Poll: Can you build a PC?

[Wintermoot]

sort-off I switched my case,HDD(twice!),OS(twice!),PSU and video card its mobo,RAM and processor are from the original Compaq presario in a certain sense its a self built
after I switched the case I had roubles booting it because I put the RAM back in upside-down its MOBO is also installed upside down and is screwed to the case with only two or three screws
PS specs:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo (2,53GHZ)
RAM: DDR2 3GB (1X1GB 1X2GB)(two slots)
OS: Windows 7 64bit OEM
HDD: 2X 1TB
case: Antec 300 (partialy painted metallic blue)
video card: ATI Radeon 5600(?) 2GB
PSU: Dolphix 350 watt (?)
optic drive: OEM
MOBO: stock Compaq Pressario MOBO
cooling: air cooled (the two fans provided with the case and the stock CPU cooling)
planning to get a factory built one and rebuild this one from scratch (DDR2 memory is rare!)
PS
I also build a similair PC for my mom its also build from a Pressario but a AMD model) its specs are similair but its mainly build from junk

 

[twaddle]

i can but i need to look up some stuff

 

[Woodsey]

Mostly, if I tried.

 

[Steve Fidler]

I can build a PC from the ground up with my eyes closed, literally, I've done it.

But the first time I built a PC, I didn't see the package of hexagonal spacing pegs for the motherboard and mounted the motherboard straight to the case, causing it to bend near the external ports which actually made one of the two PCI-E expansion slots break. I wasn't happy, but since I was only running one card and everything else worked fine I stuck with it.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

I know how to build a PC and helped my father (who really knows what he's doing, since he's a software engineer) build one, but I'm not that knowledgeable about it and it's not a skill I use that often because I move around so much I really need to use a laptop as my main computer (this is also why I'm not that heavily in to PC gaming). It's amazing how much money I saved building a desktop system, though. I'm definitely never buying one off the shelf again.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

Built this one myself:

Cpu: core i7 950 @ 3.6ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte Ga-X58a_Ud3r with usb 3.0 and sata 3.0.
Ram: Kingston 6gb ddr3 @ 1600mhz
Grpahics Card: Radeon Hd 5870
Power Supply: Coolermaster 650 watt.
Harddrive: Some piece of soon-to-be-replaced crap.
Dvd Rom: also to be replaced piece of crap.
Os: Windows 7 ultimate 64bit.

 

[Isaac The Grape]

Yup, I also volunteer at a computer recycling organisation every now and then.

In fact, that place has helped me get so many parts that half my computer is free.

Lets start:

Gigabyte MoBo of unknown model. (Free from work)

Intel E5200 Dual-Core CPU @ 2.5 Ghz (Overclocking to 3.2 Ghz caused errors on POST. Sadface). ($149 online)

2GB RamBo DRR2 @ 800Mhz. ($30)

512MB of unknown DDR2 Ram. (Free from work)

Generic 430W 24-pin PSU. (Free from work)

Nvidia 8600GT (256MD version with passive cooling.) ($88 from Ebay. Sat on a shelf for a year and a half before I assembled the rest of the parts.)

Multiple HDDs ranging from 40GB IDE models to 80GB SATA's. (Free from work. Currently running one 40GB IED as OS drive with 80GB SATA as file storage. AKA "Steam drive")

Windows XP with SP3 and Office 2003. (Free from work)

Case. (Salvaged from old PC)

Copper core CPU fan and heatsink. (Free from work)

X2 extraction fans. (Free from work)

Unfortunately, as I write this on the six year old Dell laptop that was free from work, my copy of XP has bitten the dust, again (curse you Need For Speed and your computer wreaking tendencies), and I will need to either reinstall XP or upgrade. Hopefully I will have enough money to pay for Windows 7 and a nice, new 1TB HDD.

EDIT I: Optical drives (Dvd burners). (Free from work)

EDIT II: I Live in Australia BTW.

