TE PC Buying Guide August 2012

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

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 :D
 
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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
 
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!
 
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 , 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>
Standard CPUsCoresHTTFreq.TurboDDR3L3-cacheGPUGPU freq.GPU turboTDP
Core i7 3770K4Yes3.5 GHz3.9 GHz1600 MHz8 MBHD 4000650 MHz1150 MHz77 W
Core i7 37704Yes3.4 GHz3.9 GHz1600 MHz8 MBHD 4000650 MHz1150 MHz77 W
Core i5 3570K4-3.4 GHz3.8 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 4000650 MHz1150 MHz77 W
Core i5 35704-3.4 GHz3.8 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1150 MHz77 W
Core i5 35504-3.3 GHz3.7 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1150 MHz77 W
Core i7 34704-3.2 GHz3.6 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1100 MHz77 W
Core i5 34504-3.1 GHz3.5 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1100 MHz77 W
Core i5 3350P4-3.1 GHz3.3 GHz1600 MHz6 MB---69W
Core i5 33304-3.0 GHz3.2 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz77 W
Core i3 32402Yes3.4 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz55 W
Core i3 32252Yes3.3 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD 4000650 MHz1050 MHz55 W
Core i3 32202Yes3.3 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz55 W
Pentium G21202-3.1 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD650 MHz1050 MHz55 W
Energy-efficient CPUsCoresHTTFreq.TurboDDR3L3-cacheGPUGPU freq.GPU turboTDP
Core i7 3770T4Yes2.5 GHz3.7 GHz1600 MHz8 MBHD 4000650 MHz1150 MHz45 W
Core i7 3770S4Yes3.1 GHz3.9 GHz1600 MHz8 MBHD 4000650 MHz1150 MHz65 W
Core i5 3570T4-2.3 GHz3.3 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1150 MHz45 W
Core i5 3570S4-3.1 GHz3.8 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1150 MHz65 W
Core i5 3550S4-3.0 GHz3.7 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1150 MHz65 W
Core i5 3475S4-2.9 GHz3.6 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 4000650 MHz1100 MHz65 W
Core i5 3470T4-2.9 GHz3.6 GHz1600 MHz3 MBHD 2500650 MHz1100 MHz35 W
Core i5 3470S4-2.9 GHz3.6 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1100 MHz65 W
Core i5 3450S4-2.8 GHz3.5 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1100 MHz65 W
Core i5 3330S4-2.7 GHz3.2 GHz1600 MHz6 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz65 W
Core i3 3240T2Yes2.9 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz35 W
Core i3 3220T2Yes2.8 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz35 W
Pentium G2100T2-2.6 GHz-1600 MHz3 MBHD 2500650 MHz1050 MHz35 W
 
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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!
 
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