Budget Gaming PC, built around HD 6770

[ajaymailed]

keep the board same. so either go for 6870 or 960T or 970T (it may get unlocked to 6core).

Do i have to mess with settings to unlock it? would it void the warranty?

instead of FSP Saga II 500W go for Corsair CX430W or maybe the newly released VS450W. extra warranty at almost no extra cost.

would CX430W be enough power 6870?

 

[whitestar_999]

get a 500W PSU for future headroom & peace of mind.you can get corsair cx500v2 for ~3200 which has better quality & after sales support along with 3yr warranty of replacement(FSP has 2yr & they repair not replace).

 

[coderunknown]

Do i have to mess with settings to unlock it? would it void the warranty?

not much. just turn on a setting in bios. either pc will boot up fine and run stable or give a BSOD. the latter means unlocking failed. turn off the setting in bios and everything is back to normal. i.e. a 4core processor.

would CX430W be enough power 6870?

yes CX430W will be enough. or go with the above suggestion of CX500W.

 

[ajaymailed]

Will Core i3 2100 be a better processor than X4 955 for gaming if i don't intend to overclock?, its has edge over almost all Phenom II X4 models. Am i really going to need two extra cores of Phenom in future ?

Conclusion: Sandy Bridge Has Game : Who's Got Game? Twelve Sub-$200 CPUs Compared
AnandTech - Bench - CPU

i was so impressed with low prices of quard core Phenoms that i didn't care much about Intel Sandy bridge, thought its always pricey. But seems like Sandy bridge is undisputed leader in gaming.

Can i get a decent Core i3 2100 mobo under 5K? plz suggest me decent Core i3 setup for HD 6850.

 

[whitestar_999]

you can get intel DH67CLB3 for ~5200 which has usb3,sata3 & esata ports or you can get a h61 mobo for ~3300 without these features(normal usb & sata2).core i3 price is ~5900 in nehru place,delhi.rest of the config remains same.however in my opinion even though core i3 is faster it is better to get a quad core processor now-a-days especially if you are a gamer as many games in future will make use of more than 2 cores.

 

[ajaymailed]

you can get intel DH67CLB3 for ~5200 which has usb3,sata3 & esata ports or you can get a h61 mobo for ~3300 without these features(normal usb & sata2).core i3 price is ~5900 in nehru place,delhi.rest of the config remains same.however in my opinion even though core i3 is faster it is better to get a quad core processor now-a-days especially if you are a gamer as many games in future will make use of more than 2 cores.

what if i get a core i5 sandy bridge. how much that would cost me? including motherboard

 

[coderunknown]

cheapest i5 cost ~9k
so a H61 board @ 3.3k

so either go for the Phenom II X4 processor else jump to Core i5 2400. don't go for i3s as even with hyper threading those may feel slow as more and more games take use of multicore. moreover without any overclocking capabilities, this is not recommended.

 

[ajaymailed]

cheapest i5 cost ~9k
so a H61 board @ 3.3k

so either go for the Phenom II X4 processor else jump to Core i5 2400. don't go for i3s as even with hyper threading those may feel slow as more and more games take use of multicore. moreover without any overclocking capabilities, this is not recommended.

I wanted to follow one simple rule while buying gaming desktop. Put my money in the best possible for Graphics and cheapest possible processor and mobo which doesn't bottleneck or turn obsolete in near future. Id have to invest atleast 3K more if i am going for Core i5 rather than Phenom X4, that 3K is probably better spent on graphics card. Core i3 is indeed tempting, but if future games are gonna use more than 2 cores then Phenom X4 is best option in this budget.

 

[coderunknown]

^^ thats what i always suggest. processor can be overclocked easily but not GPU. but also consider what resolution you'll be gaming at or if you plan to get a bigger display. else going for a highend GPU with a low resolution monitor may make little sense.

 

[ajaymailed]

^^ thats what i always suggest. processor can be overclocked easily but not GPU. but also consider what resolution you'll be gaming at or if you plan to get a bigger display. else going for a highend GPU with a low resolution monitor may make little sense.

I have Samsung Sync Master 933 19 inch with resolution 1360 x 768. I may purchase 22 inch monitor next year or so.
but before that i may get a 32 inch or 40 inch LED TV. I hope i can enjoy gaming in big screen tv with HD 6850.

I am thinking getting Cilus original config with HD 6870, may be i have to shell 2K to 3K more but if its below 30K it should be fine.
primeabgb.com prices HD 6870 at 11.5K. Is it ok to buy there?
*www.primeabgb.com/index.php?page=s...tegory_id=132&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

 

[whitestar_999]

i am not a gamer so not sure but from whatever i read about cards suggestions here i think 6850 is a bit under powered to fully enjoy games on a full HD screen.

 

[coderunknown]

yes. HD6850 is a bit underpowered and with HD7XXX making an entry, it maybe wise to go for HD7850 if priced same as HD6870.

