1. #1

    Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    Just curious as to what the average length of time people have spent in building their machines? I just picked up an 17-930. just seems like gathering all the parts is going to take a while. so just curious about other peoples builds from start to finish. all answers and tips are appreciated.

  2. #2
    Moderator Cilraaz's Avatar
    15+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    PA, USA
    Posts
    10,139

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    I placed my order with NewEgg and had my parts in about 3 days. If you're counting just the build time, it took me about 2 hours with decent cable routing. If you include burn-in, overclocking, and stability testing... well, that took about 2 weeks to find a 100% stable overclock.

  3. #3

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    Well, that depends on how you look at it :P first build time was like 3hours cuz i was a noob back then... but i buy new stuff to the comp like all the time, and have done it for the past 5 years.

    So from start to finish, 5years? xD but in build time, just putting everything together and take it apart again just to build it up AGAIN(!) is mabye around 20hours or so :P

  4. #4

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    First computer I built took about 10 hours from picking up the parts to being able to use it.
    The reason why it took 10 hours was because it was a project at my school. The school had disassembled about 30 computers and just thrown the parts into a big pile. The students then had 10 minutes to pick up all the parts they needed (easier said then done because it was something like 200 parts + cables all in one pile).
    Not all parts were compatible and we also had to build our own case so 10 hours was IMO pretty good. We worked in groups of 3 and non of us had built a PC before.

    My current computer took about 4 hours to build and ½ hour to trouble shoot, it took me 30 minutes to realize the motherboards 4-pin connector wasn't plugged in...
    The god damn cpu fan took almost an hour to mount and I was very careful with the parts. I could probably do it in less that 2 hours now when I know how everything should look like.


  5. #5

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    I've been browsing and building the PC I bought some months ago for quite some time. I kept waiting for AMD's newest Radeons (yep, I know it's ATi but they were bought by AMD so heck) and for a suitable Crossfire motherboard, plus the i7 was out for several months but the price remained high (even today... grr). So to cut this short: I spent almost 6 months finding parts, exchanging them for better/lower cost ones and in the end it was like 5 minutes to find the parts from the local retailers and order up the PC. Easy peasy that last part (even got a discount!)

  6. #6

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    -ASUS P6X58D for the motherboard
    -Go with a good name brand DDR3 1600 (3x2gb) ram configuration. OCZ, Corsair etc. Go with the lowest CAS rating you can find. 7 and 8 are the most used.
    -I'd ditch the stock intel cooler. Go with a good air cooler, like the Noctua D14 and it's dual push/pull config fans.
    -Graphics cards... go for the Radeon 5850 or 5870. If you're a big fps gamer, the 5870 hands down. If just WoW, the 5850, or even step down to the 5770.
    -Hard drives, if you're not going the SSD route, the Samsung F1 is the fastest rated mechanical drive on the market.
    2x Intel Xeon 5680 12 Cores (2x6 Cores)@ 5.0ghz.* EVGA Classified SR-2 Motherboard.*Kingston Hyper-X 48gb(12x4gb) DDR3 1600.* 3x OCZ Colossus SSD 1.5gb (3x500gb) Raid 0.* 2x Enermax 1250W PSU. 4x EVGA GTX 480 Quad-SLI.* Samsung F3 1TB Storage Drive.* Custom Watercooled (EK 2xCPU/4xGPU Blocks, 2xMCP655 Pumps, 3xXSPC Dual Bay Reservoirs, 3x480 GTX Radiators, 24x Scythe GentleTyphoon AP15 Fans in Push/Pull).* 3x Dell 3008wfp 30" IPS Monitors.* ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1 PCIe

  7. #7

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    About 2 months.

    So.... First buy, GTS 250. Get it, and amg its sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sexy. It is like an inch thick and 10 inches long! :O

    Find out my motherboard does not have an PCI express 2.0 slot.

    I buy a new motherboard. Get it, its meh. Cheap brand, etc etc. I go to hook it up... And i bought the size motherboard! It's an ATX micro.

    So i need to buy a new tower. Awesome, i buy it and woot, everything is great!

    Turn it on, shuts off. Again, rinse and repeat. Im like "WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?! WGRLGPERA" and touched the processor. Oww, it burned.

    I then bought a CPU fan / heatsink and thermal... cant remember the name. You spread it on the processor and it helps transfer the heat from the processor to the heatsink.

    I bought other things, but they were in a bundle. I bought everything from Newegg and each delivery took 1-2 weeks, depending on when I ordered it.

    Point is - Do research on everything before you buy. Otherwise you will make the same mistake i did.
    Quote Originally Posted by fizikz View Post
    TOXOPLASMA PARASITES ARE RUINING THE GAME!!!!!!
    Blizz needs to stop nerfing the game based on people wiith toxoplasma parasites!!!

  8. #8

    Re: Gaming computer build time? Any tips?

    Ordered everything on a Saturday--half arrived from NJ on Tuesday, other half came on Thursday, all from Newegg.com. The total process of putting the parts together for my first computer building experience, aided only by the friendly internet and awesome how-to sites, it took me a good hour and a half to get everything up and running and ready for Win7. Installing Win7 then took an hour, and then WoW took overnight. CoD4:MW2 took like two days coming off of steam :\ but yeah, overall a much greater success than just buying a computer, building is entertaining in a whole different meaning of the word.


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •