http://gamespot.com/gshw/stories/flat/0,12...2842650,00.html

GameSpot has an excellent step-by-step article with nice photos and instructions for beginners interested in building your own PC.

MSNwar

sweet! i am sure that this will help lots... nice post! later

I really recommend a site like that to people who are wanting to build their first pc. I wish I had done some research before buying some of my components. Oh well, I guess people can learn from their mistakes.

Not that it is any better than urs MSNWar, i just want to post another site i know of

www.buildyourowncomputer.net

BLACKWAR

BlackWar, thanks.
www.buildyourowncomputer.net is an excellent site for beginners or advanced system builders. Easy to follow tutorials and site design are first class. Handy links are provided within the subject matter that allows a reader to source components.

BLACKWAR, Good Tip!

MSNwar - The FatMan

First time system buiders looking for a high quality sound card without the brand name mark-up see this related thread pertaining to the Turtle Beach sound card.

http://xp.modrica.com/forum/showthread.php...s=&threadid=100

Soutz to XPerties (Mod)

MSNwar - The FatMan

Warning to all of you...Phreaks is right. You need to research your PC by every component and take your time when picking out the parts you want to make a PC. There are so many little things that if you don't match up right, you will screw it all up! Go to www.tomshardware.com and read the reviews there. That is an excellent review site and also, just ask others before you buy the part. The problem is that everybody has a different opinion about what is good so take it with a grain of salt but it will help you to find more resources. Also remember this...I hate prebuilt computers and won't buy another one but if you don't have the time to troubleshoot your own stuff, don't build one. Buy it prebuilt...they test everything to make sure that it all works together before they send it to you and if it doesn't...they have to fix it!

Just my simple advice.

Rick:cool:

I choose the components I want, get some computer company to build it for me (not the main ones, just a small company in the UK) and I pay the £50 charge for them to build it, and get a nice warranty slapped on it! (that way I had a free graphics card and hard drive replacement, and they were better than the previous ones lol)

IMO this is better than building a PC at home, come on £50 is cheap, including warranty!

Thread Summary (Updated as Content is Warrented):
XPerienced forum members recommend selecting the components and either building their own or having it built for them.

Links:
www.gamespot.com (build your own PC tutorial)
www.buildyourowncomputer.net (Excellent site for beginners).
www.tomshardware.com (Excellent site with reviews and tutorials)

Related Thread(s):
http://xp.modrica.com/forum/showthread.php...s=&threadid=100 (Recommended Sound Card)

Request(s):
AaronXP, maybe you would be kind enough to post the Name, Address, and Telephone of the company you use in the UK for our UK readers?

MSNwar - The FatMan

Yeah i'd be interested in their name and telephone number as well AaronXP,especially as you live in the same part of England as me.(just noticed location on your avatar)

MSNwar:
great work and I like the thread summary post
This post will help a lot of poeple. After we gather all the info possible/needed for building a computer, I'll make it a sticky topic.

Let's just get the complete info/feedback from around here and then we can compile a final draft.



I mentioned some general tips for shopping online. Hopefully they are useful

http://xp.modrica.com/forum/showthread.php...highlight=price

Im sorry but having someone send me a PC all together makes me feel like s***. I like to get 10-12 boxes and be able to put all that together, trust me once you do it one time the feeling is rewarding and youll know your components. I try to build one at least 3-4 times a year and like to move parts around with in my computers. It all not that hard and as I have preached to several people Ive helped on the board, always ALWAYS, do research on what hardware you want. Dont take word of mouth and buy it or price. Take time. It took me almost 4-5 months to decided which route i was going the last time I built one. If anyone needs any help let me know

-XPerties

After scouring some of the newer threads for related material I found this information very helpful. Buck614 is in search of a motherboard and processor combination that is smooth, fast, upgradeable, and obviously leet. Some of "MSFN's Finest" worked very hard in terms of narrowing down today's and tomorrows technology in an easy to read and understand format. Links to reviews (Athlon vs P4) and buyers tips are sprinkled throughout the thread. I think more than a few of us are looking at possibly upgrading after all the results are in. The end product looks to be the...

Motherboard: ASUS A7V333 or the MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU
CPU: AMD AthlonXP 2 GHz or higher

For those trying to decide which CPU to use (AMD vs P4) this a MSFN Must Read.

Motherboard and Processor Recommendation:
http://xp.modrica.com/forum/showthread.php...=&threadid=2469

MSNwar - The FatMan

i was just wondering Aaron, when you buy a pc from those guys, how do you know the bits inside arent cheap oem versions, as you cant open the case.
Also, if you buy the parts online yourself you would pay less than those guys, they may charge £50 but how many of the parts are you buying off of them that can be found much cheaper else where? infact they probably add a bit of markup to cheap products as it is and you are paying MORE than £50 for them to build it...
i might not be right, but something to bear in mind...

