Best Gaming Desktop for Money

[RaptorX]

I noticed corsair xms3 ram prices have dropped. The xms3 1333 4gb is now 5000/- @ PRIME and the 1600 kit is 5100/-.

Sorry, if old news. I just noticed the price drop today. Thought I might add the info here...since the difference in prices between the two speeds is so small.

 

[Death_Knight]

So, GA-880GMA-UD2H is my MoBo, no doubt.

And Death_Knight (read Arthas), I think you are in doubt for choosing the right Processor for you. Well, if you are not a hard core gamer and you don't want some serious overclocking, you can go with the Phenom II 945 and save some extra money.

RPG/FPS and RTstrategy are my main domain of play + Splitsecond/NFS series from racing. Actually baring sports titles I try anything I can lay my hands on, cont. to end with those I like exploring all endings, trophies, side-quests. I want them all maxed at full HD.Is this hard core gaming??
Well I am really not a OCer, never had the opportunity to try on any friends', friends from my work are never tech-savvy. Moreover I am too sceptical due to warnings like "reduced longivity", "will fry your machine", "void warranty" n so on..

But on second thought, I should try it now. May be its now or never for me, since I am pursuing a career completely opposite. So lets get 955BE too.

Can anybody tell me its OC power on a budget air-cooler (like hyper212+); please do remember in Kolkata summer temp kisses 40 [although no prob for cabinet airflow since I'll get a top notch one]. A practical Indian scenario is more wanted and also I need to last that CPU really long.
Also please comment on the MoBo's OCing potential.

Regarding RAM, whats the difference between VS & XMS3 at the same Clock speed apart from the HS (?better OC) & price.

 

[mukherjee]

RPG/FPS and RTstrategy are my main domain of play + Splitsecond/NFS series from racing. Actually baring sports titles I try anything I can lay my hands on, cont. to end with those I like exploring all endings, trophies, side-quests. I want them all maxed at full HD.Is this hard core gaming??

IMO,thats hardcore...yeah !

Well I am really not a OCer, never had the opportunity to try on any friends', friends from my work are never tech-savvy.

Are u sure u considered all of your friends?

Moreover I am too sceptical due to warnings like "reduced longivity", "will fry your machine", "void warranty" n so on..

But on second thought, I should try it now. May be its now or never for me, since I am pursuing a career completely opposite. So lets get 955BE too.

Nice and correct decision bro!

Can anybody tell me its OC power on a budget air-cooler (like hyper212+); please do remember in Kolkata summer temp kisses 40 [although no prob for cabinet airflow since I'll get a top notch one]. A practical Indian scenario is more wanted.

IMO u can look forward to 3.8Ghz plus...

 

[Death_Knight]

Are u sure u considered all of your friends?

ok lets add "almost" to the all friends phrase, I hope u'd agree

IMO u can look forward to 3.8Ghz plus...

Are you sure, well thats great.... don't want to bump Vcore to a lot extent... I badly need the longivity.... got more frightened from this review

 

[Death_Knight]

Hit a big bump on road! Couldn't find GA-880GMA-UD2H in local stores.
Man, I'm out of luck!!

Confirmed the price of PhenomII 955BE: 7600+
Seems OK

Today confirmed that GA-880GMA-UD2H not available in Kolkata. They even talked about its unavailability in India.

 

[Death_Knight]

What about GA-890GPA-UD3H? I found one in store today @ 8.5k. Though at 3k premium, it boasts of being fullATX, has onboard graphx even with CrossfireX (?for future-proofing), better heatsink (?OC capability), better array of connectors, 90degree SATA pins & looks better...
Got a good review at Overclockersclub
Though it will knock me off my budget, but I am ready to go if its a worthy buy...
Please suggest; the wait is killing me man...

 

[Piyush]

well thats a good board at that money

 

[szk]

my msi gtx 460 1gb cyclone costs me 14,500 and i think it as better option then zotac

 

[SlashDK]

Why don't you go for MSI 790GX G65. i know its a 7xx series one but its full atx and has x16-x16 crossfire just as you need. You can add a USB 3 add on card later on if required. Its price is pretty low at 6.25k.

 

[rajan1311]

^its 8x in crossfire mode bro...

 

[coderunknown]

Why don't you go for MSI 790GX G65. i know its a 7xx series one but its full atx and has x16-x16 crossfire just as you need. You can add a USB 3 add on card later on if required. Its price is pretty low at 6.25k.

rajan right. its 8X+8X.

790GX, 790X, 890GX ---> 8X+8X.
790FX, 890FX ---> 16X+16X.

 

[Death_Knight]

Thanks all for the suggestions....
But on the otherside, the more I'm reading about multiGPU configurations, the more I'm getting convinced that GTX 460 SLI is MUCH better that HD5850 Cfx, also being the bang for buck.

So, a request to all the genii out here... please give some recommendations about SLI (x8+x8) supporting (Intel processor + Gigabyte/MSI MoBo) combination which will be similar/better than (AMD PhenomII x4 955BE + Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H) in terms of performance/features at the same price point [7.6k+8.6k].
I don't want to leave any stones unturned before I invest.

P.S. suggest from those available in local stores (atleast in India)

Anybody have any idea/experience about running SLI on Cfx board?? Found an interesting article at xDevs.
That would be awesome for me..

