Budget 31-40k New PC help

S

sds

Recruit
Hello guys. I need help with a multi purpose rig. Little bit of FPS games, regular browsing, desktop processing. The rig would be in use for at least 12 hours daily. Is keeping it switched on 24X7 advisable? I already have a few 1TB HDDs and a PSU. Would a SSD drastically improve matters? Need advice on everything else.

Please answer the following questions for others to help you out better. Delete whatever you feel is not required.
  1. Q: What is your budget?
    1. 40K
  2. Q: What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    1. PSU
    2. HDDs (SATA2)
  3. Q: Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    1. PSU - Corsair HX620
    2. HDDs
  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 - AMD Phenom II 970
    2. Motherboard - ASUS M5A97
    3. RAM GSkill Ripjaws 8Gb (4X2)
    4. 22" Monitor
  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 Final
  6. Q: Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    1. Kolkata
    2. Open to online purchase
  7. Q: Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    1. No
  8. Q: What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    1. Multipurpose actually. Light to medium gaming, browsing, etc, etc
  9. Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    1. Nada
  10. Q: If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    1. FPS
  11. Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Gaming - Er.. 1080p?
    2. Desktop - 1080p?
  12. Q: Are you looking to overclock?
    1. No
  13. Q: Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    1. Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Thanks in advance guys!!!
 
Well for your usage, Sire this is what I will recommend --

Intel Core i5 2320 ~9500/- OR Core i3 2100 ~6500/-

Intel DH67-BL ~5400/- OR MSi H67MA-E35 ~4800/-

G.Skill RIPJAWS 4GB x1 OR Corsair XMS3 4GB x1 ~1600/-

LG / Samsung OEM DVD drive ~1000/-

Seasonic S12II 520W ~3500/-

Cooler Master eLite 311 ~2000/- OR NZXT Gamma ~2600/-

Dell ST2220L ~8500/-

LOGITECH G300 / G400 ~1300/- OR 1400/- + LOGITECH multimedia keyboard ~450/-

APC BR650VA-IN ~2600/-

Hope this helps, Cheers!!
 
sire #[member='sds'] please dont go with Amd. Phenom 970 can only compete with i3 2100 and core2duo but intel i3 still beats Amd in gaming section.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

You can add more 4Gb ram to the rig suggested by #[member='ALPHA17'] as you have Psu .

After buying the above rig you'l save 6k. Buy an Ssd for c drive. It'l boot the os quickly and the processes would be carried out more faster. IMO, SSD is a must now a days at least for boot drive.
 
Are you looking into purchasing a discrete GPU? If not, then consider going for a CPU with good built in graphics. Something like an i3-2100, or a AMD A8-3850. These CPU's have good built in graphics. For FPS games, especially the latest ones you would be something adequate for the graphics.
 
ryandigweed said:
Are you looking into purchasing a discrete GPU? If not, then consider going for a CPU with good built in graphics. Something like an i3-2100, or a AMD A8-3850. These CPU's have good built in graphics. For FPS games, especially the latest ones you would be something adequate for the graphics.
Click to expand...

Sire, your ID-tag is perfect for what you just suggested in the quoted post. Jokes apart, here is the full picture.

The Core i3 2100 has a generic Intel HD 2000 IGP, AMD A8-3850 Llano chips will steam-roll it in the GPU performance and GPGPU section of benches, but the Core i3 architecture is much better and it completely takes out the AMD APU in the processor performance department.

Here is a head-to-head comparison of the same --> http://www.anandtech...duct/399?vs=289.
  • Please note in all productivity tasks the Intel processor leads the AMD APU, insofar that the AMD APU even after four physical cores cannot compete with the Intel processor in daily tasks like WinRAR re-compression / decompression.
  • The AMD APU is only effective in the entry level scenario and quickly falls out of favour on the addition of a discrete graphics card.
  • The power dissipated by the Intel in the form of heat is far lesser than AMD, although the AMD APU is stellar in the fact that it has a maximum TDP of ~100W after having a powerful IGP and a quad-core layout.

For more reviews on Llano, read the following articles --> #1, #2 and #3.

[font=Verdana, Tahoma,]When the platform first landed, I was concerned about how it’d fare against Core i3—[/font]a processor we’ve already established performs exceptionally well in the company of discrete graphics. But the Core i3-2105 itself costs $140 and a Radeon HD 6570 adds $70 to that bill. That’s an entry-level graphics card, too. Between the pair, you’re already over $200.

Strip Core i3 from the add-in graphics component that makes it shine and you’re left with HD Graphics 3000. While significantly faster than HD Graphics 2000, Intel’s best integrated effort can’t even come close to the engine built into AMD’s A8-3850. When you consider the LGA 1155- and FM1-based packages on their own merits, the Llano architecture makes a lot more sense. This is a simple matter of cost and balance.

