Where do you buy your hardware?

[LogicalElf]

I'm going to come clean here. My computer is very old, to the point that I sometimes have a challenge even emulating PS1 games. I'm looking at upgrading to a newer laptop, or even maybe, shockingly, going back to a desktop. But all the desktops I have are salvage machines which I need to reformat and reset. My budget is basically 'near-zero', and I'm not usually opposed to being behind the times. Unfortunately, hardware prices haven't exactly been dropping lately, so I'm looking for hints from everyone here (since I figure we're all pretty thrifty). Where do you get your hardware? New, old, etc.?

[Zaladane]

For older hardware you can always check offices/schools and see if they're throwing anything out. It happens a lot. Depends on where you live though - much easier if you're in a city. Got my current one from an office, used to be used for graphic design and had Linux and a ton of editing and graphics software on the hdd (a 120gb which I've long since scrapped) The only thing it didn't have was ram which I bought new and have slowly added to it over the last year and a half. All in all about 200 bucks is what I've invested in it. It's nothing close to modern that's for sure. Core2duo e7500 2.93ghz with 4gb ram, Nvidia GT 710 2gb, a 2tb and a 500gb for hdd space. The 500gb was something I pulled from a dead laptop too. I can run a fair amount of PS3/360 pc ports (about 40 games I have so far for those) and some light ps2/gc emulation on it. 1080p movies run fine too. All I need for now. I would stay away from laptops they overheat and break to easily and don't really have much upgradeability to them.

For new stuff I just zip over to Bestbuy. Perfectly fine. If you can find what you need on sale even better. Prices aren't bad at all for most things. It's not like it was 15-20 years ago when these places were horribly over-priced and mom and pop type computer stores were better. I don't shop online but then from listening to some of you in the hangout has it's own set of problems even though it can be cheaper.

[wushuFU]

Old stuff, ebay. New stuff, Amazon (not always the cheapest but usually close, and returns are easy). For bargain hunting a local Microcenter is great, pcpartpicker is decent, and it's always worth checking local listings (eg: Craigslist).

Memory and GPUs are crazy expensive right now. Still, you can find some great deals on old desktops and hardware (Nehalem/Sandy Bridge and older are pretty cheap RN) if you want to build your own, though buying a dead socket isn't ideal.

When Ryzen 2 comes out and some people start dumping their first generation AM4 boards, it could be a great buy if comparatively much more expensive to old stuff. By that time maybe memory etc. prices come back down to earth as well.

[Jazzmarazz]

NewEgg, ebay, thrift stores.
I buy new when the item should be new and used when I can get away with it. For example, I bought a new SSD from newegg when I built my dektop, but picked up a used chassis from a thrift store.