Building a computer
 

So, I've decided that I'd like to get a second computer...because I'm tired of Rho fucking this one up. ;) The new one will be for Rho's internet journeys and music listening.

Rather than buy a new one though, I'd like to build one. I'm not the most mechanically inclined soul, but I watched UT build my current one (which is fucking awesome, BTW), I've looked at a couple of how-to sites and I have a bunch of geeks on a couple of different boards that will probably have no problem putting their $0.02 in. I think I can do it with just a little help.

Two questions to start:

--Is there anything that you all would not recommend buying used in putting together a computer?

--Is there a way to obtain WinXP on the cheap?

Personally, I'd never build a box with a used hard drive, unless I knew exactly where it came from and what was on it beforehand.

Anything of decent specs that you can get free should be used, if only temporarily; I don't agree with CW's concern for the content (data-wise?) of a used HD, given you can set your reformatting utility to completely erase all previous data. However, used HDs are hard to buy because they rarely are sold in working order. Similarly, I would be cautious of a used optical drive.

You can sometimes find them in shady non-chain computer stores.

Not to mention Ebay.

It depends on what you consider cheap. When I did mine newegg was selling XP Home for $95 or something like that in its OEM version. For my money, if you're going to use Winblows, then that's probably worth it so you can not be hassled about getting security updates.

Anything with a moving part is questionnable used. The power supply fans for example.

In general, people seem to like the Sparkle power supplies for low-price setups. I personally have gone Enermax for the high-price setups.

You can find replacement fans for cases at low cost. A replacement CPU cooler is also a good idea... Thermaltake is a good selection in this category.

It's not the data I worry about. It's the actual physical hard drive. I've had two fairly catastrophic failures because the secondhand hard drives I had gotten themselves were shot. I had gotten them from a computer recycling center. One of them produced a burning smell right before it died. I cracked it open and found the discs and bearings were caked with dust that burned as the thing spun. That's why I only trust used hard drives if I know how they've been treated before. It's just a caveat.

First question to ask.

How much do you want to spend?

$300-400 total.

You'll be hard pressed to build one from components at that price range. You can buy whole systems for that, but not build them.

Piece by piece will kill you on price unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

These should give you a feel for some prices of inexpensive systems.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...op%20Computers

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...op%20Computers

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...op%20Computers

With monitor or without?

I gotta buy one this time around.

I did my dad's for under $500 back before Christmas last year. Of course I cheaped out on the case & power supply. (Remember, these are almost a year old.)

CG case/ power supply.. $40
ASUS A7V8X-MX mobo .. $60
AMD Athlon 2400+ CPU .. $81
Crucial 512MMB DDR RAM .. $74
Teac floppy drive .. $8
40GB Seatgate hard drive .. $58
Lite On CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo .. $51
Win XP Home OEM edition .. $91

Plus $23 shipping from Newegg.

Amusing and sad that the most costly thing on that list is also the biggest turd.

Yeah and it's a problem Microsoft is going to have to come to terms with... at the price points for low end PC's, when there's a $100 or $150 difference between a computer with Windows and one with some kind of Linux, people are actually going to start thinking about whether it's worth it.