Help with 21k Gaming Rig (Without GPU or Monitor)

[RaptorX]

Hi,

I made a similar thread about a week ago regarding only the mobo. Now I need some suggestions on the whole rig besides:

- Graphics card (Will be purchasing a good card after 4-5 months)
-Speakers …..Already have a decent pair.
-Monitor ……Based on how much the rest of the rig costs, I will spend 6-9k on a good monitor to keep the whole rig’s price under 30k. (I’ll make a separate topic for that later on)

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
Gaming-Imp:Orange Box,Crysis,Bioshock1,FEAR1,GTA4+ collection of pre-2005 games.
Surfing
Dowloading (Steam discounts are great, but downloading the games may require the pc to be on for days)
Watching Movies

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers?
A: Sure.

3. What is your MAX budget?
A:21k would be perfect. Trying to keep mobo+ram+procy within 14k and remaining for the rest. If necessary I can increase it a bit.

4. Planning to overclock?
A: I'm open to it even though I’ve never done it before. If possible in my budget-Great.

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A:Windows XP Sp2 32bit for another year.

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want?
A:I will be buying a 20 or 22inch monitor. So 1920x1080.

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10?
A: 5

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A: This will be my first custom build. I’m considering to do it myself by following some guides and videos.

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: The rig should hopefully be done by 6th September.

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A: I don't need usb3 or sata3. Whatever ‘futureproofing’ is possible within my budget is fine.

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A: Will be buying from Mumbai. I’m mainly looking to visit lamington & buy from Prime or itwares shops. I’m open to ordering online from smc or others if the savings are big. Ripjaws price from smc looks tempting.

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary

-After checking their websites and getting quotes from Prime, my initial rough build has gone overbudget. Can’t find the Biostar TA785G3HD or GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-US2H in Mumbai. I wanted to keep the mobo cost under 5k. Seems unlikely as the Giga 880-gm-ud2h is 5200/-.

-I have a really old ide dvd combo(only cd writer) that I may have to use in the new rig if the budget becomes too tight for a new writer.

-Stock heatsink with pre-applied thermal paste is fine? …or do I need to get antec silver too? Might overclock to atleast 3.0-3.2ghz after a year or if performance in games dips.

-I’m open to using gigabyte superb 460,fsp saga 400 or 500…..my main concern is that I don’t want to be limited by my psu when I buy a good graphics card 5 months from now. ( 5770,GTX 460 or even a 5850 depending on the price falls after the introduction of ati 6 series.) Also read about it’s short cables. Corsair seems to be the unanimous favorite + the 5yr warranty… so I tried to fit it in my budget.

-I considered getting one stick of ram now and another later. Seems that’s a bad idea as finding the same frequency and model few months later may be difficult. Might as well get a 2*2gb pack now since prices don’t seem to be dropping anytime soon.



-This is the rough rig I’ve planned to buy.

Case:Cooler Master Elite 430- 2750rs(Would the elite 310 at 1550 suffice instead?)
HDD-Seagate 500gb(7200rpm)- 1900rs OR WD blue-2k
PSU-Corsair VX450- 3500rs( or cx400-2500rs)
KB/Mouse-Logitech Internet Pro Desktop (usb/ps-2)- 650rs (open to other/better alternatives under 1k)
DVD Writer-L.G. GH22NS50 OEM SATA DVD-Writer/ = 950rs
1*120mm fan-

The Big 3:

Ram Choices (is 1600 mhz worth 100-200 more?)

Corsair XMS3 ddr3 1333mhz 2x2 (4gb pack)- 5250/- (prime)

Alternatives:
Corsair XMS3 ddr3 1600mhz 2x2 (4gb pack)- 5450/- (prime)

Corsair value ram ddr3 1333mhz 2*2(4gb pack)- 2500/- * 2 (prime)

corsair ddr3 xms3 1333MHh pc3-10666 (TW3X4G1333C9G)- 5200rs

Gskill ddr3 1600mhz ripjaws 2x2 (4gb pack)- 5300/- (prime)

SMC International:
Gskill Ripjaws 1333 DDR3 4GB Kit-5250rs (I thought gskill ripjaws cost 6k+ !?)


Processor:
Athlon 2 x4 635-= 5000/-(itwares) C3 revision model not available. Prime has the c3 revision for 150rs more.

Alternative:
AMD Athlon II X3 435- 3550/-..not the c3 revision one..(Itwares) …..Due to the budget may have to get this instead. I was trying to stick with a quad for gta4 and future games.

