Is making your own PC now "too easy"?

[Lonyo]

I was "making" a PC yesterday, as in, putting the CPU, RAM, HDD and motherboard in the case and hooking it all together.

Apart from not having a GPU, which would have added another 60 seconds to the build, it was all done almost instantly, because cases are so easy to use, and there's almost no tool use required in most modern cases.

Installing the OS?
I put the image on a USB stick (due to no optical drive), and within about 20 more minutes, the OS was installed (Windows 8), and then the drivers were all up to date.

Took pretty much no time. It used to take ages to put everything together, as cases were less easy to use, and there were more components required, as some things weren't integrated. Cable routing was more difficult because PATA cables were a pain.

Installing the OS took a lot longer, and THEN you had to install all the drivers.
Now it's almost too easy to build your own PC, IMO. There's zero challenge in building a basic PC

 

[videogames101]

i really want to try water cooling, that's much more work

 

[BoomerD]

It's so easy nowadays that wimmenz and children are doing it...

 

[Vectronic]

Well, if you're looking for a challenge, start creating your own PCI/PCI-E cards... that'll keep you busy. You've probably got 5 extra slots anyways.

You know, LED controller, maybe a fan controller, digital display... electronically they are all pretty simple... then you get to program them.

 

[DaveSimmons]

At least it's often still a pain to get the I/O shield to snap in properly. That's been annoying me for decades.

 

[Zorander]

In terms of hardware installations, push-pins HSF and tidier cables in cases make the biggest difference IME. Everything else has mostly stayed the same for the past decade or so.

 

[WelshBloke]

Meh, its never been that difficult.

Mind you I dont really worry about keeping the cables tidy. If they arent snagging a fan I dont really care.

 

[Lonyo]

In terms of hardware installations, push-pins HSF and tidier cables in cases make the biggest difference IME. Everything else has mostly stayed the same for the past decade or so.

Trying to wedge in "normal" mount HDDs, and then having to screw in 4 screws takes a lot longer than just pushing it into a side clip mounted bay. It's not hard to do either, assuming you aren't too tight on space, but it's just a lot quicker and simpler, so saves a lot of time.

Same with built in motherboard standoffs.
These things aren't hard, but when you don't have to faff about with screwing things in etc, it makes everything much quicker and less mess/little parts to find and put in the right place.

i really want to try water cooling, that's much more work

I'm going to try a custom made case (air cooled).

 

[Zorander]

Trying to wedge in "normal" mount HDDs, and then having to screw in 4 screws takes a lot longer than just pushing it into a side clip mounted bay. It's not hard to do either, assuming you aren't too tight on space, but it's just a lot quicker and simpler, so saves a lot of time.

I'm sure a lot of casings, particularly budget ones, still require users to screw in drives the traditional way. I had to do it this way when helping a friend build his system last week (he bought the cheapest case available).

Still, it's a lot better than budget cases of last decade (plenty of clearly-labelled connectors, no sharp edges and tidy cables). This alone makes working inside the case much more comfortable and faster.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Hasn't changed any in the last 20 years really.

 

[Sleepingforest]

For me, the hardest thing was getting in all the drivers over USB. Everything else was pretty easy, even in a so-called "hard" case (the TJ08-e) for my first build. Sure, I had a bit of trouble fitting all the cables in the back, but nothing was geniunely difficult or confusing.

 

[Eeqmcsq]

For a challenge, try building an ITX box. The limited space presents new kinds of problems to solve for cable management and heat issues.

 

[lamedude]

Hasn't changed any in the last 20 years really.

We had more jumpers and DIP switches 20 years ago.

 

[DSF]

I'm perfectly OK with it being easy. Shouldn't things improve over time?

 

[chalmers]

Too easy? Huh? You want it to be harder and more complicated?

 

[zanejohnson]

meh it's not really changed....

i've gotten lazier though.. i need to get some motivation and throw a few computers i have built in my mind out of spare parts i have laying around together and make use of them or at least sell them.. i know 2 are lga775 at least..

 

[ViRGE]

Is it easier? Definitely. Between IHSes becoming standard, improved cooler locking mechanisms, and cases with real cable management, it has become a lot easier. Though installing those damn motherboard FP connectors is as awful as it ever has been...

With that said, it may be easier, but I refute the idea that it has become "too easy." Saying it's too easy is based on the assumption that this hobby should somehow be inaccessible or a trial by fire. At a time when people are buying laptops, tablets, and other highly integrated devices that are essentially designed to never be opened, I welcome anything that makes this hobby more accessible.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

We had more jumpers and DIP switches 20 years ago.

Now that was fun...

I really, really hate jumpers... DIP switches are OK...

As for it being easy, I would say its become easier. As Eeqmcsq suggested for a challenge do an ITX box, that can be very challenging indeed.

 

[biostud]

Hasn't changed any in the last 20 years really.

OS setup is very different

No more IRQ and DMA conflicts...

 

[piasabird]

Well it is a lot easier without the need to manually setup a driver to read a CD/DVD/BRay. No pesky IDE cables makes it easier also. The operating systems almost install themselves today as long as you dont choose to install WIN 8.

 

[akugami]

We had more jumpers and DIP switches 20 years ago.

Remember when you connected everything and it doesn't start up, you go over your jumpers on the mobo and noticed you screwed one up and it's always in THE WORST place?

 

[vi edit]

Once we got past having to write our own boot disks to eek out extended memory and manually assign IRQ numbers to sound cards to get them to work everything was cake.

Go back to the early days of Win95 when you are feeding in 28 floppy disks to load an OS and you learn that the 27th one is corrupted. GAH!

 

[BeauCharles]

First PC I assembled was in 2003. It wasn't much harder then (most noobish challenge was figuring out jumpers for the IDE drives). Other than that, seems about the same.

 

[p4ck3tl055]

We had more jumpers and DIP switches 20 years ago.

EWWWW Jumpers and Dip Switches...IRQs and I/O Addresses. YUK!

What about Master/Slave for IDE and SCSI terminators...what a pain.

 

[p4ck3tl055]

feeding in 28 floppy disks

OMG, I had forgotten floppy disks until you brought back all the nightmares.