it as a hobby...self-built is often not cheaper...certainly a lot more fun.