Buying a new pc, need advice

[mumblehere]

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
Must be good for gaming at full HD, though gaming is not my primary.

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
ONLY Intel cpu plz.

3. What is your MAX budget?
30k

4. Planning to overclock?
No.

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
Win XP and Win7

6. How much hard drive space is needed?
500gb

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen?
Right now 1600x900, MB must be able to give 1920x1080 screen resolution for basic purposes (not for gaming and hd movies rt now as i will get a gfx, probably hd5850, in future).

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10?
6

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Yes, will be built myself.

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
In 1-2 weeks.

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
a bit futureproof.

12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
a. Have monitor, 20", ll upgrade in near future.
b. Have KB and mouse.
c. Have 650 VA APC UPS.
d. Have DVD drive.
e. Have iBall Benz cabby, not sure whether the MB can be fixed on to this for the moment. If not, which one shall I go for. Anyhow, will be getting a new one in future.

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
Kollam, kerala.
Yes.

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
Budget 28k to 30k for below 5 things. Planning on:
a. UP. i5 750.
b. MB.
Dont know much about it, heard of p55 for i5 over here. gigabyte, msi, which one is good?
Wont OC. Wont X-fire. Must be able to withstand 5850.
Do I have to look for series, like GD CD?
c. HDD. Seagate or WD 500 gb. Do i have to check for serial numbers, as I read some batch had some trouble with Seagate.
d. PSU. Corsair 550. any series to check for, vx, gx?
e. RAM. Corsair 1333, series? need only <= 4 gb.

If iBall Benz cabby cannot be used, plz suggest a good cabby within 3k.

 

[Cilus]

At a budget of 29k, it is very difficult to have a balanced Intel based system.
Still trying my best
Core i5 750 2.66GHz @ 9.5k
Biostar TP55 @ 6.6k
2 X 2 GB Kingston 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 5k
Seagate 500 GB SATA @ 2k
PSU: FSP Saga II 500 Watts @ 2.9k
MSI 5770 PMD 1GB GDDR5 @ 8.9K

total 34.9k

alternatively, you can go for
Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz @ 6.5k
Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L @ 3k

to reduce the price, but it is really not a very good idea, as C2D and C2Q series are phasing out and in less price Athlon II 630 delivers better performance.

Let us know if you are open for alternate ideas based on AMD based rig.
If yes then go for

Phenom II X4 955 @ 7.6k
Asus M4A87TD-EVO @ 6k

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

cilus he will add 5850 as he mentioned..but he didnt mention that he will go with 5850 now or later...if now then core i5 or if later then i3 but i will say athlon 635 instead of i3

 

[toad_frog09]

At a budget of 29k, it is very difficult to have a balanced Intel based system.
Still trying my best
Core i5 750 2.66GHz @ 9.5k
Biostar TP55 @ 6.6k
2 X 2 GB Kingston 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 5k
Seagate 500 GB SATA @ 2k
PSU: FSP Saga II 500 Watts @ 2.9k
MSI 5770 PMD 1GB GDDR5 @ 8.9K

total 34.9k

alternatively, you can go for
Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz @ 6.5k
Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L @ 3k

to reduce the price, but it is really not a very good idea, as C2D and C2Q series are phasing out and in less price Athlon II 630 delivers better performance.

Let us know if you are open for alternate ideas based on AMD based rig.
If yes then go for

Phenom II X4 955 @ 7.6k
Asus M4A87TD-EVO @ 6k

whoa! Is 5770 available for 8.9 ONLY?
Dude where'd liv? It cost 10.5-11 in Nagpur.
Regarding the config, I cannot emphasize more for you to have a go with an AMD.
From what I'v 'been through', the game's perfomance varies insignificantly when the cores go beyond dual/tri.
Obviously,the above statement proves false for games like GTA4. But an AMD does not only save money, but provides a fairly good gaming experience (if not best as in case of i7extreme).
What matters most, in gaming, is a good gpu.
Saving even 3-4 k can help you buy even better gcard.
Also, regarding your downright 'never' for oc'ing.
Here's a 'something'<go on, wear a night cap>
Life of a computer processy is approx 10 years. Ask your self would you be using a rig for that long.
Yes, there are risks of oc'ing, that is, halfning of life, but the at the end,success whould mean 15-25% increase in perfomance.
Of course, not right away, but you would/should give a thought to it after year or two.
Also, very very important, the mentioned mobo for AMD, ASUS 'ulff' evo...
There's this another product from ASROCK, that provides 3 pcie-2.0 slots, at 16x/8x/4x bwidth..at cost .5-1k LESS than evo. I dont remember its name actually.
Its not that evo's bad,i own it & its given me more than i'd asked for.
Also, if you change your mind against amd, I'd strongly suggest you to go for either 955 OR the-costliest-of-amd-6cores.<1090 or sumthing.bad memory/plz format>.& Nothing else.

