Hey I haven't been on for awhile, my bad =S. School and work have been quite unforgiving. Anyway, onto the main topic. I've been thinking hard about buying and building a barebone kit lately. My laptop is getting old (almost 4 years o_o), and there are very limited options to upgrading it without spending a fortune (and by that time, I could've bought another system). But my main question about barebone kits is, is there certain tools that you'd need to build one? (aside from the screw drivers... i have those) I'm thinking of buying this one: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5692041&CatId=332 I might or might not upgrade the CPU. And I do realise I will have to buy some MX-3. There's no disk drive on it, but my dad or sister has spare ones. If I suspect faulty parts, I'm planning on switching them up with one of their desktops and see if it'll work. Thoughts, tips, tricks, comments? I wanna hear them
just making sure: have you ever build, or have knowledge about how a computer is assembled? for tips, make sure that when you assemble your computer, you ground yourself. you dont want some residual static to fry your new components. also, if this is your first assembly, just google the steps, and make sure you know exactly what you are doing before actually assembling it. the only tools you really need are screw drivers, a grounding cable (or wrist band), and personally, i'd have some anti-static bags ready.. i hate the thought of static frying the components =( (the more security measures you take, the less risk lol), oh and the tool of knowledge >=)
i used to build my own desktop systems; but, have not done so for a long time. For a barebone, you can probably get it as cheap as you build it from Dell. and that's what I have been doing, get barebone servers from dell and upgrade it as resources becomes available.
ahh ok thanks. Yea this is my first time building a system. I know basic things like putting motherboard and components on, the thing I just need to figure out is the cables. I've been wondering about how to prevent static, and I'm guessing I'll need to go out and buy grounding wrist bands? well alright thanks for the tips. I'll go on dell's website and take a peek there
you can either spend the 3 bucks on a grounding wrist band (which is the better thing to do) OR you can be cheap like me, connect the PSU into the case, plug the power cable into the PSU and wall outlet, and get a spare stripped wire attached to the case, and skin contact to your wrist. (which is NOT the better thing to do )
As long as you're not doing it on carpet you should be fine. Clothing might be an issue, so maybe a pair of jeans and a old t-shit?
I've never used grounding wrist bands and i've upgraded every component on my computer minus the CPU and MOBO. If i was doing a full setup from scratch i'd definitely invest in a wrist band though. Its not worth risking the components, especially on something delicate like the CPU. I can't contribute too much to this though, i've never built a computer entirely from scratch. Just make sure you don't skimp too much on components like Mobo, CPU and Ram. There is no point in building something which is already overly outdated. Set a reasonable budget and then aim as high as you can go with that. One thing i've noticed about computers is that buying last gen components always nets you serious deals and you're not losing all that much in performance.
Yea you're right about that. I don't want to end up with a system like my dad's or sister... who can't handle even handle games like NFS Carbon with medium graphics level, nevermind Undercover or Pro Street (His CPU is 3.0Ghz single core, ram is something like 2GB?). I'm thinking of building an AM3 system, probably going to go for mid range CPU with 4gb DDR2's worth. I'm not really a hardcore gamer, but some games I want to play are quite graphically demanding . I don't own win7 OS, and don't want to run into genuine issues... so I'll probably still be sticking with Win XP. I will likely upgrade the graphic card, stock (Radeon 4350) isn't very appealing to me right now. Oh and I checked out dell. Their setups aren't really that amazingly great for the price they offer D: I could probably get the similar thing for cheaper at TigerDirect.
i always build my PCs on carpet and no grounding, i still haven't had an issue... but never wear fleece when you are working on any PCs...however if you think about it, PC techs in an office environment are always on carpet at work...keep the parts in the anti-static bag until use and/or even handle the parts with the bags over them btw nothing is really updated anyways in the computer field...you can buy top notch today and a week later something better comes out...last time i purchased Q6600 when it first came out, my price was $400 on the cpu and everyone is selling $800+ and i just have an expensive case ($200) and whenever i changed the system, i just change the board, cpu and ram, and reuse everything else inside... none of the stores offer seems to good deals...i occasionally offer better prices than any other stores across Canada on a limited quantity basis...V25-40GB SSD was offered for $110 when it came out, M25-80GBG2 at $250 when it came out and way ahead of the arrival time compared to stores, but all my good deals are gone unless anyone wants the i7 860/940/950's or the i5 mobile cpu's
Some suggested components http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231185 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136517 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008 About ~360 so far for Mobo, CPU, Ram, PSU and HDD. (i wish ram wasn't so expensive these days ><) Another $84 for a low end GPU so you can play games... granted probably not maxed, but you should be able to play most games with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161319 budget another 150 bucks for case, drives and other items and you should have a fairly good computer for 550 dollars or so. also, all these prices are off newegg, if you shop NCIX you might find the same or similarly good components for cheaper. granted 550 might be considered mid-range and not bare-bones... But to be honest, if you're going to take the time to build a computer, you might as well source some relatively good components. You could substitute DDR2 ram, a lower end processor and a smaller hard drive and save yourself $100, but imo the lost functionality over time makes it worth paying extra.
