Programmers: Did you Build Your Computer?
My PC was sort of a gift from my Grandma, well my old PCs motherboard died so she lent me hers, not knowing I'd have it for over 18 months.
Anyway, I am researching how to build a computer (doesn't look too hard) and the parts I'd need, it looks as if it's going to be cheap since I won't need a good graphics card since I don't play games on the PC (probably because I've never been able to, with all the lame computers I've had, it's a habit now).
Anyway, I am researching how to build a computer (doesn't look too hard) and the parts I'd need, it looks as if it's going to be cheap since I won't need a good graphics card since I don't play games on the PC (probably because I've never been able to, with all the lame computers I've had, it's a habit now).
Built mine. Was the first one I built myself, and even though it took quite a while to figure out the worthless manuals it was a nice experience.
I've built most of my computers, except for the first few I had. (Although I normally tell most people to buy one since I don't feel like building it for them ;) )
I haven't had many problems except for the first time I built one I didn't seat the AGP card in all the way which took awhile to figure out (hey, it _was_ my first computer build). Oh, and I had a BOA (Borked on Arrival. Not exactly dead, but had all kinds of corruption, etc) Radeon 9700 Pro. Oh, and I had that incident with the other Radeon 9700 Pro that I had lighting on fire and burning through a few of my cables.....
I haven't had many problems except for the first time I built one I didn't seat the AGP card in all the way which took awhile to figure out (hey, it _was_ my first computer build). Oh, and I had a BOA (Borked on Arrival. Not exactly dead, but had all kinds of corruption, etc) Radeon 9700 Pro. Oh, and I had that incident with the other Radeon 9700 Pro that I had lighting on fire and burning through a few of my cables.....
i've built 6 or 7 computers over the years. the main computer i still use i built. though atm, i'm typing this on a dell laptop i brought. but i did upgrade the ram in it! :)
I bought my computer from BestBuy. About a month ago I had to replace the motherboard so that I could upgrade my graphics card (my old board didn't have an AGP slot.) Once I get another job, I'm going to build one from scratch (including the case.)
Some of the members are too young to afford building thier own (as in my case about 2 years ago. Now I can't because I don't know the meaning of the phrase 'saving up'.)
Some of the members are too young to afford building thier own (as in my case about 2 years ago. Now I can't because I don't know the meaning of the phrase 'saving up'.)
Quote:Original post by superdeveloper
I found that just buying them according to my spec was always cheaper than building my own. Plus store-build computers will instantly replace any defective parts automatically (at the store-workshop). Then they run them for a while to ensure it's all working.
Totally aggree. I used to put together my own pcs when I was 8 or 9 years old (before i knew how to program) because i thought it was about the coolest thing you could do with a pc, but i guess since then i found buying some compusa computer on clearance and throwing last years top end graphics card and some new ram gave me a powerful pc for around 600$.
I don't build my own. I have little interest in hardware and little time to spend on it. The last few systems I've had have been Dells, and they've worked fine for my purposes. My interest is not in getting the absolute best combination of value and performance, but to have a stable and fairly fast system to work with.
It really depends on what your focus is. You obviously want to be aware of what is available, but programmers do not necessarily need to be experts at hardware to do their job. It shouldn't be seen as a lost art or part of becoming a "real" programmer, but as the same as researching any other component of a system to produce the best overall result for the least time/money.
It really depends on what your focus is. You obviously want to be aware of what is available, but programmers do not necessarily need to be experts at hardware to do their job. It shouldn't be seen as a lost art or part of becoming a "real" programmer, but as the same as researching any other component of a system to produce the best overall result for the least time/money.
I've built 2 of my own, and buoght a laptop. My family got one from Gateway. The Gateway sucks. The hdd died not long after we bought it. It is a P4 2.0 Ghz but feels like a 500Mhz Celeron or something. Its so slow and I cant figure out what it is. My laptop is faily new, and I haven't had any problems... yet... I just finifhed building my second computer the other day.
1.0Ghz VIA CPU
Epia PD Mobo
256MB RAM (Will upgrade a 1GB)
IGP AGP 4x S3 bullshit that sucks
and my old 10GB hdd
It runs great. I can play Star Craft and Half Life (what else would I want to play?) It runs faster than the Gateway and was MUCH cheaper. Its also very quiet and small Mini-ITX.
My other computer that I built:
Athlon 2400+ XP
Gigabyte GA-7NNXP mobo
Radeon 9600 XT [smile]
512MB RAM
Just sold the hdd
This one runs fine and is great for gaming. The only thing I have a problem with is the goddamn mobo. I have this problem where the computer hangs when it gets to the "Windows is shutting down" sreen and so I have to manualy hit the power buttong to get it to shut off from there. I narrowed that issue down to the mobo.
Overall, I think building your own computer is a great idea. You should at least know how to upgrade your existing computer.
1.0Ghz VIA CPU
Epia PD Mobo
256MB RAM (Will upgrade a 1GB)
IGP AGP 4x S3 bullshit that sucks
and my old 10GB hdd
It runs great. I can play Star Craft and Half Life (what else would I want to play?) It runs faster than the Gateway and was MUCH cheaper. Its also very quiet and small Mini-ITX.
My other computer that I built:
Athlon 2400+ XP
Gigabyte GA-7NNXP mobo
Radeon 9600 XT [smile]
512MB RAM
Just sold the hdd
This one runs fine and is great for gaming. The only thing I have a problem with is the goddamn mobo. I have this problem where the computer hangs when it gets to the "Windows is shutting down" sreen and so I have to manualy hit the power buttong to get it to shut off from there. I narrowed that issue down to the mobo.
Overall, I think building your own computer is a great idea. You should at least know how to upgrade your existing computer.
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