 

[bam13302]

2 rigs of mine, 2 for other people
Azza Solano - my main gaming machine
-MSI nf980-g45
-MSI GTX 480
-AMD phenom II x4 955
-Gskill ripjaw 2x4GB 1600 ram
-Rosewill 950W PSU
-3x seagate 200GB hard drives (got for free from someone else, in raid 5, install my games onto this)
-seagate 320gb hard drive (data backup)
-OCZ agility 2 60GB ssd (OS drive, first ssd, kinda wanted a fast drive for my os on my primary comp)
-Zalman CNP9900 NT heatsink and fan
-Rosewill RNX-N180PCe wireless card
-windows 7 64 bit

Rosewill R379-M -my mini computer, original design as a (windows 7) steam server, currently a portable machine for digital architecture design (namely sketchup)
-ASrock H55m-LE
-i5-760
-MSI nv210-MD512 geforce 210
-corsair xms 2x2 1333 ram
-(300W psu built into the case)
-intel x25-m ssdsa2mh120g2k5 120gb ssd (this machine often is transported in vehicles, needed a solid state drive, less for the speed, more because it is stable with little risk of damage during transport)
-stock heatsink/fan
-windows 7 32 bit, windows 7 64 bit (on a different hdd), Ubuntu 10.10

Spoiler: intel vs amd

just a note, the i5-760 and the phenom II x4 955 have almost exactly the same performance with only -tiny- variances, i got that specific i5 to compare it to the phenom II x4 955
each has exactly 4 cores (the i5 i have does not have hyperthreading, this was intentional), the i5 is clocked at 2.8Ghz, the phenom II x4 at 3.2, i wanted to see the difference in stepping capabilities of the 2 processors, i know intel has better stepping, i just didnt know how much of a difference that made, it gave it about a 10-15% boost in performance per core
the amd processor costs $60 (about 30%) less for the same raw power

the intel high end processors are more powerful then amd high end processors (and several times as expensive)
intels hyperthreading can help dramatically when multitasking, however, when running a single application, it can be a hinderance, or even, if the program does not support multiple processors, be a significant drawback compared to a standard processor of the same Ghz

the i5-760 is a lower wattage proc than the phenom 2 x4 (about 30 watts less or 25% less)
the i5-760 about 15 degrees hotter than the phenom II x4 (this is a biased statement, my phenom II is in a much better setup for staying cool, in a large case with lots of airflow and a good heatsink, whereas the intel has just the default heatsink and is in a small case)

there are 3 (and growing) intel sockets on the market that are still being commonly sold (1156, 1366, 1155), it is a high possibility that the 'new intel proc' needs a new motherboard too
there is 1 amd socket common on the market (AM3) and it is still being supported (and should be for a while), the 'new amd proc' will probably be released on this, meaning u can upgrade your processor without buying a new motherboard as well

if u like multitasking (having several aplications open at once) or need a ****load of power, go intel, otherwise, amd may be the better choice, especially if you plan on upgrading u proc later on

 

[mew4ever23]

I know how to, but I've never done it.

 

[HentMas]

its not that hard, all you need is plug all the parts toguether and make sure each thing supports each other

as for building stuff, give me all the tools and materials and i can build you anything, i love building... maybe a little too much

 

[Isaac The Grape]

2 rigs of mine, 2 for other people
Azza Solano - my main gaming machine
-MSI nf980-g45
-MSI GTX 480
-AMD phenom II x4 955
-Gskill ripjaw 2x4GB 1600 ram
-Rosewill 950W PSU
-3x seagate 200GB hard drives (got for free from someone else, in raid 5, install my games onto this)
-seagate 320gb hard drive (data backup)
-OCZ agility 2 60GB ssd (OS drive, first ssd, kinda wanted a fast drive for my os on my primary comp)
-Zalman CNP9900 NT heatsink and fan
-Rosewill RNX-N180PCe wireless card
-windows 7 64 bit

Rosewill R379-M -my mini computer, original design as a (windows 7) steam server, currently a portable machine for digital architecture design (namely sketchup)
-ASrock H55m-LE
-i5-760
-MSI nv210-MD512 geforce 210
-corsair xms 2x2 1333 ram
-(300W psu built into the case)
-intel x25-m ssdsa2mh120g2k5 120gb ssd (this machine often is transported in vehicles, needed a solid state drive, less for the speed, more because it is stable with little risk of damage during transport)
-stock heatsink/fan
-windows 7 32 bit, windows 7 64 bit (on a different hdd), Ubuntu 10.10

