OK guys - I'm going to build a system. This will be my primary machine, for reviewing, gaming, etc. I can use a lot of the components from my current Dell 866, but I'm going to need to purchase a CPU, MB, case, and I'm sure I'll end up purchasing a few more items.

So - where do you guys recommend for purchasing a CPU, MB, and case? I want someone who has a good selection of good stuff, is reliable, and a decent price.

Thanks

I usually cruize pricewatch.com find someplace with decent prices, won't rip you off on shipping and isn't on the other side of the continent. I've used so many places I don't think I could give you a specific reccomendations. The biggest trouble I usually have is finding a place with good prices that carries the stuff I want (I'm pretty particular).

If you're gonna buy any RAM I would suggest you buy it direct from Crucial.com. Most retailers sell Crucial memory, only they charge more. And Crucial.com ships it for free so that isn't a consideration.

Brad Grenz

Jeff, check out directron.com, I cannot say enough about their service and support. Their prices are always near if not the cheapest, but they support you even if you mixed and matched your system, most places just say too bad if you didn't buy it all from here.

Avoid at all costs Necx/gateway.

Chet

Jeff,
Find someplace reliable you can buy as much as possible from. Price matters little when compared to shipping costs.

So, I'd look for a place that has the best price for the CPU you want. Then see if they also offer the mobo, case, etc.,

Buy in bulk.
-Andrew

i've had no probs with a place off pricewatch called 'Z-Buy' ( http://www.z-buy.com/ ) .. their prices were within $10 of every other no-name place on pricewatch that i'd never heard of before, AND they had (still do, AFAIK) free fedex 3-day shipping.

not sure where their prices stand currently, coz i haven't bought anything from them in a while, but they were good with everything when i last bought something there (about 2 months ago).

- mike - buying in bulk -

Thanks for the link, Chet. I'm not nearly as worried about the cheapest as I am a decent price combined with good service and support. (Same reason I pay a little more and buy all my photography needs from B&H Photo.)

Well, I'll second (third?) the vote for Pricewatch -- I have used it a lot, and haven't gotten any complaints on anything purchased through them yet.

Both pricewatch.com and shopper.com carry some reliable vendors. I'd check out www.chipsandmemory.com. They have competitive prices and decent support. And if they screw ya, I'd be willing to pay them a visit on your behalf. ;-)

Raphael

Somewhere -- I'll see if I can't dig it out of my memory -- there is a site that rates vendors at sites like Pricewatch. It's certaily worth checking out, if you're gonna buy from there.

I heard about it here, first, so somebody knows what I'm talking about. I'm sure they'll post a link before I remember.

I've had good luck at mwave.com, the prices were competitive and they did (at one time) have a guarantee.

Eapen

Memory as mentioned: Crucial.com can't be beat.

TCWO.com -- decent prices and EXCELLENT shipping policies.

newegg.com -- great prices and lousy shipping policies

Those are the three I used to build my latest.

As a fellow B&H shopper, I suggest that you:

buy your case, sound card, HDD, and motherboard from newegg.com (very reliable delivery)

buy your memory from Crucial with free fedex shipping.

buy your CPU and CPU fan from wherever you would like.

I've used Multiwave for a bunch of my own components and 5 friends of mine have built systems with components from them also. Their shipping is reasonable and service has been good. One person had to do a return and that went well also. They may not be the cheapest, but I still think they have one of the clearer web sites to shop on. Their "motherboard bundles" are an easy way to get a read on what you need.

Multiwave

I've also bought things like hard drives, speakers and sound cards from old reliable buy.com You can do good at Best Buy on certain things if you catch a sale. You also save on shipping that way.

--Dave

I'd like to piggyback on this with a related question: Where is a good site to go for step by step instructions for the actual assembly of the components? Is Tom's Hardware good?

Keeping in mind we are talking about a person whose installation experience has been heretofore limited to cd-r drives.

Thanks,
Amanpour

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(Same reason I pay a little more and buy all my photography needs from B&H Photo.)

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I'd like to piggyback on this with a related question: Where is a good site to go for step by step instructions for the actual assembly of the components? Is Tom's Hardware good?

Keeping in mind we are talking about a person whose installation experience has been heretofore limited to cd-r drives.

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Outsideloop.com if you want a pre-built/overclocked system. Crucial.com for memory. Other than that reseller ratings will guide you with most other online vendors.

I hear newegg is pretty good, I was really close to getting a new CPU from them today. I may still do it. Just deciding if any games I want are out anytime soon that I would buy instead.

I purchased some memory (crucial doesn't carry RDRAM) for my main machine from www.googlegear.com , as well as a 1 gig P3 for my #2 desktop, and both were a decent price and arrived as expected. Anybody here have any experiences with them?

I find these two comments interesting:


"buy your case, sound card, HDD, and motherboard from newegg.com (very reliable delivery)"

"newegg.com -- great prices and lousy shipping policies"

I've had decent experiences with google.com, so I'm thinking you're on the right track. Keep us posted on your PC building adventure....

Raphael

I'll second the multiwave recommendation. I have built four or five systems and have never had a complaint. There customer service is very good and prices are competitive.

For checking overall ratings for various places, try www.resellerratings.com .

Raphael - you did mean googlegear.com, not google.com? ;)

Man, that google.com has EVERYTHING - no prices, but everything I search for, they have! ;)

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you did mean googlegear.com, not google.com?

