HELP - Finalising my Rig < 40K

[terence_fdes]

Hi & thank's to all those out here who have helped me in almost finalising my new RIG these past few weeks.

I have LISTED the following components so far [yet to buy, by the end of this month] & if there is any discrepancy then please feel free to point it out. I am Mumbai based.

Highlighted in Blue are my specific querries/concerns

Processor : AMD A8-3850 Fusion/Llano ........ [Rs 6900]
Mobo : ASUS F1A75-V Pro ........... [Rs 8765]
RAM 8GB : Gskill F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL /1600 MHz/Ripjaws 9-9-9-24 / 2 X 4GB ........ [Rs 3150]
PSU : Seasonic S12 II Bronze 520W ........ [Rs 3600]

Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum [ reuse from my old rig]

Storage: Seagate 7200 RPM [ undecided between 1/2 TB].... prefer 1TB to start with
........ Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA 7200.12 SATA 3Gbs ........... Cost Rs 2850 at prime OR
........ Barracuda XT SATA 6Gb/s 2TB Hard Drive ST32000641AS ....... Cost Rs 7600 at prime
NO plans for SSD - too bloody expensive & high failure rates

Cabinet: [ undecided ] - need one with front USB 3.0 & 2.0 ports
....... Waiting for NZXT Tempest 210 to be launched in India
....... or will Settle for NZXT Source 210 Elite ...... [price ? ]


FANS : How Many will I need

Monitor : HDMI & Full HD Support essential, so [ undecided ]
....... Dell ST2220L LED monitor [This is unlisted today by Dell/India] but still available online .... Rs 7500
....... BenQ E2220HD ..... 2 HDMI's ........ [Rs 8800] .... do not know where is it available in Mumbai OR
Is there any other Brand Monitor for less than 9K - having HDMI/ 1920 x 1080 specs ?

===================================

OPTIONS/ADDITIONS LATER ON
Blu-Ray Writer
Storage : 1+1+1 TB [To collect & store loads of Full HD Movies + My Photography Shots - RAW]
Graphic Card : [Will add it ONLY if I feel that the above RIG is sluggish]
.......... Sapphire HD 6670 1GB DDR5 or
.......... XFX ATI Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR3 - HD-667X-ZHF3

====================================

I may decide to install both Windows 7 64-Bit & Mac OS.
C - drive partition would be 200 GB [is this too much or less] ?

I am not into gaming but will use my Rig for batch processing of RAW images; occassional 720p/1080p home edits & 24 X 7 downloads on weekends. Will be installing Avid DS Nitris; Final Cut Pro; Photoshop; Maya [occassional use only] & A Sound Editing Software - All for Home Use ONLY.

Thanks

 

[aryanraj]

Cabinet CM Enforcer with USB 3.0 (cost around 5600 - 5800 in local market ) or corsair carbide series 400R (cost less than 5000 in local market)

Seagate 1 TB 7200 RMP is a good option.
Benq E2220HD is best

I am using this one from 9/2/2011

its original cost at that time was 7800 in Lucknow.

In Mumbai this should be less than this.

for Win7 64 bits 100 - 120 GB will be enough.

 

[swatkats]

Why dont you for Sandy bridge Processors.

I Can blindly tell you AMD are bullshit in Front of new i5 and i7 series.

I would not Suggest AMD unless and until Bulldozer(16 Core) launches in India.

 

[DarkAngel]

You are better off with a Intel Core i5 2320 in that budget. If Llano then its pretty pointeless going for a GPU HD6670!

Components Description Price (INR)
Processor Core i5 2320 9300
Motherboard Intel DH67BL(B3) 5200
RAM Corsair 2*4GB DDRIII 1333MHz 2600
HDD Seagate 1TB 7200.12 2850
GPU Intel HD2000 IGP -
Monitor Benq E2220HD 8900
Cabinet NZXT Source 210 2900
PSU Seasonic S12II 430w 2700
Key Board Logitech SET - Optical Blk Mouse+ MMKB 650
Mouse NA -
ODD Samsung 22X SATA DVD 950
Speakers Altec Lansing 2.1 VS2621 1650
Total 37700

NZXT Source 210 Elite Mid Tower Cabinet

If you do need a GPU I think Nvidia GPU's are better for your kind of usage. Better opt for a GTS450 1GB GDDR5 ~ 6.5k
Another option for the Cabby is the Elite 311 plus ~ 2.7k

Currently due to lack of time I am unable to search a H67 mobo with internal USB 3.0 headers. The one I suggested lacks them.

If AMD then better wait for the Bulldozer launch and go for a Octa-Core processor

 

[swatkats]

The Configuration mentioned by Darkangel is pretty Good:

I would like You to check i5-2500K Intel processor than the one mentioned above.

