0-20k CPU, Mobo, RAM and PSU for uncle for Full HD movies <10K

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nvidia10

nvidia10

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Hey guys, my uncle wants to upgrade his 2005 build so that he can watch Full HD movies. Please suggest something that is more suited for watching movies. Nothing too fancy as the budget is low.

Q: What is your budget?

  • <10K


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

  • CPU - Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz
  • Motherboard - Some Old Socket 775
  • GPU - Onboard
  • RAM - 1.25GB DDR2
  • Monitor - Some Viewsonic Full HD 21.5"
  • SMPS - Generic 400W
  • Case - Some Frontech Micro ATX
  • Optical Drive - LG 22X DVD Burner
  • KB and Mouse - Samsung ones from 2005
  • Speakers - Some Creative 5.1 Channel
  • Sound Card - Some Creative Sound Blaster
  • HDD - WD 80GB



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

  • Monitor - Some Viewsonic Full HD 21.5"
  • Case - Some Frontech Micro ATX
  • Optical Drive - LG 22X DVD Burner
  • KB and Mouse - Samsung ones from 2005
  • Speakers - Some Creative 5.1 Channel
  • Sound Card - Some Creative Sound Blaster
  • HDD - WD 80GB


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.

  • CPU - Any cheap ones which can play full HD movies without breaking sweat, preferably Intel as AMD's small heatsink fans make sound like jet engines
  • Motherboard - any compatible micro ATX motherboard
  • RAM - Suitable value memory 4 GB
  • PSU - Suitable one and the cheapest among the good quality ones


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

  • This will be final for years to come, except may be a HDD upgrade months down the line


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

  • Bangalore


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

  • No


Q: What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
  • Watching full HD movies


[FONT=Verdana, Segoe UI, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.[/FONT]

  • Brands with good ASS are [FONT=Verdana, Segoe UI, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]preferred[/FONT]


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

  • None


Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
  1. Desktop - 1920x1080


Q: Are you looking to overclock?

  • No


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

  • Windows XP 32 bit(Yes, I know it doesn't make full use of 4GB memory, but this PC won't run any memory hungry tasks)



If you need any more info, please let me know. thanks in advance.
 
@nvidia10 this is what I suggest --

Intel Pentium G630 ~3500/-
H-61 chipset based motherboard ~3500/-
Corsair ValueRAM 4GB x1 ~1100/-
FSP Saga II 350W ~1700/- (from Ankit Infotech @S.P. Road)
[rest all salvaged from old RIG]

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Instead of G630 OP should get G645-3.3k would give a little better performance at less price.
ALPHA17 said:
nvidia10 this is what I suggest --

Intel Pentium G630 ~3500/-
H-61 chipset based motherboard ~3500/-
Corsair ValueRAM 4GB x1 ~1100/-
FSP Saga II 350W ~1700/- (from Ankit Infotech @S.P. Road)
[rest all salvaged from old RIG]

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
Click to expand...
 
Jakob said:
Instead of G630 OP should get G645-3.3k would give a little better performance at less price.
Click to expand...

If it has replaced the G630 in the pipeline it should be available with the dealers, if not then the G630 isn't bad.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the reply. Just got into contact with my uncle regarding the configs you gave. The budget of 10K can be used for CPU, motherboard and RAM. PSU will be bought with extra 1.7K. So, considering the Mobo and RAM for ~5K, can any better CPU be bought at 5K?
 
nvidia10 said:
The budget of 10K can be used for CPU, motherboard and RAM. PSU will be bought with extra 1.7K. So, considering the Mobo and RAM for ~5K, can any better CPU be bought at 5K?
Click to expand...

Try to see if the Intel Core i3 2100 has slipped to that price, if yes then snap it up.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
 
Thanks. It seems to be around 6.5K. Any other recommendation? Also, any particular Mobo recommended by you?
 
The HD6450 will do the job for you,If you get i3 then you won't need external gpu to play HD movies.
nvidia10 said:
I thought of that. But I'm not sure if his old mobo has a PCIEx16 or not. If it indeed has one, will the GPU be able to play 1080p without any hiccups? Will VLC do the job or any other player needs to be used?
Click to expand...
 
