PC Peripherals Help buying a new rig.

[Gautham]

Hey fellow TE members! There's a good friend of mine who's looking to buy a new computer and I thought I'd help him out. We went to CTC (Hyderabad) and got 2 quotations. Before he goes for the buy, I thought I'd post here to avoid the mistake I made with my PC.

1. Q: What is your budget?

40-42K

2. Q: What is your existing hardware configuration

None, this is a new buy.

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

None.

4. 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.

1. CPU - Intel Q8400S

2. Motherboard - Intel DG41RQ or Gigabyte 41 (the dealer didn't give me any more details about the Gigabyte mobo)

3. GPU - Suitable graphics card for this hardware (not decided yet)

4. RAM - 4 GB (Should I go for Transcend or some other brand?)

5. Hard Drive - Seagate 1TB (No more details provided)

6. DVD R/W - LG (No more details provided)

7. Cabinet/SMPS - Should support 2 x 1TB HDDs, a DVD R/W and the suggested GPU for this config.

8. 22"/24" LED Monitor.

Please explain main difference b/w LCD and LED displays and if going for LED is worth it. Also, does LED simply mean an LCD monitor with LED backlighting?

5. 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

Will not be upgrading any time soon.

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

In Hyderabad, most likely at CTC (Chenoy Trade Center, Secunderabad)

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

No.

8. Q: What is your intended use for this PC/hardware

1. Gaming

2. Browsing

3. Desktop Processing

4. HTPC

5. Download rig, 24x7 operation

6. Watching HD movies

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

No brand preference. (Inclined towards Dell for monitor, but open to other brands)

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

Along the lines of COD Modern Warfare 2 and Crysis.

11. Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage

Whatever is suitable with a 24" LED widescreen monitor.

12. Q: Are you looking to overclock?

No.

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

1. Windows 7 32/64 bit

2. Linux - Ubuntu (9.04/9.10)

 

[DarkAngel]

Athlon II X3 435 2.9GHz @ 3.9k --> 3 cores and is future proof. Intel is not VFM at this price point

ECS A785GM-M @ 4.8k

Kingston 4GB(2*2) DDR3 1333MHz @ 4.4k --> http://www.techenclave.com/pc-peripherals/avoid-transcend-products-153868.html

Cooler Master Elite 310 @ 1.5k

Logitech MMKB @ 0.4k

Logitech MX518 @ 1.4k

WD Blue AAKS 500GB @ 2.4k --> WD has 5 yrs warranty against Seagate's 3 yrs

LG 22x DVD @ 1.1k

BenQ 22" G2220 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 8k

Corsair VX450 @ 4k --> 5 years warranty. Rock solid PSU and comes in handy when u wanna add new HDD's

MSI HD5770 1GB GDDR5 @ 9.6k --> Max power consumption is just 108w

TOTAL : 41-42k

You can also consider the Sapphire 512MB GDDR5 HD4870 - 8k

The HD4870 consumes more power but also is cheaper, performs slightly better than the HD5770. But is a DX10 card though

 

[Gautham]

Thanks man, I'll consult with my friend. Though, I don't think all these are available, but I'll check it out.

PS: 3-core processor? O_O