PC Upgrade 50k - 60k

Buying Advice Desktop & PC Buying Advice
1

After months of “trolling” around the forums, I think the timing is about right for an upgrade. The itch just doesnt go away anymore and my old PC is starting to fall apart (actually, honestly its just the mouse and the gfx card, but I guess those are the 2 most used components for gaming, so yeah! )

Doubt this makes too much of a difference, but RPG / Sports / Strategy / less Action games - 1080p intended usage
Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage

  1. Q: What is your budget?

  2. 50-60k

     [*]Q: What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)

  3. CPU - Intel E4300 (Yeah, June 2007 purchase)

  4. Motherboard - Whats the point really

  5. GPU - ATI 4870 (2nd hand)

  6. RAM - Corsair DDR2 2 x 1 Gb

  7. Monitor - Viewsonic VM1930

  8. SMPS - Corsair Cooler master pro 600W

  9. HDDs - Enuff (5-6 TBs)

  10. Cabinet - Some sturdy Antec brand

  11. Speakers - Corsair SP2500 bought last June

     [*]Q: Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)

    So the thing is, I plan to keep the entire previous set for a possible lan gaming setup (makes no sense to sell it or use any part of it… selling will give me tops 10-12k and the big chunk will be the monitor and I plan to keep it… use, no component besides the monitor is usable, and that too only for the time being). So…

  12. Monitor - Viewsonic VM 1930

  13. Speakers - Corsair SP2500

     [*]Q: 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.

  14. CPU - Intel 2400 / 2500 (dont plan to overclock… frankly dont see the point in it for the effort/time/cost/tension etc. it involves… if a system can give 60+ fps without overclock for 2 yrs, then good enuff, beyond that upgrade or whatever)

  15. Motherboard - any compatible motherboard, I am guessing one of the H77s is good VFM at the moment

  16. GPU - Tricky, couple of options, ranging from 2nd hand GTX 580 to new 7850 / 7870 as well as a 560 Gtx Ti … requirement is for 1080p gaming for lessay 2-3 yrs… first 2 at high settings, 3rd at normal playable settings (My current system is 4870 ATI and I still play Starcraft2 on it)

  17. RAM - Gskills 12800 Mhz 2 x 4 Gb ?

  18. PSU - Dont quite know which one works, I am guessing either a Season 520 / 620

  19. Cabinet - Corsair Carbide 400R is what I was thinking, availability is an issue though

  20. Sound Card - Am not quite content with the Corsairs, so I guess time for a decent sound card - Asus Sonar DG / DX should do, eh ?

  21. Mouse / Kb - Wanted something fancy, but I am guessing functionally Logitech G300/400 and TVS gold is amongst the best options to consider

     [*]Q: 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

  22. Monitor - Dell Ultrasharp or something… 23" sort… 6 months maybe - 1080p gaming

  23. GPU - Depending on what I buy now, may sell it in sometime and buy something else, completely depends on max bang for the buck

     [*]Q: Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)

  24. Mumbai

  25. Open to online purchase

  26. Prime Abgb would be the main source, I am guessing this Saturday

  27. It Depot has a decent range, overpriced it seems though, but they are the only ones with Carbide 400R I saw…

     [*]Q: Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market

  28. Yes

     [*]Q: What is your intended use for this PC/hardware

  29. Gaming (Mostly and most importantly)

  30. Movies / Series (So need good sound & video too)

  31. Browsing

  32. Download rig, obviously, guessing not 24 x 7

     [*]Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.

  33. Not really, you guys know best
    [*]Q: If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?

[*]

  • Gaming - 1440 X 900 Currently, 1080p future

  • Desktop - N/A

  • Q: Are you looking to overclock?

  • No

  1. Q: Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?

  2. Windows 7

[*]Request views on config, possible components to be considered for the upgrade, timing (78xx and Ivybridge issue), pricing opinion and places to buy the said items.

[*]Thanks in advance guys!

2

I think this is the bad time to upgrade!

Because, ivy bridge is round the corner and would be considerably faster tham SB, and till the release, nvidia’s answer for HD78XX series will also be released, so there will be a drop in the price due to competetion and you would get better bang 4 buck system.

But if you can’t wait,

PROCESSOR- our all time favourite core i5 2500k(or non “k” if you are apprehensive of ocing)

MOBO- ASUS H77(will save you couple of money for GPU upgrade) or higher end Z68(mainly for overclocking a procy)

GPU- GTX580 from classfields for 22k(I know older tech and all but couldn’t resist such a good price)

or HD7870 for 22k(smc price).

Plz note that you will get vram benefit with HD7870 and will help in aa at 1080p.

For PSU,

corsair HX650 modular which will come in handy to keep temps down because of wire blockages

3

Intel Core i5 2500 ~10900/-

Intel DH67-BL ~5400/- OR ASUS P8H77M-PRO ~9500/- [no over-clocking capability]

G.Skill RIPJAWS 4GB x1 ~1700/- [one 4GB stick should be enough for now, if you feel it is not sufficient add another one ~2 months down the line]

AMD HD 7850 ~17500/-

Corsair Carbide 400R ~5400/- OR NZXT Tempest EVO ~5500/-

Seasonic S12II 520W ~3800/-

for the sound card, contact #[member=‘PristineNote’].

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

Hope this clarifies my stand.

