Best gaming upgrade for 20k-25k?

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junkiedogg

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Hello,
As you can see from my sig, my current rig is pathetic.I am thinking of a crossfire motherboard, keeping in mind future upgrades. Although I don't have any Oc experience, I intend to OC the CPU if necessary. I have already done a phase-one upgrade preparing for further upgrades.

So assume the following

HDD : WD 640
PSU : 650TX ( this should handle anything I can throw at it )
Cabby: CM-690

Now, I have around 20k (maybe stretchable to 25k) for upgrades.

So what are my best options for a gaming rig?

1. Upgrade Proccy+Mobo (E8400+Crossfire mobo, P5Q-E?), and maybe an el-cheapo GPU till I can afford an HD4850
2. Upgrade Proccy+Mobo+GPU
E7300+
Non-crossfire mobo around 6k (MSI P45-Neo-F or other cheap P45 mobo)+
HD4670 or 4850?

3. Buy Hd4870 for 20k and seriously underuse it by gaming @ 1280x1024 on my 17'' CRT till I can get money for further upgrades ( I know this is stupid )

4. Upgrade GPU+LCD ( HD4850 + 22'' LCD ) and wait till I save up enough money to upgrade to a non-bottlenecking CPU

5. Wait up till I save around 40k.

6. Go for a green-team card so that I can buy some anaglyphic 3D glasses and have real 3D gaming?

7. Any other options?

BTW, majority of this money is in my Paypal account. So should I be withdrawing it to rupees ASAP while dollar is high and then spend later?

EDIT:
Another thing I wanted to know is whether getting a 22'' LCD over a 19'' LCD for gaming, worth the extra 3k-4k, IF I decide to go this way?

EDIT:

Ok. Some are recommending WD 640 and VX450. Just so you know. I have ALREADY bought WD 640 & a 650TX from Amarbir.I will be getting them in a few days. And since i currently have onboard gfx, I need to buy some GPU if i upgrade to a mobo without onboard gfx.
 
3rd option sounds best! Try squeezing in a RAM too :D

Try this:

MSI P-wateva mobo

E7300

HD4850

2GB RAM of whoever is selling cheapest , i.e., Transcend, Corsair, G-Skill whoever is selling the cheapest 1s
 
Oh wait. . I guess I forgot to add in the sig. I already two 1GB sticks of DDR2-667. One of them is Transcend, which I had bought about a year after buying the PC. The first stick shows as "Hyundai Electronics" in CPU-Z!!

Of course, If I upgrade my Mobo, I guess I should upgrade the RAM too, to DDR2-800 . Maybe some sticks with good 4-4-4-12 timings.

Maybe selling off my CRT will also net some money. I am not sure how much my existing motherboard+proccy will fetch.
 
i will say..........

till dollar is high widraw money n keep it:P

gather 40K n upgrade it around next year .......probably when NEHALEM makes it's appearance.......provided u can bear with this rig for months .

n u want gaming right now............

get WD 640GB
+ CORSAIR 650TX ........no need of upgrading later .

n get 9600GT ........will be good with 17" screen .
OR a 4850 .

---------------
save all reamining money ......... when u have 40k OR good amount with you then make the upgrade .

SELL ur current proccy+mobo+monitor ......will fetch less monnies

-upgrade to NEHALEM +mobo +LCD
get CF mobo .......n as u will have 4850 get another 4850 or 4870 for hybrid CF .(maybe then 5XXX will release)
few giggs of DDR3 .
 
imho.........just get 4850 + p5q-pro + good cpu cooler + good psu ; then over clock P-D to 3.2 or smtin

edit: and when prises will fall as of indian market ; through a quaddy there!.........
 
upgrade cpu , pentium d is crap for gaming .
get E7300 + gigabyte G31 + 4850 + 2gb more ram + VX450 . u can sell old mobo + proc for around 2.5k
 
pentium d is below minimum specs for new games man :rofl:
why dont upgrade cpu when he can in that budget , P5Q pro will be waste for Pentium D :P
 
It's always better to wait till you have enough cash and then make a major upgrade. A major, expensive upgrade will not only be more gratifying for you, but will also last longer. However it also depends on whether you have enough patience/can pull on with your current config until you can make arrangements for said cash.

If you do not wish to wait any longer, then option 1 sounds good provided you do not have to wait for a long period of time to buy a good GPU. There's no point in buying a good proccy/mobo right now and buying a good GPU 6 months later. It would be a complete waste of money, as you could've bought much better CPU and mobo for the same price at that time.

The other option is, as other people have suggested, you can go for E7300 + generic board + 4850 right now and overclock your CPU.

So the choice is up to you entirely, whether you want to wait or buy right now. No one else can decide this for you :)
 
I have been waiting sooo long to play the newer games like Crysis, Crysis Warhead, UT3... In fact I already have a long list of games to be played. I want ot game myself to Hell this coming semester hols in December. :)

So which is a better OC budget mobo?

