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+ - How hard is it to build a PC from a kit? 6

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Mantorp
Mantorp writes "My ancient (6 or 7 yr old) PC finally died and I think it's the powersupply or motherboard or whatever, it just shuts down as soon as push the powerbutton. Anyway, it's an old single core machine and I think I deserve a new slightly faster machine. I don't want to spend more than $2-300 and it seems I can get significantly more bang for the buck by getting a kit rather than a ready made PC. But, how hard is it to assemble one of these from TigerDirect or NewEgg? My level of expertise is limited to having popped in more ram, installed a video card with a TV tuner, and replaced failed hard drives. If it's much much harder than that I'll probably screw it up."
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How hard is it to build a PC from a kit? More

How hard is it to build a PC from a kit?

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  • But I've never heard of a kit. Just buy a bare-bones PC, which consists of a case, power supply, and motherboard. You'll have to buy memory, too. But there's no reason to replace a functional mouse, keyboard, optical drive, or hard drive if it's still big enough.

    DON'T BUY FROM TIGER! I used them years ago for a while because they were cheap, but you usually pay for what you get, and you get cheap parts for that cheap price. The stuff is poorly made, ill-fitting, and prone to breakdowns.

    However, because you

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mantorp (142371) *
      Thanks, I only meant to submit this in my journal but screwed up the submission. Anyway, on NewEgg I mean the DIY PC Combos http://www.newegg.com/Store/MasterComboStore.aspx?StoreID=7&name=DIY-PC-Combos [newegg.com] and on TigerDirect the Barebones kits http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=31&name=Barebone-Kits&cm_sp=Masthead-_-Computer%20Parts-_-Spot%2002 [tigerdirect.com] It looks as if the prices are about half of what the same would cost all assembled RAM included (in the $250-$300 rang

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Deadstick (535032)

        Those are not "kits" in the traditional sense -- just sets of components at a package price. Components like the case, motherboard and CPU come with their own individual installation instructions, and the process is actually pretty simple, but it can get confusing the first time. An experienced friend is a big help.

        rj

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Drawsalot (733094)
        This may be over-kill, but...

        The benefit of these "barebones" and "kit" PC bundles comes from the parts included being matched up to work with one another. While assembling a PC is something most anyone could do, selecting the proper components is somewhat more complicated.

        Some kits and bundles do not include; 1) an operating system, 2) hard drive, 3) optical drive, 4) keyboard & mouse, 5) monitor.
        Both of the links you provided appear to ship with almost everything you need apart from the OS.

        Assembly o

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mcgrew (92797) *

        I've heard good things about NewEgg, although I haven't used them. I haven't gone through Tiger for years, perhaps they've improved... but I doubt it.

        I've been buying parts from JDR for twenty years, only once (Part 1 [kuro5hin.org] Part 2) [kuro5hin.org] did I have any issues. Here's [jdr.com] a nice bare-bones system for $250.

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