Five Best Places to Buy Computer Parts

[allheart55 Cindy E]

 

If you're building a new PC or shopping for upgrades, you need a trustworthy place to buy. Not all retailers are the same—some offer great discounts, good customer service, and even helpful tools so you buy the best gear for your money. This week, we're checking out five of the best, based on your nominations.

 

Building your own computer doesn't have to be super expensive, and there are lots of ways you can save money in the process. Earlier in the week we asked you to tell us where you go—online or offline—to buy computer components after you've put together your spec list. You weighed in with tons of great nominees, but we only have room for your top five. Here they are, in no particular order:

 

Micro Center

 

Micro Center operates both brick-and-mortar stores and an extensive online store, both packed with everything from CPUs and motherboards to pre-built computer systems, laptops, and monitors. Many people know Micro Center specifically for their often-incredible deals on CPUs, in many cases hundreds of dollars lower than available anywhere else online—and they appear frequently in your low-price list when you start building your computer at a site like PCPartPicker.

 

Their physical stores are usually laid out and stocked like geek amusement parks, with tons of systems to play with, gaming consoles to kill time on, and plenty of opportunities to actually touch and try out the tech you're interested in before you buy it—not to mention a massive system builder's center packed with components, cables, cooling, tubes, and more—great for any system builder who's missing a cable or needs that one extra thing to finish their build and doesn't want to wait for shipping.

 

Those of you who nominated Micro Center also highlighted the popularity of its brick and mortar stores, and the great discounts and bundles available in person. They're not quite everywhere in North America yet, but they're in enough major cities to make them a great destination, and even if you're not close to one, their online store has much of the same gear at equally great prices.

 

You can even order online for in-store pickup, and if you're running into trouble on what components to buy, their staff in-store is generally actually knowledgeable, which is a refreshing breath of fresh air. Don't take my word for it though—read the love in their nomination thread here.

 

NCIX

 

NCIX (and its US counterpart, NCIX US) earned the title of "Canada's Newegg" a while ago, but has since grown far above and beyond the comparison. NCIX is a juggernaut in its own right, serving both Canadian and US buyers with a wide variety of computer components on their website at highly competitive prices. Whether you need a new video card, hard drive, case, or CPU, NCIX has you covered.

 

Their stock doesn't end there though, and the company sells pre-built systems, peripherals like mechanical keyboards and monitors as well. Their pricing is extremely aggressive, and if they don't have the best price on a specific item, they'll match their competitors. NCIX also operates a rewards program and newsletter for their customers that offers exclusive sales, discounts, and rewards just for signing up.

 

The company is also committed to educating its customers and helping you make smart buying decisions, which we've seen through their NCIX YouTube Channel and their support for other channels like TechQuickie and Linus Tech Tips, all of which we love and have been known to post videos from frequently.

 

In its nomination thread, many of you showed your love for NCIX, and specifically mentioned that Canadian shoppers should ship through them exclusively, since they ship using Canada Post, meaning you pay less for shipping but get your gear sooner. You also called out NCIX's customer service for being exceptionally helpful, easy to work with on RMAs and DOA parts.

 

Plus, if you're thinking about parting out a new computer but don't want to build or burn it in yourself, an extra $50 on your order means they'll assemble everything for you, test it, make sure it works, install your OS, and then ship the whole thing out to you. You can read more in its nomination thread here.

Newegg

 

Newegg is a juggernaut, and for good reason. The company has been operating for ages, selling computer components and peripherals to system builders and enthusiasts for years and years. For many people, Newegg is their first and last destination when it comes to PC building, and even for those who wind up buying elsewhere, they do a great deal of their research at Newegg first to make sure they're buying the best gear at the best prices.

 

Newegg doesn't skimp on the selection, either—literally everything you need to build a computer is available from their online store, with fast and affordable shipping, complete with enough tools and options to make sure you're buying exactly what you need, nothing more and nothing less—and that all of your components will work together when you get them. Newegg has comparison tools to help you make that difficult decision between one video card and the next model over, and their sales and discounts—especially around the holidays—are forces your wallet may not be able to resist.

 

Their forums and customer reviews are well traveled, and while their customer service has been great in my experience, it's noteworthy that component manufacturers often hang out in their forums and in the reviews of their products as well, making sure their customers are happy and offering to make any issues right if someone gets a bad part or has another problem.

 

Newegg also operates a pair of YouTube channels dedicated to helping you make smart buying decisions—their flagship Newegg TV channel, and their Newegg Products channel. On both they often post product reviews, unboxing videos, first impressions of upcoming products, and more.

 

The nomination thread for Newegg was massive, and like any major retailer, was filled with both praise for their fast shipping, great selection, amazing discounts, and great customer service....and full of complaints about those very same things. Most of you however highlighted the tools that Newegg makes available to help you compare products, check reviews, and learn more about any specific item you're thinking about buying.

 

The community around Newegg—not just its staff—are passionate, intelligent, and genuinely helpful. There's a reason why Newegg was an obvious nomination here. Many of you noted that Newegg doesn't always win out on price, but they do win out on research and information, and depending on where you live, even their cheapest shipping can mean that your gear gets to you the next day. If you need any more reasons, check out the nomination thread here—it's packed with them.

 

Amazon

 

The "store that sells everything" also sells computer components and parts, and usually at fairly competitive prices—even better if you're an Amazon Prime member and get free shipping on virtually all of the components you purchase.