 

[Death_Knight]

After a lot of google n reading, found out:
MSI NF980-G65 supports AMD + SLI
but the board is buggy (newegg reviews), poor output options & NOT AVAILABLE locally

The nearest Intel equivalent is i5-760 priced around 10k+
Intel P55 boards from MSI/Gigabyte stable supporting SLI are around 10k+
(MSI P55-GD65 priced at 7.8k+ at lynx is without USB3 & SATA3. Not sure of local availability)

So, people like me who wants a value SLI machine is only left to suck thumb or go for "modding" to unlock SLI in unsupporting boards?

 

[pegasus]

Who says that 1333 is EOL. The current generation of processors can't utilise 1600 properly and so there is very low difference in performance in 1600 and 1333. 1333 is likely to be EOL next year with the introduction of bulldozer and sandybridges

even after releasing Fusion, 1333Mhz will not be EOL. cause many entry level chips will continue use 1333Mhz as their native ram speed. from both AMD & Intel side. so at least next year 1333Mhz won't go EOL. for surely. but will become dirt cheap.

Sam sir-
I doubt the 'dirt cheap part- that may have been a one-time occurrence with DDR2 at one pint of time.
I was hoping you could clear some doubts i had in this thread.
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/hardware-discussions/130618-should-ddr2-rams-pair.html

As per the memory, 1600 MHz is better, but really, the performance difference is not worth the extra penny. In all the Tech reviews like Guru3d, Tom's Hardware, it is pointed out that AMD Memory controllers are not enough powerful to take advantage of a high speed memory.

I thought there was hardly any price difference difference between XMS3 1333 and XMS3 1600.
But the XMS31600 kit also had spd date for 1333 CL8 (CL9 for the 1333 kit; at least when i had seen the 6GB kits).

 

[coderunknown]

Sam sir-
I doubt the 'dirt cheap part- that may have been a one-time occurrence with DDR2 at one pint of time.
I was hoping you could clear some doubts i had in this thread.

first of all, please don't call me sir

yes. it occurred for DDR2 but as DDR3 price coming down (& DDR2 already EOL) so i feel DDR3 price can touch 1.5k/2Gb stick sometime next year. DDR2 price almost touched 1k/2gb. so keeping little space for error, 1.5k looks a possibility.

 

[Death_Knight]

Went to MD Computers again today to enquire about the Intel SLI built. I got the following quote:

Intel i5 760: 9650
MSI P55-GD65: NA (may be available in a week or they can get from other cities too)
Corsair 2x2GB@1333 XMS3: 5000 (haven't asked for 1600 one)
MSI GTX 460 HAWK: will provide with pricing shortly
Cooler Master GX650: 5800 or Corsair TX650: 6300
Microtek 800VA: 2225

I think this may be going to be my rig after all (ofcourse if I can manage to increase my budget).....

 

[avichandana20000]

Went to MD Computers again today to enquire about the Intel SLI built. I got the following quote:

Intel i5 760: 9650
MSI P55-GD65: NA (may be available in a week or they can get from other cities too)
Corsair 2x2GB@1333 XMS3: 5000 (haven't asked for 1600 one)
MSI GTX 460 HAWK: will provide with pricing shortly
Cooler Master GX650: 5800 or Corsair TX650: 6300
Microtek 800VA: 2225

I think this may be going to be my rig after all (ofcourse if I can manage to increase my budget).....

what about your cabby NZXT GAMMA?

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

Went to MD Computers again today to enquire about the Intel SLI built. I got the following quote:

Intel i5 760: 9650
MSI P55-GD65: NA (may be available in a week or they can get from other cities too)
Corsair 2x2GB@1333 XMS3: 5000 (haven't asked for 1600 one)
MSI GTX 460 HAWK: will provide with pricing shortly
Cooler Master GX650: 5800 or Corsair TX650: 6300
Microtek 800VA: 2225

I think this may be going to be my rig after all (ofcourse if I can manage to increase my budget).....

avoid cm gx at all cost. corsair is a much much better option. also you can even settle for corsair vx550w. it will be more than enough.
which cabinet?
dont be unhappy yaar, i5 760 is a great performer much better than phenom 955. but 955 will be futureproof as lga1156 socket will soon vanish.

anyways why not amd?

 

[rajan1311]

With the HD 6700 series so close, you could consider waiting,get the rest of the stuff now and the gpu later....

as jasy (dude give urself an official,short name. ) said, avoid the gx series, it has got a "mixed" response from different reviewers, and as there is not much price difference,go for a 550vx,which should be sufficient for most single gpu configurations.
You get 6GB XSM3 @ 1600MHz for Rs7500 incl tax in bangalore, so that should give you an idea on the pricing...

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

With the HD 6700 series so close, you could consider waiting,get the rest of the stuff now and the gpu later....

as jasy (dude give urself an official,short name. ) said, avoid the gx series, it has got a "mixed" response from different reviewers, and as there is not much price difference,go for a 550vx,which should be sufficient for most single gpu configurations.
You get 6GB XSM3 @ 1600MHz for Rs7500 incl tax in bangalore, so that should give you an idea on the pricing...

now i suppose we cant edit our username!