Have a look at this motherboard.
ASRock H61M Motherboard - ASRock: Flipkart.com

Has an HDMI port, you can later connect it to an HDTV also if you want. If you go with normal boards like gigabyte's h61, you will need a separate gpu because you will need an HDMI port.
If used with G645, this combo is more than enough for a normal HTPC. If you start to customize with madVR filters and all that, it 's integrated graphics will sweat so will i3's except i3 3225 which is totally out of budget.
So I do not think you need and i3, buy G645 and get a good GPU later on if you feel it is lacking.

Also keep in mind the PSU because the capacity of your PSU will decide your choice of GPU.
 
nvidia10 said:
I thought of that. But I'm not sure if his old mobo has a PCIEx16 or not. If it indeed has one, will the GPU be able to play 1080p without any hiccups? Will VLC do the job or any other player needs to be used?
Click to expand...

Borrow one and see. First check if there is a PCIe X16 slot. If not, then you need to upgrade. If there is one, most of the 720p rips should play, but not the 1080p ones unless they are small in size.
 
harry_houdini said:
Have a look at this motherboard.
ASRock H61M Motherboard - ASRock: Flipkart.com

Has an HDMI port, you can later connect it to an HDTV also if you want. If you go with normal boards like gigabyte's h61, you will need a separate gpu because you will need an HDMI port.
If used with G645, this combo is more than enough for a normal HTPC. If you start to customize with madVR filters and all that, it 's integrated graphics will sweat so will i3's except i3 3225 which is totally out of budget.
So I do not think you need and i3, buy G645 and get a good GPU later on if you feel it is lacking.

Also keep in mind the PSU because the capacity of your PSU will decide your choice of GPU.
Click to expand...

Even a FSP Saga 350W will be fine for a card like the HD6670 in-case it comes to that.

About the motherboard, does not the GIGABYTE board suggested by me already have an HDMI-OUT?
 
ALPHA17 said:
Even a FSP Saga 350W will be fine for a card like the HD6670 in-case it comes to that.

About the motherboard, does not the GIGABYTE board suggested by me already have an HDMI-OUT?
Click to expand...

Well I was just going by the power requirement mentioned on the respective Amd and Nvidia sites. Some cards are fine with 350W. A lil higher , cards require 400 or 450 W according to those sites. I myself thought if they actually need that but I do not know if its worth taking the risk?. I got no experience in this department.
Amd site says you need a 400W power supply for 6670. But according to this link AnandTech - Bench - GPU12
even a 350 W seems enough as g645+6670 load power consumption would not reach 300W at full loads. I guess AMD keeps the powerful line of CPU's in mind and leaves a 50-100 W space. that is the only logical thing I can imagine.

That apart, what I really meant is if the OP wants to add a good mid range card like a 660 or a 7850, or he just wants to have a card like 6670, he should purchase accordingly.
I never argued anything about FSP saga. How can I teach the guru :P

Absolutely it Gigabyte B75 has an Hdmi port. I was talking about Gigabyte H61 motherboard. Asrock H61 is a thousand bucks cheaper than the Gigabyte board. Hence I was recommending that keeping in mind the low budget. But the Gigabyte board you mentioned has great reviews and seems a good board. I would consider that above asrock h61 easily.
B75 gigabyte or any other obviously offer better features than an H61 board.
 
Jakob said:
The HD6450 will do the job for you,If you get i3 then you won't need external gpu to play HD movies.
Click to expand...

vivek.krishnan said:
Borrow one and see. First check if there is a PCIe X16 slot. If not, then you need to upgrade. If there is one, most of the 720p rips should play, but not the 1080p ones unless they are small in size.
Click to expand...