4

So Ivy is one point of contention, and going by #[member=‘ALPHA17’] views, a moot point… more thoughts are welcome, since even on the Ivy thread people are suggesting that the lone review suggesting 95W TDP may not be the whole truth…

Kepler, I agree… but if I am expecting a 2k improvement in pricing over a 2 month period (ABSOLUTELY, now news on Kepler 660 / 670 Ti is out there, which means its still a month away) for a 7850 / 7870, I am ok to pay this premium (This is different from the above Ivybridge case where there are possibilities that Ivy may be a substantial upgrade from SB … most likely not, but just to be sure)

H77 worth the 4k over Intel DH67 BL ? Again, ok to pay 1k premium on this being a new product and all, timeline for this computer is about 3 yrs I think, so a USB 3.0 & Sata 3 has quite a bit of value even if not the PCIe 3.0

580 gtx, yeah, brilliant pricing, even I am a lil bit inclined, but all in all, HD 78xx offers excellent value which should only improve once better drivers kick in, and the TDP ofcourse…

Which PSU ? Seasonic or the Corsair HX650? And no need for Cooler right ?

5

#[member=‘ALPHA17’]

Pretty interesting and valid points put up by you! Thanks for clearing that.

So, yes I’m with ALPHA17 to go with SB with H77 mobo.

You sure you won’t overclock?

You should atleast overclock your GPU. As graphic card overclocking is simple nowadays. Moreover, todays graphic cards(as well as cpus with external coolers) are designed with overclocking in mind

Who dosen’t want extra performance for whatever they pay eh?

6

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

7

You can consider getting hyper 212 evo for Rs.2.2k if budget permits since intel stock hsf is not that good and also go with nzxt tempest evo it comes with 6fans vfm..

8

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

9

#[member=‘GameR1120’], GPU can be overclocked even on the H77, right ? I would definitely not mind doing that if its as easy as you make it sound

As for the CPU overclocking, how much difference in prcing would it mean for o/cing ? I am guessing 1k on the CPU, a couple on the mobo and 2k on the Cooler? A minimum of 5k for overclocking, that does sound expensive to me. On a side note here, whats the difference between a 10k Z68 and a 15k Z68 ? H77s are priced in a much tighter range (~2k) than Z68s… why the huge range ?

#[member=‘ALPHA17’], so either of the PSU is fine… ditto for the Cabinet. What about the H77 vs H67 pricing thing ? worth the 4k difference ?

#[member=‘ganesh’], thanks for the suggestion.

10

Of course you can overclock your graphic card with that mobo! Yes its easy to overclock a GPU.

But make it in small steps-like 10Mhz.

All you need is a right software like MSI Afterburner(even it is a MSI software, you can easily overclock other graphic cards too).

http://event.msi.com…er/download.htm

Hope this helps and enjoy gaming.

Don’t forget to post performance in the games!

The expensive ones contain more PCI E slots(for multi GPU setups) and can accomodate more RAM, more RAM frequency etc.

No, if you are going with SB, the difference is pretty much non-existent

11

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

12

GPU Overclocking - Check

PSU - Check, oh wait, whats with the modular & non-modular options ?

Mobo, lil more clarification / finalization needed - yes, I am ok to spend upto 10k on a mobo if it offers vfm + premium for longevity. So the Asus P8H77 M-Pro is the most optimum for a non-k SB CPU at this price point ? This is amongst the possible H67 / Z68 / Z77 options ? How drastically does cost increase for a k (overclockable SB) CPU ? Overall cost of components including CPU, mobo, cooler…

13

Hope this clears your queries, Cheers!!

14

#[member=‘ALPHA17’] Just learn how to post first, Sorry for Being rude here but you can’t Quote your reply in the Quote Itself.

Generally you Quote the matter to Reply to it.. Right?

** #GameR1120 He Did it in the Right way and #alpha17 its a Headache for me to Read what you Wrote.**

15

Okay, thanks for bringing it to notice, but I try to alleviate this by marking the queries in Bold and answering below them. If it is still that bad I will have to innovate a better mechanism.

Edit → Are you trying to view this on a mobile, because I see it is not very bad on a 17" monitor and the answer is easily discernible from a quoted question.

16

No, I am not viewing from a mobile and for mobile IP board has a mobile customized version.

17

Just reply by hitting quote cause when some tries to quote your reply all they get is,Hope this helps,it gets confusing to others because they don’t what reply did the guy quote,the normal way would be better.[quote=“ALPHA17, post:15, topic:202349”]
Okay, thanks for bringing it to notice, but I try to alleviate this by marking the queries in Bold and answering below them. If it is still that bad I will have to innovate a better mechanism.

Edit → Are you trying to view this on a mobile, because I see it is not very bad on a 17" monitor and the answer is easily discernible from a quoted question.
[/quote]

18

Okay that is why, will keep that in mind.

19

So on the PSU, I guess I will stick to non-modular … since I would probably get the Corsair Carbide 400R which is non-transparent. As for the Mobo, if both Asus H77 & Z77 M-Pro versions cost 9.5k, I would much rather go for the Z77…

Also, on H77, I think it does have support for PCIe 3.0 … check this…

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H77M/#specifications

20

So bought my config on Saturday, mostly from The Itwares (prime was a lil higher)

SB i2500k - 12.25k

Asus Z-77 M-pro - 11.4k

gskil 1600 ripjaws 1 x 4 gb - 1.55k

Seasonic S12 620W - 4.6k

Logitech G400 - 1.65k

TVS Gold keyboard - 1.6k

Last 2 items were from Prime since the Itwares didnt have them.

Corsair Corbide 400R was out of stock on the entire Lamington road (or at least the main 3-4 shops), still awaiting supply… if anyone knows where to get it reliably shipped from, do kindly tell…

Postponed purchased of HD 7850 as well for the same reason, can wait for better availability, at least until I get teh cabinet…

So now all teh items are lying in their original packaging safely in my cupboard … waiting for the cabinet