Lo, on the 17,912th and ¼ day I wrought creation.

[Finless]

Actually, I want to 'wrought creation' in the form of a new PC for me. As a result of having seen the Gadget Show last night I am now pondering whether to build my own PC.

I have the ability and knowledge (I believe) to be able to physically build the hardware ...... so long as the boards come ready made ....... it's not much more than an expensive Lego or, possibly, Meccano kit?

I haven't done any research yet but I just wondered if any of you have attempted the same? I think my biggest problem will be deciding which components I want.

Curses! My creation should make me divine but I can't be all seeing and knowing if I don't know what components to buy yet.

Any tips or recommendations on where to make the relevant purchases?

As always, thank you all for your time in replying to my question.

[JJ44]

I've built a couple of PCs, its not too difficult as long as you do a bit of research regarding what components go with each other ie RAM and motherboard etc.

I used this shop for buying components:

http://www.ebuyer.com/

they're pretty good price wise, just make sure they've got what you need in stock! and buy the whole lot in one go otherwise postage gets a bit pricey.

Cheers,

Jeff

[jackadam]

Agree with the previous post regarding research on components. I bought all the components from ebuyer.c. Most components have reviews from buyers, helping you decide if its a good buy or not. Only issue with ebuyer if it is not in stock, it takes an age for them to restock, therefore only buy stocked items.

[Sakara Drinker]

I have bought lots of computer bits from Novatech. Have a look here

[The Purist]

I've just gone for a half way house - a local company has built me a custom PC to my spec, still far cheaper than anything equivalent off the shelf but I didn't have all the hassle of finding out what the latest whizzbangery was and what worked with what etc. etc.

[gibbon]

Overclockers UK used to be good, but I am a bit out of touch with them

it is very easy to build a IBM compatible PC, that is why they are the most popular computers in the world.. even HP, and Dell can do it!

If you are going to do it, one comment I would make is beware of static electricity, make sure you are earthed all the time that you are handelling components - if you are not you may suffer failures due to the static electricty in the future, it can take a few years for the static to finish doing its damage....

[benwild]

I have built quite a few now, for myself and friends it used to be a lot cheaper for everything but dell can't be beaten at the bottom end of the market now. If you want a nice mid to high end PC then you can defiantly save some money especially if you do not pay for any Microsoft products. I would recommend Micro Direct for the parts. It really is very simple to put it all together the only problems I have had have been faulty parts they seem to be fairly common unfortunately and figuring out which part is to blame can be a pain.

Once you have built one you will end up just upgrading things in the future rather than buying a whole new PC each time so the savings will continue. I have been told that if you do not buy a floppy disk drive at the time with Dell they cripple the motherboard to avoid you adding one yourself later.

[stabjacket]

Building a pc is kinda like you say like an expensive mechano kit.
once you have all the bits, it all just slots into place.

Best advice is- Make sure every part of the system works with the motherboard.

pay particular attention to the slots, if the motherboard is a 939 socket, a 754 processor will not fit.

Also if not using on board graphics make sure the graphics card matches the slot on the motherboard. pci is different to pcie. pcie motherboards dont usually come with agp slots now either.

Pm me if ya need ne help

Stab

[gibbon]

Originally Posted by benwild

I have built quite a few now, for myself and friends it used to be a lot cheaper for everything but dell can't be beaten at the bottom end of the market now. If you want a nice mid to high end PC then you can defiantly save some money especially if you do not pay for any Microsoft products. I would recommend Micro Direct for the parts. It really is very simple to put it all together the only problems I have had have been faulty parts they seem to be fairly common unfortunately and figuring out which part is to blame can be a pain.

Once you have built one you will end up just upgrading things in the future rather than buying a whole new PC each time so the savings will continue. I have been told that if you do not buy a floppy disk drive at the time with Dell they cripple the motherboard to avoid you adding one yourself later.

thats a recommendation and a half well it was when the link came up as html code

you can always add a USB FDD if you need one.

Dell are cheap there is no getting away from it...

[EdHornby]

it is like flashy meccano Fin...

best thing to do is figure out the spec of what you want. then you can start making a decision on whether the self build is viable

nowadays most places will sell you a board with a processor chip already on it (this is the most sensitive part of a PC build in terms of static and/or component damage) and you simply hook up the other peripherals via the cabling

one good thing about the self build is you can reuse the components that you already have that don't need replacing- keyboards, mouse, case, monitor etc. however I seem to remember from past posts about your windows 98 machines that your current machines will probably not be able to 'donor' the ram sticks etc as the potocols often change with the advent of technology...

the only downside is that you build your dream PC and then see dell selling the same spec machine for £100 less, but this is due to lower unit costs, cheaper bits etc.

PC part sellers

Aria.co.uk
Scan.co.uk
MicroDirect

also get one of the magazines like PCplus etc and they will have ads for sellers - most of these will do ready built boxes that may give you 99% of the spec you need