Buying components from Amazon

Kumsheen

I'm looking into building my own PC to run Flight sim and also be able to handle a lot of ad-on software also.

I've got a good idea of the spec and components i want, but i'm looking on advice on where to buy all the components. It's high spec so i'm trying to make it as affordable as possible, but also from reliable sources.

I found the cheapest for a lot of the items was on amazon.co.uk, has anyone any experience to share of buying motherboard, cpu, cases etc from them?

A few other ones i read about on pc advisor were:

www.dabs.ie
http://www.komplett.ie
http://www.cougar-extreme.co.uk/
http://www.nsysonline.com/

Has anyone any feedback on buying from these sites

thanks

Monotype

Dabs have been good for me but don't be in a hurry if something is out of stock.
I haven't ordered from komplett in a while. They were good before, had a rough time there in a change of ownership but now they have free delivery and seem to be back on track.

Amazon.co.uk - make sure that you are looking at amazon.co.uk itself and not its third party sellers. The third party sellers may be cheap for one or two items, but postage can add up considerably if you're buying from several. Amazon.co.uk have free delevery above £25 for their own items.

Look in the retailer discussion sticky for more recommendations.

elara.ie - good but a bit dear
ebuyer.com & scan.co.uk - good UK hardware sites with wide selection. Delivery is usually £10-£20.
memoryc.com - free delivery, good for RAM
hardwareversand.de - German, cheap, fixed €30 delivery, must use bank transfer

marco_polo

Amazon.co.uk are usually quite dear for most computer components, but sometime the free delivery can make their prices competitive for small one or two item orders (like the odd hard drive etc).

I'd say a full build sourced from there would wind up substantially more expensive than many other retailers.

downwithpeace

Amazon are ok for part, mostly HDD's i've got from them with the odd other item but nothing very big.

Komplett use to be very good, haven't used them since they were sold as my account was removed during the site transfer and most things i read after that were negative things. Might be back to normal which would be good as they had good after sales in my experience.

Overclockers is what i currently use and find most bigger things are cheaper there then Amazon. Never had any issues with them even with expensive or big item orders, they also do paypal now if it helps.

Serephucus

I've used Amazon a lot, but as stated, you'd want to make sure you're buying from Amazon.co.uk itself - it'll tell you on the item page, something like "Sold an dispatched by Amazon.co.uk towards the top - as the delivery can be quite steep.

Mostly now-a-days I use Dabs.ie. Good prices, and I usually get stuff within 2-3 days.

Specialtech.co.uk is good for odd bits and bobs, especially if you need stuff quick, as they have a 2 day courier option.

Scan.co.uk are good as well. Wide selection of stuff, and prices are competitive too.

I haven't used Overclockers.co.uk myself, but they seems to have the widest selection of stuff that I've seen, though their prices can be a tad on the high side.

Hope that helps.

Moon54

I can share my recent build experience, if u like.

I bought my RAM from MemoryC.com, (free shipping).
I got my PSU & Hard Drive from Amazon.co.uk, (free shipping).
The case, CPU & mainboard, I got from Scan.co.uk, shipping was reasonable and prompt, approx €25.

deconduo

I got my 6870 from them for €190 and free delivery when everyone else was charging €220+ after delivery. If you are only getting one or two parts they can be pretty good. However anything more than that and you are almost certainly better off going for HWVS.

Kumsheen

Thanks for the feedback lads.