 

[coderunknown]

whoa! Is 5770 available for 8.9 ONLY?
Dude where'd liv? It cost 10.5-11 in Nagpur.

check Media Home. they were selling Biostar HD5770 for 8.7k i think. not a bad price for a custom cooled card.

From what I'v 'been through', the game's perfomance varies insignificantly when the cores go beyond dual/tri.

its best look at the diff between tri core & quad core before jumping to get the extra core. but 4cores = a safe bet for future.

But an AMD does not only save money, but provides a fairly good gaming experience (if not best as in case of i7extreme).

have to agree fully here. cause those AMD proccies aren't craps. they are fast & comparable to Intel's 32nm proccies in a majority of apps still saving you 3k+ & more as you scale for performance.

What matters most, in gaming, is a good gpu.
Saving even 3-4 k can help you buy even better gcard.

i got a slight different advice. its about finding the best balance between both processor & graphics card. a X2 can be paired with a HD5770 without bottleneck. but only if the X2 is a fast one. but a X3 @ 2.9Ghz + GTS250 will offer much better performance for same price.

Also, very very important, the mentioned mobo for AMD, ASUS 'ulff' evo...
There's this another product from ASROCK, that provides 3 pcie-2.0 slots, at 16x/8x/4x bwidth..at cost .5-1k LESS than evo. I dont remember its name actually.

rightfully told. nowadays Asus sucks. not sucks by name, but by those notorious bugs that can be solved only by RMA. sound problem, ram problem, sata problem. even heating issues have started coming forward on its EVO branded motherboards.

about AsRock's mobo. in Xfire config it offers X8+X8 or if a single card installed, X16.

Its not that evo's bad,i own it & its given me more than i'd asked for.

you lucky to get away. but many have fallen into the hole

 

[mumblehere]

cilus, i told 29k excluding the gfx card as said in last para. i will be getting gfx card and FHD monitor only in 6 months. right now, i have 1600x900 20" monitor, wont the MB be able to support that resolution for basic working (no FHD movies or gaming) for the moment till i get gfx card later.

a local shop wallah told i will need gfx card for p55 series MBs with i5 for basic working, is it true?

i have a PCI (not PCI-E) sound card from creative from my old pc, will i be able to use it with new MB. does it have a PCI slot, or will it work fine with PCI-E slots?

can u just check the config I gave is good considering 30k exc gfx card. biostar . prefer intel .

lastly, i live in kerala, can anyone suggest a good shop in cochin or trivandrum where i can get all the stuffs. or even in bangalore.

At a budget of 29k, it is very difficult to have a balanced Intel based system.
Still trying my best
Core i5 750 2.66GHz @ 9.5k
Biostar TP55 @ 6.6k
2 X 2 GB Kingston 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 5k
Seagate 500 GB SATA @ 2k
PSU: FSP Saga II 500 Watts @ 2.9k
MSI 5770 PMD 1GB GDDR5 @ 8.9K

total 34.9k

alternatively, you can go for
Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz @ 6.5k
Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L @ 3k

to reduce the price, but it is really not a very good idea, as C2D and C2Q series are phasing out and in less price Athlon II 630 delivers better performance.

Let us know if you are open for alternate ideas based on AMD based rig.
If yes then go for

Phenom II X4 955 @ 7.6k
Asus M4A87TD-EVO @ 6k

 

[mumblehere]

sum1 plz rpy,im with no computer nw as my old one gave way

 

[FilledVoid]

lastly, i live in kerala, can anyone suggest a good shop in cochin or trivandrum where i can get all the stuffs. or even in bangalore.

You would travel to Trivandrum or Cochin from Kollam to get a system D: . If you use a vehicle that's like an additional 2k on gas. Are you sure there is no one who could actually get you the stuff if you placed the order. If it was near me or near Kottayam then maybe I or one of the other folks like Jinsu could help you out.