We’re huge proponents of balance. You put the right processor with the right graphics card and the right memory. When you find the sweet spot for any given budget, you get the best all-around performance. That’s the entire premise underlying Paul Henningsen’s Building A Balanced Gaming PC series. Intel and AMD each made judgment calls when they were designing their respective next-gen products. Intel put most of its focus on very powerful execution cores. As such, its dual-core part is often able to beat AMD’s quad-core implementation. But AMD sunk more resources into on-die graphics able to complement the mainstream cores.
Click to expand...


Hope this helps, Cheers!!
 
Thanks for the input guys.

@ ALPHA17 - Sire, checked out a few online shops and the i5 2320 is selling for 10k +. Should I spend a bit more and get the i5 2400/2500?

If I opt for the i5 2400/2500, would I need a better board?

Would APC UPS work the Corsair HX620?

@ Swatkats - Sire, which SSD should i plonk for?

@ ryandigweed - I might just spring for a GPU after a few months. Not sure.

If I do get a GPU later on, which one would be best suited? I don't want an overkill
<


GSkill Ripjaws 4X2

Dell ST2220L

ODD

Cabinet

Keyboard and mouse

These are kinda fixed then.

Need some more input wrt the processor and the board.

P.S. Are these components significantly cheaper in Thailand? What about warranty if bought from there?
 
The difference between i5 2320 and i5 2400 is minimal so if you want to spend 1k for 2-3 frames then you can get it and yes i5 2400 or 2500 will work on the same motherboard as suggested,no need to get anything else.

For ups go for APC 1.1KVA-5k which will be able to handle the GPU+HX620.

If you're waiting for few months then you'll have more options for gpu then than now,You can go for AMD HD7850-16k or less after few months OR Nvidia Latest offerings like Gtx660ti which maybe revealed by then.For HD gaming it won't be an overkill.As for SSD within your budget you can go for Corsair Force 3 60GB SSD-5k which is good withing that budget.http://www.deltapage...3-60GB-SSD.html

Don't know much about international warranty or thailand other members will comment on that.
sds said:
Thanks for the input guys.

@ ALPHA17 - Sire, checked out a few online shops and the i5 2320 is selling for 10k +. Should I spend a bit more and get the i5 2400/2500?

If I opt for the i5 2400/2500, would I need a better board?

Would APC UPS work the Corsair HX620?

@ Swatkats - Sire, which SSD should i plonk for?

@ ryandigweed - I might just spring for a GPU after a few months. Not sure.

If I do get a GPU later on, which one would be best suited? I don't want an overkill
tongu23e.gif


GSkill Ripjaws 4X2

Dell ST2220L

ODD

Cabinet

Keyboard and mouse

These are kinda fixed then.

Need some more input wrt the processor and the board.

P.S. Are these components significantly cheaper in Thailand? What about warranty if bought from there?
Click to expand...
 
sds said:
ALPHA17 - Sire, checked out a few online shops and the i5 2320 is selling for 10k +. Should I spend a bit more and get the i5 2400/2500?

If I opt for the i5 2400/2500, would I need a better board?

Would APC UPS work the Corsair HX620?

If I do get a GPU later on, which one would be best suited? I don't want an overkill
tongu23e.gif


P.S. Are these components significantly cheaper in Thailand? What about warranty if bought from there?
Click to expand...

Well #[member='sds'] this is what I would suggest --

Intel Core i5 2400, a compromise between the Core i5 2320 and the Core i5 2500. Should be enough, as the basic architecture is same-same for all Core i5 chips with different operating frequencies. Seeing as you are not over-clocking, best go fot the Core i5 that falls in your budget effective and is powerful enough keeping the future in mind.

No the Intel DH67-BL is the best motherboard in your price band, better than the BioSTAR motherboard because --
  • More DIMM slots for future RAM upgrades.
  • Intel International warranty, buy from anywhere and apply for after sales anywhere.
  • Cheap, dependable and better after sales than BioSTAR atleast in India.

It should work with the SMPS in question, though I know that certain Corsair SMPSs' have an aversion to APC UPS. In that case and to save you further headaches and a little cash I suggest you go for this UPS -- Microtek 800VA ~2800/- [but I have no idea about their after-sales support].

Later as in when later will you get the graphics card, if you can wait out till June -->August, you might be spoilt for choices in the form off --
  • nVidia GTX 660Ti; looking till now the performance of Kepler based cards has been great and for the first time nVidia has a more power efficient than competing AMD / ATi designs.
  • AMD HD 7850 / 7870 2GB; these cards have arrived early and by the time the Kepler competition arrives the market will be flooded with these cards in the ~13500 -->18500/- price band, with a variety of flavours and options thereby these just might be what you want to buy.

Neither of the above cards will be overkill and will serve you in good stead for atleast ~2 years, 3 -->4 years if low-medium quality graphics are acceptable.

Reason why I asked you to get 1600MHz RAM modules is --

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3 / http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3_8.html.