FthrJACK - also what you said to aaron, keep in mind this also happens...

You take the parts to the computer store and have them build it and they replce the PS , RAM, hard drive with cheeper or OEM parts and keep it for themselfs to resell or for there personal stuff.

DTA= Dont trust anyone!!!

-Xperties

I used to work parttime for one of those stores, it was common practice. We would get a sap who would come in, ask us to install something that they had bought. My boss would help them, tell them it would be ready in 3 days, charge them a flat 65.00 rate, swap the parts for OEM, phased out, and used parts of similiar size, dimension speed or whatever.
It would take about 10-15 miutes to install, and the customer would be very happy.
I finally got tired of that s***, so I quit, but I learned first hand how it works.
BB

Yep booger, I have done it also when I worked at a few computer stores. Thats why I quite now do it as a small buissness on the side from home. You have to watch these guys.

That why I always show and tell everyone they should get to know there PC and not let others mess with it.

-Xperties

Well, i have 2 comps, one from Evesham (this one, XP) and one i built, AMD Duron 750. I enjoyed building the computer very much and would like to do it again!! It hada few problems with RAM (was faulty) but that got sorted :cool: Building your first comp at the age of 14 aint bad either

ain't bad at all flash!

Nice Thanks.

Just I have no idea I follow everything to the T

http://www.msfn.org/index.php?act=ST&f=13&...ba58504108f53a3

Member Lezend has built an awesome PC with amazing results. Based on the latest Intel architecture this P4 2.53 screams. High quality photos of the individual components to include the final product accompany the thread for our viewing pleasure.

Trials and tribulations come with the advent of any home-built PC and Lezend experienced a fair share. MSFN members rose to the occasion offering their professional knowledge and with Lezend's personal drive to complete the project we have another MSFN winner!

Lezend used MSFN and the internet for its full value. Hand selected components based on MSFN recommendations to include other external resources such as www.PriceWatch.com for sourcing hardware achieved a high-end system at competitive prices.

Congratulations Lezend on a job well done.

Thanks, MSNwar.

Couldn't have done without the helps of many MSFN members through the process.

I would like to post somemore afterward pictures over my post.




Thanks.

This documentation guide for n00bz . That sux when people are "dark" in computers.


Keyboard Not Found. Press F1 To Continue...

omg this thread is 2years old, shush

..."This documentation guide for n00bz . That sux when people are "dark" in computers"

opposed to "are dark about English"

Not everyone is able to build a PC, not everyone is able to magically know how to build a PC the first time they have to do so.

Everyone has to learn how at some stage. If they are intelligent enough, its usually BEFORE going about building, rather than after blowing something up.

As Filer said, this thread is 2 yr old, why dig it up?

At last a thread I can offer expert advice on and give something back to MSFN instead of asking questions all the time.

THIS IS AIMED AT UK READERS WANTING A GREAT SPEC SELF BUILD PC FOR £400

I am a system builder who builds around 5 PC's a week of varying specs. Here is my shopping list for a typical PC from my chosen UK supplier at the minute. If you buy these components they will work together flawlessly and be very easy to build. You will also have a great looking PC. The case and motherboard is known as an XPC shuttle system and is pre assembled. The instructions are excellent for a first time builder. It utilises an nforce2 based motherboard so requires a great value athlon barton chip.

The supplier is www.aria.co.uk and you may be able to find these components slightly cheaper elsewhere but I have a trade account so this is as cheap as anyone for me. Aria have the best customer service of all the PC-etailors and the delivery is usually next day.

Order these components to get a very decent PC. The nvidia fx5200 gaming card is ample for almost all of todays games. The hard disk although a little noisy is very fast. The black floppy and cdrewriter offset the silver fascia of the case nicely. The modem may not be necessary for everyone. This athlon barton chip can be easily overclocked to the same spec as an xp3200+ chip for more experienced builders using this setup.

Shuttle SN45G Barebones System £107.00
AMD AthlonXP 2500 [1.83GHZ 333] OEM £53.00
nVidia GeForce FX 5200 128MB DDR £42.00
120GB Maxtor D/Max ATA133/7200 8MB £54.00
56K Internal PCI Modem (Ambient) £7.50
3½" Black Floppy Drive £9.00
Samsung 52x52x24 CDRW Black £22.00

Now for the most important part of building systems. Use quality branded memory. I always buy my memory from www.crucial.com/uk and you want 2 sticks of this Crucial Memory giving a total of 512meg which is ample for most users with XP. Always buy two sticks with nforce2 motherboards such as this to optimise memory speed.

This PC will be fine for your average user and post here is you want any advice or upgrades to this. As a rule I don't use pentium4 chips as the price vs performance ratio of overclocked Barton xp2500+'s is unbeatable.

I believe a person can learn how to build a PC by just taking theirs apart and putting it back together . Or they can just watch someone experienced that can give them a run down of what their doing .

Eh, dead link!

