Give me the best configuration with Intel Conroe.

[Sathyan A. S.]

I am coming to the final stages of deciding on a configuration. Please clear some doubts left.

The processor I decided is Intel C2D E 6300.

How could I know whether a chip is Conroe or Alendale?

Which is the best motherboard available for this one? I am not a hardcore gamer; but I want my system to be Vista ready. So I want to add a 256mb Graphics card later. (I think all the boards for Intel cpu have integrated graphics in it. Please correct me if I am wrong.)

What about BIG Geforce 7300GS 256MB DDR-PCI Express Graphic Card? It is available around Rs. 4000/-.

The rest of the configuration, in my mind is as follows..........

1GB ddr2 533 Mhz Transcend
160GB seagate SATA HDD
Li-teon SHW 1635S dual layer 16X dvd writer
Samsung 997MB or Philips 109E Monitor
Microsoft Basic Keyboard and Optical Mouse
Zebronics Rajaji or Marina Cabinet.
Intex or Powersafe 550W PSU (Is all these power supply has 24pin connector?)
APC 650W UPS

Please give me your openion on this. Also give me the approximate price of each item.

 

[akshayt]

E6300 and 6400 are allendale, E6600 and up are conroe.

What is your total budget and requirement/usage?

 

[drvarunmehta]

Just one change...
DDR2 667 MHz RAM instead of 533 MHz.

You can get the Intel 965 mobo. It costs about Rs. 7200.

7300GS is ok if you only want to run Vista with the Aero interface enabled, but if you want to play games you need atleast a 7600GS.

 

[Sathyan A. S.]

Thank you akshayt and drvarunmehta for your respose to my query.

Okey Akshayt, my budget is 40 to 60k but I want to keep that as low as possible. I want a future proof machine at the lowest price as possible. (only future proof, don't want that powerful.)

drvarunmehta: Do you mean, an Intel DesktopBoard with 965 chipset? If so which one? There are many boards available with that chipset from Intel itself. Is it possible to get a board with better features from Asus or MSI in that price? Like Asus P5B-VM.

Yes, I only want 7300GS. But my question is, how is the brand 'Big'? Isn't it a wise thing to postpone the purchase of the graphicscard to a later stage if I can connect the monitor to the Mobo without it? When Vista is out, I could get a better card available at that time.

 

[paul_007]

40 to 60 K is a good budget , y dont u go for a better gfx card ie 7600 or above

 

[Sathyan A. S.]

40 to 60 K is a good budget , y dont u go for a better gfx card ie 7600 or above

Because I don't need it.

I am not a gamer and I want to bring my budget as near as possible to 40k, avoiding those things which are absolutely necessory. That is why I am not buying speakers now; I could add a good one later on.
__________
Please give your suggestion for

1. The best motherboard available for Intel C2D E 6300.

2. The reputation of 'Big' amoung graphics cards.

3. Openion on the rest of the configuraton.

 

[drvarunmehta]

1. Intel D965RY Rs. 7200. Other mobo's based on the 965 chipset from Asus, MSI and Gigabyte are more expensive. Avoid C2D mobo's based on the 945 chipset.

2. It's ok but other companies like XFX and Leadtek are better. They also cost a little more.

3. Don't buy a graphics card now if you don't want to play games. Use the onboard graphics on the mobo and wait till DirectX 10 cards come out.
If you can afford to spend some more get a good LCD instead of the CRT monitors. A 19" widescreen Viewsonic VA1912 LCD will cost you about Rs. 16,000.

 

[magnet]

wellli dont have much idea abt c2d market stuffs...but yup get any mobohigher than 965 chipset..or 965 will do......

proccy akshayt has cleared that doubt.....


most important powersupply which ppl dont giv importance.........get frm a noted company..powersafe is good...but intex is strict no...for powersupply get out of this companies...antec(damn xpensive...if still goin gt the 400w one)...than vip or powersafe(450w will b enough).......and strict no to clorsit and all.......check u get 20a or more +12v rail of psu

ram u get in dualsetup i mean 512mb*2........so if ever u face problem u can atlest keep the system on on other.......regardin(mhz stuff abt rams sorry no idea)


cabinet........get a spacious cabinet.......and if u r ready to shelve 3-4kon jus cabinet without powersupply...either get zebronics jamaica..or chieftec cabinet...antec super lanboy is good but again damn expensive...)

