Budget 0-20k Minimalist upgrade....CPU, Mobo, Ram, Cabinet

M

moshel

Adept
Questions
  1. What is your budget?
    • 10K
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - Intel E4400
    • Motherboard - Asus P5Q
    • GPU - Nvidia 630
    • RAM - 1X1GB + 1X2GB DDR2
    • Monitor - Samsung 22" full HD
    • PSU - VIP 500W
    • HDD - WD 250 GB and 500 GB
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • GPU - Nvidia 630
    • Monitor - Samsung 22" full HD
    • PSU - VIP 500W
    • HDD - WD 250 GB and 500 GB
  4. 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 - AMD or Intel, open to both options
    • Motherboard - Any brand
    • Ram - Cheap but branded ones
    • Cabinet - Generic
    • HDD - SSD for windows install (if budget allows)
  5. 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
    • No Upgrade
  6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Ahmedabad
    • Open to online purchase
  7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • No
  8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Gaming
    • Browsing
  9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • No preference
  10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • Strategy - Simcity
    • Racing - NFS
    • Sports - Fifa
    • Action - GTA, Skyrim
  11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Gaming - 1920x1080
    2. Desktop - 1920x1080
  12. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 7 32 bit

I play games rarely now, but I do need a computer that "plays" all games even if at the lowest setting. Computer will be mostly used for internet browsing and downloading + occasional gaming.

I am open to both intel and AMD options and will prefer to go for something which gives more bang for the buck.

Shall look forward to your suggestions. Thanks!

Regards,
Moshel
 
  • CPU - Intel Pentium G 3220 -3500,
  • Motherboard - Gigabyte H81M-S1 -3500,
  • Ram - Kingston HyperX 4GB -2500,
  • Cabinet - Any Local -1500,
  • PSU - Antec VP450P -3000.
  • TOTAL -14,000.
 
the above will be fine for simcity, fifa, nfs and older gta titles but not so sure about skyrim as that's pretty heavy on the eye-candy.
you could still be under budget with a second-hand 750ti or r7 250x thrown in - just a suggestion.
 
Thanks for the suggestions!

Few additional comments/questions:
Considering the tight budget, I am not looking the change the PSU and graphics card at this moment. Will do it on a need basis.

Also can you please suggest me which socket in each (Intel & AMD) is advisable to go with. I need little bit of future proofing. Don't want to invest in a socket which is near EOL. In Intel I believe currently at the lower end is LGA 1155? But I also see LGA 1150 and LGA 1156. What is the difference and which is better? Based on your suggestions, I will look for the appropriate processor and cost.

Got totally confused in AMD with the numbers...FM2, FM2+, AM1, etc.

G3220 processor I see is a Pentium grade dual core processor. Would it be better to go with a newer Pentium DC processor in place of older 3rd gen i3 processor. I don't mind spending upto 7-8k for proccy+mobo because it is something which cannot be upgraded easily. Will stretch/tighten budget for rest of the things.

Thanks!
Moshel
 
  • CPU - Intel Core i3 4150 -7500,
  • Motherboard - Gigabyte H81M-S1 -3500,
  • Ram - Kingston HyperX 4GB -2500,
  • Cabinet - Deepcool Tesseract BW -3000,
  • PSU - Antec VP450P -3000.
  • TOTAL -19,500.
If you do not upgrade your PSU from VIP to anything better then it will take all other components with it in case it fails or provide low voltage which is detrimental to your whole concept of lowering cost, future proofing and not buying EOL products right.
 
As bssunil says, upgrade your psu - recommend seasonic.

The latest socket for intel cpu's is socket 1150. the one before that was 1155 (1156 is even older). socket 2011 was meant for xeons.
The latest socket for amd is am3+. it is backwards compatible with am3 cpu's and older am3 cpus can go on the newer am3+ socket if the mobo bios supports it.

The g3220 is equivalent to an older i3 so i guess price would be the deciding factor here.

As far as future-proofing goes it doesn't make sense to go that route because 9/10 times when changing your cpu, the mobo will probably get an upgrade too since new mobos will have new features like new usb interface, new memory support, new sata interface etc. Best to go with what gives you the most bang for your buck now.
Intel will likely move to a new socket after skylake. i'm guessing amd will stick with am3+ until zen in 2016.

What i can suggest is to get the pentium g3258 which has an unlocked multiplier. Later on you can always get a water cooler and go nuts with that chip as it overclocks quite well :)
Also, while a water cooler (or any decent cooler) is a little pricey,remember that you can keep using it even if you change your cpu.
http://www.google.co.in/aclk?sa=L&a...enshoo-21&ascsubtag=_kenshoo_clickid_&cad=rja
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the help bssunil and crapmypants. I have decided to go with bssunil's first suggestion.

Also can you please suggest me a ssd for my Windows partition. On a budget of course. Am thinking of going for 80 GB.

Thanks,
Moshel
 
moshel said:
Thanks for the help bssunil and crapmypants. I have decided to go with bssunil's first suggestion.

Also can you please suggest me a ssd for my Windows partition. On a budget of course. Am thinking of going for 80 GB.

Thanks,
Moshel
Click to expand...

Samsung 850 Evo 120GB -5100.
 
The Gigabyte H81M-S1 mobo doesn't support Kingston HyperX . As such, Kingston HyperX does not support H81 chipset as per the kingston website.

Would it be ok to go with Kingston/Corsair "value" rams? please suggest another option.

I checked reviews and it seems that the Samsung 850 Evo is the best SSD out there. Little higher than the budget but i'll try. Please suggest which other brands I should check out.

Thanks,
Moshel
 
moshel said:
The Gigabyte H81M-S1 mobo doesn't support Kingston HyperX . As such, Kingston HyperX does not support H81 chipset as per the kingston website.

Would it be ok to go with Kingston/Corsair "value" rams? please suggest another option.

I checked reviews and it seems that the Samsung 850 Evo is the best SSD out there. Little higher than the budget but i'll try. Please suggest which other brands I should check out.

Thanks,
Moshel
Click to expand...
Corsair Value Select 1600Mhz 4GB -2500.
 
moshel said:
The Gigabyte H81M-S1 mobo doesn't support Kingston HyperX . As such, Kingston HyperX does not support H81 chipset as per the kingston website.
Click to expand...
If you're referring to the RAM compatibility list, you can ignore it. It's just a formality that manufacturers follow with a few sets of RAM they have at their disposal. Pretty much any DDR3 stick will work.

Samsung has not sorted the problems with the 840 Evo as yet. Best to wait it out and see if they can get a permanent fix before buying any TLC based drive.
 
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