CPU, Motherboard & RAM upgrade for 20k

OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
OK.. Me saving money and going with this configuration :-

  • Intel Core i3 4130 @ 3.4 GHz, 54 W TDP & HD 4400 - Rs.7500
  • Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H - Rs. 7700
  • 8 GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3 - Rs. 5100
  • Total - 20200.

Reasons behind this :-

  • In the last 4 years I've played only 10 games (Crysis, Crysis 2, Crysis 3, COD 4, COD Black Ops, COD Black Ops II, Tomb Raider, Bulletstorm, Far Cry 3 & Battlefield 3 (played that for 1.5 years, multiplayer). I don't game much.
  • Secondly, if I use a computer for 6 hours daily, then 1 hour is spent in a virtual machine, 2 hours on internet & 3 hours in XBMC. So low power FTW.
  • Lastly, if I decide to get a graphics card in the near future then this CPU is more than enough.
  • Ars Technica article where they used a Pentium Dual core with GTX 660 :- Everything you need to know to install SteamOS on your very own computer | Ars Technica . I'm not going to install a card much higher than this one.
  • Anandtech article on a single cpu-single GPU - AnandTech Portal | Best Desktop CPUs: Holiday 2013 . They also said that a single Core i3 is enough for a single high-end card.

What do you guys say?
 
OK.. Me saving money and going with this configuration :-

  • Intel Core i3 4130 @ 3.4 GHz, 54 W TDP & HD 4400 - Rs.7500
  • Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H - Rs. 7700
  • 8 GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3 - Rs. 5100
  • Total - 20200.

Reasons behind this :-

  • In the last 4 years I've played only 10 games (Crysis, Crysis 2, Crysis 3, COD 4, COD Black Ops, COD Black Ops II, Tomb Raider, Bulletstorm, Far Cry 3 & Battlefield 3 (played that for 1.5 years, multiplayer). I don't game much.
  • Secondly, if I use a computer for 6 hours daily, then 1 hour is spent in a virtual machine, 2 hours on internet & 3 hours in XBMC. So low power FTW.
  • Lastly, if I decide to get a graphics card in the near future then this CPU is more than enough.
  • Ars Technica article where they used a Pentium Dual core with GTX 660 :- Everything you need to know to install SteamOS on your very own computer | Ars Technica . I'm not going to install a card much higher than this one.
  • Anandtech article on a single cpu-single GPU - AnandTech Portal | Best Desktop CPUs: Holiday 2013 . They also said that a single Core i3 is enough for a single high-end card.

What do you guys say?

i5 4430 (12000)
Gigabyte GA-B85-D3H (6290)
Kingston HyperX Blu 1600 MHz 4 GB x2 (4800)

total: 23k

> Why are you choosing an H87 board?
> i5 will be much better than i3 at virtulization. BTW which VM will you be running?
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Where did you find 4430 for 12000?

Reasons to stick to H87 over B85 :-
  1. No RAID in B85 but it is there in H87 (*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1150)
  2. 100% compatibility with OS X Mavericks (Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide December 2013). So no headaches of messing with kexts and DSDTs.

I'll be running various distros in Virtualbox, you know, distro-hopping, testing them in virtualbox. It is easier to test distros in VirtualBox then to physically install them. But most importantly, a virtual machine of CentOS will always be there on my system, permanently.

EDIT:-

Damn it. Poor research on my part. B85 works perfectly with OS X. Time to rethink the decision.
 
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ASHISH65

Technomancer
12k is of local price. you can get @12.6k at flipkart - Intel 3 GHz LGA1150 4430 i5 4th Generation Processor - Intel: Flipkart.com
 

ASHISH65

Technomancer
The only board which supports VT-d is Q87 chipset based which I can't find anywhere. VT-x is supported by every board.

AFAIK VT-d support is only need by cpu and bios update.

see here - Desktop Boards — Compatibility with Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)

Intel® Desktop Boards require the following components to support Intel® VT or Intel® VT-d:
  • Intel® Processor that supports Intel VT
  • BIOS with Intel VT or VT-d support (found on the Security menu in BIOS setup)
  • A third party VMM (virtual machine manager) may also be required
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Intel is confusing everyone on this planet. Damn Intel, things are so easy with AMD. One socket & one chipset to rule them all. :p

See this..

ARK | Compare Intel® Products

Screenshot 2013-12-29 23.05.52.png
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
^No problem. See, Intel is using their performance monopoly in everything. For eg:-

  • There's no support of VT-d in consumer (H87, B85 or Z87 boards). According to them, enthusiasts don't virtualize.
  • There's no support of VT-d in unlocked K-series processors (either overclocking or virtualization). You can't have both.
  • And above all, socket change every year.