If you do travel to Bangalore you will find a suitable margin with the prices I believe but be warned I believe if you do get caught at the checkpost. they will charge you 4% additive on taxes. This is if you travel on travels like Kallada etc. Im not sure about this but I hav heard the same for mechanical equipment which get charged as well.

 

[Cool Buddy]

biostar motherboards are good, if you write you prefer Intel for processor, Intel for motherboard, then what else are we supposed to suggest? Intel motherboards are not particularly very good in the high end category.

 

[mumblehere]

biostar motherboards are good, if you write you prefer Intel for processor, Intel for motherboard, then what else are we supposed to suggest? Intel motherboards are not particularly very good in the high end category.

jus some things to confirm coolbuddy:
1. which MB shall i go for in gigabyte/msi for i5. forget intel board. as there are diff variants in 55 series of gigabyte/msi within 7.5k, im confused. lot of ppl told to stay away frm biostar.
a. does it support full HD native resolution, for say browsing, as i cant get a gfx card rt nw.

2. is there only one variant for corsair ddr3 1333?

3. do i need vx450 or vx550 for running 5850?

4. plz check post #6 and 12e in 1st post

---------- Post added at 11:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:41 AM ----------

You would travel to Trivandrum or Cochin from Kollam to get a system D: . If you use a vehicle that's like an additional 2k on gas. Are you sure there is no one who could actually get you the stuff if you placed the order. If it was near me or near Kottayam then maybe I or one of the other folks like Jinsu could help you out.

If you do travel to Bangalore you will find a suitable margin with the prices I believe but be warned I believe if you do get caught at the checkpost. they will charge you 4% additive on taxes. This is if you travel on travels like Kallada etc. Im not sure about this but I hav heard the same for mechanical equipment which get charged as well.

where are you from? yes, i could make it to kottayam if i could get all the stuffs after config is confirmed. even after we pay tax at shop in blr,
is it needed to pay extra 4%?

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

jus some things to confirm coolbuddy:
1. which MB shall i go for in gigabyte/msi for i5. forget intel board. as there are diff variants in 55 series of gigabyte/msi within 7.5k, im confused. lot of ppl told to stay away frm biostar.
a. does it support full HD native resolution, for say browsing, as i cant get a gfx card rt nw.

2. is there only one variant for corsair ddr3 1333?

3. do i need vx450 or vx550 for running 5850?

4. plz check post #6 and 12e in 1st post

[

1.as you are getting a graphics card later you cant go with i5 750 because its not got integrated graphics..for that you need to look at i5 6** series but these cost above 11k and have got super crap intel graphics. moreover these are dual cores just WASTE OF MONEY. i5 750 is a great powerful processor but you cant go with it.

another option is core i3 but its also got good for nothing intel integrated graphics. and i would recommend amd athlon 2 x4 635 which is much better..vfm also. amd integrated graphics are much much much better..

2.ddr3 comes in 1333mhz, 1600mhz, 1800mhz, 2000mhz....

3.Corsair vx 550w is recommended

 

[Cilus]

Go with Jaskanwar's suggestion. As correctly pointed out by him, Intel dual core Core 6xxx series are simply waste of money.
Go for Core i7 750 @ 9.5k and any good p55 based mobo at 6 to 7k.

 

[FilledVoid]

where are you from? yes, i could make it to kottayam if i could get all the stuffs after config is confirmed. even after we pay tax at shop in blr,
is it needed to pay extra 4%?

Yes . What you pay is the taxes in Bangalore. However if you were to bring brand new stuff through Kerala Check Post they will charge you a surplus on it as well. I'm not sure of the exact law but I think you confirm if you ask the dealers themselves.

Kottayam Ozone . Jinsu knows the folks here however you will have to be able to get in touch with him and see if he is available to do the same.

I deal with Computer Park Changanacherry. If you call them up and tell them what you need they can arrange the same for you as well. I was just there today and had you emailed me or something I would have asked for you. I have the details for the same as well. Im pretty sure that there is a sub distributor in Kollam as well its a matter of finding the right store. You wont find alot of stores who stock Biostar either. For some reason there seems to be heavy brand name loyalty when it comes to IT Products in Kerala and I have yet to see a single store carry this company. However I think Rashi is the wholesaler for it and I'm 100% sure that they probably have it. That said they wont give it to the customer unless you provide a TIN Number which I doubt you have.