Spoiler: intel vs amd

just a note, the i5-760 and the phenom II x4 955 have almost exactly the same performance with only -tiny- variances, i got that specific i5 to compare it to the phenom II x4 955
each has exactly 4 cores (the i5 i have does not have hyperthreading, this was intentional), the i5 is clocked at 2.8Ghz, the phenom II x4 at 3.2, i wanted to see the difference in stepping capabilities of the 2 processors, i know intel has better stepping, i just didnt know how much of a difference that made, it gave it about a 10-15% boost in performance per core
the amd processor costs $60 (about 30%) less for the same raw power

the intel high end processors are more powerful then amd high end processors (and several times as expensive)
intels hyperthreading can help dramatically when multitasking, however, when running a single application, it can be a hinderance, or even, if the program does not support multiple processors, be a significant drawback compared to a standard processor of the same Ghz

the i5-760 is a lower wattage proc than the phenom 2 x4 (about 30 watts less or 25% less)
the i5-760 about 15 degrees hotter than the phenom II x4 (this is a biased statement, my phenom II is in a much better setup for staying cool, in a large case with lots of airflow and a good heatsink, whereas the intel has just the default heatsink and is in a small case)

there are 3 (and growing) intel sockets on the market that are still being commonly sold (1156, 1366, 1155), it is a high possibility that the 'new intel proc' needs a new motherboard too
there is 1 amd socket common on the market (AM3) and it is still being supported (and should be for a while), the 'new amd proc' will probably be released on this, meaning u can upgrade your processor without buying a new motherboard as well

if u like multitasking (having several aplications open at once) or need a ****load of power, go intel, otherwise, amd may be the better choice, especially if you plan on upgrading u proc later on

In the budget sector Intel still sells LG775 CPUs and LG775 MoBo's are still being made.

EDIT: Regarding Ubuntu. Have you considered running Fedora? Or better yet Arch? Arch is exceptionally technical but exceptionally powerful. I have a friend who uses a cluster of 34 Pent III machines running Arch to generate Rainbow Tables in 2-3 hours.

 

[Isaac The Grape]

Nvidia 8600GT $88 from Ebay

Wha...Wait, What...NO!

90 f***ing dollars for that piece of crap?

Either this happened in (Very) early 2008 or you got ripped off astronomically.

I mean, you could've bought an 8800GTX, assuming this was recently.

No, that was four years ago.

EDIT: I Live in Australia BTW. The average price for one of those things in 2007 was at least $120AU.

 

[bam13302]

2 rigs of mine, 2 for other people
Azza Solano - my main gaming machine
-MSI nf980-g45
-MSI GTX 480
-AMD phenom II x4 955
-Gskill ripjaw 2x4GB 1600 ram
-Rosewill 950W PSU
-3x seagate 200GB hard drives (got for free from someone else, in raid 5, install my games onto this)
-seagate 320gb hard drive (data backup)
-OCZ agility 2 60GB ssd (OS drive, first ssd, kinda wanted a fast drive for my os on my primary comp)
-Zalman CNP9900 NT heatsink and fan
-Rosewill RNX-N180PCe wireless card
-windows 7 64 bit

Rosewill R379-M -my mini computer, original design as a (windows 7) steam server, currently a portable machine for digital architecture design (namely sketchup)
-ASrock H55m-LE
-i5-760
-MSI nv210-MD512 geforce 210
-corsair xms 2x2 1333 ram
-(300W psu built into the case)
-intel x25-m ssdsa2mh120g2k5 120gb ssd (this machine often is transported in vehicles, needed a solid state drive, less for the speed, more because it is stable with little risk of damage during transport)
-stock heatsink/fan
-windows 7 32 bit, windows 7 64 bit (on a different hdd), Ubuntu 10.10

