how many people here built there own comp
 

Topic ^

i have, and it's workin great.

nothing has gone wrong yet (well, i dont think i hooked up the hd and power lights on the front correctly, but who needs them?)

u have a shitload more room to operate with (i have a mid tower) and the glass side panel is super cool.

I've built several, and all I can say is DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!

My first and current computers rock, but the middle one was a big pain in the ass...I know many people feel that Abit is awesome, but after my experiences, I'll pass from now on.

yup. I've been building my own since high school. It actually costs quite a bit more than simply getting a comparable system from Dell, but its the fun of choosing your own components, and bringing your own computer to life.

Being your own tech support is a bitch though....

I built mine about a month ago. I'll never buy a prebuilt again.

I always build my own except for laptiops :)

as dudemac said, I build everything with the exception of laptops. This generally amounts to about 100 systems a year including the ones I build for use at work. In my opinion there is no reason to buy when you can build if you know what you are doing.

As far as the costing more to build part, I have priced enough systems to be able to say with confidence that is not the case 95% of the time and never when you consider value.

built many.

touche'

You may have them in the right place, but turned around wrong. Try flipping them over. I often get the polarity wrong, and have to flop them around. Don't really need them, but it bugs the crap out of me to know that every LED is not burnin!

And yes, I build them all the time :)

I've built every computer I've ever owned plus many more with the exception the one Mac that I had.

been building my own for at least 8 years and counting

As for the price thing...I've found that Dell builds a better computer for $400 than I can. However, my $1200 system kicks the crap out of their $2800 system...it depends what you're shooting for, I guess.

I'm a builder.

Mac Addict™, so no.

Once I'm out of college and into the real world with a job, I plan to get some PC components, a good computer friend, and spend some time learning how to build my own... in a toaster!!

only 1 so far only cause i don't have enough money for another

I've built quite a few, used to run my own PC repair shop. Had to give it up thought, not enugh PC's in a small town to live on. :(

I have been building my own since I was in high School, and i'll never buy a prebuilt computer again.

I build my own. I just built the following for about $400:

Athlon XP 2200
ECS K7S5A
Lite-On CD-RW 52/24/52
GeForce 4 Ti4200
WD 60 GB 7200 rpm w/ 8MB cache

I've been building my own for 14 years now. My brother taught me how, took me to KGP (cookie to anyone who knows what that stands for) shows to buy parts.

Now he buys Dell/Gateway. I still build. Sometimes I wonder though...

My first computer was a gateway. The second one(the one I have now) I built myself and have had no problems with it. I learned how to build my own computer from fixing my old crappy gateway so damn much.

the secret to building a good machine is time.

buy the parts ONLY when they are on a dirt cheap sale (mail in rebates are your friend).

i try to buy cheap parts when they come on sale. i got my 52x48x52 pacific digital cdrw for $10 bucks after mail in rebates.

it's all about timing.

That's about the size of it. I've given up trying to build a better cheap system, but I'll never buy another premade one for myself again (with of course the laptop disclaimer).

I always build my own, not because of spite for Oems but because logically it works. I change parts in my computer every 3~4 weeks. this week it's a 9800, a couple of weeks its a new sound card, so logically I shouldn't buy a oem.

For my clients...tonight I just ordered my 13th dell this last 2 months for a client. Dell is the way I go.

$500 for a machine with a 15" lcd, and windowx xp home. You cannot beat that.

I have build oh around 80 computers i guess...... but 28 of them where in a 6 day period........

I build all of mine..I build at least 2 a month

build, although I've only built 2 and 1 wasn't for me

i guess i kinda built mine. You see, there are none I repeat NONE of the same parts in the computer as It had when I got it. Upgrades everything, not speck left. Harddrives, cpu, motherboard, case, everything. so I guess you could say I built it.

I built my most current machine and before that, did a lot of updating on my first system from Micron. As far as performance is concerned, building your own is the way to go for more bang for the buck. I still think that its good to get a "pre-built" system occasionally because you get a lot more software for your money than buying off the shelf.

Rebates are the key to the whole thing though.

Just built my first a few months back. Now it's time to upgrade just a little and take the extra parts and build another so I have two solid PC's. :D

homebuild all the way.

Ken Gordon Productions. Since 1980, Baby!

http://www.pcshow.com/

Choc. Chunk, please :)

/me raises his hand... ive built several computers... for myself, my family, and helped many friends build them and get them working...

