PC Peripherals Config for Mid-Range Gaming PC

A

Apex

Skilled
So, I think its time again for me to go shopping for computer hardware. My total budget is 25K [max] and I won't need the following - HDDs, Optical Drives, Input Devices, Monitor.

The budget I've in mind for CPU+Mobo is 7K. A bit here and there is okay and my 25K budget must include a 2.1 speaker system (Altec Lansing ATP3 or VS4121). Reserve around 8K or so for a GPU (preferably 8800GT or one of the newer ATi cards coming up, if its within the range).

Put in your suggestions for a CPU, Motherboard, GPU, RAM, PSU & Cabinet (if anything decent available within 2K, else I'll use my old Mercury P4 cabinet).

I'll make the purchase in the last week of June or first week of July. I can wait but for that you'll have to help my old PC survive. Thanks in advance. :hap2:

Update [26/06/08]:

Almost decided -

Corsair 450VX PSU - 3.2K

Zebronics Bijli Cabinet w/o PSU - 1.0K

Transcend DDR2 @ 800MHz (1GBx2) - 2.2K

Sapphire ATi Radeon 4850 - 10K

Yet to decide -

Abit IP35-E Motherboard - 5.4K

Intel Dual-Core E2180 Processor (2.0 GHz) - 3.3K

(OR)

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Motherboard - 4.6K

AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+ Processor (2.5GHz) - 3.3K

Looking for more options.
 
Ok so here goes:

CPU: E2160 [2.6k]

Mobo: Biostar TP35D2A7 [4.4k]

So that sums up to exactly 7k!! U may get it cheaper by the last week of June by another 100 bucks or so;

RAM: Transcend 2x1GB DDR II 800MHz [~2k or even cheaper]

GPU: A 9600GT [shud be at the 8k mark or 8.5k max; Pretty sure the 8800GT wont be anywhere near the 8k amrk by June end; heck even by July mid!!! Look out for brands from evga, XFX, POV, Zotac etc]

Cabinet: Zebby Bijli [1.2k];

PSU: CM 460w [1.9k];

Speakers: AL VS4121 [2.3k];

Sums up to a total of ~22.9k; With the left over, get an aftermarket cooler like the TR Ultima + a decent 120/92mm fan and u're done with;

U've a beautiful system; :D
 
^^
e2160+abit ip-35E (little more than 7.5k though and you should be into overclocking but thats easy)

in the gpu, you wont be able to fit in the new ati cards, but its benifit to you will be that if you wait a bit, nvidia will drop the prices accross its series and you can then afford a 8800gt.

get the corsair vx450 (around 3.5-3.6k)

ram :: go for 2gigs of ram, probably the best would the 2gb ddr2 800mhz gskill ones with the heatspreaders that are around 2.4k

ofcourse your speakers into the budget...so that leaves around 0 for the cabby :p
will be bit of a squeeze but u can manage :)
my advice: get the psu ASAP and shove it into the old comp.... if it works then good for u :D
EDIT::^^dammit he came first :p
the biostar board sometimes refuses to boot with the overclocked settings and its really annoying...trust me i have the same one
then u have to reset the bios and get it to start and then set all the overclocked settings again....
it is stable, i have run 24hrs orthos ..... but its a pain......i never switch my comp off so its easy for me :)
 
oh yeah i forgot the cooler....go with what he said ...but get a xigmatech cooler from kmd :)

but do get the abit mobo....budgets are meant to be broken :D
 
None of the recommended boards have on-board gfx. I cud have waited a bit longer for a 8800GT price drop. :p With these boards, I'll have to get a GPU immediately. :(

How about EVGA 112-CK-NF75-K1?

Also, how does Zebronics Bijli compare to Cooler Master Elite 334? Its available for around 1.7K I believe.

P.S: I forgot to mention that I'm not much into overclocking.
 
the bijli can be gotten for around 1.2k here in mumbai without PSU..

so i would guess that if you have the extra 500 bucks to spend, the CM would be a better option. (i think it has toolless everything and all).

the finish on the bijli isnt of the highest order. lots of sharp edges everywhere.

any reasons for the intel only proccy? why not amd? you could get a MUCH better onboard with the amd. Also, im inclined to believe that a card of the level of the 88gt will be wasted on you :p

you surely havent been gaming too much all these years. why would you start now? and even if you did, it aint exactly necessary for yuo to start of wid a 8k gpu
 
haha...rightly said. i know it will be wasted as i'll only be gaming occasionally. i wanted something thats kinda future proof, something that can easily last another 2-3 years. i dont want to be facing a situation within this time when i want to play a game but my gpu is incapable of handling it, u know what i mean. :p i thought 8800gt is a good value for money product. lemme know if u've other suggestions. and btw its not like stopping and starting...i like gaming every alternate year (due to hardware limitations). :lol:

as for the cpu, i'll be honest here instead of being "politically correct". i said intel coz i like intel. ;) i haven't had many good experiences with amd cpus, overheating etc. i know things have changed a lot but i'll take intel over amd anyday. :D
 
you could easily get a 780g+4200+ wid the amd setup for now and get a gfx card later on. this will fit in your 8k cpu+mobo budget and at the same time it'll be like the currently best possible onboard solution.

i would suggest that you get it. also, hold of your gpu purchase.. with the rv770 from ati and the g92 refresh from nvidia gpu prices are gonna come crashing down and that 88gt you are eyeing could get a hell of a lot cheaper :)
 
Get the Zebronics Bijli w/o psu for 1K approx.
Comes with better fan/s, very functional, works good enough.
The CM elite series are not worth 2K odd imho.