MSI P45 Neo-F ( I read it has problems with Vista on newegg ) - 6k at Techshop, 5.8k at Lynx

Palit P35A - 4.4k at Techshop

Biostar TP35D2 - 4.3k + 4% at lynx

Is the Biostar TPower I45 any good? Is it available online in India?

Same question about ASUS P5K Pro.

Are there any other cheap OC+Xfire mobos?

Any other good choice, that can OC an E7300 well if necessary?

One more thing, the mobo should have support to connect 2.1 Audio. I have bought a 2.1 set already as well.

Is there any advantage to getting P45 over P35 if there is no crossfire. Also is 16x-4x crossfire on P35 any good?
 
Man even I will say, Save till AM3 / Nahelm comes out let all the dust settle and then
invest in whichever is best among the two at that time. (Though that would easily be after an year)

If you cant wait for that long and budget is a constraint I have got 3 letters for u AMD :ohyeah:

I would say Invest in 790GX based board (Gigabyte one is for 8.5 - 9K),

It has all the bells and whistles u will ever need.

Descent IGP HD 3300.
Crossfire Support 8X/8X Config.
SB750 SouthBridge with upcoming Deneb procs and 140W support.
Some extra overclock support.
etc etc

So it has little scope of upgrade left in it. Wheras with Nahelm just around the corner P45 days are numbered.

CPU for now can be either a cheap Athlon X2 for 2.5 or 8750 X 3 Black edition
Judging by user reviews
here It can be overclocked to 2.8 on stock and with a good Heatsink it can easily go to 3.0 - 3.2.

it should be somwhere around 6.5 - 7K. The extra core will help u in apps other than games.

Then u can slowly invest in a good GPU 4850 ot may ber 5850 ;) and after that a good HeatSink.

In the end slowly and steadily u'll win the race. :hap2:
 
junkiedogg said:
I have been waiting sooo long to play the newer games like Crysis, Crysis Warhead, UT3... In fact I already have a long list of games to be played. I want ot game myself to Hell this coming semester hols in December. :)

So which is a better OC budget mobo?

MSI P45 Neo-F ( I read it has problems with Vista on newegg ) - 6k at Techshop, 5.8k at Lynx

Palit P35A - 4.4k at Techshop

Biostar TP35D2 - 4.3k + 4% at lynx

Is the Biostar TPower I45 any good? Is it available online in India?

Same question about ASUS P5K Pro.

Are there any other cheap OC+Xfire mobos?

Any other good choice, that can OC an E7300 well if necessary?

One more thing, the mobo should have support to connect 2.1 Audio. I have bought a 2.1 set already as well.

Is there any advantage to getting P45 over P35 if there is no crossfire. Also is 16x-4x crossfire on P35 any good?
Click to expand...

biostar tp45hp has xfire and good oc feature....comes around 6.5k!

e7300\e7200 are same unless u have desire for 4.2-4.4GHz or smtin...then i would say e7300 else e7200....OR....e2160\ P-D for time being and quaddy later!:hap2:
 
junkiedogg said:
Another thing I wanted to know is whether getting a 22'' LCD over a 19'' LCD for gaming, worth the extra 3k-4k, IF I decide to go this way?

YES if u hav good cards to play to that resolution.
Click to expand...

junkiedogg said:
I have been waiting sooo long to play the newer games like Crysis, Crysis Warhead, UT3... In fact I already have a long list of games to be played. I want ot game myself to Hell this coming semester hols in December. :)...Well get the best u can get for your budget then, since u dun wish to wait

So which is a better OC budget mobo? the best vfm ocing board now is ga31-s2l for 2.2k/ p35 fr 4.5-5k/ p45 boards for 7k odd.

Is the Biostar TPower I45 any good? Is it available online in India? yes available for 7.5k odd great board 'backtoexistence' has it the board does 650+ FSB:D, u can ask him for more ref on the board

Are there any other cheap OC+Xfire mobos? NO

Any other good choice, that can OC an E7300 well if necessary? the boards mentioned above already does serve good in ocing.

One more thing, the mobo should have support to connect 2.1 Audio. I have bought a 2.1 set already as well. every board does that...lolz

Is there any advantage to getting P45 over P35 if there is no crossfire. Also is 16x-4x crossfire on P35 any good? both are good ocing boards..the price difference is major factor deciding, p45 performs higher tho
Click to expand...

for 20k i wud suggest to get somethin like

e7200 5.2k

ga g31-s2l 2.2k

ccf 2k

2gb ddr2 800 gskill/transcend 2k

ati 4850 9k

the above config should be more than enough for ur gaming needs for now if u feel its tad slow oc the e72 to 4ghz;).

totals for 20k odd.

if u stretch ur budget to 25k i wud suggest to get hold of zebby bjili cabbie/ cm333 for .8k/1.5k resp, that meanz u hav 5k + 3k(saved on the cm690) invest in an LCD a 19" or 22" as u please.
 
