Budget 0-20k PC Kaput and partial upgrade advice needed

P

Pthrash

Disciple
Hi All,

My old PC suddenly stopped booting a couple of days ago and after a lot of troubleshooting it looks like mobo is DOA. So I am in the market for a upgrade.
I am looking for CPU+Motherboard+GPU+RAM+PSU. Would also be interested in a good cabby with space and better cable management.


  1. Q: What is your budget?
    • 20K to 25K

  2. Q: What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 940
    • Motherboard - Biostar TA790Gx 128M
    • GPU - ATI Sapphire HD 4850
    • RAM - Mushkin 2x2 GB DDR2
    • Monitor - Dell 2412m
    • SMPS - Antec Earthwatts 500W
    • SDD- Kingston SSDNow 64GB SATA II
    • HDD- WD Caviar Black 1 TB
    • ODD- Moserbaer DVDRW


  3. Q: Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • Monitor - Dell 2412
    • SDD- Kingston SSDNow 64GB SATA II
    • HDD- WD Caviar Black 1 TB
    • ODD- Moserbaer DVDRW

  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.
    • CPU - Intel Core i3 2120 or if possible ivy bridge replacement for it
    • Motherboard - Any decent mid range (full size preferred due to fat finger issues)
    • rest of it I have no idea and would welcome advice

  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 Config At Max i might get a higher speed SSD a year or so down the road

  6. Q: Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Bangalore
    • Open to online purchase

  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
    • Moderate Gaming
    • Browsing
    • HTPC
    • Download rig, 24x7 operation
    • Watching HD movies


  9. Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • Am a bit leery towards ASUS as I hear that aftersales form them is very bad

  10. Q: If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • Strategy - Civilization 4
    • Simulation - Simcity 4 with lots of mods and 5 when it launches

  11. Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Gaming - 1920x1080
    2. Desktop - 1920x1200

  12. Q: Are you looking to overclock?
    • No

  13. Q: Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 7 64 bit
    • Linux - Ubuntu (rarely)
 
@Pthrash this is what I suggest --

Intel Core i3 3220 ~7500/-
GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H ~4500/- OR ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-
Corsair Vengeance 4GB x2 1600MHz ~3200/-
Corsair Carbide 300R ~4500/- OR Corsair Carbide 400R ~5500/-
[rest salvage from your old RIG -- SMPS, graphics card till it dies]

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

P.S. -- Welcome to TE and have a pleasant stay.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd suggest OP to get Intel i5 3450-12k instead of i3,He has sufficient budget for it,No need to go for P8H77-V unless he's going to Crossfire which i don't think he will.A quad core processor would be a good upgrade than dual core.OP can add 4GB ram later if budget is getting stretched,He can stick to 4GBX1 ram right now.
ALPHA17 said:
this is what I suggest --

Intel Core i3 3220 ~7500/-
GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H ~4500/- OR ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-
Corsair Vengeance 4GB x2 1600MHz ~3200/-
Corsair Carbide 300R ~4500/- OR Corsair Carbide 400R ~5500/-
[rest salvage from your old RIG -- SMPS, graphics card till it dies]

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

P.S. -- Welcome to TE and have a pleasant stay.
Click to expand...
 
Jakob said:
I'd suggest OP to get Intel i5 3450-12k instead of i3,He has sufficient budget for it,No need to go for P8H77-V unless he's going to Crossfire which i don't think he will.A quad core processor would be a good upgrade than dual core.OP can add 4GB ram later if budget is getting stretched,He can stick to 4GBX1 ram right now.
Click to expand...

Read the emboldened --
Pthrash said:
[*]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 - Intel Core i3 2120 or if possible ivy bridge replacement for it
  • Motherboard - Any decent mid range (full size preferred due to fat finger issues)
Click to expand...
 
ALPHA17 said:
Pthrash this is what I suggest --

Intel Core i3 3220 ~7500/-
GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H ~4500/- OR ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-
Corsair Vengeance 4GB x2 1600MHz ~3200/-
Corsair Carbide 300R ~4500/- OR Corsair Carbide 400R ~5500/-
[rest salvage from your old RIG -- SMPS, graphics card till it dies]

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

P.S. -- Welcome to TE and have a pleasant stay.
Click to expand...

Hi Alpha,

Thanks for the very fast reply!
The B75M looks to be a Micro ATX board. Does gigabyte sell anything in full size that matched this?
Would GSkill RAM be equivalent to the corsair ones you mentioned?
Also my SMPS is pretty long in the tooth (2006) so I was wondering if i should maybe get a new one?
 
Jakob said:
I'd suggest OP to get Intel i5 3450-12k instead of i3,He has sufficient budget for it,No need to go for P8H77-V unless he's going to Crossfire which i don't think he will.A quad core processor would be a good upgrade than dual core.OP can add 4GB ram later if budget is getting stretched,He can stick to 4GBX1 ram right now.
Click to expand...

Hi Jakob,

getting the i3450 would swallow about 14k after tax and also to get the most out of it i would have to pair it with a good z77 board and hefty gpu.
20k would get munched up pretty fast by this.
Due to that I'm not considering it.
 
