TE PC Buying Guide August 2012

[mithun]

For Intel i5 3450 i'd suggest you to get Gigabyte B75M D3H-4.5k OR Intel DH77KC-7.5k,
Hope this helps.

Hey thanks! It did definitely help.
However, I'm a bit weary about the build quality/reliability of these cited motherboards. Though the Giga B75 seems decent, the Intel board with the electrolytic capacitor is giving me the creeps. I do have a budget of 20k for the CPU+MOBO. Given that the 3450 can be had for ~ 11k, I'll still have 9k to spare on the board. I'm looking for Full-ATX, quality, attractive design and most importantly durability. Any better boards i may look into in 9k range?

 

[ALPHA17]

hey thanks! It did definitely help.
However, i'm a bit weary about the build quality/reliability of these cited motherboards. Though the giga b75 seems decent, the intel board with the electrolytic capacitor is giving me the creeps. I do have a budget of 20k for the cpu+mobo. Given that the 3450 can be had for ~ 11k, i'll still have 9k to spare on the board. I'm looking for quality, attractive design and most importantly durability. Any better boards i may look into in 9k range?

ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-

• The H77 Chipset has more Sata 6GBPS,USB 3.0 and Esata ports than B75 chipset
• Other than that there are no differences between them,The H77 chipsets are priced higher.

Also, B75 motherboards lack an SP-DIF (optical out) for audio output.

 

[Jakob]

Yeah that's about perfect,Thanks for the SP-DIF point.

ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-
Also, B75 motherboards lack an SP-DIF (optical out) for audio output.

 

[mithun]

ASUS P8H77-V ~9500/-

Yes! Would like to get my hands on this one!
Lastly, what's with this fetish for aftermarket coolers for i5 CPUs? With just a 77W TDP I think the stock HSF should easily suffice....or am I missing the point here?

Thanks guys

 

[ALPHA17]

Yes! Would like to get my hands on this one!
Lastly, what's with this fetish for aftermarket coolers for i5 CPUs? With just a 77W TDP I think the stock HSF should easily suffice....or am I missing the point here?

Thanks guys

If you are over-clocking no way would this piss-job of a cooler pass the grade --> CPU Cooler Guide For Sandy / Ivy Bridge Cpus !!.

If you are not over-clocking then the stock is fine by all means.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

 

[mithun]

wow! nasty insight on the stock cooler. Looks lame even for stock clocks, notwithstanding the fact that my intended setup will not Overclock! So now I'll have to fit in a 2k cooler. In that case, might opt for the cheaper (~8k) MSI ZH77A-G43 to accommodate a cooler within 20k?

 

[Jakob]

In your case the stock HSF will do the job,No need to change the motherboard.

wow! nasty insight on the stock cooler. Looks lame even for stock clocks, notwithstanding the fact that my intended setup will not Overclock! So now I'll have to fit in a 2k cooler. In that case, might opt for the cheaper (~8k) MSI ZH77A-G43 to accommodate a cooler within 20k?

 

[ALPHA17]

wow! nasty insight on the stock cooler. Looks lame even for stock clocks, notwithstanding the fact that my intended setup will not Overclock! So now I'll have to fit in a 2k cooler. In that case, might opt for the cheaper (~8k) MSI ZH77A-G43 to accommodate a cooler within 20k?

Yep, save some monies. Keep the stock cooler; upgrade if the system overheats (chances are low, winter) but if it heats up Re-TIM it and try before buying a new cooler.

 

[vijaycruise]

@ALPHA17 I have a question regarding gigabyte B75m.. I can see that it has only 1 system fan header(theres 1 more for processor)... lets say if I buy a i5 3450 & gtx 660. If I put these in a nzxt gamma or corsair 300r, how many fans can I have in the cabinet & how do I manage the cooling? Do I need a separate fan controller?

 

[ALPHA17]

@ALPHA17 I have a question regarding gigabyte B75m.. I can see that it has only 1 system fan header(theres 1 more for processor)... lets say if I buy a i5 3450 & gtx 660. If I put these in a nzxt gamma or corsair 300r, how many fans can I have in the cabinet & how do I manage the cooling? Do I need a separate fan controller?

No Vijay, you can add a fan controller in-case you want to control each fan in minutiae detail (OR can do a D.I.Y. fan controller).

If you are not too particular you can fashion fan speed controllers with basic rheostats and resistors.

