Building a Computer...buy now or wait?

[icarus]

Dude, you can get computers preassembled now.

[Burninator]

Thanks for the links guys. I've prices out my computer on all those sites. So far as a total NCIX is winning just slightly over Direct Canada. But what I might do is order from both, as each has some components cheaper than the other. If I do that I should be able to pull my total to below $2100.

The reason I am going with the Ultra is because my budget allows it, and it's the most future proof card out there. If I decide to cut my budget I'll go with the 8800 GTS 640MB.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by icarus

Dude, you can get computers preassembled now.

I'm aware.

Preassembled machines are typically more expensive and I can't pick the specific parts I want. Plus this will be like a little project for me. I've never assembled a PC before, so it'll be something new to learn.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I'm aware.

Preassembled machines are typically more expensive and I can't pick the specific parts I want. Plus this will be like a little project for me. I've never assembled a PC before, so it'll be something new to learn.

Cool. I just was emulating Mitch Hedberg, sounded like something he might say.

[worth]

Your motherboard should come with the needed cables, unless you want to go with rounded cables, (If you have IDE drives, which I don't think you do) or longer or different colour SATA cables.

One other thing I would check on is see if your DVD drive is SATA or IDE. IDE are big and bulky flat cables. Sata just makes everything easier and nicer. Edit: Just looked back and it is so you're good to go. Mobo should come with like 6 SATA cables which you will use for HHD and DVD and PSU will supply the power for them. Really easy to set up.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

If you want a cooling system thats really quiet and helps speed up your machine, I would recomend one of the liquid coolers from Cool IT. They are a Calgary company that makes kick ass stuff, and it works better than anything I've checked out. I have it in my multimedia computer at home. It works and it looks super cool (I have a window on the side of the case). This thing is a gamers dream.

link

http://www.coolitsystems.com/

[CubicleGeek]

You really don't need an aftermarket fan unless you're a) planning to overclock and/or b) looking for the bling factor for a side view case. You get zero benefits otherwise and it's $40 you can put somewhere else. On the topic of overclocking, even the stock fan overclocks very well. I've ran my E6600 for about 6 months at 3.2 GHz (from 2.4 GHz) on stock cooling.

A word of caution concerning liquid cooling. Research what you're getting into as in additional to extra cost, there are additional maintenance steps (i.e. system flushs every 6 months) and other points of failure you have to consider, such as if the pump goes, you will lose cooling on your entire loop, which could mean losing cooling to multiple components (assuming your loop consists of cooling more than just your CPU). But aside from other forms of extreme cooling such as phase or liquid nitrogen there is nothing that cools better than water and there is no active solution that is as quiet as it either. There's also the coolness factor.

[photon]

The other reason to get an aftermarket fan is for silence, the stock coolers are pretty good nowadays, but you can do a lot better, that's the #1 thing with my main computer is trying to make it quiet

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

Originally Posted by CubicleGeek

You really don't need an aftermarket fan unless you're a) planning to overclock and/or b) looking for the bling factor for a side view case. You get zero benefits otherwise and it's $40 you can put somewhere else. On the topic of overclocking, even the stock fan overclocks very well. I've ran my E6600 for about 6 months at 3.2 GHz (from 2.4 GHz) on stock cooling.

A word of caution concerning liquid cooling. Research what you're getting into as in additional to extra cost, there are additional maintenance steps (i.e. system flushs every 6 months) and other points of failure you have to consider, such as if the pump goes, you will lose cooling on your entire loop, which could mean losing cooling to multiple components (assuming your loop consists of cooling more than just your CPU). But aside from other forms of extreme cooling such as phase or liquid nitrogen there is nothing that cools better than water and there is no active solution that is as quiet as it either. There's also the coolness factor.

The coolIT systems are maintenance free. You do have to install yourself, but it only takes like 20 minutes. I'm not sure if there is a safety shut down for the pump failure thing , but I'm pretty sure there is. They also have cooling systems that aren't liquid. Heatsink fans or whatever level of cooling you want. check the site. Most of it is for fairly serious gamers or people that want a hotrod computer. I do know the guys that own the company, but, they do have some great products. I have been using the coolIT Freezone for a while now with no issues. If you have the $ to add this type of thing to your computer, I would recomend it.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I'm aware.

Preassembled machines are typically more expensive and I can't pick the specific parts I want. Plus this will be like a little project for me. I've never assembled a PC before, so it'll be something new to learn.

