How hard is it to build a desktop system?
 

Bare with me if I use the wrong technical terms. Essentially, I know very little about computers and wanted to build my first system just to learn more.

Hopefully, I will also have a better machine at a lower cost as well but that is a secondary objective. I just want to learn more about computers in general.

Is the learning curve ridiculously hard or can I do some reading and get to work? Anyone know any good forums or literature?

TIA

Quite easy if you know how to screw screws into holes and put items into slots.

I'm not sure on resources on how to learn to build computers, I will leave that to others to add.

Picking and ordering parts is relatively easy once you know your budget and what you're looking for (gaming/rendering and processing/how long you expect the machine to last)

Building it takes a bit of work, you can always pay the store that you ordered from to put it together for you(eg. NCIX $50 to put your entire system together)

I'd suggest

1. shop www.ncix.com

2. pricematch with shopbot.ca

3. ???

4. PROFIT

NCIX assembles and tests for free dont they?

on another forum i'm on it's full of kids who typically build shit/low end systems and they have a moto somthing along the lines of "it's like lego, things only go one way"

if you have half a brain and a little bit of tech knowledge you should be ok, but everytime i've ordered from NCIX i just get them to assemble it

Doesnt ncix charge $50?

Putting the computer together is very simple. The only problem you may run into is the wiring for power.
IE the power button switch, restart button etc
That always takes me the longest

FIRST AND FOREMOST!!

DISCHARGE YOURSELF!

either by touch something metal or getting the proper wrist strap... i read on forums that people who didnt discharge themselves properly end up frying the cpu/ram or the mobo..

you need
-ability to read english.
-tech knowledge
-motor skills
-ability to follow instructions.

thats is all...

yea i think i actually fried a HD from static if thats possible.. or else buddy just sold me a faulty HD lol

hmmm doesn't fapping increase your static charge? :troll:

just buy a anti static wrist strap for your peace of mind when assembling, had it pricematched from $7 down to $3 so can't really argue with that.

the most confusing for me was the power supply connectors and all the front panel connectors. otherwise the rest you can youtube it and it'll show you instructions, manuals provide very detailed instructions as well.

worst comes to worst, $50 will have your system built by ncix tech guys.

If you know how to disassemble a computer completely, then it's not hard to build one back.

Here's a quick installation guide

1) Prepare the case (open the case up)
2) install the studs on the backplate for motherboard mounting
--------------------------------------------------------------
3) Install CPU
4) put thermal paste on the CPU
5) Install CPU heatsink and fan
6) Install Ram
7) Mount the Motherboard inside the case
--------------------------------------------------------------
8) Mount the PSU, Hard Drive, DVD, card reader (USB powered) and video card
9) Fap for 10 minutes celebrating it is half way completed
10) Read the motherboard manual to wire the case (power/LED/USB/reset)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) Data cables for HD and DVD
12) Power cables for Case, HD, DVD, Motherboard, Video Card, and Fans.
13) Check video cable, keyboard/mouse cable.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) Fap for another 10 minutes celebrating it is 99% completed
15) Testing

Assembling is not difficult at all.
Take some time to read up about the different technologies available, and choose your parts based on your needs.
Assembly is quite easy, but for someone who has never seen the inside of a computer before, it'd be much more beneficial if you had a geek friend that could help you through your first time.

edit: stop suggesting the $50 bucks at NCIX.. the money is secondary to him, and he wants to do it as a learning experience..

For the assembly, you can look at it economically too.

Say option 1 , $50 + taxes to get it done professionally at ncix and peace of mind

Option 2, your time is worth $xx.00 dollars (hourly wage), if your time to assemble takes more than $50+taxes, it's more economical to get ncix to do it.

I went with option 2, and even though it "cost" me more to do it with my own time (4-5 hours), it was a great learning experience.
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Well, yes and no. If you're lucky, that's the only problem. You can run into issues including shorts, doa parts. Hardware incompatibility is no longer an issue, or if it is, it's rather rare these days. Usually putting it all together is fairly simple and straight forward. Just remember to discharge yourself of static electricity first.

Once you know how to assemble, you can do it in under 30 minutes! Not including OS install, of course.

Building it yourself is a lot better, because if anything goes wrong with your computer, you would know how to replace the part at least.

how would this be any different then buy a computer thats not assembled by you?

it still has all the parts even if you didnt put the tower yourself??

Because you wouldn't know how to take the broken part out and put a new one in since OP has yet to build his first system....

The op says he knows very little about computers, so if he just bought one, he probably won't know how to replace some parts. For example, he might have trouble replacing the power supply, because he might get confused where the wires go. Another example would be replacing the cpu.

ASIAN XL IS BACK!

1. install PSU in case
2. install mobo in case
3. install CPU on mobo
4. install heaksink on CPU
5. install ram / memory on mobo
6. install Harddisk and CD/DVD in case
7. connect HD & DVD drive to mobo with SATA and IDE cables
8. install video card if you have any
9. connect PSU cables to mobo & video card (if required)
10. connect those tiny pins from the case to the mobo (for the usb, case pwr on, reset buttons and led lights)

like everything else, it is easy if you know how to do it. Good thing is there are plenty of resources and video guides that can show you step by step.

and 1st time DIY is also especially difficult because if anything is defective, you don't have the parts and the means to test it. (testing is easy when you have 2 or more custom PC)
So i'd suggest get an experienced friend to help u the first time (if you have any.)

BTW...you typically pay MORE for a custom PC than for a factory PC of equivalent spec. The upside is you get to pick what you want, and custom PC has much greater upgrade-ability. Also, very few factory PC comes with good video card for gaming.

^ You install cpu, and heatsink before installing mobo to case as some cooler/fan/heat sinks needs the "x" bracket on the bottom of the mobo
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Assembly is easy. It's pretty much plug and play. Honestly the hardest part is selecting components and troubleshooting when things don't go as smoothly as you expect.

I think it's good that the OP is willing to learn to build a computer. It's a great learning experience and a valuable skill to have. Do a bit of reading, but the best thing to do is to get your hands dirty.

If you don't want to "break" any of your brand new $500 parts, maybe get a bit of experience on an old PC you have laying around. Look at how everything is put together and what slots they go into and what they're plugged into. Then tear it apart, and put it back together and make sure it works when you're done. Take the parts and go online and look up documentation on it to see what it does and how it's configured. Getting a bit of background on what makes a computer "work" will help with the troubleshooting process later. If you don't have an old computer to experiment with, then find a buddy that's computer savvy, order up a pizza and beer and have him/her walk you through it explaining what they're doing.

There are some decent tech forums out there depending on your level of experience. Anandtech and Hardforums are two of the larger enthusiast sites out there. There's probably hundreds more out there too that I've missed out on but both have forums where people are willing to help, and both have reviews of hardware if you want to read up on what's new and how well they perform.

I don't know I did installed Windows 7 on a computer with a cheap ssd drive and It was done in under 15 minutes.

SSD is a whole different ball game. Especially with a decent one, you can get insane read and write speeds.
Building the computer is easy. Follow those steps, look in the manual if you have trouble, and definitely remember to discharge yourself. I fried an expensive board like that, learned my lesson the hard way.