PC Shops & Help Forums

[|Fever| Agent38ddd]

There are a number of sites on the web that can teach you a lot about your computer, how to overclock, setting up water cooling loops, and specific troubleshooting help. There are also quite a few online computer parts stores. Here's a sampling of the places I go.

PC Forums

Xtremesystems.org

Geared towards the person who is hardcore about everything involving their PC. LN2 cooling, record setting overclocks, cutting edge hardware - if it sounds extreme -- you'll find it here. A word of warning -- definitely not a great place to go if you are seeking comments on a help thread. The community here cares primarily about setting records and customizing parts -- not helping people with hardware related problems. This place is about voiding warranties -- and getting the most out of a machine.

Extremeoverclocking.com

Great information about all things overclocking, as well as knowledgeable help with water cooling. Also a decent place to go with your hardware related questions and issues.

Overclockersclub.com

A decent help forum for enthusiasts, and rookies, alike. Has an extensive DFI database, as the former DIY-Street site merged with them in 2006.

ModNation.com

Unbeatable source of information for PC mods, with expert tutorials, and a friendly community. Also has an excellent store with a great selection of custom aluminum parts.

EVGA.com

Excellent support forum the very popular EVGA brand of motherboards and video cards. Also has overclocking guides for their motherboards. Very good overall.

Guru3d.com

Questions about video cards will be answered here -- and they have very extensive product reviews. Hilbert Hagedoorn -- we salute you!

Jonnyguru.com

The best review site for PSU's -- period. This guy puts them through hell and back. If he recommends a power supply -- then you know it's good.

The Hardware Zone

Newegg.com

Everything you need to build your machine, for those that live in the USA. A fantastic place for upgrades, replacement parts -- and lots of great deals. Prices are competitive with most of what you will find on the net + they have a very user-friendly RMA department.

Motherboardpro.com

Great deals on motherboards of all performance levels + speedy shipping, makes this one of the best places to go on the net, to purchase the cornerstone of your next machine.

Performance-pcs.com

The most extensive catalog of performance parts on the net. A little on the pricy side -- but if you're looking for something that is out of stock elsewhere -- these guys will probably have it.

Frozencpu.com

A huge selection of water cooling hardware -- but beware of high prices and slow shipping.

Jab-tech.com

Great selection of cooling hardware ranging from air cooling to water cooling, with a limited selection of thermal-electric parts. Very competitive on pricing, with reasonable shipping times.

Sidewinder Computers.com

Cooling hardware for all components, including CPU, video cards, chipsets, and RAM. They have excellent shipping times, fair pricing, and a fantastic RMA policy. Highly recommended!!!

Dangerden.com

One of the original water cooling companies, DD offers their own line of custom water cooling parts. They run a lot of specials, and have average shipping. Their help forum is second to none.

Tigerdirect.com

Specializing in combo deals on motherboards/CPU packages, this company is Newegg's chief competitor. They have slow shipping, competitive prices, and a horrible RMA experience. Shopper beware -- a mixed bag.

Crazypc.com

What I like to call the "bling" store. They specialize in custom mods for all areas of your PC. Fair shipping practices and pricing.

Mountainmods.com

Home of the cube case. Get ready to drool over a bunch of awesome cases that very few of us could hope to afford. All of their cases are aluminum or acrylic, they will build to your exact design, and they offer powder coating on just about everything they sell. Take it from a guy that's owned a couple of these beauties -- they R-O-C-K!

[|Fever| Omnibeing]

I would like to counter what Agent said about Tigerdirect.com . I have built over 60 systems using their combo and barebones deals and have yet to have any RMA troubles. Infact I have yet to get faulty hardware. *knocks on wood* Also to Dallas, shipping is normally 4 days ground.

[GunSlinger]

I also have a few from Tigerdirect and as of yet no problems yet.....

[|Fever| RagnaroK]

Agent was probably referring to TigerDirect the way he did, maybe because he knows someone who has had trouble with them or he himself has. And if that's the case then it would be wise to warn people about them. Either way Newegg is always better. Cheaper and more stuff.

[|Fever| Agent38ddd]

Just my experiences. If the place floats your boat, then better for you. They are 0-3 in my experiences. One involved having me pay for something that went out of stock 5 minutes after my payment was submitted. The item "suddenly wasn't going to be in stock for at least three weeks, as they said there was an error in their "real time inventory." Fair enough, mistakes happen when there are only a few items left -- but you can not have my money for something that you are not sending me -- no way. Nor can you hold my money, because the expected in-stock date is within 30 days. This is what they did. I had to wait 23 days for a 2GB kit of RAM. My machine sat unusable for almost a month. This was one of my early builds, and I didn't have all of the machines and extra parts that I have now, so I was left with the choice of waiting -- or buying RAM from somebody else -- and then having an "extra kit" when I finally got it from them. The generic form letter email responses sealed the deal on a total BS experience. Prior to that, I had to wait 13 days for a single round IDE cable. And almost as good as the RAM experience, was catching a really good deal on an OEM Opteron 185 (skt939) proc, having them ship it to me in a reasonable amount of time...only to find thermal paste residue all over the sides -- and into the transistors (dangerously conductive -- could fry the proc). That's right -- it was used. Probably a return that some schlep in their restocking department failed to clean up and "repackage" as "new." Their email response to me ignored the picture I sent to them of the dirty chip, instead just saying that they stand by their selling practices, and "have "thousands of satisfied customers."

They haven't seen any of my money in over 3 years -- nor will they ever. This is why I say "buyer beware."

[|Fever| DrinkingWhiskey]

^^^Well that's all good to know, I'll stick with the Egg as usual.Never a single problem w\ hundreds of dollars wasted, err spent.

[|Fever| dunway]

Nice work Agent- lots of great sites for just about any skill level. Thx for all your hard work bud...

[|Fever| thepaycheck]

i deal with both NE and TD.. i have had good experiences with both.. so for me it comes down to who's got the part and at what price...

[|Fever| GreezMonky]

A couple of links that might be useful to some..
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5 for those of you wondering if you REALLY need that 1000 watt (yes 1kw) power supply.

MonoPrice.com Great prices on cables, shipping is a bit, eh. But still worth it.

TechArp.com The free version of the Bios Optimization Guide, there is a more detailed version and a book, but this one is free.

Gibson Research Corp Some interesting info, and some decent freeware for people with older machines. He "researches" bot networks and was at "war" with one back 5ish? years ago. It was pretty interesting.

TCP/UDP port number assignments Help you figure out what a TCP / UDP port is for.

http://www.time.gov/ - for those of you that can't read your system tray.