41-50k Please help me build a gaming PC within Rs. 40k

[Xavier]

Hey guys, posting here after a long time. I'm looking to build a new PC in the first/second week of July and would like to get your thoughts and insights on the same. I've been out of the scene for quite some time and am not aware of the latest components/advancements.

1. What is your budget?
   40K (Can probably stretch it to 45k, not more than that)
2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
   A 6.5 year old Pentium Dual Core machine that should have been upgraded ages ago. Lack of funds and other things kept postponing this upgrade.
3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
   • Monitor - A ViewSonic 24 inch LCD display that my friend gave to me before he shifted to the States.
   • Genius 2.0 speakers
     
   • V-Guard UPS (will upgrade this in the next 2-3 months)
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
   • CPU - Intel Core i5 4440 or AMD FX-6300?
   • Motherboard
   • GPU
     
   • PSU
   • RAM
   • HDD (1 or 2TB)
     
   • Cabinet
     
   • Keyboard+Mouse
     
   • DVD Writer
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
   It will probably stay around for a couple of years, at least.
6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
   Wherever I get better deals. I'm not averse to buying online as I'm a pretty prolific online shopper. I'm from Pune, so information about any good local dealers that you guys are aware would be welcomed.
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
   • Watching HD and SD movies/tv shows
     
   • Occasional image processing (Lightroom/Photoshop only)
9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
   None, but I'm wary of AMD's 'overheating' issues or is that not an issue anymore?
10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    The general: FPS, racing, some strategy, etc.
11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage?
    Gaming - 1900 x 1080, preferably
    Desktop - 1900 x 1080
12. Are you looking to overclock?
    No
13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    Windows 7 64 bit

So, basically I'm looking for an upgrade within the Rs. 40k budget. I'm guessing that the i5 4440 would overshoot my budget by quite a bit and is probably not even required for my needs? What about an i3 comparable to the FX-6300? Also, while I would prefer gaming in 1080p I fully understand that it may not be possible in my budget and would be alright with a lesser option.

Thanks a lot, in advance.

 

[harshilsharma63]

FX 8320 (10,400)
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P (5,850)
Corsair XMS3 4 GB 1600 MHz (2,600)
Sapphire R9 270X DualX 2 GB (15,000)
Antec VP550P (3,500)
Any local cabinet without PSU (1,000)
WD Blue 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD (3,100)
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W (1,000)
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo (800)
Total 43,250

Enough for 1080p gaming.

 

[Xavier]

FX 8320 (10,400)
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P (5,850)
Corsair XMS3 4 GB 1600 MHz (2,600)
Sapphire R9 270X DualX 2 GB (15,000)
Antec VP550P (3,500)
Any local cabinet without PSU (1,000)
WD Blue 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD (3,100)
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W (1,000)
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo (800)
Total 43,250

Enough for 1080p gaming.

Thanks for the prompt reply, mate.

Will the FX 8320 prove to be a better choice than say the latest i3 or i5 in terms of gaming and multitasking? Also, is this Antec PSU that you recommended good enough for the R9 270X?

 

[harshilsharma63]

Thanks for the prompt reply, mate.

Will the FX 8320 prove to be a better choice than say the latest i3 or i5 in terms of gaming and multitasking? Also, is this Antec PSU that you recommended good enough for the R9 270X?

> i3 is a little kid in front of FX 8320. It's much much more powerful than an i3; no comparison between them. An i5 provides better gaming performance but 8320 is cheaper and more future proof. An i5 config will cost a a bit more than 45k.

> I'd suggest a change in motherboard to ASUS M5A97 available for 7.2k.

 

[Xavier]

> i3 is a little kid in front of FX 8320. It's much much more powerful than an i3; no comparison between them. An i5 provides better gaming performance but 8320 is cheaper and more future proof. An i5 config will cost a a bit more than 45k.

> I'd suggest a change in motherboard to ASUS M5A97 available for 7.2k.

