What did you learn after finishing your first build?

[MonsieuRoberts]

I'm not even really done my PC which is in my sig; I won't consider it complete until my GPU is replaced, but I have learned a lot, not only from you guys, but from doing it myself. Mostly learning things the hard way, luckily not the fatal way:

-I don't like LEDs, and I don't like flashy cases. Next case will be a black box, next fans will have no LEDs.

-Rushing and buying parts quickly just so I could get on with replacing OEM stuff was a waste of money, patience is a virtue. There was no need for me to grab an H80i or a 4670K over what was recommended, but I did it anyway because I was so anxious to just finish my PC Part Picker checklist and get on with the build. Didn't need to rush out and pay more for those parts at all, and in the H80's case, I already had a EVO 212 on the way...so, dumb decision.

-It's not all about the parts; The right tools for the job help out a lot. Relying on an old chewed up screwdriver will annoy you more than that stock Intel cooler you installed "just to see what it's like." After a day of assembly I went to the local Part Source and bought a $15 tiny Phillips screwdriver and thanked myself for that purchase every time I've had to use it. I've also bought a flashlight and a couple adjustable lamps for those hard to see places.

-It's not as easy as people say it is, but that's mostly because it's your first build and you're nervous about doing it all correctly the first time. Once the jitters go away and you see that boot screen, once your thread that translates roughly into I FUCKED UP HELP WAT DO" gets some replies, it's smooth sailing. Mostly.

-Label and segregate those screws when you're disassembling! One knee to the table as you're getting up and now you don't know what goes where, or why you have those two extra screws. when you just put the side panel back on.

-Static is scary. The first time I picked up my 7850 and shocked myself, I got pretty scared. Lucky for me nothing went wrong.



How about you guys? What lessons did you learn from your first build?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

What did you learn after finishing your first build?

That I'm shite at cable-management.

[chazus]

The very first system I built from scratch was a failure.

Celeron 800 on an ECS board with 256mb SD-RAM with a no-name PSU all shoved into this janky white and blue case.

I didn't put the brass risers in, and ended up RMA'ing the board because I could never get it to work. They charged me $30 and sent it back.

Of course, that was back in a time where there really wasn't much of forums for this kind of stuff back then, at least not easily found or accessed.

I also learned not long after, never to build a system and then ship it to canada.

[Fenryn]

The first system I built had LED fans everywhere because I thought it'd look cool, untill i tried to sleep with my PC still running..
After that i've always had a preference for more understated cases, currently using a Antec P180 Mini which is a quite simple looking and incredibly sturdy and silent case.
Another thing i've learned is that i'm horrible with connecting my case's front panel to my motherboard, even now my front USB ports aren't working but to be fair I'm not too bothered by it so I'm not really trying to get it to work anymore.

[the game]

That I'm shite at cable-management.

pretty much this.

[zealo]

That I'm shite at cable-management.

Definitely this, got better the second time around and forward.

[Bethanie]

That saving money buying a motherboard that didn't have a 287 coprocessor socket fitted was a mistake. Having to solder the socket to the board before I could fit the chip took forever and left me with burnt fingers.

[Deleted]

That a Pentium II 400MHz is a awesome CPU and that not having a 3D-Acclerator does suck :>

[azkhane]

That a Pentium II 400MHz is a awesome CPU and that not having a 3D-Acclerator does suck :>

Exactly the same but with a 350 MHz here

[Tuor]

How about you guys? What lessons did you learn from your first build?

Plug and Pray.

[anveena]

That I should have spent more money on a better case and modular psu.

[BicycleMafioso]

Incorrectly seating the GPU can lead to all kinds of funky artifacting on screen.

[Erous]

That you don't have to baby the machine in order to get it working. Put some muscle into it, but not so much muscle that you're breaking stuff. Seriously, my first build I was sweating working on the thing and I just had to calm down and work it out. Some pieces like RAM or the CPU heatsink require some umph.

[Star Magician]

That I love doing this and now do it for a living.

[drockrock]

Lock cats out of the room when you're working.

[Masark]

That the sound an 8800GTS makes when you forget to plug in the power connector is insanely annoying.

[Hellfury]

I just hate CPU coolers with a passion.

[apepi]

That computers are like big legos. Besides not seating my cpu cooler right, I had no problems, albeit bad cable management that I am too lazy to fix.

[Remilia]

That the sound an 8800GTS makes when you forget to plug in the power connector is insanely annoying.

Had to google that, what the fuck.

[Lathais]

My first build? I knew next to nothing when I did my first build. My Uncle had upgraded his PC and was throwing out a bunch of parts. He told me I could have them but there was not enough there to make a functioning computer. My Grandfather was also there and he told me to grab them anyway. We went back to his place and he looked over the parts and went to where he kept his leftover parts and gave me a bunch of other stuff and said, "have fun." I had no idea what I was doing with it all, but it was pretty exciting when I got it to boot up. I guess the biggest lesson was that things generally only fit where they belong and you gotta use a little oomph for some things, they are not as delicate as you think.