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advice on building a pc
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tired of LA



Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:42 am    Post subject: advice on building a pc Reply with quote

so i'm probably going to splurge and buy a pc in october or november. i'm not tech savvy so thought i'd ask people that know what they're talking about. i'm looking to spend about 1.2 million for the everything, pc and monitor. don't need quad core, dual core is enough and would like to get a 24 in monitor. other than that, not sure what i need. i would like to play some games on it, but i don't need to be able to handle everything on high res if it will put me over my budget. oh, would also like it to come preloaded with a 32 bit version of windows vista. don't want to deal with driver issues. i don't have a burner on my laptop so i cant download and make my own cd to install it.

also, can someone recommend me some website where i can custom build my comp. i know there is a sticky and ive checked out those website, but would like to know if there are any that someone has had a good experience with.

thanks for any advice
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spliff



Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a start. For that price u can get :

cpu: E8500 or Q6600
MBO: Asus P5KC
ram: 2x2 =4g
GPU: HIS HD 4870
HDD:Samsung easyspin 640g X 2 =1t,240g
PSU: Zalman 600w
odd: samsung whatever
tower: 20 - 30,000
CPU cooler
card reader
24"monitor

1.2 should grab the above no problem.
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 4:57 am    Post subject: Re: advice on building a pc Reply with quote

tired of LA wrote:
so i'm probably going to splurge and buy a pc in october or november. i'm not tech savvy so thought i'd ask people that know what they're talking about. i'm looking to spend about 1.2 million for the everything, pc and monitor. don't need quad core, dual core is enough and would like to get a 24 in monitor. other than that, not sure what i need. i would like to play some games on it, but i don't need to be able to handle everything on high res if it will put me over my budget. oh, would also like it to come preloaded with a 32 bit version of windows vista. don't want to deal with driver issues. i don't have a burner on my laptop so i cant download and make my own cd to install it.

also, can someone recommend me some website where i can custom build my comp. i know there is a sticky and ive checked out those website, but would like to know if there are any that someone has had a good experience with.

thanks for any advice


You are only looking for a midrange system.... even with the monitor and LEGIT version of Vista (English) you should come in about 20% under budget....

.
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tired of LA



Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:09 am    Post subject: Re: advice on building a pc Reply with quote

ttompatz wrote:

You are only looking for a midrange system.... even with the monitor and LEGIT version of Vista (English) you should come in about 20% under budget....
.


sweet. can someone recommend a website??

thanks for the specs spliff. will look into it. do you have a preference on cpu??
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:15 am    Post subject: Re: advice on building a pc Reply with quote

tired of LA wrote:
ttompatz wrote:

You are only looking for a midrange system.... even with the monitor and LEGIT version of Vista (English) you should come in about 20% under budget....
.


sweet. can someone recommend a website??

thanks for the specs spliff. will look into it. do you have a preference on cpu??


Can you read Korean (or have a Korean friend who can help you? http://www.danawa.co.kr/

If you can't, then you are in for a trip to one of the larger electronics markets.

If you plan to do it in Busan and can't read Korean (or have a Korea friend to help you), ADD 20% to the costs.

.
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tired of LA



Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:59 am    Post subject: Re: advice on building a pc Reply with quote

ttompatz wrote:
tired of LA wrote:
ttompatz wrote:

You are only looking for a midrange system.... even with the monitor and LEGIT version of Vista (English) you should come in about 20% under budget....
.


sweet. can someone recommend a website??

thanks for the specs spliff. will look into it. do you have a preference on cpu??


Can you read Korean (or have a Korean friend who can help you? http://www.danawa.co.kr/

If you can't, then you are in for a trip to one of the larger electronics markets.

If you plan to do it in Busan and can't read Korean (or have a Korea friend to help you), ADD 20% to the costs.

.


i do have a korean friend that can help me order it online. i've used danawa before to check for the prices of stuff before. i know i can get the best price for individual parts on the website, but was hoping for a website that will build a computer to order and then ship it to me ready out of the box, sort of like www.compara.co.kr and www.icoda.co.kr. i got those off the sticky, but was wondering if anyone has had any experience dealing with them or another that they would recommend. i don't know enough about computers to put one together.
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OneWayTraffic



Joined: 14 Mar 2005

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have you considered Dell?
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:10 pm    Post subject: Re: advice on building a pc Reply with quote

tired of LA wrote:

i do have a korean friend that can help me order it online. i've used danawa before to check for the prices of stuff before. i know i can get the best price for individual parts on the website, but was hoping for a website that will build a computer to order and then ship it to me ready out of the box, sort of like www.compara.co.kr and www.icoda.co.kr. i got those off the sticky, but was wondering if anyone has had any experience dealing with them or another that they would recommend. i don't know enough about computers to put one together.


You can build and buy full systems on Danawa too. It is not just for parts.

Spliff gave you the parts list for a fairly mid/high end system (not quite bleeding edge) that would more than satisfy your requirements.

However, for what you are asking, ANY 500k white box, off the shelf will meet your requirements.

