How long does it take you to build a computer?

[Kevlar Eater]

Right now, I'm building my computer and I'm in the process of connecting everything to the power supply, and it is frustrating beyond all hell. It's taken me two hours to put all the parts into the case, and repetitiously looking over the power supply and motherboard manuals have cost me an additional three hours.

So anyway, how long does it take you guys to assemble a computer to completion?

Oh, and did I mention I have a freaking headache from the resulting confusion?

 

[Swny Nerdgasm]

Usually takes me about 2-3 hours to get everything done from beginning to end, but that's without distractions and due to practice as I've literally built dozens of computers.

 

[Antari]

I can slap one together in about 15-30 minutes unless its a wild case design. But I've built more than a few over the years so I'm well practiced now.

 

[Giest4life]

My first one took me over five hours. So, yeah, take your time and DO NOT FORGET THE SET SCREWS!
My motherboard fried because I didn't put the buggers in and it came in solid contact with the casing.

 

[ewhac]

2-3 hours for me, assuming none of the parts are DoA. The tough part is arranging all the internal cables so that they are mostly out of the way of the stuff I know I'll be mucking with down the road (graphics card and hard drive upgrades, etc.).

BTW, if you are learning to hate those 4-pin Molex connectors that are used to supply power to hard drives -- you know, the ones that require 18/25 finger strength to apply and remove -- Welcome to the club.

 

[SimuLord]

90 minutes to 2 hours. It ain't rocket science.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

It's like advanced legos! I'd say about an hour or two, pending everything goes smoothly. The last one I did for a friend took much longer because we had to troubleshoot each piece to find out which component was dead. He bought a montherboard that had been recalled because it didn't work. How silly.

 

[darth.pixie]

Depends on the components and how they meld together. It would range from a half an hour to about two hours. I could do both of mine in my sleep.

 

[Blaster395]

Its not any more complex than putting together flatpack furnishings, but depending on who you are, that may be incredibly difficult.

Whenever I suggest the very idea of taking apart or building a computer to people, they go into this panic of thinking even attempting that without being a trained professional is going to destroy the machine.

There are 3 general rules I follow.

1. Grab components by the edges, like you would hold a CD.
2. Do not bend components that are not designed to be flexible
3. Red cables go into red slots, blue cables blue slots, ect...

 

[ewhac]

90 minutes to 2 hours. It ain't rocket science.

No, quite. But if you've never assembled your own PC before, then being confronted with just a typical (non-modular) power supply and its kraken of cables would likely overwhelm and intimidate. Now add all of the cables just for the stuff built in to most cases these days (power button, reset button, USB hub, memory card reader, audio, etc, etc.), which often have to be plugged [em]just so[/em] on to bare headers on the motherboard. Then add the SATA/PATA cables for the hard drive(s) and optical drive(s), un-keyed ribbon cable for the floppy drive (yes, I still have one; shut up), power cables for the fans, and optionally power for the pretty lights, and it can get fairly hairy.

If you have liquid cooling, then it's even more fun, as you get to play the role of plumber as well as electrician.

Finally, slide in a backdrop of anxiety that you have hundreds of dollars of delicate equipment in front of you, any piece of which you might [em]break[/em] if you do something wrong or too forcefully.

No single detail is hard. There's just a lot of them. So I'm prepared to cut the guy some slack.

 

[LostAlone]

Yeah its really not that big a deal to put a machine together, but it basically comes from having done it lots of times.

If it's your first time, don't sweat about how long it takes you. Careful beats fast every time when you are dealing with hundreds (or thousands) of bucks of components. Once you know the basics, like the mobo screws and what cables from the PSU do what, you'll pick up the pace.

I feel the pain of the guy that fried a mobo during a build. I fried a 6600GT (IIRC) about two weeks after the came out! I was running into problems with something and pulled the card to make sure that the system would still post ok. Problem was, I left the aux power molex connected, and all that voltage but no cooling... Sizzle. Managed to blag that as a manufacturing fault and got my cash back, but still. Ouch.

For a straight build with no OC, as long as you checked compatibility before ordering, then you won't need to read the manuals in depth.

Personally, the thing that takes the longest for me is deciding what to buy, and squeezing every last cent of value out of the budget that I have. Often takes me weeks or more to find the right combination of gfx, chip and RAM that will fly for me, but thats part of the fun of course .

Take it easy and you'll get there. Will be MUCH easier next time. Everything can only fit in one place after all

 

[Private Custard]

Built my first on Friday night just gone.

I had to strip my old case and keep the motherboard, RAM, GPU and both HDDs and then transfer across to my new case, along with a Corsair TX750W PSU and Noctua NH-U12P heatsink (never even fitted a large cooler before!).

Total time, 4 hours, working perfectly from first power-up. Not bad for a total newbie that had never even tried before!

The lesson here is that research and reading pays off.

Spoiler: Behold, the beast!!