Extremly Tight Budget System Configuration (Agent 001 & Readers Help!)

[rajivkumar3000]

Hello Agent 001 & other Digit Readers/Staff Please help me configuring the system,

I'm gonna build/upgrade a system on a extremely tight budget.
1. I've currently decided on Intel Pentium Dual Core E5700 (it's a 3.0 GHz. without Hyper-Threading Technology) CPU . Is it a good choice? Does it have any known issues with it (like over-heating)? (I've current decided on E5700 but if my dad doesn't permit with it I'll go slightly lower rating like E5300 or E5200). I wanna know the street bargain price for E5700. web search (ebay etc.) shows it around 3200-36000. How much should I pay for this (I'll buy it from any techshop/vendor & NOT from online)? Had anyone of you bought this?, if yes for how much money?
(Plz. tell with street bargain price. so the vendor could not cheat me!!!)

2. OR should I go for E5800 3.2 GHz. AFAIK Prices of both (E5700 & E5800) are same. I didn't find any difference between the two except clock speed. But AFAIK Intel site is showing E5700 has "Intel® Smart Cache = 2MB".

3. How is "Intel® Smart Cache" difference than normal cache? Should I go for E5700? What is Hyper-Threading Technology in layman's language? E5700 is without Hyper-Threading Technology, So will that perform bad?

4. Does Heat-sink come with CPU? I've also heard about CPU coolers. How do they work? do I need one?

5. Please suggest a sturdy & long-lasting ATX Motherboard from any good brand like Gigabyte, Intel etc. (I heard that Motherboards from Intel are overly priced. Is it true?). Preferably within Rs. 2000 OR 2500 or slightly over or near that with good quality onboard graphics & audio for gaming (I'll try to collect money & add a graphics card later). If it supports USB 3.0/DDR3 RAM/Faster SATA, it will be a great bonus as DDR3 sticks are cheaper than DDR2 sticks. I currently have an old 15" CRT monitor, and don't have plans to replace it with a LCD any soon But if the MoBo has DVI connectivity it would be future-proof.
(Plz. tell with street bargain price. so the vendor could not cheat me!!!)

6. A sturdy Cabinet as cheap as possible, [under Rs. 1000 OR 1500 OR whatever as cheap as possible, SORRY I'm confused] with good vibration control. I don't need many extra bays, currently I'll be installing only one Hard Drive and One DVD writer. Even if it's ordinary looking it'll do but should be well ventilated & should have provision for extra fans (Do I really need extra fans?). Other features, if budget permits, are always welcome. preferably it should sport front USB & Headphone/Mic ports. I'm located in a dusty & hot area. My room is under direct sunlight so it gets scorching hot especially in summers.
(Plz. tell with street bargain price. so the vendor could not cheat me!!!)

7. A good quality Power Supply Unit as cheap as possible but it should be long lasting & should not strain or burn my system. probably I'll be adding a mid-range graphics card (withing 5000/6000) after few months for gaming. It should tolerate power fluctuations & power-cuts (blackouts/brownouts/Load shedding), I currently don't have UPS. Do I really need a high wattage PSU for low or mid level gaming? (Web searches shown me very high prices of PSU units) will I be able to settle under 1000 bucks? or should I pay more? [probably the system will be running most of the time except while power-cuts.]
(Plz. tell with street bargain price. so the vendor could not cheat me!!!)

P.S. Why is there huge difference between prices of the two products (PSUs) of the same wattage ratings from the same company!!!

8. If I go for a 2GB RAM stick now (to be upgraded to total of 4GB at later time.) Will the system work with just on stick (I've heard that dual channel memory sticks should be installed in pairs else the system won't work efficiently. Is that true?)

9. Please suggest RAM modules according to the Motherboard. [suggest both- one 2GB stick and a 4GB kit. I'll decide later]

10. Hard Disk Drive at least 500 GB. If I go for 1 TB, Should I buy two separate (500 GB each) drive or one '1 TB' drive?

11. One Question- Which is best? Seagate OR Wester Digital (WD)? [Please explain regarding longevity/durability & crash-proof]

12. I want to ask one thing about DVD Writer: I already have a old one but that's a E-IDE drive. Can I connect that with newer SATA connectors by any how? Or Do I have to buy a new one? This also applies to HDD. I mean will I be able to connect old IDE (Ultra ATA) HDD to the motherboard's SATA connectors by some kinda converter cables?

13. Please suggest a good UPS (I'll buy it after few months or later) with good backup time & preferably with surge protection and with a good quality battery, I've heard of incidents of bursting batteries thus injuring/killing people.

