Hi Guys,

I am fairly competent in PC building and have built my own rigs back in the UK. Unfortunately it is a bit more tricky here in Thailand as in the UK I would always research the prices online of components, here online stores are few and far between.

My first question is that if I shop at say Pantip etc and buy the individual components how will the prices compare to components I would buy in the UK online?

Secondly as labour is cheap over here is it even worth building my own PC compared to buying a pre built gaming PC buy one of the IT stores. They will have done the legwork with compatibility and I guess the PC may be cheaper as its selling all the items in one go?

Definitely build your own, higher customization plus much much cheaper. Go to pantip and start shopping around for the parts. On 3rd floor there is a shop selling performance mainboards and GPUs, RAM etc, one you got all of it. Go to ground/lower ground floor and choose case and power supply from one of the shops close to the back of the building, they sell great CoolerMaster cases and power supplies (make sure to go for high voltage one as low one will crap out under heavy load). Then for 100 bht they will put all of your PC together, while you have a coffee and relax.

To be clear I meant buy a pre built one the small IT shops sell. I assume that is the parts cost with a few hundred baht to put it together and test?

Also how do prices for complements compare to online back in the UK? I would usually check part prices on my phone on dabs.com or novatech.co.uk, but if they are generally cheaper or more expensive here the comparison is pointless.

suggest one decent shop in Pantip : compute and more, www.computeandmore.com

mostly they stock high spec rig components, online price list available in above website. blame the local dealers if you find the price is not easy-to-understand. if you buy all components from them, they build the computer within an hour, no charge.

of course, also shops around offering grey-market products, with hundred baht cheaper.

Build your own. You can get build fairly decent gaming pc for 25k.(fx 6300 + gtx760/r9 270x ).Including 1080p monitor.

I also recommend compute&more shop on pantip 3rd floor (or was it 4th?)

They can also setup your computer for you if you buy all the necessary parts.

If you're looking for another shop to consider, try Busitek - http://www.busitek.com/

It's on the floor below IT City, I believe. I get all my game peripherals from there, and have seen plenty of monstrosities being sold in front of me. They have a supply store on the ground floor, TKCom, but I suggest the top floor one since they are more proficient in English.

EDIT: Also, you won't be doing much PC building of your own, from what I saw. You get to pick your individual parts and casing and such but they'll assemble everything for you. If it's worth enough, I don't think they charge you a assembly fee even.