Buying Quiet PC Components in Australia

Got a hot deal to share, info about a vendor, gear to sell, or a question about where to buy?

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gitto
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Post by gitto » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:43 am

Dirkwoods (my employer) sells Zalman and Antec gear, and I plan to keep hassling to get more quiet-focussed gear in stock.

starsky
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Post by starsky » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:58 pm

ok, I have added a few generic shops recently because a lot of silent gear is becoming mainstream.

Re: MSY. I buy all my base parts from here, and they are one of the few companies to stock HIS. When my HIS 9800 Pro (iceq) died (2 weeks out of warranty) they sent it back, and got me a brand new one. This was awesome service. I have also heard people with horror stories.

With MSY don't go there unless you know what you want. they do NOT offer advice. Prices are cheap, but the queues can suck.

PositiveSpin
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Post by PositiveSpin » Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:20 am

starsky wrote:ok, I have added a few generic shops recently because a lot of silent gear is becoming mainstream.

Re: MSY. I buy all my base parts from here, and they are one of the few companies to stock HIS. When my HIS 9800 Pro (iceq) died (2 weeks out of warranty) they sent it back, and got me a brand new one. This was awesome service. I have also heard people with horror stories.

With MSY don't go there unless you know what you want. they do NOT offer advice. Prices are cheap, but the queues can suck.
MSY headquarters used to be the Glen Iris store (that was the first one), but now it's the Clayton/Monash store, which is in a warehouse. They have queues there, but they seem to be shorter, and it's a lot easier to park. The queues in the Glen Iris store were horrific at times - five people serving and there were still twenty or thirty people waiting - that was a typical Saturday :-)

I've had good experiences getting warranty exchange parts there, too. A friend of mine was allowed to exchange a motherboard that he rendered useless by flashing with the wrong BIOS (he explained, and they still swapped it). I've heard one horror story, but it was partly the fault of the buyer.

I noticed that they've added the Antec P180 to the price list, and I think it's the best price in town.

You are right, though - it's best to visit MSY knowing what you want: "I want this motherboard, this CPU, this RAM, this hard drive, and what do you have in the way of 7800 GTX cards this week?" :-)

mattthemuppet
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Post by mattthemuppet » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:59 pm

not Australia I know :) but does anyone know if any of these ship to NZ? Any recommended suppliers (particularly of Thermalright, I really want an SI-97) in NZ itself? Just come from the UK, so I'm a bit at sea about where to get stuff from.

starsky
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Post by starsky » Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:32 pm

Matt, I should have mentioned this in t he PM, but look at Overclocking sites in NZ for good Heatsinks ;)

http://www.overclockers.co.nz/

We all need them for the same reason, just with different end objectives ;)

Krazy Kommando
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Post by Krazy Kommando » Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:20 pm

i bought some stuff from coolpc.com.au a short while ago, highly recommend them. they have a large range, reasonable prices, quick email replies, and good customer service. the boxes come well packaged, and when i found one thing was missing from the delivery i simply emailed them back and i got it the next day via overnight delivery!

BlueAvatar
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Post by BlueAvatar » Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:39 pm

PC Case Gear and Scorptec are pretty good :)

Can we start a distributers section here as well? For anyone that works at a computer related company its usually pretty easy to get an account with any of the distributers, and getting wholesale is a sweet sweet thing :lol:

for distributers I'd say www.altech.com.au is my fave, because they have zalman :)

Firetech
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Another Sydney place

Post by Firetech » Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:01 pm

PC Casegear are good but their online communication definitely needs improving.
HB Outlet have some silent stuff at good prices ie Glacialtech fans..

dewy
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Post by dewy » Mon May 15, 2006 10:01 pm

Dont know if this is still being updated, but I have traded with on numerous times with satifaction with:

PlusCorp
Scorpion Technology
Nintek
CoolPc

Also traded with pc case gear but I was very disatisfied with them, bad supported, very over quoted postage, to be 10 tins of mints it was something like $20 post.

Taon
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Post by Taon » Tue May 16, 2006 10:32 pm

I am not from Australia but i found this from ebay.
Ebay
There Website
They call it "Usicase 400W Super Silent Power Supply with 12cm Fan"
AU $27.49/AU$29.00

Thought how many Db is Super Silent supposed to be?
They don't mention anything about Db.
I am guessing that Usicase is not a good company?

Firetech
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Dodgy!

Post by Firetech » Tue May 16, 2006 10:46 pm

Unless you're building a ten year old PC don't touch it with a barge pole.

Look at the ratings:
+3.3V +5V +12V -5V -12V +5VSB
25A 30A 16A 0.5A 0.5A 2.5A

The highest current capacity is on the 3 & 5v rails and not the 12v rail where it should be.
No use even if it does have a 24pin plug!

wim
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Post by wim » Sun Jul 09, 2006 5:45 pm

i've just stumbled across http://www.pcmarket.com.au/ while looking for a sd11g5. i've not bought anything from this shop before, yet, but the site is easy to browse and the prices are very competitive. most prices listed include "free" shipping.

Firetech
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Post by Firetech » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:40 pm

starsky: Personally recommend SecretNet & HBOutlet
Also worth putting staticICE search tool on the list too. :D

dragmor
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Post by dragmor » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:11 pm

I'll recommend auspcmarket.com.au, their not cheap but they are good and their packaging will survive a nuclear war.
Firetech wrote:starsky: Personally recommend SecretNet
I'll 2nd secret, free deliver if your local and/or free pickup. The online ordering system will send you a heap of emails however.
Firetech wrote:Also worth putting staticICE search tool on the list too. :D
++

mattthemuppet
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Post by mattthemuppet » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:15 pm

anybody know any shops that sell Kill-a-watt power meters (or equivalent) either in Aus or preferably in NZ? Everyone I ask here looks at me like I've got a third eye in my forehead or something :?

