Magical "Incompatibilities"

[Xenith]

I am currently trying to build a computer for my brother, but my parents insist on going to best buy and the apple store to determine if the mid-range mac mini will be the better option. (don't even get me started)

 

Anyway, everywhere we go people try to discourage self building, usually with some bs story like, "I once wanted to build a pc too but then I bought all these parts and found that they don't work together, and now I work at the apple store."

 

I see through the stupidity, but my parents aren't quite as computer savvy and continue to buy into these warnings.

 

(unrelated, but the head of computers at the university where my mom works, a "pc gamer", told my mom that I could basically do anything I wanted with a mac mini and a xbox. I promptly called him a peasant and a disgrace, but I digress...)

 

I was under the impression that as long as you match your cpu with your chipset and socket, and your power supply has all the necessary connections, there is very little you can fuck up, unless you're an absolute idiot.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Has anyone ever experienced these phantom incompatibilities?

 

I will probably be showing this thread to my parents, but please be honest, I don't want my brother to be screwed over.

[Wauthar]

It's like Lego, quite expensive Lego.

If you know what you're doing, there is very little what can go wrong. Allow me to quote: "Plug the thing into the thing and the other thing into the other thing, and you're done!"

[ImBleu]

The only incompatibilities are these:

DDR3 in a DDR4 Slot, or vice versa

 

CPU in an incorrect Socket

 

Everything else will work together, provided the CPU & Power supply can support all the other components (aka no Quad Titan X SLI on a 300w OEM Power supply).

[lx_srs]

I am currently trying to build a computer for my brother, but my parents insist on going to best buy and the apple store to determine if the mid-range mac mini will be the better option. (don't even get me started)

 

Anyway, everywhere we go people try to discourage self building, usually with some bs story like, "I once wanted to build a pc too but then I bought all these parts and found that they don't work together, and now I work at the apple store."

 

I see through the stupidity, but my parents aren't quite as computer savvy and continue to buy into these warnings.

 

(unrelated, but the head of computers at the university where my mom works, a "pc gamer", told my mom that I could basically do anything I wanted with a mac mini and a xbox. I promptly called him a peasant and a disgrace, but I digress...)

 

I was under the impression that as long as you match your cpu with your chipset and socket, and your power supply has all the necessary connections, there is very little you can fuck up, unless you're an absolute idiot.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Has anyone ever experienced these phantom incompatibilities?

 

I will probably be showing this thread to my parents, but please be honest, I don't want my brother to be screwed over.

As long as you get the chipset right, and the right RAM, it's pretty hard to fuck up.  Honestly, my buddy who knew nothing about PC's built his own with a little help from me.  What I'm trying to say is, if you're not a total idiot, you can easily do it.

[Xenith]

The only incompatibilities are these:

DDR3 in a DDR4 Slot, or vice versa

 

CPU in an incorrect Socket

 

Everything else will work together, provided the CPU & Power supply can support all the other components (aka no Quad Titan X SLI on a 300w OEM Power supply).

 

That's what I thought, thanks for the help.

 

By the way, I just spent several minutes messing with the background of your website, it was very satisfying.

[Nena Trinity]

Well it is unlikely but most will fit unless its to old or not right plug mostly CPU sockets and RAM.

 

Oh and lets not forget chipset sometimes it needs update for a more modern CPU!

[ImBleu]

That's what I thought, thanks for the help.

 

By the way, I just spent several minutes messing with the background of your website, it was very satisfying.

 

Haha Thanks, Glad you liked it

 

 

Oh one more incompatibility. An E-ATX Motherboard in an ITX Case. That is pretty self explanatory though.

[79 Potatoes]

Follow the insturctions or IKEA will kill you.

[UnknownEngineer]

If it fits it sits, it is very difficult to mix match a DDR3 mobo with DDR2 ram for an example.

 

There are some cases where a motherboard will require a BIOS update for a certain CPU to work, but those are very rare, and you will most likely be informed. Only happens with the very newest hardware, or when maching new with old.

[incarnate]

Aside from weird memory incompatibilities that are pretty much non-existent now, there is very little in the way of compatibility issues. There is always the issue of parts that are dead on arrival but part retailers and manufacturers have replacement policies in place for that. So long as you but all your parts at the same time you'll be fine

[Curufinwe_wins]

Link them to jayztwocents 5 year old building her own computer.

It's not difficult at all.

[ThomasD]

Building a PC today is nothing like it was twenty years ago.  Back then parts compatibility was a real issue, many components had to be manually configured (IRQs set with dip switches!) and the only real way to guarantee a successful build was to follow an existing build, and do a complete burn in.  Otherwise you risked major troubleshooting.

 

Heck it's not even like it was ten years ago.  Access to information, build guides & tutorials, multiple driver selections, enthusiast forums with lots of helpful suggestions, etc..  It is all better than ever.

 

Plug and play has also made it all much easier.