Buying Gaming PC in Tokyo

20 comments

1. BTO will generally be more expensive than piecing your own, and has a factor of random parts being used.

   If you’re not in a hurry I’d wait for BF, grab individual components from cheapest sources on kakaku.com and build. But if you have no idea how or don’t feel confident then BTO it is.

2. I suggest you wander around aimlessly ~~on brain slug planet not wearing a helmet~~ in Akihabara.

3. Check parts on Kakaku on big sales days

4. I usually price out parts on [amazon.co.jp](https://amazon.co.jp) and [https://shop.tsukumo.co.jp/](https://shop.tsukumo.co.jp/) and choose the better deal.
   Keep in mind, Japan carries a premium price when compared to countries like the USA.
   It used to be that you could get some good deals by buying of [Amazon.com](https://Amazon.com) and paying the import/shipping fees, but yen rate has eliminated that option.

   BTO’s are usually stuffed with low-tier parts with one or two mid-tier items (usually the CPU/GPU) that draw you to it. They’re value is mainly in that you don’t have to deal with individual parts having issues and juggling multiple returns for defects that crop up on you.

5. I would look for parts from Amazon and Dospara and then build your own.

6. Dospara has prebuilts as well. Its a little pricey but I’ve had no problems with mine after two years without warranty

7. Amazon is easiest. Buy parts and assemble take like 2-3 hours, you save a ton. Buy a laptop if you want a prebuild.

8. Most of the time you’ll definitely be able to build a nicer one for the price if you are able to build it yourself! I have always built mine from parts mostly off Amazon and sometimes other online stores that have specials like dospara, etc.

   Amazon Prime Day is coming up in 2 weeks which might be a good opportunity to get some midrange parts a bit cheaper.

9. Tskukumo akihabara has good prebuilts.

10. Check online and compare prices/promotions/bundles etc.

    I prefer to build my own PCs and I just did a major upgrade a few months ago. As others have said, a few years ago it would be advisable to check Amazon US, but currently it ain’t worth it (unless the promotion/discount make it like 20%+ cheaper than here). You can check stores in person, but honestly I’ve never found a good/better deal than just buying it online.

11. good will got some good deal imo

    [https://www.pc-koubou.jp/](https://www.pc-koubou.jp/)

    edit: [the rtx 3060 with 16vram](https://www.pc-koubou.jp/pc/geforce_rtx3060_level_desk.php?pre=cmm_lga) is my recommend, under 20万 and great for another 10 years of gaming(just in my opinion lol)

12. Don’t forget to have a look at Yahoo Auctions. Sometimes there are some crazy good deals. That’s how I got my PC during the pandemic, equipped with a 3080Ti, for less than the price of the 3080Ti

13. Probably wait til the new GPU’s come out & never buy pre-built unless you just want to throw money away.

    Also some of the shops in Akiba will have better in person deals than online.

14. Definitely build your own, I built mine ( 7900xt) for 220,000 yen.

    I waited for Amazon prime day with almost all my parts- got plenty of points which I used later to get cpu. I got gpu from US Amazon, though. Even with shipping and 10% consumption tax it was still cheaper by 30,000 yen, lol.

    Conpared to Dospara or PC koubou, Amazon had the best deals

15. This is a bit out there, but have you considered a Rog Ally or Steam Deck instead?

    Reports from ppl who have gaming PCs are that they gather dust after getting an Ally especially. My Xbox Series X is gathering dust after get the SD.

16. Friend I’m happy to assist here. Tell me what your goal here is. What are you trying to play? I’m happy to put it all together for you as well. Or I can show you how to put it together yourself. Where in Tokyo are you located? And I won’t charge you any $$$.

17. what games do you want to play? make sure you buy spec enough for those games.

    building your own pc can be stressful if you dont like tweaking and dont have friend to ask help from.

    pckoubou has this build kit https://www.pc-koubou.jp/category/047902.html?pre=cmm_lpa

    personally I would just buy BTO for my first PC. I dont really have much time outside work.

    this is to give you some idea regarding spec but maybe people in reddit can give more cost saving build.
    https://www.pc-koubou.jp/pc/gaming-pc.php?pre=cmm_lga

    wait for sale if you can. sometimes they have clearance sale for old model.

    in the past I used this 3 sites for comparison
    dospara, pc-koubou, tsukumo

18. BTO is a mixed bag as anywhere else. If you can trouble shoot them yourself, definitely be cheaper by couple man of BTO prices ontop of next gen compatibility if your plan it right (Mainly the motherobard.) Though would have to go through the trouble of doing paper works/e-mails in local language if you find any of the parts not working as intended.

    22000yen would probably net you a BTO with rtx 4060ti and a monitor.

    Would recommend just buying them when it fits your budget.

    ​

    Purchase reliability(Personal bias)

    -Tsukumo-

    Some times has discount for combo items( Motherboard with CPU) Most parts comes ontop of optional extended warranty. Most expensive, but most reliable part seller imo. Also Sells BTOs

    -Dospara

    Has the best looking BTOs and the most popular by far.

    -PC koubou

    Mediun of the list. Sells BTOs

    -Amazon

    Would recommend excluding items out the official stores from result. Lots of counterfeit & scam stores(Address from China) comes up as the recommended items. Accessibility is probably the highest out of any of the store in this list for any English speaker. Though not the cheapest or the highest quality anymore.

19. I built mine by myself with an RTX3080 for 170,000 total. And I could go as low as 130,000 if I didn’t need 4K VR in MSFX (a real performance hog).

    So, my recommendation is building something yourself if you have done it before of have someone to help. If you go BTO, Dospara is good. Year end sales and such don’t really make much difference in price in Japan. Better to use components from the previous generation instead and save 30% in the cost while losing only around 5% in performance.

20. You could build an absolute beast of a machine for that much, and it’s a lot of fun.

    Building your own will almost always be cheaper than BTO, although I get that not everybody is in to it.