Dear Lifehacker,
I built a new computer recently and it was a nightmare. It took months of going back and forth with Newegg to get parts that worked, and their service was horrible. What other vendors do you recommend?
Sincerely,
Picking Parts
Dear Picking,
We here at Lifehacker have been debating this for awhile, and a lot of it comes down to personal preference. However, each of the big stores does have its own advantages and disadvantages, so here are some of our favorite places to buy (and what they're good at).
Newegg Has a Great Database and Search Engine
Newegg is an interesting beast. On the one hand, they have a pretty solid selection and an amazing search engine. If you don't know what product you want but you know what specs you want, their power search will find anything that matches your specifications. They also have a multitude of reviews from experienced builders that'll really help you get something worthwhile. I've found no better place online to search for parts.
Their return policy and customer service is a little more up in the air. One tour of Yelp or Consumer Affairs would confirm their reputation as a company with horrible customer service and returns, but when we asked you guys on Twitter and Google+, your experiences were pretty positive across the board. We have heard the occasional stories of people being charged restocking fees for defective products and things like that, but overall we haven't heard enough to not recommend them.
That said, their return policy is quite complicated, so you should definitely give it a read. It's very long and each product has its own rules on when and how you can return it, which can make things like that a bit of a pain. If you don't like Newegg, Tiger Direct is similar in selection, but without the super powerful search.
Amazon Has Great Prices, Shipping, and Service
Lately, I've been buying almost all of my parts on Amazon. Prices are usually similar or cheaper to other stores, and with Amazon Prime (which is well worth the price), shipping is faster and cheaper too. Their return policy is also great and super easy to navigate.
Trying to find parts on Amazon, though, is not so easy. I don't blame them for this since they aren't a PC parts retailer, but it means that if you don't know exactly what you want, you'll need to do your searches elsewhere first. For example, if you're looking for a monitor that's 24", 120Hz, has DVI and HDMI outputs, and has 1080p resolution or above, Amazon doesn't have a powerful search engine to help you.
NCIX Has Price Matching and a Large Selection
NCIX is a slightly lesser-known store that's just come to the US. It isn't usually my first stop for PC parts, but it does have a few advantages: first of all, it has a large selection on stuff you won't necessarily find on Newegg or Amazon, like water cooling parts. Secondly, it has a price matching feature that is fantastic. You just plug in the URL of any site with a lower price on a certain product, and NCIX will (usually) automatically match it for you. You may still have to pay shipping, but for some of those more obscure items, it's great.
Micro Center Has Serious CPU Deals
Lastly, it's worth mentioning some of the real-world stores—you know, the ones you actually walk into and buy at the counter. Micro Center in particular is a great store, since they have insanely cheap CPUs compared to other retailers. You can't get these deals on their web site; their whole idea is that the cheap CPUs get you into the store to buy more stuff. If you have some self-control, though, it's a great way to save some serious cash (if you have one near you, that is). Some other local stores may have tricks like this (sadly I haven't seen anything like it at Fry's), so check around to see what stores are in your area.
Our Recommendation: Shop Around
I've shopped at all the above stores, and personally I like them all. They aren't the only retailers out there, but they're some of the biggest.
No matter which stores you use, I recommend searching for products on a site like Newegg that's built for it. It's just easier to search for stuff on Newegg than it is on any other site. From there, plug the model numbers for your parts into PC Part Picker. It'll tell you where those parts are cheapest, which is a good place to start. From there you can manually tweak your stores (if, say, you don't like Newegg or want to buy your CPU at Micro Center) and you'll be on your way. Remember, though: try to buy from as few stores as possible to save on shipping. Just because the price is lower at one store doesn't necessarily mean it'll cost you less if you can get free shipping elsewhere.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Lifehacker
Image remixed from Sashkin (Shutterstock).
http://lifehacker.com/where-should-i-buy-parts-when-i-build-a-pc-1183842388
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