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Best online resources for DIY computer building?
December 18, 2007 6:13 PM   RSS feed for this thread Subscribe

Best resources for building your own computer?

I built my own computer around 1998 and saved a bundle. At the time I had friends who were able to walk me through the process of selecting parts; what's the best online resource for that now?

Looking at newegg.com I realize that I'm not up to speed on the different sockets, graphics cards, etc. Where can I go that will benchmark all this stuff for me and tell me what's compatible/incompatible?

If it helps, we want the system for low-end Gimp usage, downloading/watching TV/movies via Bittorrent (we're going to get a 24" or larger display...that's where most of the budget is going), general web surfing, ripping/burning DVDs, etc. I'd like to play a game like Portal, HalfLife 2, and maybe a flight simulator, but if I can't get that under budget that's no big deal (we haven't decided what our budget is yet, but probably ~$800-900 including display).

We're probably going to go with Ubuntu to save the cost of a Windows license, so if the site could advise us of driver/hardware compatibility with that it would be helpful.

Also, a friend has several Dell Optiplex systems that he's going to chunk, so I'm hoping I can salvage the case/power supply/optical drive from one of those (anyone see any problem with this strategy?).

So, what site has information that can help me here, and do you see any obvious problems that I'm running into?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints to computers & internet (20 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
Last time I built a computer ArsTecnica had an article online detailing different combinations of parts for different budgets. I don't know where this article is offhand, but I was a total noob and was able to build a great system this way and learn the ropes.
posted by chips ahoy at 6:19 PM on December 18, 2007


Sometimes the Dell cases have weird internal layouts, so if you're going to use one, don't just assume that a standard mobo and power supply are going to fit in it; check it first.
posted by flabdablet at 6:23 PM on December 18, 2007


Tom's Hardware published a nice guide back in September.
posted by shinybeast at 6:25 PM on December 18, 2007


Here is the $800 budget PC from ArsTechnica. Saving on display, case and power supply should cut a couple hundred dollars off this.
posted by geoff. at 6:27 PM on December 18, 2007


Also, a friend has several Dell Optiplex systems that he's going to chunk, so I'm hoping I can salvage the case/power supply/optical drive from one of those (anyone see any problem with this strategy?).

Usually all that stuff is proprietary, meaning you won't be able to just throw a new motherboard in the Dell case, or use the Dell PSU in another vendor's case without extensive jury-rigging.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 6:29 PM on December 18, 2007


If I have to scrap the idea of using the Dell case/power supply, so be it.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:42 PM on December 18, 2007


I prefer this guide by Tom's Hardware, not the one posted above. It's in 2 parts - the first is choosing your parts, and the 2nd is putting it all together.

I also picked out my hardware and asked for opinions in the Neowin Hardware Hangout forum, and they were great about helping me pick out upgrades that were worth the cost and making sure things were compatible.

Just to let you know, if you do want to dual-boot Windows or run it exclusively, you can get OEM copies of XP or Vista at NewEgg (and similar sites) much cheaper than buying them retail.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:45 PM on December 18, 2007


Don't bother using the case and power supply. Chances are it's not really a standard ATX case, and power supplies get less and less reliable over time. Better to spend $50 on a power supply now than blow out your CPU with a dying one in three months' time.

Read lots of reviews. There are a ton of good hardware sites, including Dan's Data, HardOCP, the aforementioned ArsTechnica and Tom's Hardware. I don't like it so much these days, but AnandTech is okay.
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:53 PM on December 18, 2007


You should be able to use the optical drive(s) from the Dell with no problem, though. That'll save you $30-$40ish for a DVD burner.
posted by zsazsa at 7:18 PM on December 18, 2007