I've to cool my mind and rethink the decision for few days.
 

Cilus

laborare est orare
Re: CPU, Motherboard & RAM upgrade for 20k

Hellknight, I'm no Linux expert to suggest you or teach you but looking at your current config, I think you can live with partial update, even with Mackintosh support.

R$egarding AMD Graphics driver in Linux, though the official Catalyst support is not up to the mark, AMD has shared the tech details to open source driver developers and there are plenty of Open source drivers available which can handle the AMD Graphics with ease.
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATI.2FAMD
Mesa (computer graphics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Here are some links for Mac OS-X installation:-
Custom PC, can I run OSX? - OSx86 10.6 (Snow Leopard) - InsanelyMac Forum
New installation: Mac osx 10.6 - sabertooth 990fx - amd fx-8350 - ati hd 7800 series - OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - OSx86.net Hackintosh
[Tutorial] How to Install OS X Lion 10.7.3 on AMD AM3+ FX Bulldozer - Full 64bit - Page 5 - Guides & Tutorials - OSx86.net Hackintosh



Here are some links for Mac OS-X installation:-

*www.osxlatitude.com/how-to-install-mac-os-x-snow-leopard-on-your-amd-system/

*www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/217107-custom-pc-can-i-run-osx/
*www.osx86.net/topic/18638-new-inst...ertooth-990fx-amd-fx-8350-ati-hd-7800-series/
*www.osx86.net/topic/16342-tutorial...073-on-amd-am3-fx-bulldozer-full-64bit/page-5
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Thank you so much for the links. I'll be thinking what to choose tomorrow & the day after. Will be reading a tonne of reviews, guides & benchmarks. And then, in the first week of January, I'll place the order.
 

ASHISH65

Technomancer
Re: CPU, Motherboard & RAM upgrade for 20k

Thank you so much for the links. I'll be thinking what to choose tomorrow & the day after. Will be reading a tonne of reviews, guides & benchmarks. And then, in the first week of January, I'll place the order.

Also Read every post of this - LGA 1150 Haswell Motherboard with proper VT-d support - AnandTech Forums

It might be helpful
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Re: CPU, Motherboard & RAM upgrade for 20k

Thanks.. Will do that first thing tomorrow.

Update:-

Finalized this configuration.

ComponentModelSpecificationsPrice
ProcessorIntel Core i5 44403.4 GHz, VT-x, VT-d, HD 460011390
MotherboardGigabyte GA-H87M-D3HH87, DVI, VGA, HDMI, USB 3.07090
RAMKingston Hyper X1600 MHz, 4x1 GB2400
Total21924











  • Went for this configuration because HD 4400 is not supported by OS X. And going with a quad-core was a good idea.
  • Will be adding another 4 GB module in the month of February. 8 GB will be enough for me.
  • The prices are of Cost-to-cost. The total includes VAT.


Thank you all for your kind inputs. Much appreciated.
 

ASHISH65

Technomancer
Re: CPU, Motherboard & RAM upgrade for 20k

Thanks.. Will do that first thing tomorrow.

Update:-

Finalized this configuration.

ComponentModelSpecificationsPrice
ProcessorIntel Core i5 44403.4 GHz, VT-x, VT-d, HD 460011390
MotherboardGigabyte GA-H87M-D3HH87, DVI, VGA, HDMI, USB 3.07090
RAMKingston Hyper X1600 MHz, 4x1 GB2400
Total21924











  • Went for this configuration because HD 4400 is not supported by OS X. And going with a quad-core was a good idea.
  • Will be adding another 4 GB module in the month of February. 8 GB will be enough for me.
  • The prices are of Cost-to-cost. The total includes VAT.


Thank you all for your kind inputs. Much appreciated.

Good one and i5 @11.3k :-o that's good price. :)

What did you find about VT-d support ?

mobo support needed or not ?
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
^The only thing that VT-d supports in my config will be the discrete graphics card. Everything else works fine in this non-VT-d processor (Athlon II X4 640). So, I guess that CPU and motherboard will be fine.
 
OP
hellknight

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
I'm going to place the order tomorrow evening. Do you think that shelling out Rs. 1060 extra is worth for Intel Core i5 4570 over Intel Core i5 4440?

Difference :-
Modeli5 4440i5 4570
Clock speed3.1 GHz3.2 GHz
Turbo speed3.3 GHz3.6 GHz
QPI Link 10
Graphics max frequency1.1 GHz1.15 GHz
Intel TSX-NINoYes
Trusted Execution TechnologyNoYes
Price1149012450

I've no idea about QPI. Would someone enlighten me?
 
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