^ From my personal experience, spending that extra 3-4k on a 22" instead of 19" is completely worth it, not only for games but for watching movies and multitasking too ( more real estate ) .
 
rapt0r said:
^ From my personal experience, spending that extra 3-4k on a 22" instead of 19" is completely worth it, not only for games but for watching movies and multitasking too ( more real estate ) .
Click to expand...

i agree mate...but he mentioned for gaming....pertaining to that i gave the reply:) . theres no point in gettin bigger lcd if u wont game at that high resolutions it wud giv good feel and moreover added powerconsumption.
 
WingZero said:
for 20k i wud suggest to get somethin like

e7200 5.2k

ga g31-s2l 2.2k

ccf 2k

2gb ddr2 800 gskill/transcend 2k

ati 4850 9k

the above config should be more than enough for ur gaming needs for now if u feel its tad slow oc the e72 to 4ghz;).

totals for 20k odd.

if u stretch ur budget to 25k i wud suggest to get hold of zebby bjili cabbie/ cm333 for .8k/1.5k resp, that meanz u hav 5k + 3k(saved on the cm690) invest in an LCD a 19" or 22" as u please.
Click to expand...

Sry for extra post/bump. Didn't see the new posts due to browser cache. I have already ordered a CM-690 from previous budget. So I needn't care about a cabinet. Also, is a separate cooler like CCF necessary for getting a decent OC on E7300 or E8400?
 
cheapest performing p45 board is the msi neo f45, if goin fr p45 i wud suggest biostar ti45hp. look for p43chipset boards too
 
As for the 2.1 set comment, my current mobo has Realtek ALC883. It has 3 jacks in the back. A green one, a pink one an a blue one. The Realtek control panel gives me 2CH,4CH, and 6CH options. Only the in the 6CH option, there is facility to connect sub to the microphone jack. :) . I am not sure if it will perform well ( The 2.1 set hasn't reached here yet. ). Thats why I added that comment.

Will upgrading to 4GB give any noticeable effect in today's games? I read that it doesn't make much of a difference in Crysis Warhead. Then I will also have to get 64-bit OS to take advantage of it completely.
 
Ankurkh1 said:
Man even I will say, Save till AM3 / Nahelm comes out let all the dust settle and then
invest in whichever is best among the two at that time. (Though that would easily be after an year)

If you cant wait for that long and budget is a constraint I have got 3 letters for u AMD :ohyeah:

I would say Invest in 790GX based board (Gigabyte one is for 8.5 - 9K),

It has all the bells and whistles u will ever need.

Descent IGP HD 3300.
Crossfire Support 8X/8X Config.
SB750 SouthBridge with upcoming Deneb procs and 140W support.
Some extra overclock support.
etc etc

So it has little scope of upgrade left in it. Wheras with Nahelm just around the corner P45 days are numbered.

CPU for now can be either a cheap Athlon X2 for 2.5 or 8750 X 3 Black edition
Judging by user reviews
here It can be overclocked to 2.8 on stock and with a good Heatsink it can easily go to 3.0 - 3.2.

it should be somwhere around 6.5 - 7K. The extra core will help u in apps other than games.

Then u can slowly invest in a good GPU 4850 ot may ber 5850 ;) and after that a good HeatSink.

In the end slowly and steadily u'll win the race. :hap2:
Click to expand...
Well .. Call me a fanboi .. but I am rather attached to Intel :) . Even now most .. if not all gaming benches have an Intel proccy at the top. :)

I have almost decided on the Biostar TP45HP . I maybe able to wring out 5-6k more .. in sometime.

Where can I source it in India? I don't see it at lynx or any of the other online shops. How much do you think it will cost from KMD?

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

At Newegg it costs $109.99 .
 
I enquired at the local dealer for Biostar and got a rate of 6.6k inclusive of taxes for TP45HP . TP43D2A7 is for Rs. 4.6k and doesn't have crossfire.

So Here are my short-listed configs:

TP45HP - 6.6k

E8400 - 9.0k

Palit HD4850 Sonic - 11.3k

Total - 26.9k ( Thats stretching it a bit )

TP43D2A7 - 4.6k

E8400 - 9.0k

Palit HD4850 Sonic - 11.3k

Total - 24.9k

TP45HP - 6.6k

E7300 - 6.4k from TechShopGuy

Palit HD4850 Sonic - 11.3k

Total - 24.3k

TP43D2A7 - 4.6k

E7300 - 6.4k

Palit HD4850 Sonic - 11.3k

Total - 22.3k

Now to decide ... :) . I am definitely going for the Sonic version of 4850, to be future proof as well as due to better cooler.
 
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