Thanks for your reply, once again. What are your thoughts on the R7 265 vs the R9 270X? Is the extra 1.5k for the latter worth it? Because this way I could perhaps sneak in another 4GB RAM stick. From what I've read, the R7 265 does pretty well in 1080p on most current games. http://www.anandtech.com/show/7754/the-amd-radeon-r7-265-r7-260-review-feat-sapphire-asus/8

 

[Xavier]

How does this look?

Core i5 4440 - 12.4k
or
Core i3 4130 - 7.4k
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H - 5.6k
Sapphire R7 265 2GB - 13.2k
Seagate Barracuda 1TB - 3.7k
Corsair XMS3 4GB x 2 - 5.8k
Antec VP550P - 3.5k
Corsair SPEC 01 - 3.5k
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W - 1k
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo - 800

= 49.5k for the i5, 44.5k for the i3.

The i5 version is overstretching my budget by quite a bit. One workaround to this is that I buy the graphics card in August or buy the whole thing (i3) in July. Another option is to buy a 4GB RAM stick now and go for the i5, but even that is stretching the budget to 46.6k. What would you guys suggest?

Also, can somebody comment on the reliability of the Antex VP550P?

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

Will the FX 8320 prove to be a better choice than say the latest i3 or i5 in terms of gaming and multitasking?

If you have an idea about the games you will be playing, check out techspot's gaming benchmarks. The CPU benchmarks will throw light on how multi-threaded the game engine is. Games which aren't heavily multi-threaded show the i3 hanging with or outperforming the FX 83xx, simply because of Intel's higher performance per core. The FX 63xx will probably be a nice balance as games become optimised for more cores.

Also, can somebody comment on the reliability of the Antex VP550P?

I would get the Seasonic S12II instead, since the VP550P is now a V2 revision with unknown changes.

 

[crossbow]

Better if you can wait till August for GPU purchase. And invest good amount in CPU and PSU for now.

- Get Core i5 4590 for 13.9K instead of 4440.

- And Seasonic S12II 520W for 4.8-4.9K instead of Antec variant.

- R7 265 for 13.2 will not make sense at all, when you can ger R9-270X for 14.5 K. It was 14K before some 1 week at flipkart IIRC.
So if you can, Go with R9-270X. You might find it locally for 14K. And If budget does not permit for it right now, and you absolutely need GPU right now, go With Nvidia 750Ti for 11K. You will be able to play most of the games on Med-high settings at full hd resolution.

- Get Cooler Master N200 instead of SPEC01. Will provide better cooling, and it has side panel fan support as well.

Rest of the config is fine IMO.

 

[harshilsharma63]

> No sense in thinking about an i3 when you can get FX 8320. Forget about i3.

> R7 265 and R9 270X have no comparison. 270X blows out 265 and the price difference is very small.

> If you can get graphic card in August then get the i5 config now and a graphic card later.

 

[195decibels]

now now lets not confuse him...
...dude fx 8320 destroys i3 (check cpuboss.com) n price is also nominal
...invest good on gpu...r9 270x is the way to go...u will not regret it...
... stick to 4gb ram(8gb would be showing off with this kinda rig)
...500W smps is enough get coolermaster (its cheaper than antec)
...get 85 series in mobo (remember not to cross 5.5k)
...dont forget to post screen shots of watchdog or crysis 3

 

[harshilsharma63]

now now lets not confuse him...
...dude fx 8320 rapes i3 (check cpuboss.com) n price is also nominal
...invest good on gpu...r9 270x is the way to go...u will not regret it...
... stick to 4gb ram(8gb would be showing off with this kinda rig)
...500W smps is enough get coolermaster (its cheaper than antec)
...get 85 series in mobo (remember not to cross 5.5k)
...dont forget to post screen shots of watchdog or crysis 3

> Cheap Cooler Master PSUs like Thunder and others are crap. Stick to Antec VP550P or get Seasonic S2II 520W.

> If OP is sure about getting graphic card in August then getting an i5 config without a GPU is completely fine, though it's senseless if he cannot manage ~23k for graphic card later as 280X is the only upgrade after 270X.

> @OP, do pay attention at the bold part above and confirm if you'll be investing ~23k or more later for graphic card.