I've built several computers also. I would never get a prebuilt computer, save for laptops. Sure, you can get a $500 Dell with a 15" LCD screen, but the components are peices of shit. I can build a better, higher quality computer for the same price, just no LCD. But that 15" LCD is gonna be a piece of shit just the same as the rest of the computer. I've also had to work on Dells and Compaqs and other locally store built computers, and I could not stand them. They cut every corner imaginable on those.

If I had more money to blow, I would be upgrading and building constantly, but sadly I have no money at all, and am stuck doing other peoples computers and rarely mine.

Mail in rebates aren't really my friend, sure the part is cheap in the long run, but you still have to dish out the cash in the first place and wait 6 - 8 weeks for your check from the company. In that 6 - 8 weeks, a new one has come out that's much better. :-P

I do. And there is no way im going to buy a premade one. (I build them for cash :D)

I pity anyone who would waste money on a pre-built piece of shit.

I have never and will never buy a pre-built system. You can always build your own cheaper and better, and if you can't, then you don't deserve to use a computer.

To show to the people saying you can't beat a cheap $500 Dell or whatever with a custom built machine, here's a little example for you

Comparing 2 systems, Dell Dimension 2350 vs Custom Built PC (hopefully this link works). The Dell is the $500 cheapo that people have been talking about, I'm assuming.

Processors -
Dell - Celeron 2.2ghz. Celerons are the cheapest of the cheap processors
Custom - AMD Athlon XP 2000. Rated at 1.67ghz, I don't know the numbers but I'm assuming it's just as good if not better than the Celeron

Memory -
Dell - 128 MBs (Currently with a free upgrade to 256, but that's only a limited thing.)
Custom - Crucial 512 MBs

Hard Drives -
Dell - 40 GB
Custom - Western Digital 40 GB. No difference really, no biggy.

Floppy -
Dell - None
Custom - Actually has one.

CD-ROM -
Dell - 48x Max
Custom - 52x32x52 Lite-On CDRW

Keyboard and Mouse -
Dell - Dell Cheapos
Custom - Microsoft Cheapos (The Microsoft are most likely higher quality, but it's basically a user preference thing.)

Monitor -
Dell - Currently comes with free upgrade to a 15" LCD or 19" CRT. Only limited time, and the LCD can only be a PoS which blurs every time something moves. The CRT may be of decent quality, though.
Custom - 17" cheap monitor, nothing special but will do the job just fine.

Video Card -
Dell - Integrated Intel Extreme 3D Graphics. Is Intel known for their graphics cards as being high quality?
Custom - Integrated GeForce 2. A much bigger name in the graphics world, and much better card.

Speakers -
Dell - Cheapos
Custom - 2.1 Creative Labs Speakers. (2 speakers + subwoofer)

Both also have basic integrated 10/100 LAN.

Also note the lack of Dell giving any information as to what brand of parts they use. The motherboard on the custom built is ASUS, one of the best names out there, and I've built 2 machines for people using this motherboard and it works perfectly. Onboard 5.1 Surround Sound if you want to upgrade the speakers, as well as easily being able to upgrade the video card. Both computers are at almost the exact same price (Actually the custom built is a couple bucks cheaper).

Please explain to me how the Dells are cheaper? Sure the Dell comes with cheapass software. XP Home, wannabe Office programs, big whoop. OH! The Dell comes with 6 months of free AOL!!!................ ugh

I've built dozens of computers for myself and others; including several water-cooling systems, among which is my vodka-cooled PC :D

the only note i noticed, is you not really looking over dells site ;) Dell uses intel motherboards. interesting comparison, but you obviously didn't research it much, even though i knew dell used intel motherboards, it took 10 seconds to find it out.

Let see..

To upgrade the CPU to a P4 2.2 its about $120

The LCD flat panel is a Samsung too, and an ultra sharp, though the lower end CRT they shop isn't trinitron most of the others are, its not blurry

The speakers are Altec Lansings which are not cheapos. not the best, but waaay better than the worst.

Its an intel integrated ethernet controller which are some of the best around.

The video controller can be replaced with a new card.

The dell can also be upgraded for free to a 19" CRT for free.

You missed this, 1 year warranty + 1 year "at home" service.

WordPerfect is one of the top rated word processors around.

Also your system doesn't come with any software, so the price goes up considerably to be a fair comparison, interesting it'll come out more than a processor upgrade for the dell ( and a floppy/cdrw )

There is your explanation, you cheaped out on the monitor, removed all the software, and no at home warranty, and you have to build it and set it up ;) for a valid comparison, you'd have to add those.

The monitor was cheap, I said that in my comparison. If I'm building it myself, I need no support, I am my own support and I can handle it just fine. Building it is also half the fun.

As for the software... it's cheap, you just have to.... know where to look....*walks away whistling...*