If you need/may want after market service, go to your local computer shop. It will cost you about 20% more than buying the raw parts off of danawa (the shop needs a profit too) but you get local, after market support if you need it (it doesn't sound like you can RMA a part yourself if something goes bad on you).

Order the monitor off of Danawa.

And as a side note, your local shop may not speak English very well but you can bet that they speak tech just fine.

.
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spliff



Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If ur not gonna do serious multi-tasking go w/ the E8500, it's a little faster. Danawa has a section where u can custom build a com and they'll ship it to u. Get a K-friend to give you a hand w/ it. Let us know what u end up with.
Good luck!

Cheers.

spliff
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tired of LA



Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for all the advice so far. thought i'd clarify that i'm actually in seoul now (forgot about changing it on the profile), so i can go to yongsan. but i'm not a big fan of wandering around trying to find the best deal and then having to lug the thing back home since i'm about an hour and a half away from yongsan. my gf also won't want to go with me translating for me.

if i do go down to yongsan to buy it, would they through in a cracked version of windows for free? Smile

any recommendation on a monitor? spliff? hoping for one with audio/visual inputs.

i priced out the specs on the calculator on danawa and this is what i got
intel e8500: 200,000
asus p5kc: 145,000
cosair 4 gigs (2x2): 102,000 (should i get corsair??)
his 4870 512mb: 332,000
samsung multi-dvd: 25,000
wd sata2 500gb: 68,000 x2: 136,000 (it was cheaper than samsung)
gem cube q-3 tower: 24,000
zalman 600w: 104,000

this takes me to about 1 million without factoring a monitor, cpu cooler and card reader and whatever it cost to get the thing built.
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Underwaterbob



Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spliff wrote:
...
PSU: Zalman 600w
...


Do you own stock in Zalman or something?
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
but i'm not a big fan of wandering around trying to find the best deal and then having to lug the thing back home since i'm about an hour and a half away from yongsan. my gf also won't want to go with me translating for me.


There's a very reliable young man working on the 6th floor in Unit 174-175 of I'Park Mall (adjoining Yongsan Station). Right near the top of the escalator. He's called Kyoung-min. Speaks English well. He will sit with you and make a list of the parts you want. Then he orders them in and builds the machine in front of you while you sit and drink coffee.

He does a good job.

He can put the finished computer back in the box the case came in and tape a handle on it. They're not so heavy. Carry it outside and get a taxi if you want. Or just get the train. Only 300m away.
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Sody



Joined: 14 May 2006

PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are really serious about computer gaming then you should simply buy the individual computer parts yourself and build the computer yourself. It's so easy to build a computer yourself, you just have to invest the time into learning about what you have to do.

There is NO way you can get what you want for only 1.2 mil, unless you get a crappy 24" monitor.

I had a gaming computer built in Korea and it was horribly built. No offense to Korean builders but they skimp out on components and time because they are too rushed. Better to build it yourself, you will get quality. You will get nothing but crap if you go to Yongsan.

If you go dual core or quad core make sure you get a good heatsink (the fan that cools your CPU).
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am CHEAP when it comes to spending money on computers and I am a fan of J-tech computers over in the Seon-in plaza (but you can get similar pricing at other shops in there as well).
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm77/ttompatz/yongsan2.jpg

You will typically save 20-30% on a system over the prices you get in the I'Park unless you really know your stuff and bargain hard over at I'Park.

Machines are assembled while you wait and come with a 1 year parts and service warranty. The shop has been in business for more than a decade and it is still the busiest shop in the building. I HAVE had excellent A/S from then when the need arose.

Now to talk about your build:

Unless you are going to go for a 64bit version of windows you only need 2 gigs of RAM. The most 32bit windows can address (use) is just over 3 gigs.

You also do not need to spend for the Corsair RAM. You won't be pushing the system hard enough to worry about a microsecond or 2 difference in the RAM access times.

For your purposes you do NOT need the 100k won, 600w, Zalman PS. A generic 450 watt PS @ ~25k won will be more than sufficient.

Your video card is also way out of line for your intended purposes. An nVida 8600 (or equivalent) is more than ample for your described use at about 20% of the cost (~60k won).

IF you know what you want or are willing to just point to a poster with a package on it you won't need a translator for anything. Everyone speaks tech just fine and many speak enough English for your needs.

Like I said earlier, a basic 500k white box will be more than ample.
In and out in 2 hours (including shopping around and assembly time).

IF you want English windows on it, take your own copy (pirate or legit) and they (any dealer) will install it for you. ADD 20k won and 1 hour to the price and time. They can put Korean windows on if you want it.

At current pricing you can get a basic QUAD CORE SYSTEM for less than 600k (depending on your choice of video card and HDD size).
(this pic was June pricing and it is lower now)
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm77/ttompatz/DSCI0001.jpg

.
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simIAN



Joined: 02 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know a good computer guy who custom built, loaded with software and delivered my sweet desktop to me for a fair price. He works in Seoul and delivered it to Bundang for me. If you want to save hassle and have a nice system built at a fair price and have him load it with whatever software you want pm me and I can send you his email.
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