Build a PC?

[Ben75]

So I am moving to Pattaya post-covid (after I get vaccinated and travel opens up without too much fuzz) and I will need a good PC there. Normally I will build my own rig but I need to be able to get the parts. I will take my Intel NUC Skull as an interim solution to work but I can't game on that thing due to poor integrated GPU performance.

Who is expert PC builder here?

• Where do I get my parts online?
• Which physical store is available for computer parts?
• Any good computer support/service stores here?
• With high temperatures how do you deal with cooling?
• Anything else I need to keep in mind?

btw, always happy to assist with any computer questions people might have.

[Garzan]

I use mostly InvadeIT in Hua Hin. https://www.facebook.com/invadeIT https://www.invadeit.co.th/ They sell parts and systems.

BananaIT and JIB have retail outlets at various Thai malls, and online outlets. I think both are good. I also still buy parts from Amazon US, and have them shipped to Thailand, sometimes for much less than the local Thai price, and sometimes due to them being unavailable locally. 

I have a few reasons for preferring Invade. Here recently there has been a bit of a problem finding video cards in part due to the never to be sufficiently cursed cryptocurrency miners. Thomas (yes, a farang owner) who knows I'm something of an ASUS fanboy, and wanting an RTX something got in touch with me when he knew he was going to get one, and that card is currently in my desktop. I bought it at 20,000 baht, and it subsequently went up a lot. Anyway, I see lots of people wanting RTX 30xx video cards, and due to the relationship I developed with a shop owner, I have one. 

Sometimes I get parts that fail. Synnex is the warranty repair depot for pretty much everything in computer parts. While there is a Synnex outlet here in Udon, they don't speak English, and  sadly, I still don't speak conversational Thai. For my parts needs though, I don't have to since I can send them back to Invade, and Invade's staff deals with Synnex on my behalf. 

Finally, with Thomas being a farang, it's nice to be able to send him an email in English and ask about something being available, or  something being obtainable. He's gotten special computer parts for me in the past that have not been in his catalog, but he's gone to his distributer channel on my behalf and gotten me the part. 

For high temp cooling, I use cases with good airflow and Noctua air coolers. It hasn't been a problem. (I'm just not comfortable with custom loop or AIO water coolers.)

Anything you can fit in your bag before you come over would be good. You can get it all here, but in most cases it's less expensive there, and the shipping cost of your airline luggage can't be beat. At the very least, figure out which CPU you want and put one in your carryon. :-)

Addition: I see you are in the EU, so perhaps check the online prices from Thailand retailers on stuff you might want, and if it makes sense to buy it before you leave the EU, and you have room...

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Garzan

[praf974]

I just did something similar,  brought out a high end cpu/cpu cooler/motherboard/memory combo (expensive to buy here unless you but on aliexpress and ship it from China).   Brought Case/Power Supply/GPU/32in monitor etc from https://www.invadeit.co.th/     .. forget buying anything in Pattaya .. Tukcom would not even sell me a GPU unless I bought a whole PC!    Any decent brand GPU will handle the temp/cooling (but not passive cooled) .. added an extra fan in the case .. no problems at all with cpu temps, but its a good cpu cooler.

 

[Garzan]

9 minutes ago, praf974 said:

Tukcom would not even sell me a GPU unless I bought a whole PC! 

Sadly, that's true for several places. With the shortage of high end video cards, and vendors wanting to have complete systems to sell, it's the DIY guy who takes it in the shorts. It think sometimes it's quicker to buy the pre-built, strip out the videocard you wanted, then sell on the prebuilt as gently used parts. 

I will sure be happy when this chip shortage ends. There will likely be RTX-4080Ti video cards before I can find one on the shelf to buy. 555 :-) I'm very glad to have an RTX-3070, but it isn't the card I was hoping to put in my desktop build. 

[ex-pat]

https://www.invadeit.co.th or Lazada, but i would pay a small premium from the first due to superior service from Thomas. 

With aircon the ambient temperature when the computer is on is not much different than in Canada. Cooling has never been an issue but I always do have an abundance of case fans. For what they cost to buy and run it does not make any sense not to.

 

[praf974]

2 hours ago, Garzan said:

 It think sometimes it's quicker to buy the pre-built, strip out the videocard you wanted, then sell on the prebuilt as gently used parts.

This was my plan B .. but InvadeIT met all my needs with fast delivery which worked out well!

[Ben75]

Awesome, thanks for all the responses. InvadeIT (and Thomas) sounds like worth the premium and I will make sure to pack the (small) components I need and take them with me and buy the case etc on arrival. Btw, happy to take components for anyone who needs something when actually flying in post-covid as I am taking an extra suitcase anyway. My usual suppliers in the Netherlands are https://www.informatique.nl/ and https://www.alternate.nl/ so if it's on there I can bring it.

I'll drop a message here when I have my ticket booked and people can see if they need anything.