14. One trivial question- Does the UPS 'VA rating' decide longevity of the backup time or is it the battery's Ah rating which decides?

15. Will my system support Windows 7 Ultimate.

16. will my system support 64 bit OS & Application. (Well If not, I'm OK with 32 bit)

One last thing my system should last at-least for 4-5 years (it should not be worn & torn earlier). I know nowadays' technology is not future proof for so long BUT.......

 

[thetechfreak]

As you want for 4-5 years the E5700 IS NOT A VERY GOOD CHOICE.

Get this config. Will last you EASILY For 4-5 years

Component | Make | Price Processor |AMD Phenom II x4 840|4800
Motherboard |Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H|4000
RAM |G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNQ|1100
Graphic Card |Sapphire HD6750|6000
HDD |Seagate 500GB 7200.12|1900
DVD Writer |LG 22X SATA DVD|900
PSU |FSP Saga II 500W|2000
Case |Zebronics Bijli (w/o psu)|1000
Keyboard & Mouse |Logitech MK100|500
UPS |Intex 1KVA|1800
| Total |24000

10. Hard Disk Drive at least 500 GB. If I go for 1 TB, Should I buy two separate (500 GB each) drive or one '1 TB' drive?

I have posted a 500 GB HDD. If you want a 1 TB HDD get this-

Seagate 1TB 7200.12 @Rs.2700

P.S. Why is there huge difference between prices of the two products (PSUs) of the same wattage ratings from the same company!!!

PSU buying factor should be efficiency. Supoose we have 2 PSU of 400 w each. One has 70% efficience. SO the output from that {SU will be 70% of 400w which is = 280w

a 80% PSU of same wattage will give output of 320w. The second PSU will be costlier

16. will my system support 64 bit OS & Application. (Well If not, I'm OK with 32 bit)

99% of processors available today support 64 bit OS's

4. Does Heat-sink come with CPU? I've also heard about CPU coolers. How do they work? do I need one?

Yes they come with the CPU.
For CPU coolers if you want to overclock then its worth getting it. Else the stock cooler with CPU WILL DO.

 

[Cilus]

thetechfreak, the information regarding PSU efficeny is completely worng and most of the people think about efficienty the way you are thinking.

A true X watt PSU will deliver X watt, no matter what its efficiency is. Efficieny decides how much power it will take from the source to deliver its quoted rating.
Lets go little mathametical

Say PSU Wattage = W
PSU Efficienty = Y%
PSU Power required to deliver W watt = P

Then P X Y% = W
-> P = W/Y%
-> P= (W X 100)/Y
-> P = 100 X W/Y

Now W or PSU power outage is constant for a specific PSU. So lets consider 100XW = K (constant)
So, P = K/Y
or P is inversely proportional with Y or total Power required to deliver the quoted Output is inversely proportinal to the Efficiency.

So, more higher the efficieny, less power is will taken from the source by the PSU to deliver its rated power which implies less power consumtion. Actually good PSUs are having efficient design and good components to minimazie the
energy loss in terms of heat and other form. So a high efficieny PSu basically reduces the electric bill.

While buying a good PSU, check the amount of power which is getting delivered in its 12V rail because most of the components take power from the 12V rail and it is important to provide minimum 80% of the total wattage of the PSU to be delivered through the 12V rail.

 

[Skud]

Nicely explained buddy.

 

[Souro_Ray]

well said, Cilus...

 

[Cilus]

Thanks to both of you. Actually it is my constant effort to put the complex thing in simple term so that all of you, not some computer engineers, can understand it. That's why I have written about TLP, ILP in very simple language when Jas asked me about it. Wait some time and I'm gonna write some more articles in very simple languages about the hardware JARGON.

Lets laborare est orare be my moto in the forum.

 

[rajivkumar3000]

@thetechfreak Thanks BUT reread/reconsider my questions. I said ~I am on extremely tight budget~. the configuration you suggested is totally OUT of my budget. secondly, I prefer Intel CPUs, and Motherboard according to that. AND other points like point number 3, 8, 11, 12, 14 etc.

@Cilus Thanks.

 

[Demon Lord]

thetechfreak, the information regarding PSU efficeny is completely worng and most of the people think about efficienty the way you are thinking.