 

[Xavier]

First off, thanks Crazy_Eddy, crossbow, harshilsharma63 and 195decibels. This has been really helpful and an education of sorts.

After reading through your posts and weighing my options, I have come up with the following rigs. Please give me your thoughts on it.

Intel Rig
Core i5 4590 - 13.9k
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H - 5.6k
Sapphire Radeon R9 270X - 14.1k (August Purchase)
WD Caviar Green 2 TB - 6k
Corsair XMS3 4GB - 2.9k (May get another stick in August if found insufficient)
Seasonic S12II 520 - 5k
Corsair SPEC 01 - 3.5k (will add a couple of fans to it, really like its design compared to the CM N200)
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W - 1k
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo - 800

Total: Rs. 52,800
Out of which, I'll have to spend 38700 in July and the card in August

AMD Rig
AMD FX 8320 - 9.8k
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P - 5.8k
Sapphire Radeon R9 270X - 14.1k (August Purchase)
WD Caviar Green 2 TB - 6k
Corsair XMS3 4GB - 2.9k
Seasonic S12II 520 - 5k
Corsair SPEC 01 - 3.5k
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W - 1k
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo - 800

Total: Rs. 48,900
Expenditure: 34,800 in July, 14,100 in August

I'll admit the AMD rig is looking more tempting because of its cost factor. I know that the Intel processors come with built in graphics which are enough to play some old games and HD content. What about the 8320? Will I not be able to play anything significant without a graphics card on this rig?

Reading a few reviews on Anandtech and other websites however has got me a bit worried about its high power consumption and poor performance per core as compared to even the Haswell based i3s. Am I better off going for the i5 4570? The thing is that I can't really justify spending ~ 55k (with 8GB RAM) on this and would like to keep the overall expenditure to sane levels. Keeping in mind that I'm coming from a 6 year old system, anything will feel like an upgrade to me, so I guess I should just suck it up and go for the 8320.

Sorry for thinking out aloud there.
Are there any cooling related problems with the AMD 8320 or does the stock cooler do a decent job? One final question, if I do take the AMD route and add the R9 270x, will the Seasonic SII 520 suffice? Or will I have to go for the Seasonic S12II 620W?

Once again, thanks a lot for your help

 

[Soyab0007]

Is there much difference in AMD FX 8320 & 8350?

 

[crossbow]

- Core i5 4590, 4690 are newly launched haswell refresh line up. They were launched in India previous month IMO.
Here, you can purchase it : http://www.primeabgb.com/intel-core-i5-4590-3-3-ghz-processor.html.
I bought i5-4570, just 2 days before above were launched. Difference between 4570 and 4590 is very very less. (right now it's 200-300 bucks if I see prices online)

- For 8320 Vs 4590/4570.
8320 does not come with integrated graphics processor. So You will need to install dedicated GPU. Even if you do not overclock, it will get heated significantly, and somewhere down the line it is suggested by AMD CPU users that you should use aftermarket cooler. More cores, more clock speed, more heat. And as you have noticed from the reviews, power consumption is more compared to i5. AMD CPU gets awesome when you overclock it. And apart from budget, peeps go for it, because it provides good overclocking potential with price perspective.

If you are not overclocking and if budget can be 10K, shelling out 2K more and going with Core i5 may prove to be smart move.
If 4570/4590 is hurting the budget, go with 4440 for 12.4K. Save 1.5K-2K there.

- I have R9-270X with S12II 520W. It's 100% compatible.

You can also go with following

Core i5 4440 - 12.4k (price from flipkart, locally might be cheaper)
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H - 5.6k (Price from primeabgb, might find cheaper)
Sapphire Radeon R9 270X - 14.1k (August Purchase)
WD Caviar Blue 1 TB - 3.8k (You can always add more space in future) - Seagate variant is 3.6K iirc. If this can be done, than money saved here can be applied in processor, and you can go with desired 4570/4590).
Corsair XMS3 4GB - 2.9k 4GB will be sufficient.
Seasonic S12II 520 - 5k
Corsair SPEC 01 - 3.5k (will add a couple of fans to it, really like its design compared to the CM N200)
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W - 1k
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo - 800
Total - 49.1K

It is always good to invest good amount in Processor + MoBo + PSU (And GPU). Rest of the components can be upgraded without upgrading other components., and without spending much money.

