There is no better feeling than hitting that power button, and you see the Bios post screen, and the hard drive winds up. I built my first PC back in the late 80's and it took me an entire day of fooling around, back when you had to put each RAM chip into the motherboard one at a time.
Once you got that done you had to run a debug command to low level format your hard drive, then put your DOS disk in the floppy drive and do the regular format: format c: /s to set up you operating system. Those were the days.
CONGRATS! I still remember mine and being very confused on why it would t turn on. Turns out I plugged something into the wrong port which was right beside the one it was plugged in 😭
First ever PC build for me was our very first computer at Schwab in 1978 or so when we needed one to act as sort of a CRM. We used a very early Microsoft DOS I think. We still just had paper order tickets and a keypunch department to get the data off them and send it to our outside data processor.
Congrats! I remember building a PC years ago. That holding of breath before you click the on button. Took a few tries (graph card, ram, etc. settings), but at least there was no smoke.
Usually give myself 15 hours. 1 hour to assemble it, 12 hours to figure out what isn't seated correctly while staring into a dark case with a phone lamp and moving it back and forth to the outlet and monitor, 2 hours for configuration.
That's wonderful. I remember starting out by upgrading a pc I had with more RAM and a new processor. Eventually I decided to try actually building my own, and it felt good to gather the parts, put them together, and see it work.
Congrats! While it's not as hard as a lot of people initially imagine, it's still a whole feat that can be intimidating. Power it on and DOING STUFF on a system you built with your own hands is very gratifying and fulfilling. Congrats again! 👨💻🎉
Congrats! My first time, I had motherboard compatibility issues, the wrong power supply, and a graphics card that didn't fit the case. You're ahead of the curb
I was so proud of the pc I put together myself until after 5 years taking it to get repaired where I was told and I quote ‘what the hell did you do it’s a mess and it’s a miracle it runs. I took out the extra ram you stuck in and I can’t believe it turned on again’. It still runs.
did you have the universal experience of pressing the power button, nothing happening, and you start freaking out to only realize the power supply was off
It feels great now, but - even better, it will continue to feel great for years to come. Using something you built yourself is uniquely rewarding, like an ongoing, subconscious confidence booster. Enjoy it!
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Nice one though! Enjoy it! 😄
But are you sure you don't want to try the creeping feeling of dread when you forget to plug in the CPU power?
It's once in a lifetime, I promise.
May I DM you for some advice?
Don't forget: You did this from beginning to end. You saw it through and that means you are better now than when you started.
Achievement Earned: PC Builder!
Do you mind sharing the specs of the PC you built?
I bought one PC in my life, and that was back in 1994. I have always built my own PC since then.