Got out of PC Building/fixit myself this past year or so. I so don't miss it.

SteveGrabowski · Aug 31, 2024

Even when I quit PC gaming (other than emulation in XMAME) I still built my own systems since it came out cheaper not paying the Windows tax prebuilts have and installing Linux instead. For gaming I'd never consider it because of how stupidly prebuilts are often done. Eg terrible coolers on gpus that make them throttle or coming with one big stick of RAM instead of two (even when you order two) so you get a massive cpu bottleneck. Or proprietary psus that are a pain to replace if I want to add a better gpu later on. Or the scam service plans like DELL forced on a secret buyer LinusTechTips got to order a gaming PC from in one of their videos. Also don't want to pay the Windows tax for gaming PCs either and don't feel bad about pirating from a monopoly.

videogames101 · Aug 31, 2024

I've been without a desktop for awhile. Instead I've been using my work laptop for whatever small personal things I need to do. Once I started a career in computer hardware the hobby lost most of it's draw. Still hope to do another build someday, maybe a photoshop box. Crazy to me you don't need 2.5" Raptor drives for that anymore.

igor_kavinski · Sep 1, 2024

VirtualLarry said:
Plus, those damn little screws and jumpers...

Yeah. I have trouble with ATX cases. And people do mini ITX builds. I mean, what world are they from???

Amused · Sep 1, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Yeah. I have trouble with ATX cases. And people do mini ITX builds. I mean, what world are they from???

manly · Sep 1, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Yeah. I have trouble with ATX cases. And people do mini ITX builds. I mean, what world are they from???

In the near future, Tesla Optimus will build your rig for you.

/s

igor_kavinski · Sep 1, 2024

manly said:
In the near future, Tesla Optimus will build your rig for you.

/s

Point was, they need to make it easier and less frustrating.

manly · Sep 1, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Point was, they need to make it easier and less frustrating.

Maybe, but that will take away assembly jobs in China and Vietnam??

Like this guy, who does hero's work:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1eulmld/worker_at_a_disposable_vape_factory_tests_up_to

dave_the_nerd · Sep 1, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Yeah. I have trouble with ATX cases. And people do mini ITX builds. I mean, what world are they from???

The parts are all the same size; you just... have less of them.

Brainonska511 · Sep 1, 2024

I go in waves with playing games and whatnot, but I still prefer to build my own. I like the customization aspect and controlling what goes on my computer from the start. Some prebuilts are okay, but it's just hard to tell which ones use standard vs nonstandard stuff, and some just have loud, mediocre cooling.

igor_kavinski · Sep 1, 2024

dave_the_nerd said:
The parts are all the same size; you just... have less of them.

I get annoyed when I have to take out the PSU connectors from the mobo. With mini-ITX, there's actual dismantling involved. Nightmare for me.

dave_the_nerd · Sep 1, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
I get annoyed when I have to take out the PSU connectors from the mobo. With mini-ITX, there's actual dismantling involved. Nightmare for me.

I suppose it depends on the case? In mine I can just reach in there and yoink it. And I do NOT have small hands.

Red Squirrel · Sep 1, 2024

What I don't miss is floppy drive power connectors. For some reason those were always ridiculously hard to remove and if your hand went flying as a result of it finally coming out, it would usually hit the ram or cpu heat sink, possibly damaging it.

Shmee · Sep 1, 2024

Hey Larry, it is sad to hear you stopped building, but I can understand where you are coming from, as dropping screws or trying to work in tight spaces can certainly be frustrating enough without any medical issues. That said, might I suggest instead of buying a basic system, having a shop or friend you trust assemble you a custom system in the future? That way you can still enjoy well built, custom quality stuff, and but not have to build yourself. You might even make some friends at a shop you frequent. I don't know if you have a Microcenter near you, but there might be another good shop that does custom builds in your area.

VirtualLarry · Sep 1, 2024

Shmee said:
That said, might I suggest instead of buying a basic system, having a shop or friend you trust assemble you a custom system in the future?

Well, there's a really talented younger guy that had a PC shop in town, maybe I could him build one, but we're talking full-custom here ($$$).

My friends are schumcks. I've tried to educate/teach them about PC building.

manly · Sep 1, 2024

Dude, you could always just get a Dell.

Alienware Aurora R16 Desktop: i7-14700F, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD $1487.49 at Dell

Dell Technologies [dell.com] has Alienware Aurora R16 Gaming Desktop on sale for $1487.49 after applying coupon code SAVE15 in cart. Shipping is free. To get this deal, - Click here [dell.com] to take

slickdeals.net

Shmee · Sep 1, 2024

manly said:
Dude, you could always just get a Dell.