Motherboard:
Prime didn’t have Biostar TA785G3HD or GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-US2H. Itwares said it’s unlikely to get them as well.
Prime gave these quotes:
Biostar TA 880 G HD MB = 5100/-
GIGABYTE GA-880GM-UD2H – 5200/-
Biostar TA785G3 HD-4800rs!!! (from website)


Sorry for the huge post.

I’d appreciate some advice,suggestions or help in making a great rig.

Thanks.

 

[SlashDK]

Your choice of non big 3 is good. Just change the cabinet to NZXT gamma if you want to upgrade something to meet your budget. Here's my suggestion -

AMD athlon ii x4 630 -5k
Gigabyte 785GMT UD2H - 4.1k
RAM - 2*2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (there isn't much difference in performance of 1333 and 1600) - 4.6k (ask SMC for a quote)
HDD - WD caviar blue 500GB - 2k
DVD writer - already decided - 0.95k
Power supply - Corsair VX 550 - 4.7k
Cabinet - Cooler Master elite 430 - 2.7k
K+M - Logitech combo - 0.7k
1 * 120 mm fan non LED - 0.3k
Total - 21.35k

 

[RaptorX]

Thanks Cybertonic.

Would the loss of 100mhz be noticeable by choosing the x4 630 over the 635?
Should I even care if I can get hold of the c3 revisions.. or is it not that important.

Where did you get the mobo price from? I can't find that mobo in mumbai. That price is a steal if I could actually find it. Even when it was available the US2H version was 4.6k.

 

[coderunknown]

first of all, after a long long time someone making a rig that carries lot of sense than full of nonsense. good to see that you not tempting to include USB 3.0 & Sata 6Gbps as most are running after (without even thinking if they will be able use it in this or next year)

go for Athlon II X3. the 2.9Ghz or 3Ghz one. whichever give better VFM.
for motherboard, try get the Biostar TA785G3 HD from other shops locally. else get the Biostar/Gigabyte 880G.
for the PSU, you can keep your existing choice. VX450W.
as for the card, wait for Nvidia release GTS450. buying HD5770 or something equivalent to it mayn't be a very good decision.

take the rest of the parts from Cybertonic's post.

 

[RaptorX]

Thanks Sam. Well the past few weeks I've been reading ALOT of other recommendation & discussion topics here,and on other Indian tech sites, plus articles at Tom's Hardware and other reviews ..to help shortlist my parts. On a tight budget like mine Usb 3.0 is an unnecessary luxury.

The biostar 785 mobo could not be found at local shops .4800rs for it at Prime seems too high.(Used to be 4.2k).... Gigabyte 880gm ud2h-5200rs. I think I saw a user here say he got it for 4.5k. Prices probably shot up. Are the boards much cheaper in other cities?

As for the graphics card...that's why I'm waiting a few months.....who knows what the new cards may bring(like the 450 or the ati 6 series) or how low the existing card prices will fall.

 

[Cool Buddy]

yeah, mobo prices are not getting any attractive these days. I can't understand why there is a short supply in the market. has the demand for AMD suddenly increased or what? Think it's a bad time for buying AMD mobos, but cannot do anything. Everything else is becoming cheaper. So that should compensate for the mobo a bit. have to live with those prices.

 

[RaptorX]

Just want to make sure everything would be compatible. The giga website has only a select few models that show compatibility.

GA-880GM-UD2H problems... frustrating!! (take 2) - Gigabyte - Motherboards-Memory

Don't want to end up with similar problems.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

gigabyte one is good. i have the same with no probs at all.

 

[RaptorX]

Ok. I'm placing the order tomorrow. I increased my budget a bit. Please feel free to make any suggestions or changes.

Motherboard-Gigabyte 880GM-UD2h - 4600/-(From SMC)
Processor-AMD Athlon II X4 635- 4800/- (From SMC)
Ram- CORSAIR XMS3 4GB DDR3 TW3X4G1333C9 - 5000/-

HDD-Seagate Barracuda 500 GB 7200.12- 1800/- (Might have to recheck this. I heard the prices fell)
Case-Cooler Master Elite 430-2650/-
PSU-Corsair VX450 - 3500/-

KB/mouse-Logitech Internet Pro Desktop-700
Dvd Writer-Lg gh22ns50 oem sata writer-950
GPU- Probably after a few months -GTX 460
Extra Fan- Need suggestions for a specific speed/model to go for. Price?