A true X watt PSU will deliver X watt, no matter what its efficiency is. Efficieny decides how much power it will take from the source to deliver its quoted rating.
Lets go little mathametical

Say PSU Wattage = W
PSU Efficienty = Y%
PSU Power required to deliver W watt = P

Then P X Y% = W
-> P = W/Y%
-> P= (W X 100)/Y
-> P = 100 X W/Y

Now W or PSU power outage is constant for a specific PSU. So lets consider 100XW = K (constant)
So, P = K/Y
or P is inversely proportional with Y or total Power required to deliver the quoted Output is inversely proportinal to the Efficiency.

So, more higher the efficieny, less power is will taken from the source by the PSU to deliver its rated power which implies less power consumtion. Actually good PSUs are having efficient design and good components to minimazie the
energy loss in terms of heat and other form. So a high efficieny PSu basically reduces the electric bill.

While buying a good PSU, check the amount of power which is getting delivered in its 12V rail because most of the components take power from the 12V rail and it is important to provide minimum 80% of the total wattage of the PSU to be delivered through the 12V rail.

Nice Explanation!
got confused lil in between,finally got it!
well done dude.

 

[Cilus]

rajivkumar3000, you are too much confused about the components. And thetechfreak's suggestion is perfect but if it is still out of your budget then you are out of luck for Intel processors. The Core2Duo processors have already reached their End of Life and Intel has stopped manufacturing them. In simple terms they are obsolate and far better components are available at the same price range.
The Athlon II X4/Phenom II X4 processors are true quad core and they are far more powerful than your Dual Core E5700 or E5800 due to their advanced architecture, don't get fulled by the speed or Cache size. New generations of Sandybridge based i3/i5 processors are out of your budget.

I'll suggest you to fill up the questions present in the PC Build Questionnarie Thread so that we can suggest you more optimized solutions as per your need.

 

[thetechfreak]

A intel i3 processor costs in the 5k range and a decent mobo costs 3k atleast. But in the same price range(a bit less) actually the AMD Phenom x4 is a LOT FASTER AND BETTER THAN THE i3

The Core 2 Duo and Dual core are in EOL. As you wanted to use for atleast 4-5 years I have suggested a good config which will perform most tasks with no hassles.
If you still cant spend that much buy these-
AMD Phenom II x4 840 @Rs.4800
Asus M4A78TMLE @Rs.2600(approx)
2 GB DDR 3 RAM @Rs.1100
rest of components ssame as my previous suggestion

thetechfreak, the information regarding PSU efficeny is completely worng and most of the people think about efficienty the way you are thinking.

Thanks for explaination
Rep ++

 

[rajivkumar3000]

I already mentioned my approx. budget.

For Motherboard please suggest within Rs. 2000 OR 2500 or slightly over or near that.

For CPU my budget is around Rs. 3000

For PSU thetechfreak suggested a 2000 bucks PSU but that's very expensive for me.

 

[saswat23]

For your budget:
* CPU: AthlonII X3 440 -- 3k
* MoBo: Asus AM3 DDR3 Mobo -- 2.7k
* PSU: FSP SAGAII 500W -- 2.1k
or
FSP SAGAII 400W -- 1.7k
or
FSP SAGAII 350W -- 1.5k

Actually at this range AMD offers more VFM than Intel.

 

[rajivkumar3000]

Actually at this range AMD offers more VFM than Intel.

Thanks, I understand your point, But could you please suggest a Intel Based CPU & Board also.

And as you said AMD offers more VFM than Intel. But are there any drawbacks of AMD over Intel?

 

[ssk_the_gr8]

Thanks, I understand your point, But could you please suggest a Intel Based CPU & Board also.

And as you said AMD offers more VFM than Intel. But are there any drawbacks of AMD over Intel?

there are no drawbacks of AMD, just buy it

and you should invest in a good PSU, fsp saga II 500w is very good and you wont regret it, and if you dont plan on any GPU upgrades in future then you can go for FSP saga II 400w

understand that PSU is actually the most important component as it drives all the other components, do you want your cpu etc going kaput because of a cheap PSU

 

[thetechfreak]

For your budget:
* CPU: AthlonII X3 440 -- 3k
* MoBo: Asus AM3 DDR3 Mobo -- 2.7k
* PSU: FSP SAGAII 500W -- 2.1k

This is very much reccomended. But if you could JUSt spend Rs.1000 more and buy a Athlon x4 635 for Rs.4k it will be more future proof.
The Quad Athlon is better than the tri core. This 1k extra winvestment will be worth it.

 

[rajivkumar3000]

Thanks for suggesting AMD based But Please somebody also suggest a good Intel socket LGA 775 based Motherboard. (Budget= within Rs. 2000 OR 2500 or slightly over or near that.)