Best place to buy hardware

[kevinator]

Hello guys,

I'm looking to buy a HD 6970 (tying to hold out until the sales) and was wondering where you guys think is the best place to buy hardware. When I buy hardware online, I buy from Newegg and that's where I plan on buying my new video card, but I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't a better place to get it.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[jyjjy]

Newegg is generally the best place to buy hardware but sometimes there will be better deals elsewhere.
This is a good site to compare current prices on specific components and find out where you can get them for the lowest price;
http://pcpartpicker.com/

 

[thesnappyfingers]

NCIX, Amazon, Newegg, or Tigerdirect, who ever is cheaper.

I look at slickdeals and techbargains

 

[kevinator]

Newegg is generally the best place to buy hardware but sometimes there will be better deals elsewhere.
This is a good site to compare current prices on specific components and find out where you can get them for the lowest price;
http://pcpartpicker.com/

Cool deal, thanks for the link.

 

[kevinator]

NCIX, Amazon, Newegg, or Tigerdirect, who ever is cheaper.

I look at slickdeals and techbargains

Hmm... never heard of a couple of those. I'll have to check those out.

 

[thesnappyfingers]

NCIX is relatively new came down from Canada. I have purchased cables, cpu cooler, and a cpu with no problems.

Tigerdirect is based out of Illinois (I think, pretty sure, probably chicago specifically) , bought a gpu and a laptop from them, no problems either. If you live in the mid west they ship the items and you can get them in two day time.

I had to pick up a delivery from NCIX (they required a signature) and the lady gave me a package from tigerdirect, got home and was like wait this isnt my cpu. I had placed the order from tiger direct 1 day previously.

I assume you know Amazon.

 

[slhpss]

www.pricewatch.com if you're only buying one part and not looking to consolidate shipping pricewatch is awesome. otherwise I generally go with newegg

also... look into getting a reference 2gb 6950 instead and just flash 6970 firmware onto it... that will give you a cheaper 6970...

http://sellers.pricewatch.com/public/info2.aspx?i=37&aid=69936970&z=5721&ro=5&a=1003041 <-- cheapest 6950 2gb on pricewatch

http://sellers.pricewatch.com/public/info2.aspx?i=37&aid=70412314&z=5255&ro=1&a=1002696 <-- cheapest 6970 2gb on pricewatch

75 bucks saved

 

[inzone]

I always buy from Newegg because they have the items in stock most of the time , they have all the newest items and they are really good price wise. You still should shop around because you may stumble upon an unusual price sale someplace. Amazon , Buy .com , Tiger Direct , all these places will have special sales from time to time but otherwise I always come back to Newegg.

 

[kevinator]

NCIX is relatively new came down from Canada. I have purchased cables, cpu cooler, and a cpu with no problems.

Tigerdirect is based out of Illinois (I think, pretty sure, probably chicago specifically) , bought a gpu and a laptop from them, no problems either. If you live in the mid west they ship the items and you can get them in two day time.

I had to pick up a delivery from NCIX (they required a signature) and the lady gave me a package from tigerdirect, got home and was like wait this isnt my cpu. I had placed the order from tiger direct 1 day previously.

I assume you know Amazon.

Yeah, I know Amazon. Just got done visiting the sites... not too bad. They are basically the same price as Newegg... at least for the card I'm looking to get. Thanks for the links.

 

[kevinator]

www.pricewatch.com if you're only buying one part and not looking to consolidate shipping pricewatch is awesome. otherwise I generally go with newegg

also... look into getting a reference 2gb 6950 instead and just flash 6970 firmware onto it... that will give you a cheaper 6970...

http://sellers.pricewatch.com/public/info2.aspx?i=37&aid=69936970&z=5721&ro=5&a=1003041 <-- cheapest 6950 2gb on pricewatch

http://sellers.pricewatch.com/public/info2.aspx?i=37&aid=70412314&z=5255&ro=1&a=1002696 <-- cheapest 6970 2gb on pricewatch

75 bucks saved

Huh... didn't know you could do that with a 6950... although I wouldn't want to do it because it would kill my warranty. Never know when you'll need the warranty.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Newegg treats you right.

 

[jyjjy]

The reference HD6950s could all be unlocked but it varies for the current cards. From what I've read the recent Sapphire cards have good results and most can be unlocked just by using the dual BIOS switch. Check out the customer reviews on newegg. I'm not certain but if flipping a switch on the card isn't covered by warranty that's kinda messed up.

 

[kevinator]

The reference HD6950s could all be unlocked but it varies for the current cards. From what I've read the recent Sapphire cards have good results and most can be unlocked just by using the dual BIOS switch. Check out the customer reviews on newegg. I'm not certain but if flipping a switch on the card isn't covered by warranty that's kinda messed up.

Yeah, I'm not sure if it would kill the warranty, but I wouldn't want to chance it.

 

[slhpss]

The reference HD6950s could all be unlocked but it varies for the current cards. From what I've read the recent Sapphire cards have good results and most can be unlocked just by using the dual BIOS switch. Check out the customer reviews on newegg. I'm not certain but if flipping a switch on the card isn't covered by warranty that's kinda messed up.

even some of the non-reference cards can be unlocked (I would bet all) with or without a switch... newegg is unreliable for that sort of info... for instance the card I have has about 20 reviews on newegg that say you can't unlock it... but I did... so I posted on newegg for people to not listen to the others and that is unlockable... also explained to a guy on here how to do it and it worked fine for him as well. The "lasered transistors" line most people give is a line of crap. The 6950 and 6970 are identical hardware in order to save money. No third party is going to laser off transistors (which would cost them a ton of money) in order to make a cheaper card... they just lock it in the firmware.

 

[jyjjy]

Just because you got a card that worked does not mean everyone who didn't is lying about it.

 

[Delirious788]

There's also buy.com. I would say newegg normally beats them, but sometimes they have random parts, like monitors and such, for a REALLY good deal.

 

[slhpss]

Just because you got a card that worked does not mean everyone who didn't is lying about it.

put yourselves in their shoes... you buy chips at a bulk discount as an OEM provider. You have two lines that are the same silicon. do you

A.) Spend an exorbitant amount of money crippling said chip (adding to your cost) to sell it at a lower price?
B.) Spend a minimal amount of by using the firmware to limit the number of shaders available?
C.) Do both?

It's capitalism... you can guess which one would have the lowest overhead and guarantee that's what a business is going to do. The thing is people aren't telling lies... not by my definition anyways... to me a lie is a willful act... they are simply misinformed, because unlocking the shaders with the 1gb card is different than normal.