Help on Buying/Upgrading PC (Max 30k)

[Devrath_ND]

Hi guys,

I currently have this 5 year old PC configuration

Current PC Config
Operating System
MS Windows 7 32-bit SP1

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+

RAM
2.50 GB Single-Channel DDR2 @ 313MHz (5-6-5-15)

Motherboard
MICRO-STAR INTERANTIONAL CO.,LTD MS-7327 (CPU 1)

Graphics
VA1703wSERIES (1440x900@60Hz)
AMD Radeon HD 6670 (MSI)

Hard Drives
977GB Western Digital WDC WD10EARS-00Y5B1 ATA Device (SATA)
156GB Seagate ST3160211AS ATA Device (SATA)

The components that I want to reuse are the Graphics Card, Monitor(Larger monitor if it fits in budget) and 1TB WD Green Hardisk.

Current Requirements
1. SSD for Primary Win 7 OS and some Games
2. 500(or lower) GB Harddisk for other programs and OS
3. Best Performing CPU and Mobo under my budget with preference to gaming and programming
4. 4 GB Ram(Higher if fits in budget)
5. Optical Drive

Budget : Max 25-30k

Usage
1. All the latest games with at least low to mid performance
2. Programming
2. Apps like Photoshop, etc

I can wait till January if there is some price drops.

Please guys can you help me decide on the components and prices for the same.

 

[vkl]

@Devrath_ND
Please fill this upPC Build Questionnaire Template

 

[Devrath_ND]

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
Ans: Want to play all the latest games with at least low to mid performance, Programming, Apps like Photoshop, etc

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans: 20k optimally. Max 25-30k if performance gain is substantial

3. Planning to overclock ?
Ans: Nope

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Win 7 64

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: SSD(60 GB) + 500 GB

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention which screen size and resolution do you want. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, again mention the size and resolution of monitor you have.
Ans: Nope. Reuse VA1703wSERIES (1440x900@60Hz) - 17''

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: Want to reuse Graphics Card (AMD Radeon HD 6670 MSI) and 1TB WD Green Hardisk (WDC WD10EARS).

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: Can wait till late December or January if there is price slashing to be expected.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Myself

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Karnataka. Online if dont get parts here.

 

[mandarpalshikar]

I'm suggesting config according to what you've mentioned. But seriously the main limiting factor would be you GFX card. About HDD.. its better to buy 1TB one as price difference between 500GB and 1 TB would be atmost 500 Rs.
If you need decent gaming performance then just do away with SSD & new HDD and put that saved 7 to 8k into MSI GRAPHICS CARD R7770-PMD1GD5... which will substantially increases gaming performance of your machine.

Component Name Price
CPU Intel i3 3220 7000
Motherboard MSI ZH77A-G41 5800
RAM Corsair XMS3 1600 MHz CL9 8GB 2600
PSU Corsair VS450 2200
SSD OCZ Agility 3 60 GB 4000
HDD WD Caviar Green 1 TB 4000
Cabinet BitFenix Merc Alpha 2500
Optical Drive Asus DVD Writer 900
Total 29000

 

[Devrath_ND]

Thanks for the reply.. No i would not want to buy a new graphics card and would be happy just to play the games at decent settings..

Is the performance boost from SSD for OS and Games good for the price ?

HDD Green Edition is it good to install programs and games on ?

How about AMD Conifg ? Are they any better at this budget.

And i wouldn't mind spending a little less though if the performance drop is not very much

 

[mandarpalshikar]

Performance boost will be there only from OS boot point of view. You wont be able to install much games on a 60GB SSD as Windows 7 will consume a lot of space and you'll be left with around 20 to 25 GB for use. And if you install the Games on SSD.. only improvement would be the load times.
That's why I suggested to do away with SSD Only difference would be your windows will boot very very fast. So if you want to stick with your GFX then spending some money on SSD wont improve your gaming experience. You need to get a better GFX to really enjoy gaming since as I said limiting factor would be HD6670 you have.

HDD Green Edition is good, my friend is using it for last 3 years now without a single hitch.

As for AMD config... our fellow TDF members would suggest as I'm unable to find suitable CPU+Mobo to beat down initel i3 3220 + Z77 config sadly.

 

[vkl]

For AMD alternatives you can wait for the release of Trinity a10 and a8-5600k processors or fx6300.
If you want good performance with low price then these trinity processors might turn out to be good options when they become available.
If you want an SSD,preferably take a good one with around 120GB space atleast.Corsair 120GB Force GT SSD -7k
If you don't require 1TB space then take caviar blue 500GB,has somewhat better performance.Else Green is fine.

 

[Devrath_ND]

I thought about this and discarded the idea of having SSD.

So shall i go with the same config mentioned above or any changes for better performance at given price.

Which is the best place to buy the components online from ? I trust Flipcart but is there a lot of price difference ?

The PSU Corsair VS450 seems to have a different power outlet connector. Its not a big deal but are there any alternatives to it.

 

[mandarpalshikar]

I thought about this and discarded the idea of having SSD.

So shall i go with the same config mentioned above or any changes for better performance at given price.

Which is the best place to buy the components online from ? I trust Flipcart but is there a lot of price difference ?

The PSU Corsair VS450 seems to have a different power outlet connector. Its not a big deal but are there any alternatives to it.

You can get a converter in your local electrical shop for mere 50 Rs.

 

[Devrath_ND]

The motherboard is not available is there any alternatives ? Also MSI ZH77A-G41 has 4 ram slots which i wouldn't be using and it has just 3 audio ports.. I connect speakers headphones and microphones so one with 6 ports will be better.

What about B75 motherboards ?

 

[Cilus]

I have a different suggestion for you, based on AMD Trinity APU.

AMD A10-5800K @ 8.4K
ASUS F2A85-M-LE MOTHERBOARD @ 5.72K
Corsair Vengeance 8GB X1 1600 MHz DDR3 @ 2.7K
Corsair VS450 @ 2.2K
OCZ Agility 3 60 GB @ 4K
WD Caviar Blue SATA III 6 Gbps @ 4.3K
BitFenix Merc Alpha @ 2.5K
Asus 24X DVD R/W @ 1K

Total: 30.82K

One main advantage of this config is that the IGP of A10-5800K, HD 7660D can work simultaneously with your HD 6670, resulting a Hybrid Crossfire setup. This mode is supported in most of the DirectX 11 games and you will get a gaming performance boost in lot of cases. Although the Driver support for Hybrid Crossfire isn't mature enough, the gap is closing with every new Driver release. Gaming performance wise 5800K is comparable with i3 2320 and slightly below i3 3220. But you will get better multi-threaded performance, resulting performance boost in CPU intensive applications like Video Encoding, photoshop etc.

 

[Devrath_ND]

@ Cilus thanks for the suggestion. But i am inclined towards the Intel Config and have already placed an order for it. Only problem is the motherboard if i could get alternatives at the same point or I should wait for it as it is out of stock in flipcart.