Upgrade suggestion needed

Buying Advice Desktop & PC Buying Advice
1

Please answer the following questions for others to help you out better. Delete whatever you feel is not required.

  1. Q: What is your budget?

  2. 15K

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

  3. CPU - Athlon x2 5000

  4. Motherboard - Asus m2n

  5. GPU - nvidia intagrated

  6. RAM - 2gb pc 800

  7. Monitor - viewsonic 17

  8. SMPS - generic 400w

  9. *Hdd -seagate 500gb sata *

  10. dvd rw -lg

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

  11. Monitor - viewsonic 17

  12. *Hdd -seagate 500gb sata *

  13. dvd rw -lg

    [*]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 cpu

  15. Motherboard - any compatible motherboard

  16. *GPU - none prefer *integrated

  17. cabinet &smps

    [*]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

  18. an ips panel RGB calibrated monitor

  19. *no other upgrades in next three years *

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

  20. Thrissur (kerala)

  21. Open to online purchase

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

  22. No

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

  23. Browsing

  24. *music listening *

  25. photo editing (important)

  26. Watching HD movies

  27. *office apps *

  28. may be some video editing (casual)

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

  29. prefer intel (been an AMD user for last eight years)

    [*]Q: If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?

  30. *no gaming *

    [*]Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage

  31. Desktop - 1440x900

    [*]Q: Are you looking to overclock?

  32. No

    [*]Q: Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration

[*]

  1. *Linux - ubuntu/debian**y *
2

#[member=‘madhukannan’] Sire, this is what I recommend –

Intel Core i5 2320 ~9500/-

Intel DH67-BL ~5400/-

G.Skill RIPJAWS 4GBx 1 ~1700/-

Cooler Master GX450W ~3000/-

Cooler Master eLite 311 ~2000/-

APC BR650VA-IN ~2600/-

You can prchase these components from these online sites –

  1. The IT Depot [Chennai based so likely the least shipping charges to your place]

  2. Prime ABGB [Bombay based]

I know this beaches your budget by ~10000/- easily, but if you want a RIG to go on for three years with no upgrades apart from the monitor, I will suggest you do not compromise below the above configuration.

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

3

Since yesterday my pc is not booting up , since its around three year old i thought of upgrading to a better hardware , i use my pc mainly to surf and editing photos, i may upgrade my dslr to one with HD video and 15+ megapixels the upgraded pc should handle it with ease . I also watch HD movies it should be able to play 1080p (bitstreeming preferd)

Thanks but it goes well above my budget , can some config possible in 15k?

4

Very difficult Sire, especially the fact that the PC needs to run for 3 years, but this what I suggest if you have no choice –

Intel Core i3 2100 ~6200/-

MSi H67MA-E35 ~4800/- OR ASUS P8H61-M LX ~3500/-

G.Skill RIPJAWS 4GB x1 ~1700/- [add another 4GB module later, to improve the performance ever so slightly]

Cooler Master GX450W ~3000/-

Cooler Master eLite 311 ~2000/-

APC BR650VA-IN ~2600/-

Hope this is more to you liking, Cheers!!

5

alpha i have gone through your suggested online links

i fond these combo deals are these ok

http://www.primeabgb.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=4710&category_id=441&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

6

Should do good in your case, only one suggestion – bump up the RAM 4GB x2 instead of a single stick of Corsair ValueRAM it will be a small penalty to your processors potential. Better to get 8GB in total now and rest easy.

Also, do not forget the SMPS and the cabinet. Cheerio!!

7

Why GX450W?,Corsair CX430V2-2.1k will suffice for this rig.[quote=“ALPHA17, post:4, topic:202751”]
Very difficult Sire, especially the fact that the PC needs to run for 3 years, but this what I suggest if you have no choice –

Intel Core i3 2100 ~6200/-

MSi H67MA-E35 ~4800/- OR ASUS P8H61-M LX ~3500/-

G.Skill RIPJAWS 4GB x1 ~1700/- [add another 4GB module later, to improve the performance ever so slightly]

Cooler Master GX450W ~3000/-

Cooler Master eLite 311 ~2000/-

APC BR650VA-IN ~2600/-

Hope this is more to you liking, Cheers!!
[/quote]

8

No specific reason, just that

  • It has a 80+ Bronze Efficiency rating.

  • Slightly higher rated output.

  • Apart from this, it carries a greater warranty of ~5 years vis-a-vis CX series 3 years cover.

Thats about it, hope this helps, Cheers!!

9

But op isn’t going to add Gpu or OC anything so why waste 1k more?,CX430V2 would be enough.

10

He might add hard-drives considering he wants to carry out photo-editing operations. 500GB is not enough by any standards, especially once he gets a D-SLR and starts shooting in .RAW.

11

Thanks for the suggestions , A few questions since am looking for economical mobo which has an integrated gpu which will flawlessly play HD videos (1080p) is the h61+i3 2100 suitable for that. and will there be visually perceivable difference in performance with pc 1333 and a 1600 ram ?.

i never felt a real performance boost with my upgrade from single core athlon xp to athlon x2

12

In this case,try to get the – Intel Core i3 2120 ~6800/- [the primary difference is this has a more powerful IGP], as for the rest a H61 / H67 based motherboard will be good to go.

If you are able to acquire a H67 based motherboard, getting 1600MHz RAM will be slightly beneficial, whilst if you get a H61 based motherboard anything over 1333MHz doesn’t make sense.

Hope this answers your query, Cheers!!

13

Isn’t the i3 2020 comes with the same hd 2000 gpu as the i3 2100, how about i3 2025 ? / 2030. Are these available freely and how much they cost ?

14

Well Sire, there is no processor by this ID – Core i3 2020, I assume you meant this one. And you got it right it doesn’t support the HD 3000 IGP chip, just has a slight speed bump over the vanilla Core i3 2100.

The Core i3 2105 / 2125 on the other hand do support the HD 3000 graphics that will come in handy for your work, but just might not be enough in the long run, more importantly on the Intel Ark they show up as not launched. This is the biggest worry for me as I doubt they are available with Indian retailers [online / offline].

Now my honest appraisal for this situation for you would be, –

  • Invest a little more and go for the AMD Trinity / Llano set-up.

  • The onboard IGP on the Llano rips the guts out of Intel’s HD series IGP’s.

  • AMD Trinity is expected to release ~Mid-May.

If you cannot wait for AMD’s Trinity and have to make an immediate purchase I recommend the following set-up –

AMD A6-3650 ~5500/-

ASUS F1A75-M ~6000/-

G.Skill RIPJAWS 4GB x2 1600MHz ~1600/- x2 [per RAM module, AMD Llano IGP’s performance scales well with the faster frequency RAM modules → http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-a8-3850-llano,2975-6.html / http://pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-3850-Llano-Desktop-Processor-Review-Can-AMD-compete-Sandy-Bridge/Memory-S]

[rest configuration as Intel’s]

Hope this helps, Cheers!!