Budget 21-30k Home PC for 23k Including Monitor

kvikram

Skilled
This config is for a friend who is looking for a basic home PC at 23k.
  1. What is your budget?
    • 23K
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • None
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • None
  4. Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
    • Haven't decided on anything yet.
  5. Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
    • Final configuration
  6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Online/Local Dealer at my city - Salem,TN
  7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • No
  8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Browsing
    • HTPC
    • Watching HD movies
    • Photoshop
  9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • Do not want to buy XYZ company product as I heard the after sales service in India is pathetic
  10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • None
  11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Looking for 17 or 19-inch monitor with perhaps 1440x900 resolution for desktop use
  12. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 8 64 bit
    • Ubuntu
 
any flexibility with the budget?? 23K seems a little tight considering HD movies and photoshop work. I'd recommend going for the AMD APU's as they will save you money on a graphics card and still give you your fair share of gaming and photoshop as the GPU is integrated with processor itself. will give you a draft config later.
 
any flexibility with the budget?? 23K seems a little tight considering HD movies and photoshop work. I'd recommend going for the AMD APU's as they will save you money on a graphics card and still give you your fair share of gaming and photoshop as the GPU is integrated with processor itself. will give you a draft config later.
My friend is on a very tight budget and is asking to stick to 23k max. He will take whatever he can get at that price. I expect he will be making only minimal use of Photoshop - not work that is too advanced.

Thanks in advance.
 
PROCESSOR
AMD 3.4 GHz FM2 A4-5300 Processor
Rs. 4900

MOTHERBOARD
ASUS F2A55-M-LK-PLUS Motherboard
Rs. 4500

POWER SUPPLY
Cooler Master CM 350 Plus 350 Watts PSU
Rs. 1836

MONITOR
BenQ L2023A 19.5 inch LED Backlit LCD Monitor...
Rs. 6384

KEYBOARD
Logitech MK200 USB 2.0 Keyboard and Mouse Combo
Rs. 896

INTERNAL HARD DRIVE
WD Caviar Blue 500 GB Desktop Internal Hard D...
Rs. 3439

RAM
Corsair DDR3 2 GB (1 x 2 GB) PC RAM (VS2GB1333D3)
2 pieces of 1 gb
Rs. 3300

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE
Asus DRW-24D3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD Burner Internal ...
Rs. 1320

this is a draft config the total for which comes down to Rs. 26575. But these are flipkart prices. if you bargain in the local market, you can atleast save upto Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1500.
Further, please note this is a draft config. you still wanna go down, just take the processor another notch down and you will save another couple of thousand bucks. Please dont compromise on the RAM, as this processor requires a good ram, and i have mentioned two sticks of 1 gb instead of single of 2gb so that ram can operate in dual channel mode.

a cheap local cabinet can be had for less than a thousand bucks. I am finding it really difficult to lower the budget config than what i've provided. as even when my friends and family come to me for advise, i always tell them to be flexible for a couple of thousand bucks as this is something you're gonna keep for atleast the next 4 to 5 yrs. sometimes just spending 1000 to 2000 more than the budget gives huge jump in the performance of the hardware that you're choosing. you shouldnt be fussy about that. but still, if the budget is too strict, as i said, you can opt for a cheaper processor in the same socket type. motherboard is already chosen in a miserly fashion. MSI was cheaper but didnt choose that because their after sales service is heard of to be absolute crap. when your friend is on such a tight budget, he wouldnt want to spend that money and risk not getting proper service or replacement of hardware incase the hardware you receive after ordering turns out to be dead. hence, gone for slightly more expensive ASUS.

you can even save money on the monitor. the flipkart prices include the shipping cost which are high in a product as big as a monitor. you should find it cheaper in the local market. if not, you can opt to buy second hand/used lcd monitor. that will save you atleast 3 to 4 grand which will immediately place you within your mentioned budget.

hope you have a reference config to start with. now you can make small additions and subtractions to get in budget. or spend a couple of thousand bucks extra and be a little future proof too.

thanks.
 