Spoiler: intel vs amd

just a note, the i5-760 and the phenom II x4 955 have almost exactly the same performance with only -tiny- variances, i got that specific i5 to compare it to the phenom II x4 955
each has exactly 4 cores (the i5 i have does not have hyperthreading, this was intentional), the i5 is clocked at 2.8Ghz, the phenom II x4 at 3.2, i wanted to see the difference in stepping capabilities of the 2 processors, i know intel has better stepping, i just didnt know how much of a difference that made, it gave it about a 10-15% boost in performance per core
the amd processor costs $60 (about 30%) less for the same raw power

the intel high end processors are more powerful then amd high end processors (and several times as expensive)
intels hyperthreading can help dramatically when multitasking, however, when running a single application, it can be a hinderance, or even, if the program does not support multiple processors, be a significant drawback compared to a standard processor of the same Ghz

the i5-760 is a lower wattage proc than the phenom 2 x4 (about 30 watts less or 25% less)
the i5-760 about 15 degrees hotter than the phenom II x4 (this is a biased statement, my phenom II is in a much better setup for staying cool, in a large case with lots of airflow and a good heatsink, whereas the intel has just the default heatsink and is in a small case)

there are 3 (and growing) intel sockets on the market that are still being commonly sold (1156, 1366, 1155), it is a high possibility that the 'new intel proc' needs a new motherboard too
there is 1 amd socket common on the market (AM3) and it is still being supported (and should be for a while), the 'new amd proc' will probably be released on this, meaning u can upgrade your processor without buying a new motherboard as well

if u like multitasking (having several aplications open at once) or need a ****load of power, go intel, otherwise, amd may be the better choice, especially if you plan on upgrading u proc later on

In the budget sector Intel still sells LG775 CPUs and LG775 MoBo's are still being made.

EDIT: Regarding Ubuntu. Have you considered running Fedora? Or better yet Arch? Arch is exceptionally technical but exceptionally powerful. I have a friend who uses a cluster of 34 Pent III machines running Arch to generate Rainbow Tables in 2-3 hours.

true, and amd still has am2 and am2+ mobos out there, but those are mostly out of date and if your looking for a machine with power, that is not where to go, im not sure if new procs are being made that are better than the current best LG775 CPUs or how exactly the 'am2+' socket is supposed to work (or if new better procs are being released on the am2)
also, it is not that uncommon to find a 'am2/am2+/amd3' motherboard, meaning you could by a very low end amd proc, and than later upgrade to their best out there
the 1156 is the most common intel proc, im not sure if they plan to release many more better procs for it, i though they were gona stick with the 1366 as their next socket, than they released the 1155 with their sandy bridge line, i guess the 1365 is next?

the reason i had ubuntu was just to play around with it, iv played with red had 4.8 (yea, i know, thats old, its what my work uses) mint, Suse 11.1 (i think thats right), puppy (several versions) and fedora

i dont mind unix operating systems for word processing and the web, but anything more and it can get quite complicated, although, some server software is only avaiable for unix

 

[crudus]

I did so when I was like 10. I haven't had the time or money to build/get a new one.

 

[Fragged_Templar]

I put my last 3 gaming rigs together by myself... and all of them have functioned beautifully. I do have one funny story... on my second build, I put the RAM in the wrong order, so the computer wouldn't start up.... 3 hours later, I'm still confused as hell and checking all my wiring, my friend comes over, looks at it for 2 seconds and then says "are you sure you put the RAM in the right order" needless to say facepalm ensued.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

My main fear is the CPU/thermal paste bit, apart from that I'm more than happy slotting together bits to make a PC, and I've done enough upgrades and rebuilds for myself and others.

Really, most of it's like a big Meccano/Knex kid's set, only even easier as most stuff is either colour coded or only fits one way around.

I had a friend in America, who'd never so much as popped the lid on her desktop, and I had her upgrade her memory over skype, using her laptop as a webcam to guide her into what to do...within 10 minutes she had a faster booting and running PC, and a sense of satisfaction that she'd done it herself and not paid someone $60 or so to fit it.

 

[Isaac The Grape]

I put my last 3 gaming rigs together by myself... and all of them have functioned beautifully. I do have one funny story... on my second build, I put the RAM in the wrong order, so the computer wouldn't start up.... 3 hours later, I'm still confused as hell and checking all my wiring, my friend comes over, looks at it for 2 seconds and then says "are you sure you put the RAM in the right order" needless to say facepalm ensued.

Man, I've seen some strange shit at this computer place I volunteer at. For example: Someone once managed to melt SD RAM. How did they do that? By putting the RAM in backwards. How the fuck did they manage to do that? I have no idea, probably by using brute force. Anyway, the RAM overloaded, the computer short-circuited, and there was a melted lump of green and black plastic in the RAM slot.

Good times...