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Home-Built vs. Store-Bought PCs
Greg Searle asks: "I'm going to be in the market for another PC soon, and have been watching the prices drop and the power go up over the years. There are a lot of 'bargains' out there, but then I heard that the best and least expensive PC's are 'white box' systems that are custom build by small, local companies. This got me thinking, I know how to put together a PC from scratch, why don't I just do it? This should save me quite a few bucks, and I get the exact system I want. My question to you: Where is the best place to order the parts (case, MB, drives, etc.) over the web? I am familiar with sites that sell typical consumer products, but have no idea where to start to get raw parts. I'd prefer one site that sells everything, but wouldn't be surprised if there are some specialty sites that provide the most bang for the buck for a particular piece. What do you think?"
www.newegg.com
Good prices, good rep, good shipping!
[newegg]
Linux is not the question, its the answer.
www.pricewatch.com
Companies last such a short amount of time, and their quality changes so rapidly, that it's not worth bothering with trying to get a relationship with your average low-cost budget joint.
So I just find out which company is the cheapest at that particular moment in time and order parts from there. An acceptable alternative is to find the best place to get the most expensive part and then see how they stack up for the rest of the parts.
If you try this approach, make sure that you get total name-brand stuff. Hence you want real Mushkin/Corsair/etc. memory where the module and the chips are name brand. Bad memory can cause system instability really easily, so don't scrimp there. Get an ASUS/ATi/Matrox/VisionTek/etc. big-brand card instead of whatever Jaton or other generic crap they are trying to sell instead. Check about the waranty for the "white box" OEM parts. If there's no waranty for the white box components, get a retail box component with a waranty instead.
Check things with a fine-tooth comb when you receive them. Assemble the system entirely as soon as you have the parts, not a month down the line when you get the time. And make sure that you purchase everything with a real credit card (NOT a debit card)
Gentoo Sucks