Actually, MemEx lets you pick all the specific parts you want and will put it all together for $40.

That said, as long as you have some knowledge of what you're doing OR have done your research on the net, self assembly is pretty easy. Emphasize doing some research before actually doing anything. For instance, if you don't see what's wrong here, consider the $40 assembly charge:





Sigh... long gone are the days when not setting the right voltage jumper meant for a long and painful process (damn pentium pros)

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Actually, MemEx lets you pick all the specific parts you want and will put it all together for $40.

That said, as long as you have some knowledge of what you're doing OR have done your research on the net, self assembly is pretty easy. Emphasize doing some research before actually doing anything.

Sigh... long gone are the days when not setting the right voltage jumper meant for a long and painful process (damn pentium pros)

I am going to try and assemble it myself. The $40 seems like a decent price to put everything together, but I want to try it myself. I've installed hard drives, video cards and cd writers before. So I'm not a total rookie. But if I botch it up, I'll head over to memory express.

EDIT: That's a pretty good install. Probably would get a couple good solid minutes of gaming in with that.

RE: the liquid cooling. Looks over kill for me. Not to mention the $400 USD is well above my price range. I don't think I would get the full use of it. It would be merely expensive eye candy. And my current eye candy is the heatsink, which is only $40. I can stomach that.

[Burninator]

Alright, computer purchased!

Hopefully everything will be here next week and I can assemble on the weekend. I'll even post up some pictures when everything is together.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Is there a [H] forum thread about that one? I've love to read it!

[worth]

I think it was on hardocp and there was a thread on [H] but I can't find it now.

From what I can remember, some guy brought to a computer shop with the heatsink as the rear fan and he said it would boot up for a minute and then crash. He couldn't understand it because he had built a ton of computers before and had no idea why it was crashing.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I am going to try and assemble it myself. The $40 seems like a decent price to put everything together, but I want to try it myself. I've installed hard drives, video cards and cd writers before. So I'm not a total rookie. But if I botch it up, I'll head over to memory express.

EDIT: That's a pretty good install. Probably would get a couple good solid minutes of gaming in with that.

RE: the liquid cooling. Looks over kill for me. Not to mention the $400 USD is well above my price range. I don't think I would get the full use of it. It would be merely expensive eye candy. And my current eye candy is the heatsink, which is only $40. I can stomach that.

Good choice on the Scythe. I use that myself, and I was able to get a 50% overclock on my E6400! Not to mention, I also have the P180, and the case is extremely quiet, even with the loud 7900GT and 3 hard drives going.

One note of caution on the case: The front USB ports are extremely fragile because it's not covered, in the middle of the case, and have two connected to each other (instead of separate ones). I had something plugged in, and bumped into my case, and the divider snapped, rendering both ports useless =/ Wish I took better care of it.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by worth

I think it was on hardocp and there was a thread on [H] but I can't find it now.

From what I can remember, some guy brought to a computer shop with the heatsink as the rear fan and he said it would boot up for a minute and then crash. He couldn't understand it because he had built a ton of computers before and had no idea why it was crashing.

I saw that thread as well, and you are right. It was on [H], and it was a thread along the lines of a tech getting crap from a guy who "knows what he is doing".

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Alright, computer purchased!

. I'll even post up some pictures when everything is together.

Nice comp Burninator. I don't think air cooling works with the Quadcore. hehe

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by worth

I think it was on hardocp and there was a thread on [H] but I can't find it now.

From what I can remember, some guy brought to a computer shop with the heatsink as the rear fan and he said it would boot up for a minute and then crash. He couldn't understand it because he had built a ton of computers before and had no idea why it was crashing.

Ahhh.... remember the good old days before heatspreaders? Those videos of the Athlon's combusting without a HS?

[Burninator]

Could you guys point me in the direction of a guide/walkthrough of assemblying your own PC. Something that starts with all the components in boxes and goes all the way to running windows would be perfect. I would like to have as much reference material as I can get when I'm building.

[worth]

i've got a video done by tech tv with leo laporte that is about an hour long that i watched before i built my first pc which helped me greatly. not sure how big it is but if it's less than 100mb i'll upload it to yousendit and post the link here for you to download. they basically go through the entire process, although the video is from 02 it is still relevant today. if it's bigger than 100mb i could burn it and mail it to you.