 

You have to know what you're looking for of course—Amazon doesn't make it easy for you to part out a PC or make sure components will work together or are compatible with one another before you buy, but they do offer a ridiculously huge selection of both common and obscure parts, new and old, so you can always find what you're looking for, either straight from Amazon or through an Amazon seller.

 

Their prices are good enough that if you do use other tools to part out your computer, like PCPartPicker, for example, you'll wind up seeing Amazon's product listing in the top two or three most affordable versions of the parts you're thinking about buying almost every time.

 

In the nomination thread, many of you called out the fact that you used to shop at other part retailers and now buy from Amazon almost as often if not more so—largely because Amazon just has everyone else beat on price. That makes sense—they're a logistical juggernaut, and they have the size and scale to compete with all of the other parts and electronics retailers while simultaneously undercutting them on price and shipping costs.

 

Many of you even noted that you use those other sites to do your research, and then eventually wind up going with Amazon because of either free shipping or price. To boot, many of you also praised Amazon's pretty liberal return and RMA policies (something I can attest to—I bought some components from Amazon recently, had the shipment delayed several days—we feared it was lost—and Amazon overnighted replacements to me the next day, with just the promise that if the original shipment showed up eventually that I send it back to them) if you ever have problems with the items you ordered. You can read all the conversion stories in its nomination thread here.

 

TigerDirect

 

TigerDirect used to have a bit of a bad rap, but the retailer has come a long way to position itself as a solid option for people looking for one more place to price check and score deals on computer components, peripherals, and software.

 

They do have brick and mortar stores (although not many), but their primary business is through their website, where they offer a wide selection of PC parts from memory and CPUs to fully built systems and other home electronics. Their prices are often worth a solid look—while you may not think of them immediately, in many cases TigerDirect can sneak in with the lowest price on an in-demand item (like a 4K monitor or a popular SSD model) with plenty of stock and fast shipping right to you. They also operate a fan newsletter that's packed with exclusive deals just for signing up.

 

In its nomination thread, a few of you pointed out that their brick and mortar stores are worth a look if you have one near you, and pointed out that their inventory is solid, their site is easy to use and browse, and while they don't have the same comparison and shopping tools that other retailers have, they're a great option if you're shopping around for a good price on something that may be out of stock or more expensive everywhere else. Read more in its nomination thread here.

 

 

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-places-to-buy-computer-parts-1642332463

[Rich-M]

Interesting survey. For most of us Newegg offers the best prices and fastest shipping though Tiger is getting better and better. For the first 6-7 years in my business Newegg was my main depot though I finally came to the conclusion the high amount of damaged and non working product was really starting to hurt me and fighting for full credits (no restocking fees) and returns only to California (I am on the East Coast and they ship to me from NJ) was dragging down my business and costing me more in the long run. I went back to my local wholesaler D&H who takes anything back without a question and in many cases is less expensive on about half the items and actually ships quicker. I found that buying the loss leaders at Newegg with the help of always free freight from a service called "Shoprunner" I do not pay for (free with American Express use) was the better way to go and the bulk now comes from D&H. This way I can count returns on one hand this year, and I am building the business credit which using credit cards does not help at all whereas D&H reports to the various credit agencies and extends credit themselves.

[Intrepid]

I selected Tiger Direct because there is a warehouse in Naperville that is only 5 minutes from where I live. I also have a Fry's 20 minutes from me. Most of my parts are bought from those 2 places.

[Rich-M]

Tiger is definitely decent buy Fry's, I haven't seen any good enough buy there in years and most that are are "walk-in" only which doesn't help us here in NE Pa.

[AWS]

I buy just about everything from Newegg. There is a micro center in Westmont which is about an hour north of me and I did go there once. I needed replacement scsi drives for a server and rather than wait for them to ship I went and picked them up.

[allheart55 Cindy E]

I mostly use newegg for almost all computer hardware except motherboards. I've gotten too many bad mobo's from newegg so for them I usually use Tiger Direct.

[Rich-M]

I can drive to D&H but they ship me next day if they have it in Harrisburg which they almost always do, 2 days if Chicago or Atlanta which happens rarely.

Like Cindy Motherboards were most of my issue with Newegg. If you notice the bags are never taped where from Tiger and D&H they always are. Often times the boxes are individually wrapped as well. My other issue was computer cases where over half were dented and I believe it was because they ship them in mfgr boxes which often are not sufficient for shipping. D&H always ships them inside another box and I have never gotten a dented one from them. I also had video card issues as I remember as well where again their anti static bags are also not taped shut like the boards and others always are.

[IceMan37]

I use to buy everything from newegg, until they used staggard pricing to trick consumers, and then tried to be like amazon by adding non tech items. I don't even buy from newegg anymore other than a few motherboards or GPU's. I buy from Mwave, or Directron, or Tiger. They are all still mostly PC parts and that's what I want. I use Amazon for form SSD's/HDD's and sound cards and the occasional GPU.

[Rich-M]

I do buy some things from Tiger as I like my Biz rep in Infotel but they mostly aren't competitive. BTW I don't know if you know this but they are superstars on TV's and I buy all mine from TD. I seldom find Directron or Mwave competitive and their freight is too high for me but you are much closer to them geographically.

[allheart55 Cindy E]

You definitely can't beat Tiger Direct for their prices on televisions.