Anyone ever built a PC?

[Smokin Joe]

I've got a budget Medion that I bought in Woollies nearly three years ago. It is fairly low spec with 512mb RAM, onboard graphics and sound which are distinctly low end. Lately it has taken to shutting itself down which I suspect is a faulty fan letting it overheat. I have added memory to PCs before, plus graphics cards, hard drives and CD ROMS. I am thinking of upgrading it rather than buying new, and have come up with the following parts I will need.

Motherboard
Graphics card
Sound card
RAM
Processor
Fan
XP Home Edition

Searching round the net I reckon I can do it for about £120. (I need the XP because the factory installed system that came with mine is probably specific to the machine and won't transfer, in any case I can't find the installation code).

Even for a that price I will get a much better spec than I currently have. Anything I have forgotten and any pitfalls I might come across in getting it up and running?

 

[Abitrary]

120 quid???? I suppose you're using the same case and memory. If so, make sure the memory is compatible with the motherboard.

Stick ubuntu linux on it if you want to save money on the OS.

 

[mr Mag00]

try motherboard bundles from places like novatech. it may be the psu which needs a clean ever stuck a hoover in and around, be careful but it gets very dirty esp on a carpetted floor. the psu can be replaced cheaply, it all depends what you do with it as to whether it needs updating or not.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Same case, DVD and CD rewriter. 1024mb RAM is only about £20 from Crucial.

I've thought of Ubantu, but I'm not sure about switching to Linux. I may not be geekie enough to learn it.

 

[Abitrary]

Yep, don't bother about ubuntu. When linux installs cleanly, it's good, but when you have problems with drivers etc. it's a nightmare.

I last built a home pc from scratch about 10 years ago, and kind of did what you are doing after that i.e. cannabilize stuff as you go along.

 

[Smokin Joe]

try motherboard bundles from places like novatech. it may be the psu which needs a clean ever stuck a hoover in and around, be careful but it gets very dirty esp on a carpetted floor. the psu can be replaced cheaply, it all depends what you do with it as to whether it needs updating or not.

Ta for the link, very useful.

Thanks to both for replying.

 

[Dave5N]

Disappointed. I thought this thread was gonna be about making a DIY Robocop.

 

[Sittingduck]

Out of interest what CPU are you getting? Do you intend on playing games on it - if so are they likely to be recent games? This will have a bearing upon the graphics card selection which is probably the single most important aspect of a PC to be used for games. Also I'd be tempted to go for 2GB RAM as it's cheap currently. You may also need a new Power Supply (this may well be at fault due to the random shutdowns you've mentioned)

Cheers,
SD

p.s. I have made many PC's over the past 10 years and have used various suppliers but have found that choice / value on ebuyer is pretty much second to none.

 

[Smokin Joe]

No games, just fairly basic PCing.

 

[twowheelsgood]

I've build dozens.

It isn't really economic any more building your PC unless you can re-use a substantial part of the old PC. In your case really nothing. Memory, CPU socket, everything has changed.

The best bet is to buy from Dell or HP an absoulte minimum spec and then fit any extras you want yourself because these are usually charged way over the odds at the factory. If you want windows of course, then you effectively get this and the optical drives for free compared to DIY.

In your case you might be able to re-use the case and DVD, nothing much else, you could re-use the hard disk but given that it's had 3 years use, is small and probably a quater of the speed of a new one, I wouldn't bother. You might even struggle with the power supply as you may have to make-up the auxilary 12v connectors for a modern mainboard.

It's best to ask yourself wahat you want a new PC for. If it's for the web and word processing, then stick with what you have and do some clean and maintenance. The only thing driving current PCs are games and high defintion video. If you aren't interested in either, then unless something breaks then don't bother.

 

[tyred]

It's best to ask yourself wahat you want a new PC for. If it's for the web and word processing, then stick with what you have and do some clean and maintenance. The only thing driving current PCs are games and high defintion video. If you aren't interested in either, then unless something breaks then don't bother.

Seconded.

I would consider changing to Linux. I would never go back to Microsoft and installation is actually more straight forward in many cases. The great thing is that it's free so if one version doesn't work the way you want it, try another.

 

[swee'pea99]

Dare I ask a dumb question? If the only real problem you have with it is shutting down which you suspect is due to a failing fan (which sounds likely), why are you proposing so many changes? Can't you just change the fan? (And upgrade the RAM for an easy bonus point)

 

[Kestevan]

Also, check out the form factor on the existing case/MB.

Some of the "cheaper" PC boxes from the like of Dixons/PC world esp. use non standard board layouts (typically the expansion slots and onboard graphics). This can mean that the case will not accept a standard board.

I used to build PC's as side business, and to be honest I have to agree that these days, unless you're building a real top end games beast, where you know exactly which components you want, you're better off buying a complete new box. It's ofter a fair bit cheaper to do this than price up the components individually.

 

[marinyork]

Several. There is little to say that other people haven't said. I would however say if you are building/servicing start doing it in the morning it is better that way and then you have time to tinker with software etc (which takes a lot longer) in the afternoon and evening. If you are doing it for a PC used by someone else this is even more important as people tend to get impatient. Secondly for your needs one of the E chips should do.

 

[Batzman]

...
Searching round the net I reckon I can do it for about £120. (I need the XP because the factory installed system that came with mine is probably specific to the machine and won't transfer, in any case I can't find the installation code).

...

You should be able to reuse your XP home, I think you get something like 5-6 goes at activation (with different hardware) before you have to ring them up...

There's an app floating around that will let you recover your installation code from a running version of windows... (assuming it's not on a sticker on the side of the PC ... and if you don't have the sticker it either wasn't stuck on or you've got a retail version, in which case you can definitely reuse it.)