Ok, here are some pics I took while building the new PC. It went together very well. The case is just a dream to build in. Large and heavy but so much room and well sound proofed and great air flow. Everything went well. Here are the first of several pics....
Most of the parts
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC1.jpg)
Lovely case
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC2.jpg)
So much room inside, love the drive bays
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC3.jpg)
Killer motherboard
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC4.jpg)
Next set of pics....
Motherboard & CPU in!
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC5.jpg)
I like these power supplies
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC6.jpg)
Nice memory (2 x 2GB)
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC7.jpg)
Picked a nice 8800 GT vid. card
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC8.jpg)
And the last set of pics....
Easy does it....
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC9.jpg)
I give you life!
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC10.jpg)
What a mess!
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC11.jpg)
This was funny...
(http://www.treksinscifi.com/picsmisc/New_PC12.jpg)
The last pic was funny. Windows Vista upgrade has the ability to do a clean install on a new hard drive. Basically you install Vista and don't enter your product key. Then in Vista after it's installed you do an "upgrade." When you do that and run Setup off the Vista disc it still asks you whether you want to let setup run. This is Vista suspecting the Vista setup file of something. You'd think Microsoft would allow it's own software past the security checks. LOL!
Anyway, still lots to do (and clean up) but I'm very happy with my new baby!
Cool Pics Rico, Looks like you have a really great new System. I like the Pics with all the parts and cables in your office area after your computer was built, reminds me when I built my last few PC's. I am still trying to decide what I want to get in terms of size, I am hoping I can decide pretty soon.
I think I'm going to start assembling the parts to build another computer for the home. Since everyone has their own comps, I'm going to build this one with the idea of being strictly a media playing system with lots of drive space and PC gaming via the HD TV and the 360 wireless add on for PCs
Great pics Rico! How much did it end up costing you?
Quote from: moyer777 on May 12, 2008, 10:15:50 AM
Great pics Rico! How much did it end up costing you?
About $1600 for what you see in the pics.
That's awesome. It must SCREAM!
When I get ready to build mine I will have to consult with you. I want to make it so I can do lots of recording and stuff. My budget will be a little smaller, but I'm sure I can make something that works well.
Ah, tech stuff. it's so inspiring! I'm such a geek. :lol2
Building your own PC is always more expensive, than a prebuilt. But you can customize it to your own needs so much better. And it is always far easier to upgrade latter on, if you plan ahead.
Plus the feeling of satisfaction when you have built it is; GLORIOUS!
Rico did you cutup your hands as bad as I do whenever I build a PC? Ouch, even those high end cases I like always seem to have sharp metal edges inside.
And I am never going to overclock again... I think that is what killed my last computer, it started getting unstable and then just... died.
Coolermaster makes great cases, good choice Rico. Does it monitor the temp inside the case, and can you set the fan speeds?
The price isn't really more expensive. I am buying a much higher level component than is typically used in a prebuilt system. So it isn't a valid comparison. One of the several reasons I build my own computers - so I can get exactly the items I want in it that "play nice together."
And it is a nice feeling when you push that power button and it all works - as this baby did the very first time. But you do need to do a lot of research and know what you are doing.
P.S. And yes, I did get one small cut. But not from the case. It was from trying to open one of the packages. As far as fan controls and temperature, all just monitored from the Bios. The 120mm fans are extremely quiet so they just run full.
Quote from: Omra on May 12, 2008, 11:48:43 AM
Building your own PC is always more expensive, than a prebuilt.
I've always found the opposite to be true. I've always been able to put together a system significantly cheaper than a prebuilt system with around the same specs. I'm sure that if you got the specs of Rico's system and compared in to a prebuilt, he would have saved.
Then again, I have a few places that I can get parts of a pretty good discount and I do a lot of price shopping for my parts.
As Geeks.
We are always researching our components and looking for the best out there, with the best track record. And as such what we purchase will always be more expensive INITALLY.
But because we plan ahead. And buy the best motherboards, memory with heatsinks, most reliable and quickest hard drives, and the best built and reliable power units, etc.
In the long run we spend less.
And it also looks and runs better... and is far more expandable and versatile.
Yep - exactly. There are pluses and minuses both ways of doing it. But this has been one of my hobbies for awhile and I enjoy doing it. Also, I get a lot of good life out of what I build and generally very few problems. And even if I do, I usually can fix them pretty easily.
The advantage of buying pre-built is that you get the support and ususually extra software. This is usually not something that us geeks want though :) but for non-tech people or Apple people it's fine.
I'm considering building my first PC sometime next year, any advice for the new computer builder?
Well, if you've never done it I would try and find a local friend that has done this before to help you. It's not that hard, but there are a lot of little things that go much easier with a person to help you out.
Building computers is really not that hard as Rico mentioned. I would stay away fom doing any type over overclocking if you are new to it. That can add unexpected complications that you don't need to deal with in my opinion. My advice for parts is buy the best memory with the lowest CL and the fastest hardrives. I would rather have fast SCSI drives over tons of space but SCSI is expensive.
This is what I use: 73GB 15K RPM Serial-Attach SCSI 3Gbps. Please note that this is extreme over-kill for normal users or even gamers. Unless you like enterprise level server drives in your desktop ;)
I also usually go the N-1 route when buying video cards otherwise you computer will be 40% video card costs.
Just my thoughts....
It isn't that hard if you have done it before. I certainly wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars or more without someone either on hand or on call to help you through certain parts of the work that has some experience doing it.
P.S. Blackride - SCSI? Really?? Why???
Just buy a Mac...it's much easier... ;)
Quote from: Rico on October 05, 2008, 04:19:38 PM
P.S. Blackride - SCSI? Really?? Why???
Hotswapable drive bays and performance. I know it's overkill for home solutions but I get good deals on stuff and gave me something to play with outside of work.
Quote from: Blackride on October 05, 2008, 05:24:17 PM
Quote from: Rico on October 05, 2008, 04:19:38 PM
P.S. Blackride - SCSI? Really?? Why???
Hotswapable drive bays and performance. I know it's overkill for home solutions but I get good deals on stuff and gave me something to play with outside of work.
Well, if you get them cheap I can see why you would use them but most boards don't support them these days and the performance increase is minimal. Your average computer user probably has no idea what SCSI is even too. LOL.
Well I'm confident your average computer user doesn't know what IDE or SATA are either. My wife calls the case the "hard drive".