Learn PC Building-How?

[ArthursTechWorld]

Hi everyone! I just joined the LTT forums and I love binge-watching LTT PC and setup build videos. I've been trying to get into PC building for a while, but I don't have any resources to pull this off :(. I've watched so many videos I already know how to build a PC. Does anybody know how I can turn my knowledge into practice while having a zero-cost policy, or is that just not possible? Thanks in advance!

 

P.S. I know it's an impractical question but as a college freshman with my major as IT Technician III, I wanna be able to practice. My PC is a pre-built HP desktop, so I can't practice on that.

[jaslion]

The electronics bin, recycling centra, campus IT,... basically any place they have broken crap you can take with for nothing.

 

Will they be usable after fixing them? Ehh most likely not usually the free stuff is proper old but who knows.

 

Also what do you want to practice even? A desktop pc is just slot 8 different categories tops in the correct slot and call it a day. Literally any desktop will do. Just don't do it to a system you need to ACTIVELY use.

[ArthursTechWorld]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

The electronics bin, recycling centra, campus IT,... basically any place they have broken crap you can take with for nothing.

 

Will they be usable after fixing them? Ehh most likely not usually the free stuff is proper old but who knows.

 

Also what do you want to practice even? A desktop pc is just slot 8 different categories tops in the correct slot and call it a day. Literally any desktop will do. Just don't do it to a system you need to ACTIVELY use.

Never built one, just want to make sure I don't screw up when actually doing it. It looks very fun too not goin to lie.

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, ArthursTechWorld said:

Never built one, just want to make sure I don't screw up when actually doing it. It looks very fun too not goin to lie.

I mean just grab a junk one, see if it turns on. If it does. Great now take it apart and put it back togheter and see if it is alive again.

 

if not well see if you can find the issue.

 

Usually colleges have piles of it crap from a decade ago somewhere.

[Mark Kaine]

8 minutes ago, jaslion said:

A desktop pc is just a nightmare with trillions of miles of cables everywhere! 

FTFY!

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

11 minutes ago, ArthursTechWorld said:

Never built one, just want to make sure I don't screw up when actually doing it. It looks very fun too not goin to lie.

you can just, like, disassemble your current Dell office crap, clean everything and then put it back together. 

If it still works afterwards then you're now an officially licensed pc builder!  (I'll write the certificate,  dw!)

 

 

15 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Just don't do it to a system you need to ACTIVELY use.

ideally... but since op apparently cant find old crap their "prebuilt" is their best bet. its also more exciting that way! 

[jaslion]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

FTFY!

 

 

Oh no my words they have been deciphered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PDifolco]

39 minutes ago, ArthursTechWorld said:

Hi everyone! I just joined the LTT forums and I love binge-watching LTT PC and setup build videos. I've been trying to get into PC building for a while, but I don't have any resources to pull this off :(. I've watched so many videos I already know how to build a PC. Does anybody know how I can turn my knowledge into practice while having a zero-cost policy, or is that just not possible? Thanks in advance!

 

P.S. I know it's an impractical question but as a college freshman with my major as IT Technician III, I wanna be able to practice. My PC is a pre-built HP desktop, so I can't practice on that.

Repair/upgrade friends and family PCs, they buy parts you install/repair for free

This is a very good training, can assure you 

 

[thevictor390]

When I was younger I built old PCs out of mostly junk, but that was because I didn't have anything better to use for myself. For example transplanted a Pentium III prebuilt into a broken gaming case I got for free because the power button didnt work, then put in two mismatched old video cards to hook up to the two CRT monitors I got for free because they were full of burn-in from a long life as a cash register... used that thing all the way through Windows Vista.

[Thaldor]

Just YOLO it with the pre-built HP, just be careful and systematic and think a bit before doing. Also take pictures so you can reference later.

If you're going to be IT technician your job most likely will be opening a lot of things up that you have close to zero idea how they come apart before you start. And a lot of them will be harder, scarier and expensive than a pre-built HP.

 

And don't worry too much about the couple extra screws you're left with afterwards. If nothing rattles too badly and everything works, they clearly weren't anything important.

[wasab]

I built my first PC by watching YouTube and reading the manuals. Just follow the guides and you will be fine. It is like building shipped table or chair from Amazon. 

[iSynthMan]

My first full blown PC build was in November 2020, a rig I built to play CyberPunk.

 

I had previous experience, the first time I added RAM to my PC was in late 2014. Then in late 2015 I took an extra step and installed a brand new GTX 750 2gb from EVGA (man...time flies...).

 

Then again in 2018 I bought a motherboard + processor + ram kit (ryzen 1700, 8gb, a320). I put it together and a friend helped me swap out the old stuff and install it in the same case as everything was before.

 

Then came the magical "big leap in 2020". Pile of boxed, bought every single part and built the entire PC from scratch. It was awesome.

 

You don't have to rush it, start by taking small steps if you're more comfortable with that.

[thevictor390]

12 hours ago, iSynthMan said:

My first full blown PC build was in November 2020, a rig I built to play CyberPunk.

 

I had previous experience, the first time I added RAM to my PC was in late 2014. Then in late 2015 I took an extra step and installed a brand new GTX 750 2gb from EVGA (man...time flies...).

 

Then again in 2018 I bought a motherboard + processor + ram kit (ryzen 1700, 8gb, a320). I put it together and a friend helped me swap out the old stuff and install it in the same case as everything was before.

 

Then came the magical "big leap in 2020". Pile of boxed, bought every single part and built the entire PC from scratch. It was awesome.

 

You don't have to rush it, start by taking small steps if you're more comfortable with that.

I bought a prebuilt in 2008. Technically, I still use "that" PC and have never built a new PC truly from scratch.

[Agall]

On 10/17/2023 at 11:53 AM, ArthursTechWorld said:

Hi everyone! I just joined the LTT forums and I love binge-watching LTT PC and setup build videos. I've been trying to get into PC building for a while, but I don't have any resources to pull this off :(. I've watched so many videos I already know how to build a PC. Does anybody know how I can turn my knowledge into practice while having a zero-cost policy, or is that just not possible? Thanks in advance!

 

P.S. I know it's an impractical question but as a college freshman with my major as IT Technician III, I wanna be able to practice. My PC is a pre-built HP desktop, so I can't practice on that.

Find old hardware and play with it.

 

As a kid, my dad used to bring me old PCs to tear apart and play with after I showed interest in the old ones we kept in the basement, well before I had any idea what was happening. Never too late to start doing that, especially if you already know how they work generally speaking.