Havent built a computer in a while

[Smoblikat]

Title is not entirely accurate...........I work in IT, so I rebuild laptops/desktops on a very regular basis. But this weekend I am building my buddy a computer out of spare parts I have lying around. I havent built a custom rig in almost a year now, so I am pretty excited. I bought a new Athlon X2 (which BETTER unlock to an X4) and am using an ASUS mATX board, 4gb DDR3 and an old 4870 I have lying around. I forgot how much fun it is to piece together a completely custom system, configure it, overclock (unlock!!!!) it etc.. I am currently running HD tune on the 160gb drive I plan on using, its about 70% complete and all green so far, health check is OK too. How often do you guys build computers outside of work? I fear my addiction to building might come back though

EDIT - Here are some pics of the case im using:

Custom painted, cut, trimmed, affixed etc.. by me.

 

[lxskllr]

I built the machine I'm using in 2006. It still works, but I noticed a bulging cap this past winter. I'll probably run it til it blows up, then build something new. I really enjoy building computers, but not enough to piss away money. This one does everything I want, so I have no need to build.

 

[Smoblikat]

I built the machine I'm using in 2006. It still works, but I noticed a bulging cap this past winter. I'll probably run it til it blows up, then build something new. I really enjoy building computers, but not enough to piss away money. This one does everything I want, so I have no need to build.

Thats my attitude also. I used to spend way too much money on parts that I didnt need, now im using a computer that I pieced together from whatever I didnt/couldnt sell

I have been wanting a new graphics card though.........but my current 4870X2 works so well for all the games I play, I dont know if I could justify it. Plus, I need the money to put towards mods for my car

 

[olds]

If only this place had a forum for computer builds. How can a tech form, for computers, not have a computer forum?
It's really mind boggling.

 

[Smoblikat]

If only this place had a forum for computer builds. How can a tech form, for computers, not have a computer forum?
It's really mind boggling.

I was going to post in general hardware, but I figured it wasnt important enough to warrant a thread there.

 

[lxskllr]

Thinking about it, I have a new Abit mb I bought cause it was cheap. I also have a C2D cpu somewhere I bought for some reason or another, and a new in box Antec case :^D I guess I should get my parts together, and see what I have. I have most of a new(old) computer. I think the only thing I'm missing is gfx.

 

[brainhulk]

I built a nice computer in April, haven't touched a game yet...lol

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2380040&highlight=

 

[Rakehellion]

Those LEDs make me want to vomit.

 

[disappoint]

I have been wanting a new graphics card though.........but my current 4870X2 works so well for all the games I play...

Then why do you want it?

 

[Ichinisan]

Title is not entirely accurate...........I work in IT, so I rebuild laptops/desktops on a very regular basis. But this weekend I am building my buddy a computer out of spare parts I have lying around. I havent built a custom rig in almost a year now, so I am pretty excited. I bought a new Athlon X2 (which BETTER unlock to an X4) and am using an ASUS mATX board, 4gb DDR3 and an old 4870 I have lying around. I forgot how much fun it is to piece together a completely custom system, configure it, overclock (unlock!!!!) it etc.. I am currently running HD tune on the 160gb drive I plan on using, its about 70% complete and all green so far, health check is OK too. How often do you guys build computers outside of work? I fear my addiction to building might come back though

EDIT - Here are some pics of the case im using:

Custom painted, cut, trimmed, affixed etc.. by me.

Case is pretty gaudy though. Trends have changed. There are some affordable elegant cases on Newegg.

I wish there were more options like the Ncase M1.

 

[Markbnj]

Why Athlon? Is there a huge price difference?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I built a nice budget rig for my son about a year ago. Been trying to convince the wife that her system needs to be updated. I'm on a quad core i7 so no real compelling reason to upgrade my rig at this time.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Those LEDs make me want to vomit.

LOL. I actually liked the case and LED's.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's fun to build, but can also be frustrating when you run into random issues, then have to try to figure out which piece of hardware is causing it. Can get expensive. I've had nothing but bad luck with the last one I built. After going from an nvidia card to ATI it fixed most of my issues in Linux, but I still get occasional cursor corruption where cursor is all screwed up, or complete system lockups.

My next PC is probably going to be a clone. Then again I say that but I'll probably end up caving in and building again. The clones are too restrictive.

Idealy I'd like to have a separate windows machine for gaming. I'd probably make this one it, then build a low power usage Linux machine and only turn the windows one on as needed.

 

[BUTCH1]

I was going to post in general hardware, but I wanted a lot of people to see my thread ASAP so I posted it in OT.

FTFY..

 

[Imp]

It's fun to build, but can also be frustrating when you run into random issues, then have to try to figure out which piece of hardware is causing it. Can get expensive. I've had nothing but bad luck with the last one I built. After going from an nvidia card to ATI it fixed most of my issues in Linux, but I still get occasional cursor corruption where cursor is all screwed up, or complete system lockups.

*shudders*

Two machines back, I had a faulty SATA controller that crashed my system randomly for months. Took me that long and that much stress to narrow the problem down.

And every time I open up my case, I always end up taking the entire day because I end up screwing with something else...

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Man, if I had money I would probably spend $20k a month until I built tons of PCs. Small systems, AIOs, super-ultra-SLI, servers, rendering farm, phase change, custom water loop, everything. Build all the things.

EDIT: I think on of the classiest cases is the 550D.