Firetech
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Post by Firetech » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:23 pm

Dick Smith, Jaycar or Altronics I think. Will check later for a link. :)

joe123
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Post by joe123 » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:23 am

Hmm, surprises no ones metioned Ai-Tech. great service, have a shop front at , Elstinwick. Stock Zalman, Antec parts ect. They can be found here at: www.ai-tech.com.au

damien
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Post by damien » Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:36 am

mattthemuppet wrote:anybody know any shops that sell Kill-a-watt power meters (or equivalent) either in Aus or preferably in NZ? Everyone I ask here looks at me like I've got a third eye in my forehead or something :?
Here are a couple.

CAT. NO. MS6115 from www.jaycar.com.au

Ifr you're more adventureous and want to build a kit, Dick Smith has K7217, but you'll need to get it certified by a sparky before you power on (don't skimp on this step - 240V can (and does) kill people)

If anyone finds one that will log to a PC, then I'm all ears...

Firetech
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Post by Firetech » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:34 am

Here's an ongoing Oz Powermeter thread :wink:
Post #4 also fully links to the Jaycar meter @ AU$40.

starsky
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Post by starsky » Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:45 pm

One of my new local shops - NEXUS (Latrobe Street Melbourne CBD) has all sorts of stuff, and they do order-ins. When I was in there buying all the components for my new system, I was having a browse and I noticed a collection of Scythe Heatsinks, and expressed my surprise that someone had them in stock. The guy in the shop said they were the Australian Distributor. My lucky day.

The in-shop prices are more expensive than the web prices, so when you go into the shop, make sure you have the web prices written down, My experience has been that they will honor them.

Cheers.

Starsky.

gr8r-x
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Post by gr8r-x » Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:39 pm

joe123 wrote:Hmm, surprises no ones metioned Ai-Tech. great service, have a shop front at , Elstinwick. Stock Zalman, Antec parts ect. They can be found here at: www.ai-tech.com.au
I can say, without a doubt, that Ai-Tech are the WORST people I have ever had to deal with. And I'm not alone.. Do a search on Whirlpool's forums for Ai-Tech / PC.net.au. They don't answer phones, don't respond to emails. Shocking. I bought 3x cases from them and ended up driving down to pick them up, without any correspondance with them at all.

Also a good idea to add ausprices.com.au, another price comparison.

Snoot Waggy
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Post by Snoot Waggy » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:51 pm

I would highly recommend AGAINST purchasing any Zalman products in Australasia, as their support appears to be pretty much non-existent in this part of the world, unless you can be sure the shop you buy it from will guarantee the product.

I'm in NZ, and have lost the metal braces needed to secure the cooler to the CPU, and have been emailing them for months trying to find out how I can obtain replacements. They have completely ignored me, not even one reply yet, and now I'm the proud owner of an expensive paper weight. I can't recommend Zalman to anyone, and suggest people look elsewhere as their service is perhaps the worst I've encountered.

arrikhan
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Post by arrikhan » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:00 am

Firetech wrote:Here's an ongoing Oz Powermeter thread :wink:
Post #4 also fully links to the Jaycar meter @ AU$40.
The Jaycar meter is apparently back in stock now too ..

Arrikhan

darkb
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Post by darkb » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:55 pm

There are two MSY shop-fronts in Adelaide (SA), and their price list includes Seasonic S12II and S12+ psu's, as well as the WD GreenPower hdd's, and some Antec cases. Also has the Cheapest Prices in Aus that I can find, for pretty much everything they stock.. they don't post stuff though, you have to go to the store, and you can only get something if they have it in stock.. they don't order in.

Best bet is to ring them and find out if they have what you want, then you can ask them to hold it for up to 2-3 days in my experience. I've bought 3x WD 5000AAKS and a E6750 from the shop in Adelaide City while on holidays there, for various mates back home. Prices on the price list at the time of reservation are what you pay upon pickup.

Also.. PC Case Gear has Scythe Slipstream fans :D

Firetech
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Post by Firetech » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:04 pm

It would also appear that now that Nintek is dead that Noctua gear will be available in many more stores at a lower cost through new distributor Mittoni :D
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=news ... =34&lng=en

HueyCobra
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Post by HueyCobra » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:44 pm

Firetech wrote:It would also appear that now that Nintek is dead
What happened to Nintek?

Scorpion Technology recently added the Noctua NH-U12P Performance CPU Cooler and Noctua pressure/sound optimised fans to their range. Their prices can be high but they are an excellent, professional store to deal with.

Firetech
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Post by Firetech » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:46 am

HueyCobra wrote:
Firetech wrote:It would also appear that now that Nintek is dead
What happened to Nintek?
Went into administration taking tens of thousands of customer $$s with them.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... m?t=894870

HueyCobra
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Post by HueyCobra » Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:15 am

Ouch.

Thanks; I haven't been around Whirlpool for a while.

HueyCobra
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Post by HueyCobra » Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:38 pm

MSY (price watch) now list the Noctua NH-U12P Performance CPU Cooler ($83), Noctua NC-U6 Dual Heatpipe Chipset Cooler ($32), Noctua NF-P12-1300 120m System Case Fan ($29) and Noctua NT-H1 Pro-Grade Thermal Compound ($9).

joe123
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Post by joe123 » Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:33 am

Yate Loons fans can now be bought in Australia from Gammods :

http://www.gammods.com.au/store/index.p ... cPath=7_12

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