Almost all the 720Ps play nicely in his current rig. The CPU usage stays around 50-65%. Only the very high bit rate ones like 8GB rips stutter occasionally on VLC. On KM even those don't stutter. Coming to 1080Ps, only very very low bitrate ones play decently. So, his current requirement would be a config which can run any 1080P thrown at it. Will a GPU upgrade alone do that? (I'm away from my place due to vacation. If possible, I'll try to put in my 5770 into his rig to test it out if it has an x16 slot. But it could take me 3 weeks to get it here.)

harry_houdini said:
Have a look at this motherboard.
ASRock H61M Motherboard - ASRock: Flipkart.com

Has an HDMI port, you can later connect it to an HDTV also if you want. If you go with normal boards like gigabyte's h61, you will need a separate gpu because you will need an HDMI port.
If used with G645, this combo is more than enough for a normal HTPC. If you start to customize with madVR filters and all that, it 's integrated graphics will sweat so will i3's except i3 3225 which is totally out of budget.
So I do not think you need and i3, buy G645 and get a good GPU later on if you feel it is lacking.

Also keep in mind the PSU because the capacity of your PSU will decide your choice of GPU.
Click to expand...

ALPHA17 said:
Even a FSP Saga 350W will be fine for a card like the HD6670 in-case it comes to that.

About the motherboard, does not the GIGABYTE board suggested by me already have an HDMI-OUT?
Click to expand...

harry_houdini said:
Well I was just going by the power requirement mentioned on the respective Amd and Nvidia sites. Some cards are fine with 350W. A lil higher , cards require 400 or 450 W according to those sites. I myself thought if they actually need that but I do not know if its worth taking the risk?. I got no experience in this department.
Amd site says you need a 400W power supply for 6670. But according to this link AnandTech - Bench - GPU12
even a 350 W seems enough as g645+6670 load power consumption would not reach 300W at full loads. I guess AMD keeps the powerful line of CPU's in mind and leaves a 50-100 W space. that is the only logical thing I can imagine.

That apart, what I really meant is if the OP wants to add a good mid range card like a 660 or a 7850, or he just wants to have a card like 6670, he should purchase accordingly.
I never argued anything about FSP saga. How can I teach the guru :P

Absolutely it Gigabyte B75 has an Hdmi port. I was talking about Gigabyte H61 motherboard. Asrock H61 is a thousand bucks cheaper than the Gigabyte board. Hence I was recommending that keeping in mind the low budget. But the Gigabyte board you mentioned has great reviews and seems a good board. I would consider that above asrock h61 easily.
B75 gigabyte or any other obviously offer better features than an H61 board.
Click to expand...

He may never connect it to a TV, so an HDMI may not be needed. But you never know. So, I'll communicate with him regarding the same. Also, the PC will never be used for any heavy task or heavy game other than 1080P movies. So, a heavy GPU isn't needed at all if the CPU is good enough to handle it.

And BTW, Thanks again for all you guys for your replies...
 
Guys, I took a look at my uncle's old mobo. It has an AGP slot. But no x16. That means, he'll be going for the new build.

CPU - Intel Pentium G630/G645 approx - 3500/- (Why does G645 cost almost the same as G630 even though it's supposed to be more powerful?)
Which one to get?

RAM - Corsair value RAM - approx 1100/-

PSU - Which one is better FSP Saga II 350 or Corsair VS350? ~ 2000/-

Mobo - Gigabyte B75M-D3H ~ 4200/- or any other good one under 4000?
 
Are you sure that it does not even have a PCIe X1 slot? Because you could use a cheap X16 card in the X1 slot with a bit of cutting.

AGP cards are also available, do check before changing systems as it seems the current system can suffice for his needs.
 
vivek.krishnan said:
Are you sure that it does not even have a PCIe X1 slot? Because you could use a cheap X16 card in the X1 slot with a bit of cutting.

AGP cards are also available, do check before changing systems as it seems the current system can suffice for his needs.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It only has PCIs and an AGP. It's about 8 years old :P Weren't the AGP cards stopped before the introduction of video decoding on the GPUs?
 
Yes, but some cards are available in AGP FF. Any AMD 4XXX or nVIDIA 8XXX and above series should do the job.

- - - Updated - - -

However, ensure that its not too expensive before purchasing it. Try looking for used stuff too
 
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