regarding mobo...get asus or either gigabyte one....oc preferasus becoz of its feature and all......


i would also suggest go for lcd.......17inch samsung u get for ard 10-11k.......
regardin dvd writer check lg h10...will b for ard 2k......or atlest get box pack for guarantee stuff....

graphic card.....go for othe company mate...xfx,leadtekwill do...prefer big only if u gettin 6600gt.........
i would rather suggest go for other card....7300gs if i m not wrong has ddr2memory which radiates alot of heat...get gddr3 memory one...6600gt new one cost 7k........but best buy at this stage is 7600gt.....which is ard 12k...but in delhi ppl got it for aslow as 8.5k......i tried but stock wasover.......palit one........

regarding all the stuffs i have mentioned i know i have kept myself on higher side(on money stuffs)...but beleive me dude...........after 3 yrs u will again have to shelve 40kfor upgrades...and if u goby my advice....if u still want better stuffs...ull only have to change cpu only and max graphic card......so if u ready to spend 60k go for it.........and giv due importance to powersupply and cabinet for proper ventilation and to lastyour comp longer

yup its better to get2gb ram......ddr2 ramsare cheaper(1 gb* 2)..since u thinking to run vista.......vista is memory hungary stuff........

 

[Dhaval]

Hi Sathyan A. S.,
Regarding the graphics card, even i am not a gamer and only wanted a future proof PC, So i ordered 7300 GT (Rs 6000/-), this is way better than 7300 GS , comparable in performance to 7600 GS.
I think you should check it out....

 

[abhijit_reddevil]

wellli dont have much idea abt c2d market stuffs...but yup get any mobohigher than 965 chipset..or 965 will do......

proccy akshayt has cleared that doubt.....


most important powersupply which ppl dont giv importance.........get frm a noted company..powersafe is good...but intex is strict no...for powersupply get out of this companies...antec(damn xpensive...if still goin gt the 400w one)...than vip or powersafe(450w will b enough).......and strict no to clorsit and all.......check u get 20a or more +12v rail of psu

ram u get in dualsetup i mean 512mb*2........so if ever u face problem u can atlest keep the system on on other.......regardin(mhz stuff abt rams sorry no idea)


cabinet........get a spacious cabinet.......and if u r ready to shelve 3-4kon jus cabinet without powersupply...either get zebronics jamaica..or chieftec cabinet...antec super lanboy is good but again damn expensive...)

regarding mobo...get asus or either gigabyte one....oc preferasus becoz of its feature and all......


i would also suggest go for lcd.......17inch samsung u get for ard 10-11k.......
regardin dvd writer check lg h10...will b for ard 2k......or atlest get box pack for guarantee stuff....

graphic card.....go for othe company mate...xfx,leadtekwill do...prefer big only if u gettin 6600gt.........
i would rather suggest go for other card....7300gs if i m not wrong has ddr2memory which radiates alot of heat...get gddr3 memory one...6600gt new one cost 7k........but best buy at this stage is 7600gt.....which is ard 12k...but in delhi ppl got it for aslow as 8.5k......i tried but stock wasover.......palit one........

regarding all the stuffs i have mentioned i know i have kept myself on higher side(on money stuffs)...but beleive me dude...........after 3 yrs u will again have to shelve 40kfor upgrades...and if u goby my advice....if u still want better stuffs...ull only have to change cpu only and max graphic card......so if u ready to spend 60k go for it.........and giv due importance to powersupply and cabinet for proper ventilation and to lastyour comp longer

yup its better to get2gb ram......ddr2 ramsare cheaper(1 gb* 2)..since u thinking to run vista.......vista is memory hungary stuff........

If it's 3-4k just on cabinet, then you can get Antec SLK 3000B for Rs.3700. I have recently bought it.

By the way, my suggestion to the author would be to postpone the purchase of the graphics card later till Vista and DX10 cards come out. For the time being, use the onboard display since you are not a gamer.

 

[drvarunmehta]

If you don't want to play games spending anything on a graphics card is useless. WinXP will run just fine with onboard graphics. When Vista comes out get the cheapest possible card with 256 MB video RAM and you will have full support for Vista's Aero inteface.

 

[Sathyan A. S.]