Go to: www.unitedmicro.com

You can find some pretty cheap parts and accessories.

Building a PC:

*Case - Don't have to worry too much on the looks unless you want to
*CD-Rom - Best to get a CD-CDRW and probably DVD Combo
*Cooling Fans - You should get 2 so you don't overheat
*CPU - Get at least a 2.0 so you don't process like a running fat kid
*Hard Drive - I would at least get 30 gigs to install all those games I like to play
*Keyboard & Mice - Doesn't really matter right now
*Monitor - LCD... nice...=D
*Motherboards - AMD Athelon 64 (most wootastic)
*Sound Cards - Doesn't really matter if you combo it with your motherboard
*Speakers - Get some bass blasters
*Video Cards - Get atleast 8x agp

This will probably get you a most affordable and essential computer. You make upgrades if you want an even better one, but this will be a good simple one.

I just had to add this... after going to one of the websites in this thread I just couldn't help but bring back a tidbit of information from one....... here it is


A Big time chip at a bargain basement price! The Duron 900 will set you back a mere $79.95 (dear lord.... what a lovely bargain)

um ok

u can get better 1's now for less then that

last i checked.. amd 1600+ was going for like $60 canadian

Heh, sorry MCT it was a joke. A duron 900 for 90 dollars? It was a joke about how outdated the site was. I could get an amd athlon xp 2800+ for that price.

Don't just do the research to find the best componets make sure too look at the manufacturers benchmark specs and compatibility ratings for the other components in your pc. You can normally find that information right on the site.

if the thread is old or not i figured i would throw in my two bits

pc specs.
3.4 GHz HT 775 Socket (found the 3.6HTX to unstable inpast)
2 Gig DDR2 Ram (4 chips dual channel mode)
Intel 925XCV Board
2x200Gig Sata (Stripe Volumed)
DVD-Ram Drive (LG)
CD-RW 52x32x52 (LG)
GeForce 6600 PCI-E 256mb

Total price - 2600 canadian

Just a quick "2 cents"....

When building a pc, always try (where possible) to get a good psu with your case. I dont mean <amount-of-Watts> but a quality case like a Antec, Aopen, etc. and not a case that costs £20 and comes with a 350/400W psu by an un-heardof manufacturer.

You'll probably end up with a totally unstable system and wonder why, even if all the other components are high quality.

Get a good £50 (or more) case (which includes a PSU by the same manuacturer) as you'll end up having a more smooth running pc.

And like some have mentioned previously, when choosing the components you want - make sure you always research every component to avoid getting problems later.

If it takes you more than a month to do so, then you've probably researched enough - never skimp on good stuff.

(to those in the uk - the new KFC adverts are hellish funny arent they? hehe)

Regards,
Nath

I have a few site for this:
http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecen...utorials/109/1/
http://www.sysopt.com/buildpc/
http://www.gtweb.net/custom.html
http://hardware.gamespot.com/x-15015-O-4-4

the only thing i dont really like about 4/5th of those sites are they dont have an pictures.... Only the 3rd one down does... and most of the beginners will need a visual to see what there doing.

Yes and the first Link is for older easier to build PCs, Pentium 4 PCs have much more connectors, Front USB, Heatsink, Front Audio, differing backpane etc... I had 4 hours to build a P4 and 30 Minutes to Build a P3 and I can say, that I'm practised, but I heard, that Intel www.intel.com has released a Flash animation of that.
Check this out: http://developer.intel.com/personal/build/index.htm

And yes it is an advertising of Pentium 4.

Thats a good link.

Yeah I know what you mean.

Some guides are for old PCs.

building a PC is simple job, but if u miss the finer points like ESD then u r in for trouble.

hiya there

try out cti directs dream machine
it is very helpful in making a new machine whihc u want
easy and user friendly
u can save all the system which is configured
plus the best part about this is it shows all those components which are inter compatiable with each other

so i guess no one can have compatiabilty probs while building ur own dream machine

here is the link

www.ctidirect.co.uk

on the top u will see dream machin
click on tht and see how it is helpful

Generally, you will find these sites listed at http://pricewatch.com

if u know a bit about this computer building stuff (no pun intended, bit, u get it?), help me. I posted a question in general discussion about using BIOS on SATA drives (my BIOS doesn't seem to be able to sense them even though it came with a MB that has SATA plugs!). Help out a noob.

in my opinion i think sites that show a video of step by step process on how to build a computer would be much easier, This For Example , but that one only tells you how to install a video card and power supply, anyone know any links like the one i posted except, it shows videos on how to build a whole computer? i think its more descriptive =D

thats what people need, or vry detailed descriptions conciding with pictures

@tiusic-that was a horrible joke,lol,sounds like something one of my computer teachers would say, he has absolutly no personality and is monotone

WOOOT!!!! THanks!!!! I need this for when I get all my parts for Xmas !!!!!!!! <3