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Computer Hardware - Where to buy

Rod

Rod

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I need to build a new PC, and with the many vendor choices out there, I'm curious to hear where you guys buy from. I need a case and all the inner's. I'm going to build an AMD box this time.
 
Rod said:
I need to build a new PC, and with the many vendor choices out there, I'm curious to hear where you guys buy from. I need a case and all the inner's. I'm going to build an AMD box this time.
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I have heard great things about this place:

http://www.newegg.com/

Good prices and friendly customer service. I have never used them (I am a Mac guy myself) but have heard they are one of the best for PC parts, etc. Hope this helps...

Jim
 
Newegg is great, i used to order from there back when I was a pc owner. I finally just went out and bought a G5 tower and solved all my problems :0

pricewatch.com is good to, just be carefull to read if its brand or generic.
 
New Egg IS a really good choice. Another is most of the places listed over at Tom's.. I've been tempted on building a PC, mostly for my home automation project, otherwise I'm still the Mac Geek I was the last time I was able to be up and around :p

Can you post what you eventually go with?
 
another vote for newegg.com here. pricewatch is a good place to start looking, but be aware that some of those little shops will be a pain when it comes to RMA's. Personally, I shop at newegg, crucial, and then assorted others. Whatever you do, stay away from TigerDirect. They are VERY overpriced and their customer service is awful.

arstechnica, tomshardwareguide, hardocp, and anandtech are all good resources for where to put your money.
 
Newegg.com

They Consistently have good everyday low prices which makes they great for a one stop shop if you don't feel like finding a hot deal on every single component in your system. THey have one of the highest all time resellerratings and gold standard customer service. They are the COHIBA of the pc world where others are compared to it. And if that's not enough of a glowing remark i don't know what is.


http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html
 
Rod said:
I need to build a new PC, and with the many vendor choices out there, I'm curious to hear where you guys buy from. I need a case and all the inner's. I'm going to build an AMD box this time.
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Honestly, just buy one pre-made. Your time is more valuable than the few hours it's going to take to track down and order all of the proper parts, and then assemble the computer. When you purchase a computer, you also get a warranty should anything go wrong, and (limited) support.

If you're doing it for fun, that's another thing entirely -- but you're really not saving money assembling your own computer unless you do not place value on your time. I'm pretty sure you earn more per hour than the good folks in China/Taiwan who would otherwise be assembling your computer for you.
 
Depending on how good he is at it you're only talking about 60-90 minutes to build the machine. Now a complete reload of software will add to that for sure. I use Ghost myself.

moki said:
Honestly, just buy one pre-made. Your time is more valuable than the few hours it's going to take to track down and order all of the proper parts, and then assemble the computer. When you purchase a computer, you also get a warranty should anything go wrong, and (limited) support.

If you're doing it for fun, that's another thing entirely -- but you're really not saving money assembling your own computer unless you do not place value on your time. I'm pretty sure you earn more per hour than the good folks in China/Taiwan who would otherwise be assembling your computer for you.
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AVB said:
Depending on how good he is at it you're only talking about 60-90 minutes to build the machine. Now a complete reload of software will add to that for sure. I use Ghost myself.

moki said:
Honestly, just buy one pre-made. Your time is more valuable than the few hours it's going to take to track down and order all of the proper parts, and then assemble the computer. When you purchase a computer, you also get a warranty should anything go wrong, and (limited) support.

If you're doing it for fun, that's another thing entirely -- but you're really not saving money assembling your own computer unless you do not place value on your time. I'm pretty sure you earn more per hour than the good folks in China/Taiwan who would otherwise be assembling your computer for you.
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A budget PC $800 and below there's no point, and you should go premade (Dell, COmpaq etc.) But if your burning $1200-$1500 then building it yourself gives you more freedom and you get a more powerful machine at a better price.
 
Pricewatch to find the cheapest components..

Newegg for great service for a bit more cost and you can find just 'bout everything you need from one spot.

If you worry about PC service after the fact, get a Dell and save yourself some trouble.


One last suggestion to find the best deals on components AND pricing from Dell.

techbargians.com
 
AVB said:
Depending on how good he is at it you're only talking about 60-90 minutes to build the machine. Now a complete reload of software will add to that for sure. I use Ghost myself.
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Sure, to build a machine. But to research all of the components, make sure you get pieces that will work together properly, etc.

I had a friend of mine who recorded every minute he spent on building himself a nice spiffy PC (research, finding sources, ordering, assembling, testing, software install, etc.), applied to that the hourly wage he earns for a living... it would have been cheaper (and less hassle) for him to simply purchase it from a company like Dell.
 
I think it depends alot on what you are going to do with it. I have built all my own machines, but I enjoy tinkering with them. I used to build them for friends too cuz I could put them together cheaper than buying one complete. Not so anymore. I agree with seizure except I would up that dollar amount to over $2,000.00. I think you can get a really nice one now days under that. I think the only reason to build your own now days is if you are really into gaming or multimedia and would want to put a really high end precessor + video card etc. in it or wanted to mod out the case etc. If you decide not to build and just want something you think you will just use as is something like Dell or Gateway is just fine. I personally don't think I would ever have one because companies like them are very proprietary making future upgrades or add-ons difficult to impossible without getting the hardware directly from them and paying twice as much as aftermarket for it. I would look at an e-machine or places like NewEgg puts nice systems together for a good price. If you decide you want to build NewEgg is definitely the way to go. Bla bla bla. Sorry so long winded. :whistling: :D
 
Swifty said:
I personally don't think I would ever have one because companies like them are very proprietary making future upgrades or add-ons difficult to impossible without getting the hardware directly from them and paying twice as much as aftermarket for it.
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This is somewhat true -- except that most computer vendors use fairly standard parts as well.

Also the idea of upgradability is somewhat of a red herring. Yes, you can do it piecemeal to an extent, but the performance of a computer is so interdependent that it's generally rather futile.

For instance, let's say you built a computer 2 years ago, and the processor is now too slow for you.

Okay, you want to upgrade the processor. If you can find a newer processor that will fit onto your old motherboard, you won't get the performance gains you're hoping for, because you'll be saddled with an older, slower memory bus architecture.

Keep in mind also that newer processors also often have different pinouts, and you may not be able to shoehorn them on your old mobo in many cases anyway.

To upgrade your memory bus requires tossing out the motherboard... which means tossing out the RAM you had on it too. At that point you'd be left with an older, slow video card, so it's time to toss that out and get a new video card too.

At this point, the only thing you've really kept is the computer case... which is probably a bit beat up by now anyway.

I guess I don't see the point. Sell/donate the old computer, and use the money/write-off to help buy a new one when it is time.

That's my 20 or so years of experience with computers anyway -- the only things I generally upgrade is RAM, sometimes a video card, and that's about it. It just isn't as cost/performance effective as one might think.
 
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