Choose Dell monitors.

 

[terence_fdes]

Why dont you for Sandy bridge Processors.
I Can blindly tell you AMD are bullshit in Front of new i5 and i7 series.
I would not Suggest AMD unless and until Bulldozer(16 Core) launches in India.

I am an AMD fan & [my last rig served me well for 8 years!!! - Athlon XP-1800; Asus A7NX-P; 1GB SD RAM] - why should I pay 10-15K more for something else & to also get Direct X 11 support.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

You are better off with a Intel Core i5 2320 in that budget. If Llano then its pretty pointeless going for a GPU HD6670!

If you do need a GPU I think Nvidia GPU's are better for your kind of usage. Better opt for a GTS450 1GB GDDR5 ~ 6.5k
Another option for the Cabby is the Elite 311 plus ~ 2.7k

Currently due to lack of time I am unable to search a H67 mobo with internal USB 3.0 headers. The one I suggested lacks them.

If AMD then better wait for the Bulldozer launch and go for a Octa-Core processor

@Darkangel thanks, I certainly value your suggestions. NOW YOU HAVE PUT ME IN A FIX .... but it's I will definately look at Intel again.

Incidently, I have been an AMD fan for many years [see my earlier reply]. I am 47 year's young and work in the 2D/3D CGI-Animation & Film Industry. I have been into computers since the 8086 proc days [more than 25 years ago & handled the 1st Mac's too - though not a fan of Mac]. I have always done thorough R & D before buying anything..... I am open and will definately delay my decision after checking AMD vs Intel specs for my budget.

I do not want to end up spending my hard earned money on "hyped" up technology. This is where I really appreciate all the "regular techenclave guru's" for their unbiased advice.

Whatever test reports that I came across showed that AMD A8-3850 is an all round winner & VFM [value for money] within the stipulated budget...... [I had earlier planned on Phenom 4/6 core, but when I glanced at the other specs - mobo's having Dir X 11; usb 3; hdmi 1.4 etc I found the combined prices going too high!]

Lastly do you think a 430W PSU is right for this rig - considering optimum efficiency loads.

Keep this debate on guys

Terry

 

[Hades.]

Just would like to make few changes in the DA's suggested rig... Instead of i5 2320 buy i5 2400 which is not only 100MHz faster but also has more features and costs the same (9.3k)

i5 2320 vs. i5 2400 Comparison : Compare Intel® Products

Plus instead of NZXT Source 210 buy NZXT Gamma which is overall better than NZXT Source 210... It may not have front USB3 port but beats Source 210 in features... For eg... NZXT Gamma has side ways HDD bays, Better airflow, Dust Filters, LEDs (which would let you know that your computer is on) etc etc... All these features are enough to rule out NZXT Source 210... Plus another reason to avoid NZXT Source 210 is that NZXT Source 21O's USB3 port needs internal USB3 header which DH67BL lacks... you would find this feature in high end boards only... So the front USB3 port would be useless if you are going to buy DH67 BL motherboard (which lacks USB3 header)... So if you were thinking to buy NZXT Source 210 for only front USB3 port then my friend you need to think again...

 

[mrcool63]

So an amd'ist... finally... the 3850 is very vfm but you may want to wait till october 12 as BD launches then. its definitely beating intel at the lower price range. waiting is best. as for the gfx, any amd inbuilt beats the crap out of intel hd.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Choice of platform:

Well, if you plan on installing MacOS, would suggest you go with Intel only as with AMD, you need a modified disc, with intel, any mac os x disc + iboot should do the trick.

If intel, look no further than the i5 2500k. the small difference in price ~ 1500 bucks over the 2400, is worth it since the i5 has a better IGP~h.264 quick sync will be be more faster as the 3000 has double the EUs over the 2000, is overclockable and will be the better binned chip. Plus the HD3000 is supported with chimera, wheras the hd 2000 is not.

On the AMD side, the reason that the Llano is cheaper is because it is an integrated platform, but it is a dead platform in terms of upgrades. So either go with the Llano or ideally, wait for Bulldozer. And yes, even i feel the same, inspite of having an option to go for a intel i3, went again with AMD. On the flipside, although it is hard to beat Intel in performance, AMD is VFM.

Hard Drive:

I think that the XT is an overpriced drive and you will be satisfied with a pair of seagate 500GBs in RAID 0 if you need that level of performance. the only standoff is power consumption. Or if you want a single drive option, there is the WD Black 1TB, but its at a price premium for a single drive, and will be outperformed by the 500GB pair in raid 0.

me thinks a 7200.12 1TB is quite enough, get a 2TB green for your data storage. 200GB is quite enuff for w7.

Power Supply.

The Seasonic is OK, but a 430W PSU is just barely enough, not recommended, if that is what you are suggesting.

