Let this be a lesson to anybody who has built a computer.

[Ampera]

Virtually all boards had bad caps for a while in the early 2000's, it was a huge fiasco. I repaired a lot of stuff, including motherboards.

Intel didn't. That's why if you go on Ebay looking for Slot 1 board, you won't find much else other than Intel boards.

[P90]

Intel boards are mostly bought for stability, not for performance or features.

That's exactly why I purchased mine. 

I'll take stability over extra features anyday. Who wants to mess around with overclocking and system lock-ups?

[james_s]

Millions of people want to mess around with overclocking, not so much with lockups. I ran modestly overclocked systems for ~15 years with no issues at all. The Abit board I mentioned was bought to run a PII-300 at 450MHz and that's the one I used for years then my mom used it for several more years, it was always rock solid. Prior to my current i7 I had a Pentium4 that I ran overclocked for almost a decade, it was also rock solid. You only start to have problems if you go crazy and try to overclock to the limit.

[P90]

The last time I fooled around with overclocking was a Celeron Slot1...  LOL !!!

[Halcyon]

I've seen some posts on here criticising TwoOfFive for his choices and words. I don't think that's very supportive.

It's clear the OP has learnt some valuable lessons and good on him! I don't necessarily agree on his choice of components (for example, I've had terrible results with ThermalTake power supplies... never again) but he's a young bloke who is keen to learn. We were all in his position once. I can honestly stick my hand up and say I bought some terrible gear when I was learning.

You see computer shops everywhere and read people who assert to be "in the IT industry" who indirectly try to pass their advice as "expert" all the time.

My opinion (as an actual expert "in the field") is this:

- If you want a computer that works right out of the box, is compatible with your devices and you don't want to muck around, then buy an Apple and enjoy (although you'll pay a premium and be locked into their "ecosystem").

- If you want to buy a budget computer for the minimum amount of money, expect problems, stability issues and/or a relatively short product life.

- If you want to get the best for your money, spend a little more but buy the best components you can and carefully research what is compatible with what. Try to find out what individual components the product is made up of and where they come from, don't just rely on a brand name. Talk to experts (not just your local computer store) and people who have a lot of genuine experience in the field. That's not to say everyone who works in a retail computer store is a dummy, but people who know what they are talking about are few and far between.

For me, there are some brands I've relied on since the 1990's and they've never let me down to this day (such as Supermicro). But that said, it's important not to be "brand loyal", research each new component from scratch, don't just rely on their reputation. Brands sometimes get bought out or amalgamated with other companies and quality can slip. Be flexible and prepared to change your opinion on things.

[jmelson]

I've been using off-lease Dell desktops (and a few laptops) for years with quite excellent results.  A couple years ago i realized my main desktop had been in use for TWELVE years and decided to upgrade, before something died.  It is still at my mother-in-law's house, still working.   Got another relatively recent Dell i5 system on eBay.  I've found these to be really reliable.  (They did suffer from the capacitor plague about 15 years ago, too.  I recapped a bunch of them at work.)  I run Linux exclusively here.

Jon

[Ampera]

Who says I'm a bloke?

jk

[Halcyon]

Who says I'm a bloke?

Well, with a name like Konrad, one makes an assumption that you're male. Then again, you could identify as a female, that's also a possibility.

[karoru]

I've been using off-lease Dell desktops (and a few laptops) for years with quite excellent results.  A couple years ago i realized my main desktop had been in use for TWELVE years and decided to upgrade, before something died.  It is still at my mother-in-law's house, still working.   Got another relatively recent Dell i5 system on eBay.  I've found these to be really reliable.  (They did suffer from the capacitor plague about 15 years ago, too.  I recapped a bunch of them at work.)  I run Linux exclusively here.
Jon

Yes, they're reliable but tend to use terrible motherboards when it comes to making any upgrades. Their business model was always "when lease ends, replace with new machines". And sometimes really strange choice of parts, once I've been working in a place using around 100 Dell computers of various vintage and ended up digging at my private attic for old shitty RTL8139 network card because not a single one PC had network interface compatible with ESXi (virtualization platform, supports zillion different NICs) so I could do a test deployment before going live.

[P90]

Who says I'm a bloke?

Well, with a name like Konrad, one makes an assumption that you're male. Then again, you could identify as a female, that's also a possibility.

LOL

[Ampera]

Out of curiosity, how do you know my name?

I don't mind, but I am just want to know where I posted it...

[MK14]

Out of curiosity, how do you know my name?

I don't mind, but I am just want to know where I posted it...

I'm guessing, but this looks like a candidate...
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/an-oscilloscope-please!/msg1196589/#msg1196589

[xrunner]

Out of curiosity, how do you know my name? I don't mind, but I am just want to know where I posted it...

I'm guessing, but this looks like a candidate...
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/an-oscilloscope-please!/msg1196589/#msg1196589

 

[Kjelt]

 

[Halcyon]

Out of curiosity, how do you know my name?

I don't mind, but I am just want to know where I posted it...

Your very first post on the forum. :-) Nothing sinister going on here...

[Ampera]

You've been stalking me that long?

loljk.