My experience of first visit to Lowyat

clogwog — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:52:56 +0800

Well as an expat currently living in Penang, I have been unable to find any of the parts I am chasing to build a new Home Theatre PC (HTPC). After a lot of online research here is a list of the parts that I have decided on.

AMD Athlon X2 4850e 45W CPU http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=426
Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H AMD 780G Motherboard http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2859
Antec Fusion Black Case http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15739

So yesterday I happened to be down in KL so I thought I would visit Lowyat with the hope of sourcing these parts. After visiting what seemed every PC store in the complex here is a summary of my experience.

- If I walk into a store with a printout from the AMD website detailing the specs on a 4850e (Note the e at the end) please do not argue with me that there is no such CPU and once you finally acknowledge that it does exist, as I am holding a printout from AMD dont waste my time trying to sell me an AMD 5000 or 6000 as it a 'better' CPU.
- After I explain again that I dont want a 'better' CPU but the 4850e as its a low voltage 45W CPU ideally suited to a HTPC it really proves to me you have no idea when after I say HTPC you try to send me to the shop next door that sell HTC touch phones.
- I managed to find one shop that knew what an Antec brand case was but they only sold one specific model (the P182SE). I did see one other place that did sell Silverstone HTPC cases but unfortunately none of the models that I have considered as an alternate to the Fusion.
- If I ask for a Gigabyte 78GPM-DS2H please dont say OK you have stock then proceed to try and sell me a 78GM-S2H board. They are not the same thing, even despite your promise that they are.

On a good note, I did manage to find a WD 1TB Green Power drive for a nice price. For the future I know if I ever want a Coolermaster product, Acer laptop or refurbished Dell/Compaq PC then Lowyat is the place, for the rest I will have to wait for my next work trip to Singapore and pay a visit to Sim Lim Square.

Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by clogwog

My experience of first visit to Lowyat