Really? Don't think so...
Ran my own shop for years. Lost count of how many from scratch customs I've done for myself and customers. I don't just give away valuable information any more but I will say that I don't see key concepts covered here and nothing aproaching what I would consider a complete guide.
Some tips: Dont go for cutting edge components. Stick with proven gear. Been building computers since 1996. Every time I tried the cutting edge, I was the one who wound up doing the bleeding.
If your build doesn't work and you have tried everyting you can think of, you probably have more than one issue causing failure.
Just because a part is brand new, doesn't mean its good.
Don't force any parts together. Some might be a bit tight so its really a judgement call: Sorry but no subsitute for experience.
And a final buzz kill: Just because two components should work together doesn't mean they will. If you don't really know your hardware, be perparied to pay for your education.
Large companies like HP, Dell, Sony, you name it, even Apple, build limited varities of each type. My experience suggests that this is probably due to how many iterations of parts that are built that don't live up to specs. They do R&D find what works consistently and order a batch of them or order a batch of them and test them and then build, but plan on a failure rate. Name a part and a brand and I've had to return a dead one to a vendor that just sold it to me.
Bottom line: Building your own gear to get just the results you are looking for is like any other thing worth doing. It takes time, effort and resources to get good at.
