Where do you buy YOUR computer components from?

Originally Posted by Bear

Refurbished, haha, I like that word. How do you "refurbish" a CPU it took a whole factory to fabricate? Or a Mobo, a video card, or a single stick of RAM?? haha, love it! "Refurbished", generally means it was dusted off by some dork in the back, "if" it was even done that, stuck in a box, and shipped to you, while they hope it either works, or you're too dumb to know, otherwise they'll have to get out their "1001 dumb and dumber reasons why it didn't work for you" handbook, and really get serious in an email

Who pissed in your cornflakes bear LMFAO

Can usually find the parts i need mixed in with escrap i buy, i do builds in my free time 90% of the parts i use are from scrap lots and scrap computers. I have stacks of dvd burners and cases and power supplies and working motherboards, dual and quad core cpus, sound cards, pcie video cards and so on. Dont really need to buy anything. Id recommend newegg if your wanting to order parts online, i prefer them over several other sites ive used.

why spend money, i like your idea of scoring more scrap better.

I buy computers from computer repair shops both large and small and private individuals, I had 4 pick ups between thursday and friday, i wound up with about a 1/2 lb of 512mb, 1gb, and 2gb ram. I will take that ram to one of the small repair shops and trade it for some of his non working units. Im no expert but I doubt that all of the other components in those computers are bad, Im sure that most of the stuff that we all scrap is in working order, just wasnt worth it to the customer to have repaired.

I buy as much scrap e-waste as possbile and try to sort through it and pick out the best parts.....Mainly memory and hard drives.....If the mboard is bad then it just gets scrapped.....Anything Core 2 or better is worth checking out....DDR2 ram is worth testing etc.......SOmetimes if I'm overwhelmed I just scrap it

Haha dude, I know exactly what they say about it. And, what about you? Do you have trouble reading your own writing??

Originally Posted by TheDude80

I realize there are a vast array of options when it comes to buying motherboards, RAM, etc but I want to know what sources you use. ............. Any luck with buying them refurbished?

Maybe you should just google yourself

Originally Posted by Bear

My remarks about "refurbished" items was in no way intended to ruffle anyone's feathers, but it apparently has. It must be used by some of those to sell their dusty wares. The only valid use of the word I can think of in terms of computers or their parts is where a computer has been returned to the maker for reasons of being faulty, or maybe no fault at all, and has been run through an extensive diagnostics line, having any faulty parts repaired or replaced, given thorough pre-sale tests, and then labeled "refurbished".
It seems people on Ebay caught on to that term quite readily, and I knew the first time I saw it there that the use of it on their item was total BS. You can buy their "refurbished" parts all day long if you like, but I can promise you that a "refurbishment" will be the absolute least of what they've had

....is that a refurbished post bear?...

Originally Posted by Bear

My remarks about "refurbished" items was in no way intended to ruffle anyone's feathers, but it apparently has. It must be used by some of those to sell their dusty wares. The only valid use of the word I can think of in terms of computers or their parts is where a computer has been returned to the maker for reasons of being faulty, or maybe no fault at all, and has been run through an extensive diagnostics line, having any faulty parts repaired or replaced, given thorough pre-sale tests, and then labeled "refurbished".
It seems people on Ebay caught on to that term quite readily, and I knew the first time I saw it there that the use of it on their item was total BS. You can buy their "refurbished" parts all day long if you like, but I can promise you that a "refurbishment" will be the absolute least of what they've had

I kind of agree with Bear. When I hear "refurbished" I immediately think of things like automotive parts where you can take a water pump, master cylinder, break caliper, take them apart, clean the core, replace moving parts and seals, which results in a product this is not "new" but pretty close to the original part and factory specs. Most business that do this offer a very generous warranty.

I am unclear how you can do this with electronic components. Because you test RAM or a motherboard doesn't make it refurbished, it just means you "tested" it at home which at best would be a used part. Just because an electronic component powers up and works properly does not mean it has the correct voltages. Many different parts will still work even though they are out of manufacture specs until a component finally dies killing the whole item. Does anyone pull out an oscilloscope and test the MB to see if it is up to factory specs? I'm very sure the answer is no.

i prefer to use the term used, refurbished has a negative connotation especially if it says seller refurbished

used is the catch all term for describing an item thats not new

I buy new parts from Newegg and Amazon for the most part... If you use Amazon make sure you check other vendors because the ones who pay Amazon the most money get there items up in your face 1st but they may not be the cheapest....
Example....
I buy a USB3 add on card the one that popped up was $15 or $20 plus shipping. After 5 minutes or less I found the same thing for $6.75 delivered....

I second this

Newegg is good for new, brand name components

Amazon is wonderful for knock-offs or generics

And just because its the lowest price does not mean its the best deal, different manufactures when making the same part use different qualities of components when producing it. Ive found this to be true especially in power supplies and power adapters. The $5 internet special will probably stop working after 6 months.