I decided that as soon as possible, I'm gonna get a book or something and learn everything I can about computer hardware and the associated engineering. They're useful skills, and with them I can assemble custom PC's that are cheaper and more powerful than the boxes sold at stores, plus, I can keep them upgraded and updated. I can also do my own hardmods of stuff like my PSP with more confidence that I'm doing it right.

A bit of a little dream of mine with all this is to eventually build my own slim form-factor PC with a custom case, a slot-loading DVD drive (if they make those for PC's), and the different parts that Ge described in his "build a $350 Mac" thread so it can run both OSX and XP. I want it to have a sleek, smooth exterior that looks like a solid color when off, but has LED's that light up when it's on. I have a long road ahead, but it'll be worth it in the end when I have my own awesome custom-made computers. Who knows, maybe eventually I'll get as good as Ge and his Xbox/PS2/Gamecube All-in-One box. By the way, how's that coming along, Ge?

good luck dude.  I don't know squat about building computers but my cousin does and he is helping me
but im actualy building it he is just telling me what goes where

an admirable goal however you may find getting parts to begin with will cost more than machines that are sold pre-built, this is because they have economies of scale (the more they buy the cheaper they can sell them). i wish you good luck - i tried doing this and failed basically so i hope you manage it.

tigerfan Wrote:you're not giving up graphics, are you???

Fuck no! If anything, this will be a different way to express it through the casemod I'm planning for that $350 Mac Ge64 posted the tutorial about.

(This post was last modified: 07/02/2008 03:32 PM by roberth.)

Anger Wrote:an admirable goal however you may find getting parts to begin with will cost more than machines that are sold pre-built, this is because they have economies of scale (the more they buy the cheaper they can sell them). i wish you good luck - i tried doing this and failed basically so i hope you manage it.

Even if it is subjective to economics of scale, the labor cost involved with building and quality check, quality guaruntees (eg. 2 year guaruntee with free repairs), customer support costs, and the fact that the company that builds it (eg, Dell, Toshiba...) also wants profit means that pre-built ones are almost always more expensive. Well, at least over here, it is.

But i guess it depends on what kind of pre-built wee are talking about. Some computer stores here sell pre-builts that are built by the store itself, not by some company like Dell, so these may be cheaper.

(This post was last modified: 07/02/2008 04:14 PM by Azumi.)

Assassinator Wrote:

Anger Wrote:an admirable goal however you may find getting parts to begin with will cost more than machines that are sold pre-built, this is because they have economies of scale (the more they buy the cheaper they can sell them). i wish you good luck - i tried doing this and failed basically so i hope you manage it.

Even if it is subjective to economics of scale, the labor cost involved with building and quality check, quality guaruntees (eg. 2 year guaruntee with free repairs), customer support costs, and the fact that the company that builds it (eg, Dell, Toshiba...) also wants profit means that pre-built ones are almost always more expensive. Well, at least over here, it is.

But i guess it depends on what kind of pre-built wee are talking about. Some computer stores here sell pre-builts that are built by the store itself, not by some company like Dell, so these may be cheaper.

Yeah, there is the local-company-built computers for less, but then you don't get the same sort of quality and guarantee that a big company like Dell offers.

Regardless, learning this will allow me to build, upgrade and manage my own computer and other hardware with confidence and without relying on other people's knowledge. Plus, I can add some sweet LED's to my computer to make it glow :P

Azumi Wrote:really it is a good thing to get into... by learning pcs you not only learn a skill that will be VERY useful but you could also make a carreer out of it if you wanted...  building a pc inst that hard... parts are parts and usually one go one place so its hard to mess up.. if you know the basics like how to install ram, or a pci card or a HDD then you already have a good start.... processors arent hard just remember to use a big enough fan and some of that heat sink goop....  try experimenting with broken or extra equipment.... take a few broken or old cdroms apart and learn how they work incase yours gets stuck.. you know things like that help alot.. just some suggestions... good luck

Thanks, and you're right, it is a useful job. My main career goal is to become a concept artist, but that isn't the most stable of jobs until you find a steady client, so until then I could make a decent living building computers while looking for said client. And I know how to install an HDD and RAM.

(This post was last modified: 07/02/2008 04:33 PM by Chroma.)

hey as long as you wear an anti static wrist strap, don't force anything into places that don't fit, and make sure you find out if the part is compatible, then you can't really go wrong. generally if it doesn't fit it won't work lol. my advice get some old machines and dismantle them noting where things go, then reassemble them and test them, if it doesn't blow up then you may be ready to work on a newer machine. :P