How many people here build their own PC's?

[sovann]

Yup I've built my last few boxen. I went through a silly stage in late 2003 where I went through a bunch of cpus trying out the whole overclocking thing. 1 xp1800, 1 xp1600, 3 xp2100s, 1 xp 2700, 1 xp 2500... all in the space of six months. Bit silly really, but didn't really lose to much money.

Now I'm a bit more sensible. I figure it's better to buy mid range stuff and then clock the crap out of it, so it lasts for a good 18months or so. My current system is a watercooled A64-3000 running at 2.5ghz, an Abit NF8 board, a radeon 9700 gpu etc... Plays modern games really well, so I'm happy. And it's near silent too, thanks to the watercooling 8)

[gstuning]

All cheap PC´s out there can handle most video´s , expect for maybe editing and so on, and if you can handle most videos you are good for almost all software packages,

I mean a plain HP workstation is 3,2Ghz and will handle eveything quickly except stupid games,

I got a 3year old Laptop with 1.9Ghz chip and it can play anything I toss at it, I don´t play any games but I play all kinds of video´s and run tons of software at the same time,

I used to be into messing with PC´s back in the 384/486 days, nowa days, it all runs plenty fast for me, I´m a IT Professional and don´t give a rats ass about what´s the latest or the best, It´s sometimes good to be just a consumer,

[MattM20]

I've built a few in my day...currently my system is:

-Koolance Watercooled Case with matching koolance waterblock
-Pentium 4 Socket T (LGA 775) 3.4 Ghz
-1 GB DDR500 Ram (Dual Channel)
-PCI express Radeon X700 Pro
-Western digital Raptor 74GB HD

it's been awhile thats all i can remember off the top of my head. Building your own computer is way nicer than buying one pre-made. I always like knowing what exactly i've got.

hey likeCDoos what kind of case/cpu temps are you seeing with your Koolance case? and are you running your cpu at stock speed?

my most recent build was:
Cooler Master Praetorian Case
Antec True430w PSU
Asus A8V Deluxe Rev2 Mobo
1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM Dual Channel
Athlon64 3200+ 90nm
Western Digital 250gb 7200rpm HD
ATI 128mb Radeon 9800pro AIW
Plextor 12x DVD-RW SATA
Lite-on 52x32x52 CDRW
EMU 0404 Sound Card

[Eric Giles]

It stops being fun when you have to do it as a job.

-Charlie

How true that statement is. I did not start building computers until 1996, but not long after that I started a small computer business as a secondary source of income (I am a network admin/officer at a local bank so all I see are computers 24/7). During that time I have probably built around 300 computers (possibly even more than that-you lose count) and after a while it is not fun at all. In the past I would rebuild my personal rig every few months, but now it is more like once every two years.

[KenC]

I built my own PC about 4 years ago when I graduated highschool. Still rockin the Athalon 1.2 GHz. I just bought a new HD for it though. My PC hasn't been used in a few days as I'm really diggin' my new 12" Powerbook.

[rwh11385]

It stops being fun when you have to do it as a job.

-Charlie

I guess that old saying 'do something you love for a job and you'll never work a day in your life' doesn't apply to IT

oh wait, might not to apply to cars either. Hobby vs. career. A lot more Fuckin _____ on a regular basis.



My friends can build their own machines, and now I know a little from interning in the beginning in the computer room. But I'd rather just say fuck it and order one.

I bought a dell refurbished and am perfectly happen, as long as spyware is under wraps. I don't play games, not even Xbox anymore. I just surf forums, talk on AIM, and download porn.

[James Crivellone]

I build my own workstations/servers/firewalls/everything.

although now that I do that mainly at my office (IT Manager for a 200 pc network across 3 nodes) I don't really care anymore at home.

so I have a few custom built pc's left, however my main machine is a dual 2.7 G5, coupled with my 12inch powerbook and ibook.

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

Built mine about three years ago.

