DJ Demon J said:
You do know how. Biff, wanna help Dirk out here?
Actually I will. I should give somehting back.
Dirk, building a pc is easier then it seems. While its not quite as easy as many people make it out to be, you can certainly do it. Do lots of research on parts. Read hardware guides, and cruise forums like
www.hardforum.com/ You should have a good sense of what you want to build.
Read as many how to guides as you can. Most of them are outdated, but thats ok. You will get a sense of what you need, and odds are there are a few steps you won't have to do.
Allot of the stuff in benchmarks and tech reports is intimdating for people who aren't pc savy. Reading it at first you may feel like you don't know what the fuck anyone is talking about. Just keep reading and let it all sink into your noggin. It will make sense.
You have to be prepared for a problem no one has the answer to, and one that stumps you even with all the research you put in. Generally, people will only relate to their own experience and won't keep in mind something else could be at the root of your problem. So, if you go asking for help on some issue that has you stumped, you could get a slew of answers that have you doing allot of work for no reason. Just be prepared for this and have the focus that the pc will be built, and it will.
Unknown problem aside, I built my pc within a few hours. Everything worked together very easily.
I wouldn't mess around with artic silver or any of that. Just buy a cpu with a retail heatsink/fan combo. My 3800 came with preinstalled thermal grease, and I later took the whole thing apart to apply some Artic Silver 5 (supposedly the best stuff out there). There was no difference in tempature.
Ask questions if you have them. Ignore the snotty answers (really fellahs, no reason for that). There are people who are genuinely helpful and will work with you as best as they can.
When looking at your components, look at stuff that is easiest to work with. My case for example. Average airflow or not, it was incredibly easy for me to work with because it uses thumbscrews and a removable MB tray. My Psu has removable plugs so I don't any wires hanging in there I don't need. I went with an IDE HD instead of a SATA so I didn't have to spend time making a bootable floppy. Its a relatively easy step, but I wanted this thing up and running asap with as few steps as possible.
Do as much research on every piece in your pc as you can. Read every review, monitor every topic you can. You will find out about conflicts (I would have gone with the abit mb when the asus was out of stock, but after doing research I found the abit had conflicts with antec PSU's and reported temps incorrectly). There were numerous things like that. Its very important that nothing in your system conflicts with the other.
120 MM fans make a difference, and I would get a case that uses a couple of them as opposed to one that used a bunch of 80 mm fans. Coolermaster has an excellent rep for making cool cases. I went with Lian Li. Its beautiful and easy to work with, but as I said before...I know guys who have my identical setup and are running 5-10 degrees lower.
Your PSU is very important. Don't go cheap on your PSU. I used both an antec 430 watt and a neopower 480. The neopower lowered the tempature of my case by 5 or 6 degrees when idling, and lowered it around 3 when under load. the big fan and less clutter is to thank for that.
New psu's have a burning smell that lasts for a few days. Don't freak out when you smell it. Its natural.
When all is said and done, you'll have something to be proud of. You also won't be at the mercy of some shitty tech support that patches yout o India at 3 AM when your pc shuts down. You'll know how to fix it yourself.