So, CompUSA no longer has physical stores...

[Stabface]

Same as most people, immediate purchases happen at Fry's and everything else comes from the internet.

If I need something within a few days I generally check prices at a few places online and buy where it's cheapest... amazon, newegg, buy.com, outpost.com, etc. Also check the various hot deals sites and forums like Anandtech, HardOCP, ArsTechnica, etc. sometimes you can snag something super cheap. It doesn't seem woot has much computer hardware these days but sometimes there's a gem, I snagged a really cheap Razer sound card a few months back for a friend.

Also, overstock.com actually has some pretty good prices on hardware a few generations old. If you're looking to build a non-gaming box for example, you can find some stuff on there if you look. But alot of it is overpriced so you have to sift.

[Tamu]

I just finished building a new system with all components ordered off Newegg. Delivery time was less than a week, I had no problems with any of my items, and I paid less than I would have if I had gone to Fry's. Another good thing about Newegg is that you can read reviews for items you are looking to purchase. There are good tips on which components work well together and others that don't. So even if you don't decide to purchase from Newegg, at least check some of the reviews and pricing. Just my 2c.

[JD50]

Yeah I just don't like online shopping...like I said I wanna see it, inspect it and take it home to fuck with immediately, not wait on shipping lol; if I can't find anything local though I may have no choice =\

I'm not sure if there's a Fry's local...will look into it though, thanks And as for CircuitCity yeah I'd be buying parts not pre-builts...I don't trust prebuilts, I put 'em together myself, not too complicated and lets me get the best bang for my buck without a bunch of useless shit thrown in I'll never use lol

Like other's have said, you are going to pay double if you try and buy your parts at CC or BB. You are certainly not getting the best bang for your buck by shopping at Circuit City, Best Buy, or even CompUSA, when buying parts for a PC. Of course there is the occasional good deal, but generally you are gonna get ripped off.

You could even buy everything off of Newegg, choose next day shipping, and still save money, if you are that concerned with getting it NOW. Also, don't forget that Best Buy and Circuit City have absolutely no selection when it comes to computer parts. The only other store that I can think of is Microcenter, even they are usually a little overpriced. I'm like you, I'd rather go to a store and pick it up myself, but when it comes to building a PC you really don't have a choice.

[Eteocles]

Yeah I was hoping that wasn't the case...Gurb(I think) pointed out that that tigerdirect site's running a special on 8800/quad/mobo combo I may get...the waiting will be hard though :p

[JD50]

Yeah I was hoping that wasn't the case...Gurb(I think) pointed out that that tigerdirect site's running a special on 8800/quad/mobo combo I may get...the waiting will be hard though

Just choose next day delivery, you'll still be saving a ton of money compared to what you'd spend at a big box store.

[kllrwlf]

Luckily I'm in California, so I usually get 70% of my stuff from NewEgg the following business day. 30% is 3 days later because it's coming from their other warehouse.

[Eteocles]

So I went n checked out tigerdirect per gurb's suggestion...couldn't find the "combo" deal he mentioned(gurb if you read this, PM the link to the deal to me on IRC :P I'll read when I get home), I did however check out individual bits n pieces n prices...so far it looks like I'm aiming for:

Q6600 Processor
XFX nForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard
OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory(2 sticks of 2gb; little worried how this might pan out vs 4sticks of 1gb, anyone know if it matters for xp 32bit?)
EVGA GeForce 8800 GT Video Card - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0
700w or 750w PSU
Mid-tower Case, unsure of model yet

Anything wrong about the chosen brands/setup, or anything I forgot? And yeah, once I get home I intend to check newegg for better deals price-wise on the same parts

[Havelcek]

I would definitely get 2x2gb sticks...that way you can easily throw in another pair later to get you up to 8gb. RAM is so cheap right now.

[Eteocles]

Yeah that 2x2gb package is a piddly $105; that's what I freakin paid for 2x 1gb last year lol so yeah nice deal

Edit: And for anyone curious, the setup above, minus Case, avgs out to about $650 off tigerdirect's prices, with $30 rebate on the card; slightly more than I paid for my current system last year and by faaaaaaaaaaaaar much better power-wise and SHOULD be able to 5box once set up

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Eteo, that list looks fine. I've no experience with that mobo but it looks about $40-50 cheaper than the Gigabyte X38-DS4, though the rest looks spot on. FYI, the Cooler Master "Centurion" case is an excellent one IMO @ $45. Plenty of bays and interior room for a good aftermarket heatsink.