Alienware Aurora R16 Desktop: i7-14700F, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD $1487.49 at Dell

Dell Technologies [dell.com] has Alienware Aurora R16 Gaming Desktop on sale for $1487.49 after applying coupon code SAVE15 in cart. Shipping is free. To get this deal, - Click here [dell.com] to take

slickdeals.net

Torn Mind · Sep 1, 2024

I do wonder how much of this is really getting tired of building and how much is due to the nature of OP's "friends", who were also his customers, who through prior representations, gave off the impression that the "friends" were predatory in a passive-aggressive manner towards OP.

brianmanahan · Sep 1, 2024

manly said:
Dude, you could always just get a Dell.

Alienware Aurora R16 Desktop: i7-14700F, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD $1487.49 at Dell

Dell Technologies [dell.com] has Alienware Aurora R16 Gaming Desktop on sale for $1487.49 after applying coupon code SAVE15 in cart. Shipping is free. To get this deal, - Click here [dell.com] to take

slickdeals.net

even after i had been building my own PCs for years, i did break down and buy a dell 8400 desktop once because it came with a free 19" LCD monitor! this was in 2004 when LCDs were new and still worth hundreds of dollars, and the deal was unbeatable by anything i could build.

BoomerD · Sep 1, 2024

I built/repaired my own for almost 30 years...I got tired of finding compatible parts, doing the assembly, HOPING I didn't bend any pins...loading drivers, BIOS updates...the whole PITA...so I bought the IBuyPower from Costco in 2019. Big mistake. To start with, it had an OEM ASRock motherboard...had to go to IBP to find BIOS updates...the ones from ASRock didn't work...Then, their POS OEM water cooler crapped out about a month after the factory warranty expired...so I had to contact Costco for their "concierge warranty." Required me to ship it to some outfit in Wisconsin...where they wiped my HDD and SSD...and broke the socket for the USB front connector. (which of course, they denied.)
Never again.

Torn Mind · Sep 1, 2024

brianmanahan said:
even after i had been building my own PCs for years, i did break down and buy a dell 8400 desktop once because it came with a free 19" LCD monitor! this was in 2004 when LCDs were new and still worth hundreds of dollars, and the deal was unbeatable by anything i could build.

It probably came with a Panasonic battery for CMOS that is still good today.

manly · Sep 1, 2024

brianmanahan said:
even after i had been building my own PCs for years, i did break down and buy a dell 8400 desktop once because it came with a free 19" LCD monitor! this was in 2004 when LCDs were new and still worth hundreds of dollars, and the deal was unbeatable by anything i could build.

The first PC I bought for myself in 1995 was a Dell Dimension XPS 133c (just noticed it was an XPS!).
My current daily driver is an XPS 15 from 2017, which I'll probably keep for a while.

I probably wouldn't recommend an Alienware* without doing more research, but for basic corporate/home use cases, XPS laptops are competitive albeit a little on the pricey side. In a similar vein, people buy off lease Optiplex desktops for cheap.

* Do they typically use a proprietary motherboard and PSU? The deal I linked to is for Intel 14th Gen i7, which is kind of a no-no at this point.

SteveGrabowski · Sep 1, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
Yeah. I have trouble with ATX cases. And people do mini ITX builds. I mean, what world are they from???

Always have wanted to do a mini ITX but need lots of hard drives for all my por... legally obtained sitcoms, movies, and roms. Seriously MAME is a PITA to use these days and nothing works unless you download a full 60GB romset for instance.

Amused · Sep 2, 2024

SteveGrabowski said:
Always have wanted to do a mini ITX but need lots of hard drives for all my por... legally obtained sitcoms, movies, and roms. Seriously MAME is a PITA to use these days and nothing works unless you download a full 60GB romset for instance.

NAS?

dave_the_nerd · Sep 2, 2024

Amused said:
NAS?

That’s just another computer you have to put somewhere and maintain.

Two small PCs vs one big one is kind of a wash, imho.

You can get a 24TB 2.5” drive for $500. Most ITX cars have room for a couple of those plus whatever m.2 slots are on the motherboard.

JTsyo · Sep 2, 2024

For me the two points that keep me building my own are:

1. Price for the exact parts that I want to get.
2. Quality of all the parts. The pre-mades might use main stream CPU and GPU but skimp in other areas like RAM or PSU.

Got out of PC Building/fixit myself this past year or so. I so don't miss it.

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