Due to some problems I was having with my three-year-old Dell Inspiron 5150, I decided to get a new computer. Instead of buying from Dell or elsewhere, I ended up building my own computer from scratch. I purchased all the individual components, assembled them, installed the OS and drivers, and then installed all my software. I thought I’d share my experience as a first-time builder for those of you who have considered doing the same thing.
Hardware
Here are the components I purchased:
- $97 Motherboard: EVGA nForce 650i Ultra 775 T1 (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $165 CPU: Intel C2D E6320 1.86MHz (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $134 RAM: 4GB (4x1GB) of OCZ Gold DDR2-800 PC2-6400 (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $66 GPU: MSI GeForce 7600 GS 256MB w/ Dual DVI (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $234 HD: 2x 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $40 PSU: Antec Neo HE 500w (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $0 Case: Ultra Wizard Mid-Tower ATX Case (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $0 Fans: 2x 120mm Powmax Typhoons (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
- $42 DVD-RW: Lite-On 20X (NewEgg | ZipZoomFly)
$778 total (includes shipping and after rebates)