Total with shipping comes to 24.2k exlcuding the extra fan. I was trying to keep the price around 23k. I was wondering if I could change anything....to reduce the cost but maintain the same performance without any major sacrifices.

- Here are some alternatives : Athlon II x4 630- 4400/- (Need to verify this with SMC)
Amd 440 x3 440-3700/- (SMC)
Gigabyte 785GMT-US2h- 4400/- (SMC)
Corsair XMS3 1600 DDR3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - 5100/-

-I wanted corsair 1333 ram because IIRC 1600 ram will not run at 1600 an am3 boards anyway(Right?) . The reviews of the 1333 corsair ram I mentioned are not great on newegg.

So I looked up on the 1600 xms3 and found this topic. . The G.skills unfortunately have gone up in price by a 100-200 rupees. I just want my ram+mobo to be compatible.

-I know the x4 635 I have chosen is a good proccessor....but if the x4 630 is for 400rs less....I was considering going for that instead. From benchmarks it seems they are neck and neck. It's only in power consumption where the difference is prominent. Would that make a noticeable difference in the electricity bill? Thoughts?

-Would an Elite 310 suffice? If I went with the Elite 310 instead of the 430 I would save around 1100 rupees. However...I've heard the CM elite 3xxx series have bad airflow and get pretty hot. Is this true? The gamma is another option.....but it looks a bit weird to me.

Thanks.

 

[RaptorX]

Also....should I add some arctic silver to my list of purchases? Or would the thermal compound that comes with the stock heatsink suffice?

 

[coderunknown]

well if the 100Mhz less saves you 400, go for the X4 630. for ram, check IT Wares. selling Corsair value ram.

you can go for Elite 310. just add 2 extra fan. to keep the cabby cool. but i feel the Elite 430 is excellent VFM. with Elite 310, you'll loose 90% features. important features.

no need for any TIM for now. only if you overclock the processor past 3Ghz, use new TIM.

 

[RaptorX]

Thanks Sam. I'll verify the x4 630's price again tomorrow. If it really is 400rs less then I'll take that instead.

I remember asking about value ram at prime........it was like 2500 per stick. No savings there. Between the 2 models of corsair ram I listed....which one would you advise? The 100rs difference is tiny....I just need to know which one would be better for my system.

About the case. I suppose I'll stick to the 430 then. If I bought an Elite 430 wouldn't I have to add another fan anyway?.....it doesn't even have an exhaust fan.

I'm not sure which specific brand or model fan to buy or how much they cost. Suggestions?

 

[coderunknown]

I remember asking about value ram at prime........it was like 2500 per stick. No savings there. Between the 2 models of corsair ram I listed....which one would you advise? The 100rs difference is tiny....I just need to know which one would be better for my system.

i know Prime. their ram price on higher side. well pick anyone. as AMD's memory controller not as efficient as Intel, fast or slow ram matters very less.

About the case. I suppose I'll stick to the 430 then. If I bought an Elite 430 wouldn't I have to add another fan anyway?.....it doesn't even have an exhaust fan.

yes, to keep PC cool, add 2 fan. the cabby comes with only a 120mm LED.

I'm not sure which specific brand or model fan to buy or how much they cost. Suggestions?

absolutely no idea here

 

[acewin]

check rpm and noise level descriptions while buying the fans.
Check out scythe fans they are good or you can also check coolermaster

 

[pegasus]

Corsair XMS3 1600 has SPD data for 1333Mhz and CL8 iirc while XMS3 1333 is rated at CL9 iirc.
If it costs just a little more, there is no reason one shouldn't buy the former.
DDR3 1333 will get EOL like DDR2 667 did at one point of time.
If wanting to add more RAM at a later date, the 1333Mhz sticks bought now will throtte down the 1600Mhz ones bought then.
True gains in DDR2 RAM was from 800Mhz onwards iirc and one may extend that to DDR3 by saying true gains in DDR3 are at 1600Mhz and above.

We get a bundle pack of 3 or 4 Cooler Master plain black 40cfm fans.
It's the same fan we find in Elite 330 and other cases by default.
While i have always gifted those away as they barely move any air on their own individually and replaced with good fans,
they are not such a bad option when one has a case with multiple exhaust fans.
2 of those will provide as much airflow as a much faster 120x25mm fan but without adding noise to the equation.