- Antec Super Lan Boy Case
- Antec TruePower 600w PSU
- Gigabyte Motherboard
- Intel P4 2.2ghz
- (4) 256MB RDRAM
- (5) 250GB Western Digital Hard Drives
- ATI All In Wonder Radeon 8500 128MB
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card (new addition)
- Linksys Wireless PCI

Yeah, I've been using the same computer since, you can all thank the E30 for that ;)

[Hatchman]

yea I put mine together... its not tough really

[armeN]

I've built all my own desktops since my first 386's back in 1988.

Now I build servers and shit on a daily basis and order laptops for my own usage.

It stops being fun when you have to do it as a job.

-Charlie

I work IT now. Let me tlel you - it's a bitch to come home and have family members beg for help. lol

I hope my computer lasts me thru college, cause the next one I build, won't be for a while.


Thank god I found my E30 too! 8)

yea dude its a bitch when family members and friends give me their laptops and pcs and expect me to fix it like i dont have a life or anything... so anoying i wanna charge them haha it is my job....

[LikeCDoos]

hey likeCDoos what kind of case/cpu temps are you seeing with your Koolance case? and are you running your cpu at stock speed?

I don't know my case temps but my cpu temps are anywhere from 92-97 degrees with my 3.4 Ghz, and back when i had my 2.8 Ghz P4 it never rose above 86ish (Mostly below 80 unless gaming ect..)

[Marvin_Hecht]

I built my own PC around 4 years ago using good parts at the time:

Athlon 1.2 Gig, unlocked
Asus motherboard
GeForce graphics card
40 GB IBM HD (it just died-replaced with 160GB seagate)
CD burner
DVD reader
Flat panel -15"

The PC (not including) flat panel cost me $1,500 and at the time
that was around the same as buying a system, only I knew I had
premium/high-quality parts inside.

Although I had fun (and still have fun) doing the building. And I
work in IT, yes it is fun but that's because my PhD is in psychology
and being in IT is like being a kid in a candy store.

In any case, it JUST is not worth it anymore. If you are savvy you
can find coupons/deals etc to get a kick-ass brand new built-for-you
Dell computer for like $499. Go to dealpc.com or other coupon sites
that track the latest offers/codes. You may not get the super-premium
parts but who cares- in 3-5 years the system will be obsolete anyway.
No one cares that I bought a state-of-the-art CD burner for $200 when
you can now get a DVD burner for like $50 or less with rebate at Frys.
I got great cooling fans but they are noisy as heck --I'd be interested
in converting to water cooled too, hehe.

What can be fun is taking a bunch of old PCs from your friends or work
etc (who are giving them away) and mining them each for the good
parts then creating one good computer. When I was a Mac-head I used
to get all sorts of good old Macs from people converting to PCs...until I
too converted. The new G5's are nice but WAY to pricy for me....

Let's face it .. computers are just a commodity these days..

[AdamF 88iS]

I just built my new one a few months ago.

Prescotts are crap anyways, even for simple needs. This is especially if you get the 500 series. I hate mine, I wish I never bought it. The thing makes so much heat that I actually don't need a heater in my room during the winter. It doesn't throttle down until something over 70*C. You have to spend as much $$ on a heat sink for the thing as you did for the processor itself. The 600s are a little better, but I would just find a faster socket 478 Northwood processor if I were you, especially since you don't need crazy amounts of horsepower from it. Save a little dough there.

Socket T LGA775 was cool when it came out because they said the dual core stuff would be able to fit it, but that is no longer the case.

[DEV0 E30]

Built mine about three years ago.

- Antec Super Lan Boy Case
- Antec TruePower 600w PSU
- Gigabyte Motherboard
- Intel P4 2.2ghz
- (4) 256MB RDRAM
- (5) 250GB Western Digital Hard Drives
- ATI All In Wonder Radeon 8500 128MB
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card (new addition)
- Linksys Wireless PCI

Yeah, I've been using the same computer since, you can all thank the E30 for that ;)

Only thing that would need that much space would be video editing or videos period. Like porn.

[jajou318]

Has anyone built a new computer with the SLI technology? The one that has the dual gfx cards?
I was thinking about building one but damn it gets expensive. I think I'll just purchase a better gfx card for my current cpu.