Apple 23'' cinema display = $900 = Total Budget
My point being, that if the primary function of this computer is for TV and movie watching, you're going to want at least a decent quality display, which, while much much cheaper than they used to be, still aren't cheap.
The very cheapest 24'' inchers on newegg and tigerdirect appear to be $310 and $350, respectively. So best case scenario your budget for the rest of the computer is $490-$590.
That's going to build you a pretty mid- to low-end system, with a budget display.
That being said, look around at the suggested sites that the other MeFites have posted, they're all pretty useful (haha, both the sites and the mefites), and then maybe see if you can't up your budget a little.
Also, I agree with them some more on that you can most likely reuse the dell optical drive(s), but the cases and PSU are most likely proprietary and useless as parts.
Computers are kind of my life, so send any questions to my mefi mail and I'll be happy to help!
posted by baserunner73 at 9:04 PM on December 18, 2007


You might find this thread helpful. My advice (near the bottom) hasn't changed since then.
posted by Manjusri at 9:05 PM on December 18, 2007


Through various discounts I can get a 24" display for about $400. On Newegg.com I've pieced together the following system for about $380 (before shipping and tax):

ATX Mini Tower Case & Power Supply $40
Abit Motherboard $83
Intel Dual-Core E2140 Allendale 1.6GHz Processor $74
4GB Memory $78
256MB 8500GT Graphics Card $69
DVD Burner $33

That should be enough for what I'm looking to do, right?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:32 PM on December 18, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]


The motherboard you picked is full ATX, but the case is for micro/flex ATX, so they won't work together.

Also..
Dell cases are probably standard (mostly micro ATX, but maybe a few ATX cases too), but their power supplies are proprietary. The power supply only needs a wire order swap, but it may not be worth fixing.
posted by Chuckles at 10:25 PM on December 18, 2007


Doh, wrong link for the motherboard, thanks for catching that. Assuming I have the above components, does anyone foresee any obvious issues? The last time I built one up everything was straightforward, but I want to make sure I've got my bases covered here.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:29 PM on December 18, 2007


I'm not looking at the details, but be aware, Linux has issues with some hardware. If you want to run a Linux version, be careful with that. We run our home theater on MythTV, and configured a lovely machine with an ultra-quiet box, but had to take care with components.
posted by Goofyy at 5:14 AM on December 19, 2007


There is no hard drive in the list of components above. Is that intentional?
posted by rglasmann at 7:09 AM on December 19, 2007


I put up all the components I was thinking about on slickdeals.net forums and got some really great advice, along with a guy who sold me some components quite cheaply. There's a lot of good information on there.
posted by sully75 at 7:42 AM on December 19, 2007


One of the most problematic parts for linux is the video card, but I notice that you've got an nvidia based 8500GT. I've got a 6200 in my athlon 850MHz amd box, and it's got plenty of power for displaying downloaded videos, and even enough to display SD mpeg2. The 8500 GT will work, and should be more than sufficient.

You've got a retail cpu, so heatsink and cpufan are covered. Mobo has pci-e slots and video card is pci-e, so that looks good to me.
posted by nobeagle at 8:08 AM on December 19, 2007


That video card and CPU should be plenty for HD as well. I watch 720p video on the same CPU (stock speed) with an old ATI 9200 with no problems.

That CPU should be good for 2.5GHz.. Definitely search for the motherboard model and "overclock". Depending on the motherboard, setting the overclock can be easy, or very difficult (my motherboard will require a pin mod, which I'll get to eventually).

For memory.. Unless you are running Vista, 2GB is fine. Either way, larger and faster modules will be more useful in the future, which might be worth 10% higher price. In practice, if you want to go for 4GB, think about the 2x2GB 667 kit ($90), or 2 of the 2x1GB 800 kits ($80, not "Value", but mail in rebate).
posted by Chuckles at 8:49 AM on December 19, 2007


I figured I should update this post with what I finally settled on. I kinda blew my original budget and specs out of the water.
I loaded XP Pro and then Ubuntu 7.10 and Ubuntu took care of dual booting without a hitch. All is well, and we're on a 24" display (going to return it to Costco and get a 28"). Thanks to everyone for their advice.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:09 AM on January 17, 2008


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