@OP, primeabgb charges high carrying charge. send smc a mail asking for cheapest HD6870 GPU they have.

 

[ajaymailed]

How does combination of HD 6870 and Phenom II X4 840 sound. I may save 1000 bucks there with may be negligible loss of performance compared to X4 955.

 

[whitestar_999]

performance wise i doubt you would notice any difference between 840 & 955 for most of the time.for card wait for others/gamers but i think 6870 is noticeably better than 6850.

 

[ajaymailed]

performance wise i doubt you would notice any difference between 840 & 955 for most of the time.for card wait for others/gamers but i think 6870 is noticeably better than 6850.

reviews indicate there is difference of 10 to 20% in FPS in gaming performance between two cards.

 

[coderunknown]

How does combination of HD 6870 and Phenom II X4 840 sound. I may save 1000 bucks there with may be negligible loss of performance compared to X4 955.

Value for Money

but finding Phenom II X4 840 or Athlon II X4 equivalent won't be any easy task. One thing about Phenom II X4s (not the 840 as its a Athlon II X4 rebadged) is that some coolers make a really annoying noise and only way to solve it is purchasing a 1.3-2k cooler. so if you can find Phenom II X4 840, go for it.

 

[ajaymailed]

but finding Phenom II X4 840 or Athlon II X4 equivalent won't be any easy task. One thing about Phenom II X4s (not the 840 as its a Athlon II X4 rebadged) is that some coolers make a really annoying noise and only way to solve it is purchasing a 1.3-2k cooler. so if you can find Phenom II X4 840, go for it.

I would get even better rig if i could find Athlon II X4, may be even HD 6950. under 30K Budget. I hope i can find atleast 840.

 

[ajaymailed]

finally bought my system. went over my budget by 5K, but i think i bought a good one.

Component | Make | Price
Processor| Phenom II X4 970 | 6900
Motherboard|Asus M4A88T-M| 4650
RAM |4 GB Corsair DDR3 1600 Mhz| 1600
Graphics Card|Sapphire HD 6870 1 GB DDR5|11650
Power Supply|Corsair CX500V2 500W| 3100
Cabinet|Circle Cabinet |1950
|Total| 29850|

all purchased locally.
*imageupload.org/thumb/thumb_188407.jpg

*imageupload.org/thumb/thumb_188410.jpg

apparently even Phenom II X4 955 was difficult to find, entire Phenom & Athlon series (except few Phenom X2 models) are quickly disappearing from market replaced by Bulldozer and Llano.
Initially i wanted to have Gigabyte 880G but shop walla offered Asus mobo with 4 RAM Slots, 7.1 Audio. CrossfireX, for 900 more, so i bought it.

I wanted to go for cheap small cabinet but overwhelmed after looking at size of HD 6870. my motherboard was looking puny before that. I didn't want to put too much on Cabinet, they showed me some budget CM models, probably too small for 6870 , but then they showed me big circle cabinet, i bought it.

I didn't want to put 11.5K for Mobo+CPU but unavailability of Athlon X4 or Phenom X4 forced me to. Spent 2 to 3K more there. Most of the shops haven't got FSP PSU, So had to got for Corsair. Had to spend 1K more than i expected. I just didn't want to compromise on GPU and PSU. I think i bought gr8 combination in my budget.
eagerly waiting for all your views.

grateful to Sam, Cilus, whitestar to help me. without discussing in thinkdigit forums i would have gone for budget 6670 card with a local zebronics PSU. I never wud be going for 6850, let alone 6870.

Cilus thread on Best money for graphics card is awesome , I only wish thinkdigit publishes such information for gaming enthusiasts.
power supply articles on by The Sorcerer and Ico really opened my eyes.

Now some suggestions needed for OS. I know the limitation of 32 bit, its showing 3.25 GB instead of 4GB. But i guess rest of it will be used by other components like GPU may be?

I want to get 64 bit OS but do i have get for 64 bit versions of games or softwares seperately or even normal softwares are compatible?

Some of the old games i have are not working in Win 7 but XP. I was thinking of installing XP64 bit and Win7 32bit. what say?

 

[whitestar_999]

I know the limitation of 32 bit, its showing 3.25 GB instead of 4GB. But i guess rest of it will be used by other components like GPU may be?

no this is applicable only for onboard graphics not graphics card which have their own separate ram(1GB GDDR5 in your case).

I want to get 64 bit OS but do i have get for 64 bit versions of games or softwares seperately or even normal softwares are compatible?

there are very few native 64bit applications.most of the applications used on 64bit windows 7 are 32bit versions(hence 2 program file folders--one for 64bit & one for 32bit called program filesx86).

Some of the old games i have are not working in Win 7 but XP. I was thinking of installing XP64 bit and Win7 32bit. what say?

which games?btw have you tried the compatibility mode to run these games.

 

[ajaymailed]

which games?btw have you tried the compatibility mode to run these games.

oh i didn't know it was even there.

you haven't commented on my config whitestar