 

[swatkats]

I am an AMD fan & [my last rig served me well for 8 years!!! - Athlon XP-1800; Asus A7NX-P; 1GB SD RAM] - why should I pay 10-15K more for something else & to also get Direct X 11 support.

I don't know How Good is AMD and I never Been a Fan of them.

According to my me, These So called AMD Processors Which are available now are waste in Front of I5 and i7 Core processors.

I would like you to check this : Efficiency Comparison: Sandy Bridge Vs. Intel And AMD CPUs : Energy-Efficient Performance Wanted

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Choice of platform:

Well, if you plan on installing MacOS, would suggest you go with Intel only as with AMD, you need a modified disc, with intel, any mac os x disc + iboot should do the trick.

If intel, look no further than the i5 2500k. the small difference in price ~ 1500 bucks over the 2400, is worth it since the i5 has a better IGP~h.264 quick sync will be be more faster as the 3000 has double the EUs over the 2000, is overclockable and will be the better binned chip. Plus the HD3000 is supported with chimera, wheras the hd 2000 is not.

Righto. Actually i5 Processors are less in price and Give a Bit less performance of 20% compared to i7.

But its worth the deal.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

I don't know How Good is AMD and I never Been a Fan of them.

According to my me, These So called AMD Processors Which are available now are waste in Front of I5 and i7 Core processors.

Not really, for many of us, AMD has served us well. Took this into choice and settled for AMD again, inspite of having cash to get an i3 rig. AMD FTW!

 

[ALPHA17]

I don't know How Good is AMD and I never Been a Fan of them.

According to my me, These So called AMD Processors Which are available now are waste in Front of I5 and i7 Core processors.

I would like you to check this : Efficiency Comparison: Sandy Bridge Vs. Intel And AMD CPUs : Energy-Efficient Performance Wanted

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---



Righto. Actually i5 Processors are less in price and Give a Bit less performance of 20% compared to i7.

But its worth the deal.

Okay Sire, you are tarnishing AMD for no good reasons, sure their architecture is dated [AMD K 10.5 is a refined K8 architecture] + core-to-core they are behind Intel processors but for sheer value-for-money proposition they trump Intel choices, plus Intel has a virtual monopoly on the OEM market so AMD is choked in that segment too.

AMD Llano gives decnt fps in Crysis 2 compard to Intel HD IGP's.

For the RIG suggestion, here is my pitch --

Intel Core i5 2400 OR 2500 ~ 8800/- OR 9500/- [as OP is not keen on over-clocking and is more biased towards production applications]

Intel DH67-BL OR ASUS P8H67-M EVO ~ 5200/- OR 7500/- [depends if you are keen on the USB 3.0 front headers or not]

Corsair XMS3 1600MHz 4GB x 2 ~ 3200/- [good RAM is cheap these days, make hay while the sun shines]

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB ~ 2900/-

AMD FireMV 2250 OR nVidia GTS 450 ~ 5500/- OR 6800/- [as you are into production with this PC Sire, professional graphics OR nVidia CUDA will come in handy the nVidia card will be able to handle moderate gaming as well] Workstation Graphics Cards

Seasonic S12DII 430W OR Cooler Master GX 450W ~ 3000/- [these power supplies will be enough for your system]

NZXT Gamma ~ 2100/- + 2 x 120mm fans ~ 450/- [a good cabinet + fans for good airflow]NZXT Gamma Review - Overclockers Club

BenQ E2220HD monitor ~ 8500/- [decent TN based panel with HDMI-out]

Samsung OEM DVD writer ~ 1000/-

APC BR-650VA-IN ~ 2600/-

Hope this helps, Sire Cheers!!

[/COLOR]

I am 47 year's young and work in the 2D/3D CGI-Animation & Film Industry.

Where have you worked?

I'm an Animation student incidentally.

 

[terence_fdes]

Where have you worked?

I'm an Animation student incidentally.

WOW TO ALL OF YOU for your replies - I am presently terribly busy with Shah Rukh Khan's RA-01 [doing some of the visual fx & animation fx]. But will get back asap to these discussions..... hopefully by tonight

I am an old horse & need's strong convincing on shifting to Intel :0

Past 14 years I have been working at Crest Animation Studio's - Mumbai.

Just a correction - I had chosen 520W PSU as recommended by some guy's from an earlier discussion. But the Intel Rig that was suggested here recommends 430W - to which I raised my doubts.

 

[ALPHA17]

^^ Hmmm... Sire,

We are recommending Intel as core-to-core due to much improved architecture Intel processors even though have fewer cores on paper clock-to-clock they process more work, which means more work is done for lesser electricity consumed = faster, efficient processing per-core per-clock.