Thank you,
drvarunmehta! for being very specific on those informations,
magnet! for that long informative reply
Dhaval! for that last piece of iformation.
digitized! for that piece of advice

Now Could I fix the motherboard as 'Intel® Desktop Board DG965RY'???? Is that the final word?

Well! when one think about cabinet and power supply the first name comes to mind is Antec. But the price........ Then I changed my decision to a cheaper Cabinet and Antec True 430 Power Supply; but the PS costs above 4k. Then I decided I don't need that luxury. There is no doubt 'magnet' & 'digitized', Antec is dam good; I could have gone for it even if it costs a little more. But it is five to eight times costlier. I don't know whether that is justifiable. Even if I have to change the power supply on every other year, I can go with the cost of Antec to almost six years. Then it is reliabiliy that matters. I don't want to spend that much to reliability.

Rs. 6k more to go for LCD............. I am confused. It is convenient.......Still the CRT gives true life picture.......... well what you say? ( No compromise on 19"! I am watching the market for this for quite sometime.)

Dhaval, thank you for that information, I didn't know 7300 GT is available for Rs. 7000/- . But I think as 'drvarunmehta' & 'digitized' have pointed out I should wait a little longer for buying a graphics card.

I need a final word on Mobo. Whether to go for Intel itself; if so, whether DG965RY is the right choice?

 

[drvarunmehta]

Intel mobo's are always reliable. But if you can find another mobo based on 965 chipset by Asus, MSI or Gigabyte at a cheaper price, consider that too.

There any many threads comparing CRT's and LCD's on the forum. If you're still confused go to a shop and get a demo of an LCD. That should help you make up your mind.

 

[montylee]

Intel mobos based on the G965 chipset are doing ok-ok. The BIOS is not in the best condition at the moment. Intel will update the G965 chipset drivers in October. So, in October, u'll get new chipset drivers as well as updated BIOS for DG965RY. I guess the hardware will remain the same.

 

[vinyas]

go for this Feature RICH mobo Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 real Value for money

good for OC also

 

[magnet]

yup even i was selling my 6600gt to get 7600gt than i realized abt dx 10 stuff..so postponed it........

afterantec chieftec the best stuff in india....

no doubt the antec version u mention is good...but wht i have mentioned are damn spacious one.......only downside is jamaica is heavy.......

but its always better to have huge cabinets it helps in air flow

 

[Sathyan A. S.]

cabinet........get a spacious cabinet.......and if u r ready to shelve 3-4kon jus cabinet without powersupply...either get zebronics jamaica..or chieftec cabinet...antec super lanboy is good but again damn expensive...)

.......only downside is jamaica is heavy.......

Isn't the Zebronics Jamaica a Server Chassis? Can we use that for building a PC? If so, what about the other two models in it- Rock and Tower? I like the Rock......... it has a formidable look. Does it cost 4k+, Cabinet alone?

_______________________________________________________________

I also heard about the board mentioned by 'vinyas'.
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3.
Why is it better than Intel® Desktop Board DG965RY? Is that the overclocking capability? It doesn't have onboard graphics.
But Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 has on board graphics. The only difference between these two seems to be just about the graphics (and RAID). Is there any way I could know the prices of these cards?

________________________________________________________________

Thank you montylee for that pice of information.

________________________________________________________________

drvarunmehta ! It is impossible to get a demo of an LCD Monitor here in Kerala as there will not be any one available with most of the vendors. So one has to depend on people like you to reach for a decision.

I think I could go for Samsung 19" - 940BW; widescreen LCD.

 

[vinyas]

"I also heard about the board mentioned by 'vinyas'.
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3.
Why is it better than Intel® Desktop Board DG965RY? Is that the overclocking capability? It doesn't have onboard graphics.
But Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 has on board graphics. The only difference between these two seems to be just about the graphics (and RAID). Is there any way I could know the prices of these cards"


i have my own doubts on this too... apart from onboard graphics ... i dont see any difference in performance.... cost diffrence between the two is not much also..
GA-965P-DS3 is selling like hot cakes right now

 

[akshayt]

AFAIK mobos with onboard video usually aren't that great overclockers.

You can't get to know the difference between 2 mobos just by features. Performance, stability, reliability, oc ability and service and warranty matter as well.

 

[vinyas]

akshayt
wat about running @ stock ? .... these r good ?