[quote name ='anandtech'][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sandy Bridge's improved memory controller has all but eliminated the need for extreme memory bandwidth, at least for this architecture. It's only when you get down to DDR3-1333 that you see a minor performance penalty. The sweet spot appears to be at DDR3-1600, where you will see a minor performance increase over DDR3-1333 with only a slight increase in cost. The performance increase gained by going up to DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133 isn't nearly as pronounced.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We also found that memory bandwidth does scale with CPU clock speed; however, it still doesn't translate into any meaningful real-world performance. The sweet spot still appears to be DDR3-1600. All of the extra performance gained by over-clocking almost certainly comes from the CPU overclock itself and not from the extra memory bandwidth.[/font][/quote]

Apart from Intel which has a International Warranty honorarium, none of the other products will have support in India, so strictly avoid buying those components outside India, you might come to regret it later.

Hope this helps, Cheers!!

P.S -- If you want to tag anyone in your posts please use # before their ID, e.g. #Jakob. Please note this functionality doesn't work for edited posts.
 
Thanks again! I'm NOT in a hurry to get a graphics card. July - August sounds about right.

@ Jakob - I'll checkout the APC you suggested. What about the SandForce issues with the Corsair Force 3? Is it safe?

@ ALPHA17 - Sire, i5 2400 it is then
<


One thing though! With this setup (sans GPU), is it possible to have dual displays? Sorry if its a stupid question
<


P.S. Do I need a CPU cooler? And should I opt for extra fans for the cabinet?
 
sds said:
@ ALPHA17 - Sire, i5 2400 it is then

One thing though! With this setup (sans GPU), is it possible to have dual displays? Sorry if its a stupid question
tongu23e.gif


P.S. Do I need a CPU cooler? And should I opt for extra fans for the cabinet?
Click to expand...

Sire I already explained you, to tag members use # and follow it with the ID. E.g. #[member='sds'].

Apart from that down to business,

without a dedicated GPU you can support upto 2x monitors [but that is the absolute maximum], as well it might not support HDMI-OUT this a-way. For more details please refer to this product page.

You need not invest extra in a CPU cooler, but make sure while installing the stock cooler you are ultra precise that it is well seated. Otherwise you will have to re-TIM the CPU.

Apart from this yes please invest a little money to buy a few extra fans, place one in the front panel that pulls in fresh air. As well add another fan on the side panel to again pull in fresh air [both fans to be 120mm]. For these a worthy candidate is this one. In the local market this fan will be as cheap as ~400/- apiece.

Hope this helps, Cheers!!
 
ALPHA17 said:
The Core i3 2100 has a generic Intel HD 2000 IGP, AMD A8-3850 Llano chips will steam-roll it in the GPU performance and GPGPU section of benches, but the Core i3 architecture is much better and it completely takes out the AMD APU in the processor performance department.
Click to expand...

I am completely aware of that, thats why i asked. AMD A8 is perfect for HTPC's and such. Since you have the best graphics you can get built in, without a discrete GPU

sds said:
@ ryandigweed - I might just spring for a GPU after a few months. Not sure.

If I do get a GPU later on, which one would be best suited? I don't want an overkill
tongu23e.gif
Click to expand...

Since you're going for a 2400 /2500, then i guess any low/mid end 7xxxx series in your budget would be good. Or wait for a low end version of the GTX600 line.
 
ryandigweed said:
I am completely aware of that, thats why i asked. AMD A8 is perfect for HTPC's and such. Since you have the best graphics you can get built in, without a discrete GPU.
Click to expand...

See he is buying a discrete graphics card down the line so there is no point buying a weaker AMD Llano based system which will not hold a candle to the Intel Core series performance.

So seriously no point spending twice, if he is happy with the HD 2000 IGP till July <-->October then it his choice.
 
ALPHA17 said:
See he is buying a discrete graphics card down the line so there is no point buying a weaker AMD Llano based system which will not hold a candle to the Intel Core series performance.
Click to expand...

Yeah no point, thats why i was confirming whether he has the intention of upgrading to a discrete GPU . LOL
 
Hello sires! Time for an update. Got the following goodies.

Dell ST2220L
Corsair XMS3 4GB x 2
Razer Cyclosa Combo
NZXT Source 210 Elite
Cooler Master Ice Fusion Thermal Paste
CM 120mm Chassis Fan X 2
LG 22X ODD

Will be getting the i5 2400 tomorrow. As for the motherboard, is the Intel DH67CL okay? The BL I couldn't find here in Calcutta.
As for the SSD, decided to go for the Corsair Force GT 120 Gb.
 
Hello all!
Got everything installed today. But there's a problem.
Win7 X64 is not detecting the Razer keyboard and mouse. Tried different ports but they stop working after boot or at the enter password screen. Worked fine with the chassis USB port once but back to square one after reboot.

Intel i5 2500/Intel DH67CL/CM 690 II Advanced. Rest configuration as mentioned in last post. Tried re-installing the Mobo drivers.

HELP!!
P.S Not sure where to post this. Moderates, kindly do the needful.
 
Sorted it out, was a Win7 driver issue.

#ALPHA17
#Jakob
#swatkats

Sires, thanks for the suggestions. Rig is up and running :)
 
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