PC Buying Guide - Feb 2009

340xmw3.jpg


Hi, You will find a list of discussions in the Hardware Zone at the TechEnclave. This includes Motherboards, RAM, SMPS, Cabinet, GPUs, LCDs, and offcourse HDDs. Now it is time to put all these parts together into PC buying guide.

We will provide you 2 primary types of PC guides - Need-based and Budget-based. The first is budget driven, i.e. simply fixing a budget and then buying the best components that you can afford for that price. The second is need driven, i.e. deciding on the components that you need and buying them and thus giving the budget a back seat. IMO the purpose for which you wish to use the PC should dictate the budget. I am not entertaining no budget category.

[BREAK=Classify PC users]

We will classify PC users into five categories based on the type of usage.

A. Entry level/Download rig - Word processing, accounting purpose, Internet Surfing , listening to music or watching a movie and doing a bit of coding in C, C++, Java etc.

B. Budget - casual gamer, watching high defination content

C. Power user - 3D animation software like 3D Studio Max or Maya

D. Hardcore gamer - good FPS in the latest games at a high resolution and with all eye candy enabled.

E. Home Theatre Enthusiast

Now that we have defined our users, let's move on to the real thing.

[BREAK=Entry Level]

Motherboard: Asus M2NMX SE 2.2k (AM2)/Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L 2.4k (S775)

Processor: Sempron LE1400 1.4k(AM2)/Intel Celeron 430 1.8k (S775)

Cooling: CPU Retail HSF

Memory: Transcend 2GB DDR2 667MHz kit 1.2k

Video: Onboard

Audio: Onboard

Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.10 160GB SATAII 1.8k

Cabinet: Zebronics Bijli ATX w/ bundled 400W SMPS 1.6k

Power Supply: Included with Case

Optical Drive: L.G. GH22NS30 SATA/Samsung SH-S22F SATA 1.1k

Speakers: Creative SBS 2.0 .5k

Display: ViewSonic VA1616w 5.5k

Input: Samsung Pleomax Keyboard .2k and Logitech Optical Mouse .4k

[BREAK=Budget]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L 2.4k/GIGABYTE GA-P31-ES3G 3k

Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 3.6k/Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 5.2k

Cooling: CPU Retail HSF

Memory: Transcend 2x2GB DDR2 800MHz 2k

Video: Palit 8600GT 512MB GDDR3 3.5k/Sapphire HD 4670 5k

Audio: Onboard

Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB ST3500320AS SATAII 2.8k

Cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 334 + Cooler Master Extreme Plus 460W (Combo) 3.7k

Power Supply: Cooler Master Elite 334 + Cooler Master Extreme Plus 460W (Combo)

Optical Drive: L.G. GH22NS30 SATA/Samsung SH-S22F SATA 1.1k

Speakers: Creative Inspire 2.1 M2600 1.8k/Altec Lansing VS4121 2.8k

Display: Viewsonic 19" VA 1918 WM / Dell 19" US 1909W / L.G. L194WT / Acer X193HQ

Input: Samsung Pleomax Keyboard .2k and Logitech Optical Mouse .4k

[BREAK=Power user]

Motherboard: Asus P5Q PRO 9k / GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P 8.5k~ KMD

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 9.6k

(AMD Alternative - AMD X4 Phenom II 920 11.5k + Jetway Hummer 790GX 6k)

Cooling: Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer 2.1k

Memory: G.Skill 4GB 800MHz PI Black 3.2k

Video: MSI Quadheatpipe HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 9.8k/MSI Quadheatpipe HD 4870 512MB GDDR3 12.8k

Audio: Asus Xonar 5k

Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 4.3k

Cabinet: Antec 300 3.5k/Cooler Master 690 4k

Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W/Corsair HX 620

Optical Drive: L.G. GH22NS30 SATA/Samsung SH-S22F SATA 1.1k

Speakers: Edifier C3 2.1Ch 5.2k/Altec Lansing MX5021 6.5k/Logitech Z-2300 8k/Klipsch ProMedia 2.1Ch 9k

Display: BenQ 22" Full HD E2200HD 12k

Input: Logitech 'Media' Keyboard .5k and Logitech MX518 1.275k

Mouse Pad: Razer Mantis Speed/Control 1.1k

[BREAK=Hardcore Gamer]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6/ ASUS Maximus II Formula

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650

Cooling: Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer 2.1k

Memory: Corsair Dominator 4GB 1066MHz DDR2 5k

Video: eVGA GeForce GTX 295 2GB 31k

Audio: Asus Xonar 5k

Primary Hard Drive: Western Digital 300GB VelocityRaptor

Storage: Western Digital 10EACS 1TB 5.4k

Cabinet: Antec 1200 /Cooler Master HAF

Power Supply: Corsair HX 1000W

Optical Drive: L.G. GH22NS30 SATA/Samsung SH-S22F SATA 1.1k

Speakers: Logitech Z-5500

Display: Dell 24" S2409 18k

Input: Logitech Logitech G15 Version 2 Keyboard and Razer DeathAdder

Mouse Pad: Razer Goliathus Large

[BREAK=Home Theater Enthusiast]

Motherboard: Asus M3A78-EM 4.5k

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 2.5k

Memory: Transcend 2x2GB DDR2 800MHz 2k

Video: Gecube HD3450 256MB GDDR2 HDMI 2.8k

Audio: Asus Xonar 5k

Hard Drive: Western Digital 10EACS 1TB 5.4k

Cabinet: Zebronics Pro Cube mATX

TV Tuner: Hauppauge PVR 150 + MCE Remote

Power Supply: Corsair VX 450W 4k



Optical Drive
: L.G. GH22NS30 SATA/Samsung SH-S22F SATA 1.1k

Speakers: AudioEngine AE2 2.0 9k

Display: Pioneer 50" Plasma

Input: Logitech Bluetooth Dinovo Ultra Flat Keyboard 3.2k and Logitech MX Revolution 5k

[BREAK=Where to buy]

Indian websites from where we can buy computer electronics -

PrimeABGB

TheITWares

Todphod

TechShop.in

XtremeGrafix

Anythinginit

Ebay

Lynx-India

Respawn

V-Street

Theitdepot

NextWorld.in

.:: Yantra Online ::.

AnyThingInIt

Deltapage

Gadgets.in

Consoul.in

[BREAK=Final Words]

My first review in this section. I hope everyone likes it. And suggestions will really help me.

Take care. :)
 
Excellent guide as usual...will be helpful for many newbies...:)Entry&budget users would be much happy with 2GB RAM..:)
 
guide is good as always .
thank you for WTB list:hap2:

for POWER USERS:
include MSI 4870 rather than 4850 coz 4870 costs 12.8k :)
EDIT: it's already there...
n proccy : alternate to Q6600 = E8200
PSU: include ANTEC EA650 .

ENTRY LEVEL : how will be a CRT monitor there ? helps to go lower on budget.
 
Thank You. I was looking forward to this.

Can you recommend a Micro ATX Case and Micro ATX MB for a Budget user with space constraints?

Thanks.
 
Back
Top