Where do you guys go for barebones systems?

Arkitech

Diamond Member
Apr 13, 2000
8,356
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Looking to do a minor upgrade (case, memory, cpu and mobo) and I'm trying to find the best place to look for a barebones package deal.. Any suggestions?
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
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The only barebones systems I've bought were 2 SFF pcs from newegg (but it was only case/motherboard/psu)
 

A5

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2000
4,902
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Originally posted by: Arkitech
Looking to do a minor upgrade (case, memory, cpu and mobo) and I'm trying to find the best place to look for a barebones package deal.. Any suggestions?

That's not a minor upgrade :p

To answer your Q, I don't think anyone here buys barebones (except for SFF).
 

farscape

Senior member
Jan 15, 2002
327
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:Q:p Tiger?????? AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

!@#$%$#@! (running around - tearing hair out) !@#$%$#@!



Glad I got that out of my system.

Thought about a barebones system a while back. Checked with M-wave and Newegg, but never followed through with the idea. Some part(s) just never fully jived with me.
 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
4,276
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Just buy the parts indivdually and build it yourself. Buy from Newegg, ZZF, or MWave.
 

ts3433

Platinum Member
Jun 29, 2004
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Originally posted by: Arkitech
Originally posted by: Ike0069
Just buy the parts indivdually and build it yourself. Buy from Newegg, ZZF, or MWave.

Is it cheaper that way?

Usually, I think.

Monarch might have barebones systems, though.
 

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
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A lot of places that I have seen that sell barebones products do not sell high quality products. They use the cheapest junky parts known to mankind and often have a lousy or non-existent warranty.

Other places are so High Priced you would not want to buy their products.

Some of these outfits like Shuttle want you to pay $350 for just a case and a motherboard that can barely be expanded. For that price you can buy a high quality motherboard with lots of extras with a high quality case and maybe even a processor.

I realize some people think the shuttle is a good bargain and that is what they want but I do not agree.

If you can figure out what you need to buy, then just order it or go to some local computer build shop and have them build it for you. It is not hard to mount a motherboard and attach the CPU/Memory. Actually I put the processor and memory on and then mount the motherboard. Some places may have some fairly good prices.

It will probably cost another $100 for assembly. Besides that the parts will cost more than if you had ordered it. Often you end up paying a premium for the parts and assembly.

I have ordered parts from www.adamant.com before. Their prices are not too outrageous, but I would not buy a video card from these guys. Lots of places mark up a video card quite a bit. I ordered a motherboard and processor from them once and they put it together and shipped it to me, so I cant complain too much. They are in Cincinatti Ohio.

I have heard some people say you should never order anything from anyplace that starts with the letter "A", but that may not be literally true. At least it was not a Dell. Advise you check the reseller ratings for all online shops. This shop specializes in Gigabyte Motherboards, but they sell Asus as Well. They did not have the Nforce4 chipset for the Asus, only the Via Chipset. Gigabyte makes good motherboards but I have been using Asus, so I have not ordered from them lately. They tend to want to sell the latest and greatest.
 

Cares

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
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If you want a motherboard/processor combo then I'd suggest MonarchComputer. You get Farcry, 4 months of Napster, and HL2 with CS:S in the package. It is the same price if you buy the motherboard and processor seperately from them but in the combo you do get the games and Napster for free. Good deal in my opinion.