We all love upgrading our rigs, from the extra horsepower we can add to our desktops to the additional storage space we so desperately need. Though the one thing I think we can all agree upon is the price tags on various components: they are not so fun. But how do you go about finding the best deals with the best quality? Do you go to an independent site or a trusted site? In stores or online? Brand new or second-hand? Well… let’s talk about that.
There are typically two types of places you can buy from:
Going In-store or shopping Online.
In-Store:
Going in-store allows you to actually look at the hardware you’re buying and easily compare to other products on the shelves, though you do run the risk of inviting those pesky human beings to come and do that talking thing to you. Maybe you like that, maybe you’re a social butterfly and it doesn’t matter...
Online:
Or maybe like me you hate human interaction and instead like to shop online away from those silver tongued flesh-people. Another benefit of going online is the ability to compare prices across different sites, some will have offers/sales on while others won’t, but you can run into the problem of shipping costs (though very rarely I find I need to ship anything from elsewhere).
Then we have another category, the secret one if you so will. This one is reserved for those who have such technical wizardry they can sometimes get unbelievable prices:
The world of Second-Hand.
Second-Hand (Repairs):
If you can bag yourself a cheap, battered graphics card online and fix it up at home you could potentially save a boatload of money, at the risk of wrecking the component completely if you’re not careful…
Second-Hand (General):
But second-hand doesn’t always have to encompass repairing a damaged component. Sometimes someone else has upgraded their PC themselves and has no use for their old graphics card; sometimes in good shape, sometimes in not-so-good shape. Either way there most certainly is a range of second-hand components online that are in perfectly working condition, just waiting for a new home, needing your love.
So which group do you fit into? Let us know! Here at Game-Debate we all have our own preferences, but let’s see which one is the most popular...
Login or Register to join the debate
PC Specs
a mix of Online and Centrecom, usually
PC Specs
Wherever I can get the best price, and it's usually between three places:
Not in that order for price, but convenience.
PC Specs
Here in Serbia people make a living of buying PC Components in Hungary and then re-selling them in Serbia, the way that works is they pay taxes in Hungary however after crossing the border they get a refund for the taxes. That way they can price the cards much lower than even the cheapest stores here.
That being said, there are some drawbacks to that. If the component dies it can take up to a month or more for the warranty to get claimed, and depending on the seller they can reduce the warranty to a year or less if they feel like it.
The positive side is cheap and original hardware ( and yes i bought all of my components like that )
PC Specs
Well thats surprising, the 27% VAT here is crazy... Is it really worth buying stuff here?
PC Specs
Yes it is since the taxes will be refunded when they go back into Serbia again, there is some catch to it however I dont know all of the details xD
PC Specs
MicroCenter unless I can find some really awesome deal online
PC Specs
Almost always online, Newegg mostly. Unless it's an emergency and then hope Best Buy has at. I wish that there was a Microcenter nearby, then I would shop there. The Fry's store is just too far to drive to.
PC Specs
Amazon, Ebay, Scan.co.uk and manufacturers' own websites (in case of Nvidia GPUs). Wherever is cheapest and makes sense to buy.
PC Specs
AliExpress - Number 1 site for pc hardware
PC Specs
severely underrated comment ;)
PC Specs
Ebay.
PC Specs
Almost always from newegg.ca but i ordered my 2 gpus(EVGA 2080TI) from evga's own website.
PC Specs
From PCEL, i order them from internet, then pay and pickup at the store, that way i avoid shipping dmgs
PC Specs
Oh, you know us. Getting our physical DVDroms...which are DRM'd, so we have to download half the game anyway.
PC Specs
Mostly online, there is less and less reason to go to store, other than maybe checking an item before you order it online, for things like mouse or keyboard or check displays. But locally, they don't really have that good in-store collection, so sometimes I don't bother with that, because there is good chance they don't have what I want to check out anyway.
PC Specs
As for second hand, I am bit on the side where I like my warranty and knowing item came in new and not used, it just is for peace of mind. Used can definitely give you great bang for the buck, I just don't want to deal with hassle that can come with it. Yes, when it all go well, it is rather simple, but still.
PC Specs
I go to PCpartpicker and just chose everything I want from the cheapest place on there
PC Specs
I've bought PC hardware primarily from Amazon and Newegg for over a decade. I mostly only bought from Newegg, but probably now more from Amazon, but it depends. I did buy my keyboard from mechanicalkeyboards.com.
Before that, I used to buy from brick & mortar stores like RadioShack and Best Buy. But I had a number of really cheap PSUs from RadioShack that failed on me (one even blew a capacitor; luckily the rest of my PC at the time was OK), which is why I started looking elsewhere for hardware.
PC Specs
Amazon
PC Specs
Well... I am kind of in-between, I order online but with pick-up and payment done at the store. Except my gpu, that one was exclusively online.
PC Specs
As someone who hates talking to humans, I get all my parts online.
PC Specs
Relatable...
PC Specs
In Germany, in-store purchases are usually 10-20% more expensive than online, and most are non-negotiable. Everyone serious about hardware here orders at Mindfactory, which usually has the best prices in the country. Second-hand buys can be hit-and-miss. You can never know what was done with the hardware before.
PC Specs
The choice should have more than one answer. I built my pc mostly out of new parts except for the gpu that i bought second hand. In my country i have a handy site where you can pretty much search for a part and it will show you a list of who(online retailer) is selling it and for what price.
PC Specs
Online. I have the idea that you'd pay in stores roughly 20 to 50 euro more for a gpu. Lets say you want a 1060 and it costs 200 euro online (the cheapest variant), in stores, the cheapest available variant would cost 220 euro (ofc not the same 1060, but it's a 1060)