Finding the Pieces –

Locate your parts suppliers (using our links to find the best prices on the Internet!) Where you decide to purchase your parts is directly related to what you’ll pay for those parts. For example, if you were to jog down to your local Circuit City for, say a Mitsumi floppy drive, what would you expect to pay? Thirty dollars? Forty? Why bother? When you can log on and save yourself at least twenty bucks! And that takes into consideration that there will be a shipping charge!

Can you say, "Show me the money!"?  

Gather It Up –

Buying your parts can either be the most fun you'll ever have spending money for your PC, or a nightmare. It just depends on whether you do your homework or not. 

By that I mean, have you weighed the pro's and con's of how your BYO PC will be used? Have you given a lot of thought to some of the critical components - such as the power supply, memory and hard drive type? And have you made a firm commitment to yourself as to how much you're willing to spend on the parts? Additionally, you'll want to check out all of the vendors we list on this page. You may or may not agree with their policies. Or, you may want additional info prior to making any purchases. This is part of your homework. Even though the vendors we've listed are the "best of the best" for low-cost PC parts, you should ALWAYS remember that famous Latin quote, "Caveat emptor", "Let the buyer beware."

This does not imply that there is anything wrong with these, or any other online vendor. It's just a "web state-of-mind" that's required of ALL buyers; whether they are buying PC's or pencils.

OK, moving right along...

One of my favorites is Multiwave. They have an excellent selection of parts from most manufacturers. Prices are noticeably better than many other comparable sites. As with anything on the web, you may need to shop around for a few items. No company can give you the absolute lowest price on everything all the time.

For example, suggest you look at Crucial.com as an alternative site for purchasing memory. They generally have the lowest prices available for DRAM; especially with a 10% discount for online purchases.
Before you get too far into this, you should make sure you’ve got a list of all the items you’ll need/want, for your BYO PC.

In case you need someplace to start, I’ve included a list below. Next to each category, list the exact part that you want. Next, list the parts you would consider should your preferred parts not be available. (When it comes to building a PC, it’s good to have alternatives.)

You can download the BYO PC Chart. Save it as a template in Word, so you can create a new sheet when you need one.