how much should a build cost ?

[bobbern]

if you had all the parts on your bench, what SHOULD a build reasonably cost ? ... I ask because, even tho I have been using the same guy for almost 10 years, he has gone corporate and only owns 25% of the company he started, so he can't be as liberal with his labor pricing and time as he used to be with me ... his build pricing that he is stuck with is per piece, a certain $ to install mobo, etc ... as much I like and trust the guy, I would almost like to find someone else to do this build, Tampa area ... my only advantage is that I might trade him a go kart for his time, altho he is saying even that has to be approved

btw, I know enough to be dangerous, i.e. I have flashed my bios before, installed cards, memory, changed voltages, etc, but never tried a complete build ... it is the testing and troubleshooting I wouldn't feel completely comfortable doing ... here are my tentative parts of choice

Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250620NS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

not sure yet of video card, and I want to add my old hard drive, my working NIC, as well as my old, but still working ZIP drive, simply to recover some wanted items I still have on ZIP discs

as long as I'm posting, does all this seem compatible ? ... I posted before in this thread, thks for all previous suggestions http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=200564

thanks

[mattaggie]

The parts you have listed would be in the high $400's. That does not include a video card or Operating system. If I were you, I would just build it myself. Its not that hard and you seem to already have more knowledge than most beginners. Also, if money is tight, then you can use that money you would pay someone to build it and buy better parts.

[bobbern]

mattaggie, thanks for your reply and confidence booster ... some days it seems complicated, other days I wonder why I didn't build my last 2 ... I asked because my budget is tight, as for most ppl ... I'll use my XP and I can swing the parts, just not an expensive builder

[JonM1211]

You do sound like you know what you are doing.

Personally, a couple of years ago I built my PC, with the help of this forum and guides on this site. I got through it fine. Only thing i had to do is troubleshoot a DOA harddrive, and with the help of this place, I was fine.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by bobbern if you had all the parts on your bench, what SHOULD a build reasonably cost ?

It's hard to tell you what a build would reasonably cost without knowing the parts you're building with.

Originally Posted by bobbern ... I ask because, even tho I have been using the same guy for almost 10 years, he has gone corporate and only owns 25% of the company he started, so he can't be as liberal with his labor pricing and time as he used to be with me ... his build pricing that he is stuck with is per piece, a certain $ to install mobo, etc ... as much I like and trust the guy, I would almost like to find someone else to do this build, Tampa area.

Why not just build it yourself? Assembling a computer isn't that hard...the hard part is selecting compatible parts that will build into a computer that will do what you want it to do.

Originally Posted by bobbern btw, I know enough to be dangerous, i.e. I have flashed my bios before, installed cards, memory, changed voltages, etc, but never tried a complete build ... it is the testing and troubleshooting I wouldn't feel completely comfortable doing ... here are my tentative parts of choice Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250620NS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Some of these parts are sort of dated already. What are you trying to achieve? What kind of computing do you do?

Originally Posted by bobbern not sure yet of video card,

That motherboard has on-board video already, in case you didn't know.

Originally Posted by bobbern and I want to add my old hard drive,

Instead of installing it in your computer, you might want to put it in an external HDD housing and use it for backups. Just a thought.

Originally Posted by bobbern my working NIC,

All new motherboards already have built-in NIC/Ethernet so you really don't need your old one...but keep it as a spare, just in case.

Originally Posted by bobbern as well as my old, but still working ZIP drive, simply to recover some wanted items I still have on ZIP discs.

You might want to recover your data from the Zip Disks now with your current computer instead of messing with it later. Who knows when that Zip Drive will die.

Originally Posted by bobbern As long as I'm posting, does all this seem compatible ? ... I posted before in this thread, thks for all previous suggestions http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=200564

At a quick glance the parts do look compatible...but you might want to find a newer motherboard with a newer chipset just to be sure it'll be compatible with that processor/CPU.

Cricket