How Soon Before You Build Do You Start Buying Parts?

[roninmedia]

My current system is still going strong (Nov 2011 build with OC'd i5-2500k and 7950) so I fully intend to wait until at least Q4 of 2014 before I start building a new system.

However, I do have price alerts on various manufacturers of components to gauge what will be a good price of the components. These components are typically parts that go a fairly decent period between revisions, i.e. power supplies and and computer cases so regular prices tend to be more stable. But the problem I may face is some of these price alerts are very very temping but as I stated before, I'm hoping to hold off a new build for at least another 12 months. And the parts I buy will be sitting sealed in a storage closet in the den.

So my questions to other builders out there is: How Soon Before You Build Do You Start Buying Parts? Like for components that have longer warranties (7 years in the cases of some PSU's, you'd be safe buying them well in advance of building)?

I know for parts like the CPU/Motherboard/RAM/GPU I can wait pretty close until the time I actually build, for other parts, wondering when I should jump on the deals.

 

[ssddx]

i would suggest to never buy parts until about a week before you want to start building the system.

why?

-reduced warranty (since you waste a year with it in the box)
-harder to rma if an issue comes up (since you have had it for a year)
-something newer can come out which is better (and it could be the same price so you'd be kicking yourself)
-a new standard could be released in a year (unlikely at this time but never know)
-the same part can be cheaper in the future

i'm not necessarily saying its a bad idea to buy some parts ahead of time if you can get a really good price however there are various cons you need to be aware of which i listed.

 

[rcsavi98]

I'm with ssddx to a point...

I built my computer piece by piece (took me a year haha). I bought every piece only when it was on sale, and it ended up saving me about $600 over the entire build. The only downside is that you do short the time on warranty and rma availability.

 

[jaguarskx]

I buy when I am ready to build that way I can test all the components. The clock on the warranty more or less starts ticking when you open the boxes. If you are buying something with a long warranty like the PSU, why not simply start using it? Unless of course it is not compatible with your current system like only buying a socket 1150 CPU and not the motherboard.

It is far easier to simply RMA a defective part back to the retailer, rather than to deal with manufacturer for warranty service.

 

[rcsavi98]

I buy when I am ready to build that way I can test all the components. The clock on the warranty more or less starts ticking when you open the boxes. If you are buying something with a long warranty like the PSU, why not simply start using it? Unless of course it is not compatible with your current system like only buying a socket 1150 CPU and not the motherboard.

It is far easier to simply RMA a defective part back to the retailer, rather than to deal with manufacturer for warranty service.

Yes, yes it is. With my next build, I'm buying it all at once, and having it shipped just so I can have all the boxes show up at my door