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As I said in another thread, I just finished my first build. That makes me a standout in my wife's eyes (priceless) and she brings everyone into the office so that they can see how clever I am. (ahem)
The ONE question I get is, "How much do you have into it"?
So, here 'tis:
Elite 130 case... $43
Intel CPU............$43
4 GB Ram..........$43
ASRock Motherboard....$72
Power Supply......$18
Keyboard & Mouse...$21
Win 7 Software.....$99
Monitor (pawn shop)...$30
Total.........$369....But I saved the $40 500GB hard drive and the $25 DVD drive out of my old dead computer.
I could not use the Win 7 program that was already on my hard drive because for some reason it simply would not start. Never did figure it out, so I just bought new software, formatted the old hard drive and cranked 'er up.
People who are in the know can see that I saved some money, but not an awful lot.
What I did do is, (A) have some fun, (B) learn a lot about how my computer works, and (C) end up with a computer that I can repair, update, and maintain forever.
LOL, surely you mean end up with DW's friends computers that you must repair, update, and maintain forever. That showing off your skills is just the start of your worries.
LOL, surely you mean end up with DW's friends computers that you must repair, update, and maintain forever. That showing off your skills is just the start of your worries.
Golden, priceless, sage wisdom right here. Don't ever tell anyone that you know anything about any device that uses electricity. Else you'll be "that guy" at every event ever where your conversations will always ever be like this:
"Hey, Listener, glad to see ya man! How's [insert vaguely relevant person or action that ties you to this individaul]? Oh that's great, hey listen while I got you here would you mind taking a look at my toaster oven? Karen said you're good with this sort of thing"
When I retired in 2010 the doorbell started ringing, and broken stuff started appearing. But it has tapered off.
One of my proudest days was when I bled the air out of my buddy's diesel engine on his sailboat in the morning and de-bugged my grandson's computer that night. He's a sophomore in college. So everyone already knows I'm the fix-it guy.
But after all the work of setting up my new computer, I will decline the "invitation" to build one for someone else. Building it and making it work is one thing; getting it the way you want it is another......
Still, I am using my computer that I built and I will maintain. Pride. It's all about pride.
When I retired in 2010 the doorbell started ringing, and broken stuff started appearing. But it has tapered off.
One of my proudest days was when I bled the air out of my buddy's diesel engine on his sailboat in the morning and de-bugged my grandson's computer that night. He's a sophomore in college. So everyone already knows I'm the fix-it guy.
But after all the work of setting up my new computer, I will decline the "invitation" to build one for someone else. Building it and making it work is one thing; getting it the way you want it is another......
Still, I am using my computer that I built and I will maintain. Pride. It's all about pride.
Yeah, the pride in building one is sweet. Just knowing it is one you build and not someone on an assembly line is great. It can get addicting too. I am always doing new builds, mods/upgrades and it is always fun, except the rare occasion that something just doesn't work like it is supposed to.
Yeah, the pride in building one is sweet. Just knowing it is one you build and not someone on an assembly line is great. It can get addicting too. I am always doing new builds, mods/upgrades and it is always fun, except the rare occasion that something just doesn't work like it is supposed to.
Congrats.
I can see why it's addicting....
I thought I was being careful while I loaded up necessary software and drivers, but I still found 2 separate malware programs that sneaked in......Amazing!
I can only imagine what sort of bloatware is lurking inside a factory job.
BTW: For alla y'all (OK - I'm Southern) who warned me about relatives and friends wanting to cash in, "Thanks!"
Yesterday I turned down my brother in law's request. I told him about all the time it takes to get a new computer up and running the way you want it, and gave him the specs to take to a pro builder.
But there are people I would build one for! If someone came along and wanted to learn and maybe do some work himself and be supervised, that would be nice, and I'd help. But BIL is just a freeloader who wants an internet hot rod. He lacks the curiosity and patience it takes to really learn anything.
I've been building my own since the 386 days. Once you've built one you can't see yourself spending money on new branded computers.
The advantage of building your own is that you select your own parts. Need a budget system? You can build a budget system better than the store.
Want a killer system? Again you build one better than the store again and save money as well.
The most important part of the system is the power supply. Most branded systems uses cheap generic PSUs that lacks protection circuitry against power outages.
Now who makes makes a good PSU? Seasonic and Super Flower are the only two I trust. Some branded PSUs have models that are made by these two.
When I retired in 2010 the doorbell started ringing, and broken stuff started appearing. But it has tapered off.
One of my proudest days was when I bled the air out of my buddy's diesel engine on his sailboat in the morning and de-bugged my grandson's computer that night. He's a sophomore in college. So everyone already knows I'm the fix-it guy.
But after all the work of setting up my new computer, I will decline the "invitation" to build one for someone else. Building it and making it work is one thing; getting it the way you want it is another......
Still, I am using my computer that I built and I will maintain. Pride. It's all about pride.
I love building computers! To me, it's almost like the feeling my brothers and I got back in old days when we used to put together model car kits! Like you said, it was a sense of pride knowing you built one the way you wanted it.
I haven't built a computer in a long while, because honestly, it's not very cost effective. I bought a Dell desktop back in 2010 for about $800. It's 5 years old now, but it's still like brand new. I have hardly used it. At this point, what I may do is simply invest in upgrades, such as adding more memory and upgrading the video and sound cards. It's got 1.5 TB of space. 5 years ago, I considered $800 for this machine a steal!
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) and she brings everyone into the office so that they can see how clever I am. (ahem)
