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Where is the best place to buy computer hardware? Store or online?

post #1 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 
So I got all the specs that I wanted for my computer after doing some research, trying to maximize efficiency to cost. Now, my parents want to take me to the store to get these components. Idk how to explain to them that buying online is better, maybe one of you guys could help me out.

It's either something great like this:
CPU $215
Intel Core i5 3570k
Motherboard $140
Biostar TZ77XE4
Ram $80
Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2 x 8GB)
HDD $80
Western Digital WD Black 1TB
GPU $360
EVGA Geforce GTX 670
Case $75
Rosewill Blackhawk
Power Supply $65
Rosewill Hive 650W
SSD $90
SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Or a crappy prebuilt like this

Hp Envy Phoenix H9-1330 Desktop PC with Intel Core i5-3570 Processor,10GB DDR3 Memory,2TB SATA Hard Drive,Wifi,Radeon HD7670 Graphic Card,Windows 8

AND WE ALL KNOW WINDOWS 8 SUCKS! frown.gif someone please help me explain to them why I NEED to buy online.
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post #2 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:17am
Online tends to be cheaper... if they insist on taking you out, print a pricelist for the parts online and don't pay more in store. Some components will probably be priced the same, but you'll want to at least order some online.
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post #3 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:18am
for in store, fry's and microcenter if you live near them.

for online in my opinion, Newegg, Ncix, Tigerdirect, in that order. Amazon can also be useful.

And never forget about the OCN marketplace smile.gif
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post #4 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:24am
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With online you get reviews, better prices, and when you RMA to Newegg they actually know what they're doing. The system you have there looks great, it will completely destroy anthying you could buy in a store like Staples or Bestbuy. Also throw the educational purpose argument. If your going into engineering like me, building a PC is great.
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post #5 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Legonut View Post

With online you get reviews, better prices, and when you RMA to Newegg they actually know what they're doing. The system you have there looks great, it will completely destroy anthying you could buy in a store like Staples or Bestbuy. Also throw the educational purpose argument. If your going into engineering like me, building a PC is great.

IKR! I looked at one of the prebuilt computers for "gaming" purposes, and its graphics card is benchmarked at 1000! That's so fricken outdated that they are just stealing from people.
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Afrosword
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post #6 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
Oh and a 2 terrabyte hard drive? No one needs 2 terrabytes for a gaming computer. Idk about you guys, but I like to keep my computer clean and defragged
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Afrosword
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post #7 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrosamurai View Post

Oh and a 2 terrabyte hard drive? No one needs 2 terrabytes for a gaming computer. Idk about you guys, but I like to keep my computer clean and defragged

Speak for yourself tongue.gif. I like to not have to worry about HD space at all, and don't delete stuff. I'm using about 2TB of space total.
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post #8 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cannon19932006 View Post

for in store, fry's and microcenter if you live near them.
for online in my opinion, Newegg, Ncix, Tigerdirect, in that order. Amazon can also be useful.
And never forget about the OCN marketplace smile.gif


If you're in the US, definitely this. Microcenter deals make me so jealous sometimes as a Canadian redface.gif.

 

If online buy from a price-matching site (like NCIX) and use price-comparison sites to quickly find the cheapest deals.

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post #9 of 9
11/10/12 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy9000 View Post

Speak for yourself tongue.gif. I like to not have to worry about HD space at all, and don't delete stuff. I'm using about 2TB of space total.

What is taking up the majority of that space? You know you can just stream porn now right? tongue.gif
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Afrosword
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