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My favorite is http://www.newegg.com , though. You cannot go wrong with these guys. Lightning fast shipping, real-time stock monitor (nothing sucks more than "ordering" something that's not in stock), and dirt cheap pricing.

I have ordered from googlegear before and I can vouch for them as well.

Just throwing in another vote for Multiwave.

Should have clarified.

Newegg ships as they promise, but their shipping prices are IMHO way too high. Especially when compared to TCWO.com which ships whole orders for 6.95.

"Newegg ships as they promise, but their shipping prices are IMHO way too high. Especially when compared to TCWO.com which ships whole orders for 6.95."

Erm, you've never tried to buy from most of the vendors on pricewatch. Newegg is a great deal.

Also, have you ever shipped anything via UPS? Via a corporate account (lower rates than over the counter)? I have, and I have a reasonably good idea of what fair shipping costs are.

There is no way in heck you can ship a computer case for $6.95, by the way.

go to TCWO.com and a window pops up saying all orders that come in under 150lb ship for $6.95. But that is an exceptiona price. Finding good shipping prices is a really important thing. You might find a CPU on pricewatch for $10 less than most places, but if they charge $15 on shipping you'd be better off paying a little more for the part but a lot less for shipping.

Newegg's shipping prices are puzzling. They ship 10 lb computer cases for $15, and ship 4 oz. CPUs for $10. That may be the bizarre shipping policy that a previous poster referred to.

Nevertheless, the people who work at Newegg process your order quickly. If I order items in the morning, the tracking numbers for the shipment are in my email inbox by the time I get home from work.

And hey, there is nothing wrong with buying stuff from Adorama (http://www.adoramacamera.com).

And when Adorama and B&H are closed for the holidays, you can order items from Tallyn's (http://www.tallyns.com). The prices are a bit higher, but the owner is completely dedicated to his customers' satisfaction. Scott Tallyn saved my Halloween party. I needed a monolight to take prom pics at the party. The one B&H had sent me was defective, and they couldn't replace it until after the Jewish holidays (2 weeks). Scott tested the monolight to verify that it worked before he shipped it to me. Party on, Garth!
(http://www.rogerw.com/photos/halloween-vikbig.jpg)

I've ordered twice from abbeycamera.com with orders in excess of $200 dollars both times. They were very friendly and professional.
Huong

Interesting. When I went to order from these places I found newegg to be the best deal all around. TCWO's prices make up for the 7 dollar shipping and the shipping jumps way up to comperable levels if you want it in 2 days. Plus their selection is more limited than newegg and googlegear. Googlegear put up a good fight but it wanted $50 shipping for what newegg was going to charge $32 for plus newegg's prices were just a bit better.

BTW, newegg's shipping prices aren't just a straight add. I ordered 6 items and the shipping with fedex saver would have been $20 or something nowhere near the prices they listed next to each of the items. I went with 2-day fedex for $32 which seemed pretty reasonable. So the moral is if you want to buy more than one item newegg's shipping costs aren't that bad.

What did I tell you guys? NewEgg is "the bomb".

Does Newegg set it up, test it, and burn it in for you? If not, then to anyone not real familiar with the stuff, I'd recommend going to mwave.com and paying the extra $25.04 (for the stuff I was looking for) to have them assemble it for you.

from http://www.mwave.com

"Each motherboard bundle will include a motherboard, CPU, cooling fan, and memory if selected. Each component carries it's own individual manufacturer warranty. All Motherboard bundles will not be assembled or configured, and will arrive individually packaged, unless you select our "assemble/test" option.

*Assembly and testing option includes installation of memory, processor, and cooling fan. CPU settings will be set, and inital boot will be performed. Please note: Assembly and testing option does not guarantee the product is free from defects. "

I dunno, Murph. That's pretty basic. Unless you've got five thumbs on each hand, or are seriously tech-phobic, I'd say it's fairly straightforward to assemble a PC these days. That said, there's nothing wrong with buying a pre-assembled system for a reasonable fee. I just believe in the doctrine of teaching people to fish so they can feed themselves..

Hey, I personally agree with that strategy. I have built mine myself, and have done the last couple of upgrades myself.

On the other hand, I've heard several accounts of people burning up Athlons in seconds because the fan wasn't on right, or some other such incident. Plus, it makes it far more likely that you'll get compatible stuff if they set it up for you and "burn it in," which I swear I read they did!

And the assemble/test option is $8.95. Probably worth the money, if you've never built a PC yourself. The last thing you want to have to do is replace a processor because you screwed something up.

That said, you're right. Building a PC is pretty straightforward these days, and most motherboards have handy-dandy little booklets that walk you through 95% of it.

Actually, Murph, I'm glad you referred me to mwave. Their page for building systems is fairly reasonable:

http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/ProdBAREBONE-AMDTBIRD.hmx?UID=&CID=&Back=BBONE%2Ehmx%3F

I'm just eyeballing it, but the prices look comparable to newegg, and having them BURN IN the system (not just build and boot) is worth $35 to me.

That's what I thought, too, which is why I brought it up. :-)

I've built a number of PCs and I'll probably go with Multiwave and have them put it together for me. It just eliminates a bit of the process when I get the box. I'll throw in my video and sound (or if nForce is out and I go that route, I'll turn it on), connect it to the external devices and rock and roll. It's worth $9 to me to have them throw everything in the case. I'm not sure about $35 for burn-in. Maybe...

Multiwave is a good retailer though and I find their product catalog infinitely more navigable and understandable than Newegg. Even if buying from somewhere else, I figure out what I need by looking at mwave.com.

--Dave