PROCESSOR
AMD 3.4 GHz FM2 A4-5300 Processor
Rs. 4900

MOTHERBOARD
ASUS F2A55-M-LK-PLUS Motherboard
Rs. 4500

POWER SUPPLY
Cooler Master CM 350 Plus 350 Watts PSU
Rs. 1836
The A4 processor is a 2 core i.e. 1 module processor. In terms of CPU performance its slower than even the old Athlon II X2. The integrated GPU in the A4 is not of much use and probably on par with the IGP in the Intel chips. Only an A8 and above will really have any gaming capability.
An Intel G2020 (3.5k) +B75 board (4.5k) will walk all over the above config and cost 1.5k less. A better choice for the PSU could be made.

RAM
Corsair DDR3 2 GB (1 x 2 GB) PC RAM (VS2GB1333D3)
2 pieces of 1 gb
Rs. 3300
Not going with the APU also frees up the dual-channel RAM requirement, giving the OP the option to go with a single 4GB stick for less, and gives him the option to add more RAM, whereas all the slots would be populated in the AMD APU rig.

He can probably drop the DVD-RW drive too, since any modern OS can be installed off a USB stick.

================

Intel Pentium G2020 ~ 3600
Gigabyte GA-H61-DS2 DVI ~ 3400
Corsair Value 1 x 4GB ~ 2500
WD Caviar Blue 500 GB ~ 3300
Dell S2240L ~ 9000
Zebronics cabinet ~ 1000
Seasonic S12II 430 ~ 4100
Keyboard + mouse ~ 700

Total ~ 27600
 
Last edited:
@Crazy_Eddy Thanks for the reply. I guess going for a monitor at 6k should reduce the price down to ~24.5k.

And is a 430W PSU worth 4k really necessary for this configuration? Perhaps going for a lower-end PSU would be cheaper.
 
I checked power supply requirement for the config i suggested. Apparently it will require not more than 300 w with 2 hdd n 3 to 4 usb devices plus two extra fans. So kept some margin n advised 350w
 
But if what @Crazy_Eddy says is true, perhaps I should go for the Intel configuration instead. But, OTOH, gaming performance is not really required here. My friend won't be playing games of any kind. The only requirement is Photoshop, and I suppose the graphics capabilities of A4 should be perfect for this. What say?
 
N anyway the above config has only one hdd, max 2 usb devices n those extra fans will most probably be absent for budget constraints. Still, i've seen even the most basic configs use 450w. So you might as well play it safe with that
 
But still, a 450 W PSU can be had for less 4k, no? If I replaced Crazy Eddy's config with one containing the Cooler Master Thunder 450W power supply, and a monitor worth 6k, the price comes down to 23.1k, which strikes that budget limit perfectly.

Intel Pentium G2020 ~ 3600
Gigabyte GA-H61-DS2 DVI ~ 3400
Corsair Value 1 x 4GB ~ 2500
WD Caviar Blue 500 GB ~ 3300
19-inch Monitor ~ 6k
Zebronics cabinet ~ 1000
Cooler Master Thunder 450W - 2.6k
Keyboard + mouse ~ 700

Total ~ 23.1k

What do you think of this?
 
But, OTOH, gaming performance is not really required here. My friend won't be playing games of any kind. The only requirement is Photoshop, and I suppose the graphics capabilities of A4 should be perfect for this. What say?
But thats the thing - it has neither graphics performance nor CPU performance. I have no idea what purpose the A4 serves. This photoshop benchmark further reiterates that only the A8/A10 procs offer any decent performance :-
IMQJpgF.png


The config will probably use 150W peak. Its not at all an issue of power, its the quality of power. There aren't any good PSUs at the entry level. If you still want to take a gamble, make sure it has good support since you will need it.
A good monitor can outlast several CPU upgrades. There's a VA panel based Benq GW2255 for about 8k which also seems good.
 
But still, a 450 W PSU can be had for less 4k, no? If I replaced Crazy Eddy's config with one containing the Cooler Master Thunder 450W power supply, and a monitor worth 6k, the price comes down to 23.1k, which strikes that budget limit perfectly.

Intel Pentium G2020 ~ 3600
Gigabyte GA-H61-DS2 DVI ~ 3400
Corsair Value 1 x 4GB ~ 2500
WD Caviar Blue 500 GB ~ 3300
19-inch Monitor ~ 6k
Zebronics cabinet ~ 1000
Cooler Master Thunder 450W - 2.6k
Keyboard + mouse ~ 700

Total ~ 23.1k

What do you think of this?

CM thunder is a complete crap. Avoid it at all costs. Get Antec VP450P instead.
 
Back
Top