Fans can be powered by the standard molex connectors although unregulated fans will run at full-blast all the time.

Hope this answers your query. Cheerio!

 

[vijaycruise]

Thanks @ALPHA17 ... that answers my question.

 

[mach9]

this is more appropriate for October buying guide.. but here it goes.. resurrected my rig with a new heart!

shere's what i got on saturday

Core i5 3570K
Maximus V Gene
Corsair 8GB kit CMX8GX3M2A1600C9
Total VAT

For now i'm just loving the experience @ stock. Will slowly up the bells n whistles when i get a good deal on SSD's/ Corsair H80 etc

 

[satyanjoy]

No Vijay, you can add a fan controller in-case you want to control each fan in minutiae detail (OR can do a D.I.Y. fan controller).

If you are not too particular you can fashion fan speed controllers with basic rheostats and resistors.

Fans can be powered by the standard molex connectors although unregulated fans will run at full-blast all the time.

Hope this answers your query. Cheerio!

I don't want to hijack this thread.interesting information, so how does this fan controller work? Is it a pci card with software, which I can manually monitor and use from my desktop

 

[ALPHA17]

I don't want to hijack this thread.interesting information, so how does this fan controller work? Is it a pci card with software, which I can manually monitor and use from my desktop

No this is a fan-controller --> Fan Controller -* Fan Controllers for Computers (hardware-controller). You can also do D.I.Y. stuff for older components (out of warranty and nothing to loose).

There are certain software like SpeedFan which can be used to regulate the speed of the fans by adjusting voltage values to them but this method can only be used by fan(s) which have PWM connectors OR directly connected to the motherboard via 3-pin fan points.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

 

[TheBroker]

Wonderful post. Its a motivation to start saving

 

[satyanjoy]

No this is a fan-controller --> Fan Controller -* Fan Controllers for Computers (hardware-controller). You can also do D.I.Y. stuff for older components (out of warranty and nothing to loose).

There are certain software like SpeedFan which can be used to regulate the speed of the fans by adjusting voltage values to them but this method can only be used by fan(s) which have PWM connectors OR directly connected to the motherboard via 3-pin fan points.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

The problem with DIY is time,,it will be great if I got something with a budget like 2k max. I find this one at theitwares.com

 

[ALPHA17]

The problem with DIY is time,,it will be great if I got something with a budget like 2k max. I find this one at theitwares.com

^^ I think that is your best bet then, the DEEPCOOL Rockman. Don't see a lot of choices at given price point.

 

[altainta]

IS HTPC TRUELY DEAD IN INDIA ?
there are About NO MITX can any one suggest any MINI ITX MOBO for HTPC (COMPACT)

 

[Zack]

@ALPHA17 , Buddy... Its time for New Thread

Which budget board will you suggest for Core i3 i3225 / i3220 (3225 is better) ?




all Ivy Bridge desktop processors... <CP>
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Standard CPUs[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Cores[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HTT[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Freq.[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Turbo[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]DDR3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]L3-cache[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]GPU[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]GPU freq.[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]GPU turbo[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]TDP[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i7 3770K[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.5 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i7 3770[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.4 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3570K[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.4 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.8 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3570[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.4 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.8 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3550[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.3 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.7 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i7 3470[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.2 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.6 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1100 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3450[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.1 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.5 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1100 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3350P[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.1 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.3 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]69W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3330[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.0 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.2 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i3 3240[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.4 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i3 3225[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.3 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i3 3220[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.3 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pentium G2120[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.1 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Energy-efficient CPUs[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Cores[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HTT[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Freq.[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Turbo[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]DDR3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]L3-cache[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]GPU[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]GPU freq.[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]GPU turbo[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]TDP[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i7 3770T[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.5 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.7 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]45 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i7 3770S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.1 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3570T[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.3 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.3 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]45 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3570S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.1 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.8 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3550S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.0 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.7 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1150 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3475S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.6 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 4000[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1100 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3470T[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.6 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1100 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3470S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.6 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1100 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3450S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.8 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.5 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1100 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i5 3330S[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.7 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3.2 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]65 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i3 3240T[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.9 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Core i3 3220T[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.8 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pentium G2100T[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.6 GHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1600 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3 MB[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]HD 2500[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]650 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1050 MHz[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35 W[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[ALPHA17]

A little busy with exams these days and waiting to see if end of the year brings any changes to the lineup and availability of newer products.

Rest assured a new thread will be up soon. Cheers!