Get an E2180 instead of the E2160 with the money saved. :)
(Believe it or not- i have heard the mere 200Mhz extra does feel faster than a 2160. :))
 
I'm confused between Corsair 450VX and Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 460W. I don't mind paying a bit extra if the Corsair PSU is that good. The question - is it worth the extra money?

Also, how important is an aftermarket cooler in case one doesn't overclock the CPU as much?
 
you can overclock on stock cooling. but i would say get the arctic cooling freezer 7 pro which is very good for 1500.

corsair would definately be a better buy. but if you really are on budget, go for coolermaster. it can handle an 8800gt, but nothing more than that. corsair vx450 will be good for future upgrades, since you want to use this pc for 2 years.
 
if you're not too much into OCing, AMD always makes more sense :)... the AM2+ 780G mobos will be future proof for some time , and the onboard should keep you happy a while longer
 
Apex said:
I'm confused between Corsair 450VX and Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 460W. I don't mind paying a bit extra if the Corsair PSU is that good. The question - is it worth the extra money?

Also, how important is an aftermarket cooler in case one doesn't overclock the CPU as much?
Click to expand...

The VX450w is recommended to peeps who'd like a real solid PSU with a very high operating efficiency if the system's into CPU + GPU OC'ing and cant withstand noise from the PSU fan; :)

The VX also sports a single rail of +12v which has an amperage of 33A which's certainly a good + point;

I'd recommend the VX450; I might even go with one in case I build an HTPC; :p

An aftermarket cooler would not be really worth it in case u dont wish to overclock since the stock coolers do a decent job and are not noisy either; however in case u dont wish to withstand the noise at all, a very low CFM fan may be slapped to a TR Ultima and can eliminate additional system noise; :)
 
+1 for gannu's config

Replace e2160 with e7200 since u have around 2.5k left . E7200 wille be way better and stock cooling should be more than enough if you don't OC . It can be oc'd even on stock cooling ( not much though ) .
 
greenhorn said:
if you're not too much into OCing, AMD always makes more sense :)... the AM2+ 780G mobos will be future proof for some time , and the onboard should keep you happy a while longer
Click to expand...

I can't rule out the possibility of overclocking the CPU in future. Its just that I won't do it right away. Tell me overclocked AMDs still run much hotter than those Intels. :p

Anyway, I'm not an Intel fanboy or anything, so put forward your suggestions for an AMD setup as well. That hybrid graphics concept in 780g mobos looks interesting. I'll weigh both options before making my decision. :D

@Udit: Isn't 12K a bit too steep for my gfx requirement? ;)

PS: Changed the thread title.
 
Apex said:
I'm confused between Corsair 450VX and Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 460W. I don't mind paying a bit extra if the Corsair PSU is that good. The question - is it worth the extra money?

Also, how important is an aftermarket cooler in case one doesn't overclock the CPU as much?
Click to expand...

1. The VX450 has a higher efficiency rating (savings on your power bills) and runs silent. It is a very good power supply for a non sli/crossfire rig. If it fits in your budget it would be a great purchase :)

2. If you are not overclocking, stick to the stock cooler from Intel. An aftermarket cooler may give you a drop of a couple of degrees in avg cpu temperature @stock speeds which really wont make too much of a difference.
 
Apex said:
I can't rule out the possibility of overclocking the CPU in future. Its just that I won't do it right away. Tell me overclocked AMDs still run much hotter than those Intels. :p

Anyway, I'm not an Intel fanboy or anything, so put forward your suggestions for an AMD setup as well. That hybrid graphics concept in 780g mobos looks interesting. I'll weigh both options before making my decision. :D

@Udit: Isn't 12K a bit too steep for my gfx requirement? ;)

PS: Changed the thread title.
Click to expand...

Errmmm Apex sir, total budget once again pls; :ashamed:

The gfx no doubt SHOULD be the ruby, ATI 4850 which u may source via the KMD route for <11k and prices'd further fall in the upcoming weeks; :D

Runs a notch hotter than the green babies but then removing the stock goop and slapping a rice-grain of MX2/TX2 + an exhaust 120mm fan with 80-90 CFM at the side panel can ease the job; :D

With Vista and the 780G chipset motherboard, u can have hybrid CF enabled; :D

Hw abt this one:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H - 4.6k;

X2 5000+ - 4k;

Any pair of 1GB or 2GB sticks rated @ 800MHz or 1066MHz like the G.Skill GBPQs, Ballistix, Dominators, OCZ [whichever u're a fanboy of or fits the budget] - From Rs. 3k for a 2GB kit upto 7k for a 4GB kit;

Powercolor/Sapphire/Asus/HIS/GeCube 4850 - Close to 10.5k;

VX450 PSU - 3.2k;
 
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