Even today I wanted to buy a Biostar Mobo which Jaskanwar Singh suggested and had to settle for another board since I couldn't find another with the equivalent chip-set.

 

[Cool Buddy]

jus some things to confirm coolbuddy:
1. which MB shall i go for in gigabyte/msi for i5. forget intel board. as there are diff variants in 55 series of gigabyte/msi within 7.5k, im confused. lot of ppl told to stay away frm biostar.
a. does it support full HD native resolution, for say browsing, as i cant get a gfx card rt nw.

2. is there only one variant for corsair ddr3 1333?

3. do i need vx450 or vx550 for running 5850?

4. plz check post #6 and 12e in 1st post

Sorry man, I don't have any expertise about Intel motherboards, I just wanted to clear the misconception that biostart motherboards are not good (it is a common misconception, it's true only for very cheap boards)

Actually, i'm a big fan of AMD and since I'm studying commerce I don't get much time to discuss these things (friends are all noobs^infinity). So I don't follow Intel much.

Corsair has two models of 1333Mhz, one in value series and one in performance series. The latency of both of them is 9-9-9-24. Performance series RAM is only available as 4GB or 6GB kits. Price difference is not much, not too less either. take your pick.

Suggestions about power supply are already plenty. HD5850 is a beast consuming around 170W at full load. Guru3D.com recommends a 500W power supply minimum, so VX450 won't be enough. pick up VX550. Check the power requirements at guru3d.com ot anadtech.com, helps you understand things better. Not that we don't want to suggest but do take a look at those reviews, you will definitely feel more confident about your config when you go out to buy it.

 

[coderunknown]

Suggestions about power supply are already plenty. HD5850 is a beast consuming around 170W at full load. Guru3D.com recommends a 500W power supply minimum, so VX450 won't be enough. pick up VX550. Check the power requirements at guru3d.com ot anadtech.com, helps you understand things better. Not that we don't want to suggest but do take a look at those reviews, you will definitely feel more confident about your config when you go out to buy it.

VX450W will be enough. DEll XPS 7100 comes with a 460W delta PSU. runs fine even when it got a HD5870 under its hood.

@OP, you got 2 options now:

1. i5 750 + P55 + a cheap gfx card, just for time being till you get a good one.

2. get AMD. save more money. invest it in graphics card.

your call.

 

[mumblehere]

yday only i learnt i5 quad doesnt ve integrated gpu.

plz suggest me good MB for athlon 635 and x4 955. how does these proccies differ in performance. any bottleneck with 5850?

i said no to amd cos frnds told its performance will decrease from day 1 and that it has got heat issues, anything true?

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

please choose from the 2 options sam mentioned...

 

[coderunknown]

yday only i learnt i5 quad doesnt ve integrated gpu.

plz suggest me good MB for athlon 635 and x4 955. how does these proccies differ in performance. any bottleneck with 5850?

i said no to amd cos frnds told its performance will decrease from day 1 and that it has got heat issues, anything true?

your friend don't have any good upto date idea about PCs. that info totally wrong. if performance decreases, it'll be same in both case (Intel as well as AMD). also X4 630-635 can handle HD5870. so HD5850 won't be bottlenecked. just keep the ram at 4Gb.

please choose from the 2 options sam mentioned...

i haven't mentioned anything. just gave 2 options: Intel & AMD. he choose AMD.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

i was talking about those options only dude..

 

[mumblehere]

your friend don't have any good upto date idea about PCs. that info totally wrong. if performance decreases, it'll be same in both case (Intel as well as AMD). also X4 630-635 can handle HD5870. so HD5850 won't be bottlenecked. just keep the ram at 4Gb.



i haven't mentioned anything. just gave 2 options: Intel & AMD. he choose AMD.

plz suggest me a good MB for 635. hope the 635 has integrated gpu. diff between 635 and 955? is 955 worth the extra?

the only thing that makes me stay away from i5 is that there is no integrated gpu. i wonder how intel can make like this. say if the gfx card has some trouble, the entire system will be idle right? or intel has planned only high-end gfx applns should be run in i5 n others keep away?
is it ok to go for something like palit 9600 around 4k for the moment with i5?