Pthrash said:
Hi Jakob,

getting the i3450 would swallow about 14k after tax and also to get the most out of it i would have to pair it with a good z77 board and hefty gpu.
20k would get munched up pretty fast by this.
Due to that I'm not considering it.
Click to expand...

No you do not have to use a Z77 based motherboard for the Core i5, you can put it on the GIGABYTE-B75 based motherboard and it shall work like a charm.

Core i5 3450 from flipkart.com with taxes and delivery --> Intel 3.1 GHz FCLGA1155 Core i5 3450 Processor | Processor | Flipkart.com ~11900/-.
 
The i5 3450 is 12k with tax locally and you can pair it with Gigabyte B75-D3H-4.5k so no need to go for z77 board,Everything will fit within 25k,If it goes 1-2k over then get 4GB ram instead of 8GB,You can always add ram later.
Pthrash said:
Hi Jakob,

getting the i3450 would swallow about 14k after tax and also to get the most out of it i would have to pair it with a good z77 board and hefty gpu.
20k would get munched up pretty fast by this.
Due to that I'm not considering it.
Click to expand...
 
ALPHA17 said:
Pthrash this is what I suggest --

Intel Core i3 3220 ~7500/-
GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H ~4500/- OR ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-
Corsair Vengeance 4GB x2 1600MHz ~3200/-
Corsair Carbide 300R ~4500/- OR Corsair Carbide 400R ~5500/-
[rest salvage from your old RIG -- SMPS, graphics card till it dies]

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

P.S. -- Welcome to TE and have a pleasant stay.
Click to expand...

Hi Alpha,

Thanks for the fast response. For some reason my original reply did not get posted so I will do so again.
The Gigabyte seems to be a micro atx which would really be a pain when installing or if i put in a quieter aftermarket cooler some months later.
Is there another one from them that is full sized?
Also my PSU is vintage 2006. Would it be better to get a new one?
 
Jakob said:
The i5 3450 is 12k with tax locally and you can pair it with Gigabyte B75-D3H-4.5k so no need to go for z77 board,Everything will fit within 25k,If it goes 1-2k over then get 4GB ram instead of 8GB,You can always add ram later.
Click to expand...

I thought the reason for getting a big i5 was to pair it with a fast z77 and big GPU for gaming.
putting it on a little micro atx gigabyte seems a bit in the way of overkill for my modest usage.
But still you guys have a good point, price difference is about 3k only.
 
I didn't get what you're saying,The size of motherboard doesn't matter the socket for 30k processor and 5k processor will remain moreover the same.Don't judge things by size,The i5 won't be an overkill for you so get it.
Pthrash said:
I thought the reason for getting a big i5 was to pair it with a fast z77 and big GPU for gaming.
putting it on a little micro atx gigabyte seems a bit in the way of overkill for my modest usage.
But still you guys have a good point, price difference is about 3k only.
Click to expand...
 
Pthrash said:
I thought the reason for getting a big i5 was to pair it with a fast z77 and big GPU for gaming.
putting it on a little micro atx gigabyte seems a bit in the way of overkill for my modest usage.
But still you guys have a good point, price difference is about 3k only.
Click to expand...

Ummm... as long as you are not over-clocking the need for a Z77 based machine will not be there, also the Core i5 3450 cannot be over-clocked.

The tiny GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H can probably beat boards that are more expensive yet have the same feature-set.
 
Hi Alpha and Jakob,

Looks like you guys were spot on about the Gigabyte, glowing reviews from various sites and good ratings at newegg.
I just wanted to ask a couple of questions I had entered earlier that did not show up until mod approved.
Should I change my 7 year old SMPS and also what GPU would be a good cheap upgrade for about 5 to 6K?

Thanks
Pthrash
 
Pthrash said:
Should I change my 7 year old SMPS and also what GPU would be a good cheap upgrade for about 5 to 6K?
Click to expand...

Swap the SMPS for a Seasonic S12II 520W ~4200/- (on-street pricing in Bangalore).

About the GPU, if you can find an AMD HD5770 / HD6770 ~5500/- -->6500/- that will be the best deal.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
 
hi Alpha,

I have decided to get this setup in the end.
Intel Core i5 3450 11766
GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H ~4500
G-Skill Ripjaws 4GBx2 3600
Corsair Carbide 300R ~4500/
Seasonic SII520 PSU

I will hold off on the GPU. After a lot of googling I found that the difference between a HD 4850 and HD 6770 or 7750 is only around 10 to 15%
Maybe next year I will consider a more hefty GPU.

Will be off to SP road to get prices on Friday.
 
Hi Alpha,

Got the parts from SP road today. Here are the prices (add 5.5% for tax):

Intel Core i5 3450 11000
GIGABYTE-B75M-D3H 4500
G-Skill Ripjaws 4GBx2 3000
Corsair Carbide 300R 3700
Seasonic SII520 PSU 3500

Apart from the gigabyte motherboard, SP road was cheaper than online (flipkart).
But if you factor in dealing with those slimy unscrupulous rude SOBs then flipkart seems infinitely cheaper.

Will let you guys know if it boots up when i assemble over the weekend.

ps: Is the intel stock fan enough for this setup and how noisy is it likely to be at load? The reason I ask is that my old phenom's stock fan used to scream continuously.
I finally had installed a zalman cooler to get some silence.
 
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