These are good suggestions, but the link i put up shows relatively the same setup but in a bundle and for slightly less. It has: ASUS Mobo; although only supports ddr2 apparently, but still AM3, which is most important OEM Athlon II x2 240; Which I plan to upgrade to retail Phenom II x4 965 so I don't need to bother with a fan. Customer reviews say stock fan is already pretty sufficient. I'll check professional reviews later. 2gb ram; I'll be getting more off craigslist or ncix, whichever is best offer. Radeon 4350 (Beginner graphic card). Must upgrade later. WD SATA HDD 500gb and a tower with 450W power supply. All for 319$ before tax and shipping. A phenom II x4 965 3.4ghz CPU is priced at 189$ right now, and a linksys N-wireless card adapter starts at 32.97$. I guess total would be approx 600$ after tax (12% tax in BC)? Given the above added together, and budget $150 for finding a bit more ram, lcd, speakers, graphic card, mouse and keyboard, disc drive on craigslist and/or ncix. So the grand total would be 750$, then add another 40$ for shipping for the bundle (because it exceeds the 20lbs weight limit for free shipping) and that makes almost 800$. Would that be a reasonable price for a complete computer setup (unless I missed something...)? When I said building a barebone kit, I knew some parts of the bundle would be sort of outdated, so upgrades would be unavoidable. edit: how do you know when you have enough for power supply? And pros/cons of ddr2 vs ddr3? I know ddr3 is the new ram, but they're also comparatively way more expensive on the market right now. edit: when the complete set up is done, I'll probably be selling extra parts (meaning the athlon CPU and beginner graphic card) back on craigslist to lower the costs... I'm guessing it might give me back at least 70$? Its a wild guess though.
150 dollars isn't going to be enough to get you a monitor, 2 gb of ram and a better graphics card 22" LCD is 135 bucks right now probably 2 GB of DDR2 is like another 40 and a good GPU is going to be another 150 I still think you can make it work for under $800 if you don't buy as part of a package deal and source all the components individually... But either way works. I just think that the package you showed really sets you back in terms of futureproofing. The mobo is a little outdated, the packaged graphics card is useless, and the ram is old. My quote was off though, i was using the US Newegg site :( since we're both from canada we pay more for components. it sucks.
Hmm you got a point there. I've been looking around on craigslist for parts like lcd, mouse, keyboard, speakers... some are pretty damn old and not worth it, but something like a 19" can for as low as 50$? My desk isn't that big so I can't fit a big screen and have my laptop on the side at the same time, but I should go in-stores and take a look first before confirming it. I'm not boasting but I did once find a nvidia 8500GT for 38$ on craigslist. I'm not saying its super duper good (actually it might be considered aged by now), but it did the job when playing Carbon, Undercover and Underground 2. Its still working too, even though its been almost a year and a half. As for ram... I just looked it up like minute ago. Some are selling them for 40$ a piece, some are selling as 4gb (2x2) for 80$, so you're right on about ram. I'm guessing if you aren't picky on the stuff being absolutely new then it should be alright. edit: lucky I didn't fry my new 2.5" HDD last week before it was even installed in my laptop >>. Was wearing fleece and sitting/working on carpet... what worse can you ask for ><. Also, apparently i read just touching the tower case can work as grounding? didn't know it was that simple.
I def read that too fast lol. Maybe under $300. If he already has some ram left over he won't need much more.
lol, quad core i5's aren't in this budget >____> tried to put together a list of parts and the whole setup w/o monitor came up to be almost 700..... must be the 4gb of ram..... and the video card... the i5 and mobo itself was 300... =\ if you are going for budget definitely go with AMD..... save like 100 - 200 bucks easy....
you're right on this one! i looked at intel cpus and was blown away! My friend said that his intel CPU is saving him energy on his laptop though, compared to my laptop's turion MK-36. My battery-life is terrible... pulling out a mere 40min (which was about the same figure before I upgraded the fried HDD). The most I ever got out of it was something like an hour and half when it was new. Anyway for the desktop... I'm not sure if I'll really be needing the power of phenom, and top of the line no less. Its not like I play CPU intensive games on a daily basis, and definitely not recently. At most it would be random Photoshop work for the school club, watching dramas, movie conversions (rarely nowadays) and mostly word processing/email/browsing. If I keep the Athlon II x2 240 chip, 200$ could easily be shaved off that previous estimate... And if necessary I could upgrade in the future when AM3 is outdated or if phenom ever drops to a ridiculously low price. Would keeping the nub CPU be a bad idea?