 

[harshilsharma63]

FX 8320 does NOT have any IGP and will need a graphic card all the time. YOU CANNOT GET ANY DISPLAY WITHOUT A GRAPHIC CARD WITH FX 8320.
As you'll ultimately end with the same graphic card, I'll suggest to get the config I originally suggested right now and not to wait for anything.

FX 8320 (10,400)
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P (5,850)
Corsair XMS3 4 GB 1600 MHz (2,600)
Sapphire R9 270X DualX 2 GB (15,000)
Antec VP550P (3,500)
Any local cabinet without PSU (1,000)
WD Blue 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD (3,100)
Asus DRW 24B3ST DVD R/W (1,000)
Logitech MK200 Keyboard & Mouse Combo (800)
Total 43,250

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

What about the 8320? Will I not be able to play anything significant without a graphics card on this rig?

The FX chip doesn't have a graphics core, and the motherboard's 970 chipset doesn't include onboard graphics either. In other words, you cannot operate the rig without a graphics card.

One final question, if I do take the AMD route and add the R9 270x, will the Seasonic SII 520 suffice? Or will I have to go for the Seasonic S12II 620W?

Will be a little tight. The 270X draws about 180W + ~150W for the FX 8320 (FX 83xxs are having trouble staying inside the 125W envelope) + ~50W for everything else = ~400W.

Antec VP550P (3,500)

The VP550P has been replaced with a V2 variant. No idea on the quality of internals, but more importantly - since you are recommending it for the wattage - the 12V rail has been derated from 540W to 444W.

If 4570/4590 is hurting the budget, go with 4440 for 12.4K. Save 1.5K-2K there.

Agree with this. There's the i5 4460 refresh as well for the 4440 which adds another 100MHz. Deltapage lists it for 12.1k.
If you have to get an AMD FX chip - you're better off getting the FX 6300 and overclocking it a bit. Most benchies show the 83xx and 63xx to be very close in performance because their clock speeds are usually similar, i.e. the extra 2 'cores' on the 83xx often ends up not being utilised.

 

[Xavier]

Once again, thanks a ton crossbow, Harshil and Crazy_Eddy! After reading your posts and weighing my options for the umpteenth time, I've decided to go with the core i5 4590 + R9 270X + Seasonic S12II 520 configuration. As recommended by crossbow, I'll go with 1TB HDD + 4GB RAM initially and upgrade them later.

Harshil, after careful consideration I've realised that it would be better for me to split the expenses and as the AMD 8320 does not have an IGP as well as the heating + power consumption issues, I'll take the safer and (?) better route by going with the i5.

Thanks, once again, guys. You've been of a lot of help. I will update this thread once I get the components and assemble the rig.

 

[harshilsharma63]

No problem with that. i5 4590's IGP will be enough for gaming in the meantime.

 

[Xavier]

Thanks, Harshil.

There's one question that I've been meaning to ask since a long time.

Is there any specific reason why the Seasonic SII 520W is so universally recommended? Compared to the likes of the Corsair CMPSU VS550 (3.2k), Corsair CMPSU VS650 (4k) or Cooler Master GX 550W (4.4k), the Seasonic is significantly more expensive. I'm sure there's a good enough reason behind this. I'd just like to know what that reason is

 

[crossbow]

This in-depth review might be helpful to understand why this seasonic model is preferred by many.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Seasonic-S12II-Bronze-520-W-Power-Supply-Review/954/1

To better understand working of a PSU, also refer to this
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Anatomy-of-Switching-Power-Supplies/327

And excellent choice of components. You are settled for next 2 years, gaming on high settings at 1080p resolution with 60+ FPS in most of the games. R9-270X is awesome card in the 15K category. Playing skyrim right now, with everything maxed out. without any issue. And Titanfall as well. BF4 will suffer some loss in FPS while playing with Ultra setting, but I am sure it will fetch 40+ FPS. Some games are made to sweat entire system. Games like crysis, Metro etc.