Where do you shop / check for computer parts?

[Qitz]

Recently I've been toying around with the idea of building my own PC, mainly due to the fact that my current one is 6+ years old (no, I don't know how I've survived this long with it specially with only 108GB) and was wondering where you techies look to for tech info, compatibility, user ratings, ect... for system parts.

Also, for anyone whose built their own PC, how much did it run you and what are the spec's for it?

 

[smearyllama]

Tom's Hardware is good.

 

[Qitz]

That an physical store or an online one?

May be a bit odd to find an actual store if it's not a wide spread one.

 

[JochemDude]

My uncle owns a PC hardware store so whenever one of my games starts to run crappy I give him a call and he puts some pretty stuff in it and it works properly again.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I built mine from parts entirely from Newegg.

EDIT: I don't remember what it ran me. Probably a little over $1000, but that was two years ago.

3GHz quad-core CPU
1TB hard drive
8GB RAM
I forget what card I put into it, but I've upgraded it to a GTX 460 since then

 

[FreakSheet]

For purchasing, if you are in the US, Newegg is good, but in Canada (F yeah!) Best Direct and Tiger Direct are best. For research, Hardware Canuck's has great benchmarks which help decide best price vs performance, and reviews on lots o stuff. It ran me just about $1000, excluding the monitor.

Specs:
Intel Core i7 2.93GHz
Asus P7P55D Deluxe Motherboard
Asus GeForce GTX 460 Super Clocked
Antec 750 watt Power Supply
NZXT Apollo Case
Generic RAM (ie don't remember) 2GB X 4

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I've been using Newegg for years nary a complaint.

My last upgrade (hex-core CPU, motherboard, 8GB memory, aftermarket heatsink, new case) set me back just shy of $600, thanks to a couple of fortuitously-timed sales. Specs are as follows:

Asus M4A89TD PRO
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHz
G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 (2 x 4GB)
EVGA nVidia GTX460 1GB

 

[Grogman]

Instead of starting a new topic, does anyone know a good UK online store of the same variety?

 

[BreakfastMan]

I used Newegg for mine. Got PC buying advice from the PC gaming group here and PC building instructions from both here and the glory that is Youtube, but I bought everything from Neweggg. Great experience.

Specs!
i5-2500 quad core @ 3.3GHZ Sandybridge
Patriot Gamer 2 series 8 GB ram (2*4 gigs)
Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB hard-drive
ASUS NVidia GeForce GTX 560 1GB OC (Though it says 4GB in dxdiag)
Corsair Gaming series GS800 800 watt
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO motherboard
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 case (really great case. Lots of built in fans, feature rich, and very roomy).

Plus some generic disc drive and wireless adapter.

Cost me around $1400 altogether, but that is including the monitor and OS, so probably around $1100 for reals.

 

[EvanJO]

I used to only use newegg for a lack of anything else, but when TigerDirect bought up CompUSA and reopened their local store, I started using them. Comparable pricing, only difference is I have to pay tax but if something is DoA I just go back up there and exchange it.

I sill use newegg on occasion, though.

 

[Dimitriov]

I used www.NCIX.com they are situated in Vancouver which is conveniently near where I live. Good prices, good selection, and no complaints.

/shrug

 

[efeat]

I use Anandtech and Tom's Hardware first and foremost when it comes time for benchmarks and tests and reviews. If I need additional benchmarks or more niche data, HardOCP and Guru3d are also good resources to tap into. When it comes time to purchase, Newegg is the first and often times the only stop. I've ordered from zipzoomfly and tigerdirect in the past too, and they have worked well.

My current PC is an amalgamation of parts from over the last 6 years, so I can't offer any helpful info when it comes to its price. The best piece of advice I can give is that before you build a machine, know what the purpose of the machine is going to be and select parts specifically for that purpose. You do not need a high-end processor or graphics card to read email and listen to music. You do not need 16 GB of RAM or a hexacore CPU to play 3D games. You do not need a blu-ray player if you won't be watching blu-ray discs. You do not need a RAID of SSDs if you're not doing anything disk I/O intensive.
With that said, it's also helpful to plan for any future tasks in case you do end up pursuing them. For example, do not buy a wimpy power supply if you think you might want a powerful graphics card next year. The wimpy power supply may be cheaper now, but it'll cost you in the long run if you need to buy a second, stronger power supply.

You will save money by adhering to this advice. Saving money is good. You like saving money.

 

[Wintermoot]

quick note if you want to transfer your data I recommend loading it on a USB stick or external HDD. most computer from back then use IDE/PATA instead of SATA and allot of computer don,t use IDE/PATA anymore

 

[Rawne1980]

Instead of starting a new topic, does anyone know a good UK online store of the same variety?

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom/

And my specs are.

Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 (AMD 760G)
ATI Radeon HD 6950 - 2 GB -
AMD Athlon II X3 445 1.5MB (3 x 3.3 GHZ)
8 GB 1333 MHZ (2x4GB)
1 TB SATA-II

 

[devotedsniper]

Instead of starting a new topic, does anyone know a good UK online store of the same variety?

I use a number of places..

For hardware such as CPU,RAM,GPU,etc i go to either ebuyer.com or overclockers.co.uk

When it comes to cooling (my rig is watercooled but the sites also do aircooling) i go to watercoolinguk.co.uk and specialtech.co.uk.

Those 4 sites are the only sites i use, they always seem to have the best offers/cheapest items. As for actual stores...no just no in my opinion, being in the uk theres only really places like PC world which sell items which are usually overpriced (and if say you don't know anything about computers they'll generally try to sell you something you don't need).