Also since Intel migrated to the Hyper-Transport type interface for its processors [by integrating the memory-controller on the CPU chip], they've managed to improve it to a level where it is actually better at memory management than its AMD equivalent [HT 3.0], for more about Sandy-Bridge architecture -- Sandy Bridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Although AMD plans to make a come-back with its Bulldozer architecture, I can't confirm with certainty that whether it will change the game in AMD's favor or Intel will keep its performance halo, also reliable bench data is hard to come so I'm not ready to suspect speculate and retract puffy statements claiming AMD has price-performance crown while Intel is too expensive.

Also FX-series processors have been delayed twice this year, so all fingers crossed, incidentally I own a AMD Phenom IIx4 based RIG and am happy with its performance.

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

 

[vivek.krishnan]

WOW TO ALL OF YOU for your replies - I am presently terribly busy with Shah Rukh Khan's RA-01 [doing some of the visual fx & animation fx]. But will get back asap to these discussions..... hopefully by tonight

I am an old horse & need's strong convincing on shifting to Intel :0

Past 14 years I have been working at Crest Animation Studio's - Mumbai.

Just a correction - I had chosen 520W PSU as recommended by some guy's from an earlier discussion. But the Intel Rig that was suggested here recommends 430W - to which I raised my doubts.

Ra.one? LOlz. but well, its what you do for a living, i guess.

520W is future proof. Do not go for the 430w unless you do not plan to either add more HDD/stuff.

Regarding convincing to shift to intel, look at tomshardware/anandtech. you will find all the proof you need. But do w8 for BD. Feel its going to be as good as it sounds!

 

[mrcool63]

Wait till october 12th if you can.. BD will release by then.. confirmed by AMD apparently..

If Ra.One has crappy animations the i know who to blame

 

[Arun.P]

btw dont buy Asus board where u will face big problem from rashi service center so i suggest go for gigabyte for better warranty and good brand

 

[terence_fdes]

Wait till october 12th if you can.. BD will release by then.. confirmed by AMD apparently..

If Ra.One has crappy animations the i know who to blame

Yes of course

1] I will wait till 12th Oct

2] Righto blame me for the Crap in Ra-one. I never liked srk [always considered him to b a very poor actor who was blessed with luck all thru these years]

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

btw dont buy Asus board where u will face big problem from rashi service center so i suggest go for gigabyte for better warranty and good brand

Really Sad to hear that. I have always had faith in ASUS and their stability [but I guess sometimes there is this one-off troublesome board that spoils the party]. My old Asus board served me well for 8 years with no problems.

So which other good brand of mobo would you suggest MSI ?

I am collating all the information that you guys have given me so far & I do have a few questions which I will put forth asap.

 

[Hades.]

Actually Asus is the no.1 motherboard manufacturing company its just that their A.S.S is bad in India... This is not the case in other countries... Here on TE some people work for Asus company... for eg. Bikeinstein... If in case in future your Asus motherboard goes kaput... you can contact bikeinstein who is a very helpful guy... he would help you to get the RMA'ed motherboard from Rashi ASAP...

 

[terence_fdes]

Plus instead of NZXT Source 210 buy NZXT Gamma which is overall better than NZXT Source 210... It may not have front USB3 port but beats Source 210 in features... For eg... NZXT Gamma has side ways HDD bays, Better airflow, Dust Filters, LEDs (which would let you know that your computer is on) etc etc...

Thanks. Will consider the gamma. Now since I am keen on front usb 3.0 & 2.0 ports, is there any 3.5" or 5.25" sized drive/card where these ports are available & how much does it cost ? [the internal usb 3.0 header that this needs will be taken care of by choosing the appropriate mobo].

I just thought of sharing the specs of the Asus F1A75-V PRO Mobo that I liked very much for the AMD A8-3850
[now if you guys can convince me about i5 beating AMD in price/performance] then suggest a mobo that would have all of these features too
- UEFI BIOS - EZ Mode - Flexible & Easy BIOS Interface
- Native USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s Support - Double Access, Double Convenience
- 4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR3 2250(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz [future needs taken care of sufficiently]
- Supports DirectX 11

Expansion Slots
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 ( x16, x4)
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
3 x PCI - [I will be using one of them for my old audigy soundcard]

6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray
Support Raid 0, 1, 10, JBOD
ASMedia® PCIe SATA controller :
1 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), navy blue
1 x eSATA 6Gb/s port(s), red

ASMedia® USB 3.0 controller

Secondly, I have dropped the idea of installing a dual boot [mac os]. There is too much of lafda to change the hardware. Once I finalise the mobo & proc I will NOT Change it for the next 4-5 years [only changes I might make is add additional RAM; HDD's and If I need a graphics card]. Lastly guys, to stay within my 40K budget I do not wish to go for a separate graphics card initially.

Thanks