Korean Job Discussion Forums

[FDNY]

I haven't bought a computer in over 10 years. The computer I am using now is long past its usefulness. I am heading down to Yongsan on Saturday to get a new gaming system. I want to spend between 600,000 and 800,000. I aslo don't need a monitor. What can I expect for that kind of money? I want to play the new Battlefield 3 when it comes out. Basically I want a ballpark list of specs I SHOULD be able to get for the above cash..

[chevro1et]

Any brand loyalty or preference? (amd vs intel, ati vs nvidia) AMD usually offers better bang for buck on budget/ mid-range cpus.

Are you interested in overclocking at all? (cpu/ gpu) This can definitely shift component preferences.

Anyways, in the 600k-800k range you should be getting a quad-core cpu, at least 4gigs of ram, 1tb hard drive, cd/dvd-rw optical, 600W+ power supply, and a solid, single last-gen video card.

[UknowsI]

One little warning, I've had a LOT of problems with poor computers here in Korea. The main parts are of course the same as in the west, but I've had some horrible cases here. I've had three computers, first one would fry because I got a static electricity shock from the ON button on the front (the case should protect the components from outside static electricity), the second computer would shut down if you touched the USB ports on the front, the third computer gives interference between the USB and the headphones if you use the front plugs, so I can literally hear the traffic on the USB. I have had probably more than 10 computers back home and never had any similar problems so score is 3/3 poor cases in Korea and 0/10 back home.

So my one advice would be to try to not get a poor quality case.

[myenglishisno]

Contact jackdaniels on Dave's. Don't go to Yongsan. I got a great gaming rig through him and the price was fair and reasonable.

[FDNY]

Hmmm, you want me to give a guy called Jack Daniels a large sum of money for a computer? Well, I'm not saying I won't, but how about a legal warranty? UknowsI, do you know how I can avoid your problems? What is a "good" case?

[chevro1et]

[eamo]

Jackdaniels is a sound choice if you want to avoid Yongsan (understandable).

But your budget is tight. You won't get a good gaming rig for 800,000.......just an okay one.

You could PM Jack and ask him what the procedure is if you have probs with a computer from him.

[shifter2009]

I find a mid range rig today goes A LOT further than a mid range rig would 10 years ago.

[myenglishisno]

[wishfullthinkng]

get 4gb of nice speedy gaming ddr3 ram, a sandy bridge class intel chip (or wait for ivy bridge which is coming out very soon) and spend the rest on a higher level gpu. not the top cards because the money to performance ratio is dismal, but one of the bargain priced heavyweights of the current generation of gpu's from either amd or nvidia.

the gpu and ram are going to be the most important factors to your rig. the cpu these days aren't an issue, at least with the phenomenal sandy bridge architecture from intel. in fact a low end i3 chip is more than fine for most modern games.

i would recommend almost the completely opposite setup for a general use pc however. whatever you do, build it yourself. i'm fairly positive a lot of the guys on this forum would come help you in trade for a few beers which is a paltry sum compared to what you would save pre-built.

[FDNY]

Well, went to Yongsan today. Glad I did. I went to a few shops in the GIGA building. The last one I went to was the one that ttompatz recommended in an earlier post. The place is called "J-Tech". I was really impressed with the place and with the service.

For 830,000 they offered:

Processor: Intel i5 2500k
Mainboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 560
HD: Samsung 1TB
Power Supply: 700W
Optical Drive: LG DVD/RW X24

However, what really caught my eye was a system they had that featured the i7 2600k processor. Roughly the same specs as above for 940,000. Hmmm.

The funniest thing was my neighbor said I should buy a Hewlett Packard from Lotte Mart. The i5-2500k system from them was 1,500,000! NOT.

[Bloopity Bloop]

[Grantasmagoria]

The i5 2500k is better and cheaper for gaming. Not sure on the current prices for the i5/i7 in Korea but if the sole purpose is gaming, i5 is better.

Personally, I'd spend the extra money on an Nvidia gpu. AMD is always cheaper but their driver support is terrible.

[DaHu]

Don't get a computer in one day, you'll make a poor purchase.

I would recommend building your own, it's more interesting that way.

[Italy37612]

Definitely build your own, or get someone that knows what they are doing to build it for you. You will get a better bang for your buck. Picking and choosing components is especially important for a gaming rig, as it will only perform as well as the "weakest link" component.

I have built a couple of rigs for my friends in Korea. I saved them well over 300 bucks putting it together myself rather than buying pre-made.

Do some research online for performance and reliability of your internals.

tomshardware.com, tigerdirect.com, pcworld.com, or newegg.com are all great resources for buying and getting reviews on PC components.

I would really advise against getting anything from Yongsan pre-made. If you are good at negotiating and knowledgeable about PC's then you can get SOME parts from there.

Also, any manufacturer worth buying from will always provide at least a 6-month international warranty on their products.

Take your time, do LOTS of research. The last time I decided to build a laptop for myself I took about 3 months before hand searching out exactly what I wanted. I even waited 6-weeks for a CPU to become available before buying the other items. If you take your time and invest a decent amount of money in the PC it can last you for years and years.