Build your own pc they say... what could possibly go wrong? Zigon eSportsteemCreated with Sketch.

in gaming •  5 years ago  (edited)

Everything... if you think buying an already build gaming computer gave you problems, well it is nothing in comparison with building your own (I even had help). I'll be giving 5 tips today on what could go wrong based on my experience and research.


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Back ground:

As some of you might know I am a gamer, if my name didn't give that away already. But I only built this computer due to the fact that I broke my laptop, yes the one which had the keys to this account... A dear friend of mine helped me out with this, he sourced some parts and put together a quotation. We ended up shipping most of the parts from a different country as this was much cheaper. #mistakenumber1


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The wrong!

  • 1.When you bring parts from another country it is very difficult to keep the warranty, let alone all the hassle and time wasted sending it back to the place you got it from. Pray you do not need to do this.

  • 2.It may seem cheaper, but it is not. We live in a world of regulations, sadly they can not be avoided. We then live in a world with corruption and really unhealthy people... Even well known companies have trouble getting things through customs, etc.

Back to the story: Having found all the parts we were finally ready to bring them over, should take around 3 to 6 weeks right? Well that is what we had thought. Well it did arrive in the country in 3 weeks, but was held at customs for the next 5 months. Suddenly things started to get more expensive, as they required payment to release the items. Eventually when it did arrive it had been a bit damaged.


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The wronger!

  • 3.Transporting a computer can damage components, even if it is just to a LAN. Without the proper handling and care parts can easily break. Depending on the part, these breakages can be really expensive and would require a new purchase.

  • 4.Follow the user manual! I know the book is long and boring... who in the world uses paper anymore, we have technology for a reason... uhm gamers, read? I think not... If you build your own pc please make sure to go through it step by step to ensure that it is all set up well.

Back to the story: After finally getting all the parts we started to build it, having worked with computers before and knowing what I was doing and how to troubleshoot problems, it only ended up taking 6 hours to complete the build.


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Yip you could of guessed it, no manual. But what made things take this long was the fact that it was almost completely built when I got there. This meant I had to take out things and redo things before it could work. The case is also small making it hard to do the wiring. You don't want something looking like a dogs breakfast inside your computer case! I noticed while building that some of the parts were damaged, not really badly but I knew it would come back later with vengeance.

The wrongest!

  • 5.Time is not your friend. You don't always need to use a warranty the day you get the part(s), but give it some time. Usually duds take a few months to years to show up, add a catalyst to that and you will surely find this out sooner.

  • 5.5.Bonus! Warranties require the vendor, in most cases. If the vendor is no longer there, you usually no longer have a valid warranty on your product. Companies can close down and people can stop business before you would actually need to use these warranties.

Sad ending: You might be able to guess what has happened... that revenge did come back, and I am now stuck with the costs of replacing parts really soon. Eskom definitely had a hand in the damages done to my pc but I should of gotten a UPS! Currently I only have 2 slots for ram which work, hoping they keep alive for a while. My intel optane never worked but now its giving problems, probably broken from day 1. The pc box now shocks me each time I touch it, I fear that my computer will have a premature death at this rate.


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Tell me your experiences with building your PC or upgrading it?

Note!: I still do not have my active or owner key, yes very sad, but I am posting for the fun on this account again. 100% post so all will go to better voting power for this account.

Posts from this account will also appear on other social media platforms and will also be re-posted to my dragonslayer101 account. Any issues with this please contact me.

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long time no see you @dragonslayer109 ,welcome back ^_^

Thank you :)

I build them all the time. But I live in the US and prices/parts are not that difficult to obtain. Usually I can build a far superior quality machine compared to the name-brand units, and for about half their retail cost. The PC I am using right now would cost almost $1900.00 in U$D. I built it for just over $650.00 All parts are under warranty for at least 1 year. I keep the boxes they were shipped in, just in case I need to make a claim. To save space, I fold or collapse the boxes down and stash them in a closet. If I have not required a warranty claim after 1 year, I finally dispose of the box. I am probably not the average user/builder however, as I have been building computers for over 30 years.

Oh wow that is a really long time. I find that each country has different prices for different parts. Here where I stay being one of the more expensive countries. I know the US is really cheap as we tried shipping parts from there.

i thought of making one a year ago but find it way complicated stuff for me had to give up this idea because i couldn't find anything good according to my needs

Hi, thanks for the post! I have included it in my daily Business, leadership, and management digest, and you'll receive a 10% share of that post's rewards (at @dragonslayer101, since you don't have the active key for @dragonslayer109).

Thank you

  ·  5 years ago Reveal Comment

Missed you greatly, glad you’re here! I’m grateful that you’re good.

Posted using Partiko iOS

I love building my own PCs but I have the advantage of living in the U.S. where almost any part I could want can be had in two days or so with 0 or low cost shipping. Even returns are not usually a big deal. If I had to wait 3 to 6 weeks it wouldn't be so bad but having to wait 5 months is horrible. By that time, what you ordered may be out of date or the price may have gone down substantially on the components you ordered. Factor in the possibility of everything not working and then maybe you are talking a year or more before you have a working build. That's crazy.

The only real hassle for me is troubleshooting if it doesn't work after you put it together. 90% of the time it will just work but when it doesn't, it can be a real hassle figuring out what the problem component is, particularly if you don't have spare memory, video cards, etc. to try swapping out.