Lean and Mean PC suggestion needed

[Abhishek Nama]

The thread title may seem a bit misleading, just a bit of fun

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Stupid answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work. Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.')
Ans: Occasional casual gaming, surfing the net, watching blu-ray movies, Work: my work requires me to run 4 memory intensive softwares. Can't say what software as they are proprietary. I can say that when I work, I use 95% of the RAM. However these programs don't put much strain on the CPU.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans: <20k

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No.

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 7/8

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: No need. Hdd and ssd already there.

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: Monitor already there.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: I don't want to buy and reuse the following components : monitor, Hdd, ssd, psu.

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: ASAP

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: No, but I have the knowledge to assemble it myself. However I do request members to guide me accordingly.

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: Hyderabad. Planning to buy all the parts through e-tailers. Please also suggest good sites.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: current configuration as follows:

CPU: CORE 2 QUAD Q6600
MOBO: INTEL DG33FB
GRAPHIC CARD: NVIDIA 9600 GT 512MB
MEMORY: 4GB 800 MHZ
HDD SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.14 1TB (new)
SSD: KINGSTON V300 60GB(new)
PSU: Cooler Master EXtreme Power RS 500 PCAR A3

Most of the primary components like MOBO, CPU, RAM technology are now obsolete.

Mobo: No ddr3, no sata 3 header, slow pcie ports. Technology wise the board is obsolete.
CPU: Is LGA 775, now rare to find MOBO which support this socket.
RAM: Faster ram won't hurt.
GPU: Honestly, current GPU is fine, however since I am not going to be playing GPU dependent games, I would prefer onboard intel graphics. I also save energy.

My pc served me graciously for 5.5 years and I am happy for that. But it's time for an upgrade.

What I expect from this upgrade:

MOBO

1. LGA 1150 / 1155
2. SATA 3 (at least 1 for my ssd)
3. USB 3.0 (optional)
4. HDMI or DVI - I

CPU

1. 2 cores
2. 2.5ghz or better.
3. Energy efficient.
3. Onboard graphics.
4. Should support 64bit OS.
5. Should be able to play blu-ray movies.

RAM

1. DDR3 1333/1600mhz anything is fine.

CABINET: Budget around 2-4k, I want a good one with proper cable management and cooling options.

Please suggest and guide me accordingly.

 

[amjath]

i3 - 3210 -7600
ASUS P8B75-V - 7100
G skill or corsair 8GB [4*2] -4700
Coolermaster Elite 430 -
Asus DVD writer
Sapphire 7750
Please change ur PSU too

 

[Nerevarine]

^It doesnt make sense to pair a 7.6k processor with a 7.1 k mobo..
Get a generic B75 costing 4.5k and spend the rest of the cash in an i5..
or save up more to go for haswel

 

[amjath]

^It doesnt make sense to pair a 7.6k processor with a 7.1 k mobo..
Get a generic B75 costing 4.5k and spend the rest of the cash in an i5..
or save up more to go for haswel

I couldn't able to recall USB3 with HDMI board so

OP
Please consider this board
Gigabyte B75M-D3H - 4500
and i5 3330 -12k

^It doesnt make sense to pair a 7.6k processor with a 7.1 k mobo..
Get a generic B75 costing 4.5k and spend the rest of the cash in an i5..
or save up more to go for haswel

I couldn't able to recall USB3 with HDMI board so

OP
Please consider this board
Gigabyte B75M-D3H - 4500
and i5 3330 -12k

 

[Abhishek Nama]

I couldn't able to recall USB3 with HDMI board so

OP
Please consider this board
Gigabyte B75M-D3H - 4500
and i5 3330 -12k

Hi Amjath, thank you for suggesting.
I also had the same board on my mind. It has a good cost vs features vs performance ratio.

Waiting for more config suggestions.

@harshilsharma63
@pratyush997+

Any views?

 

[ankush28]

i3 - 3210 -7600
ASUS P8B75-V - 7100
G skill or corsair 8GB [4*2] -4700
Coolermaster Elite 430 -
Asus DVD writer
Sapphire 7750
Please change ur PSU too

the processor you suggested is an upgrade or downgrade ?

here is my suggetion

FX 8320 @ 10.1k
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 @ 5.2k
G.skill RipjawsX 4GB 1600MHz @ 2.4k
NZXT gamma @ 2.3k
Antec VP450P @ 2.6k

If your current graphic card is working properly then go ahead buy this rig... since you dont want much gaming GPU upgrade will be waste.

 

[Abhishek Nama]

the processor you suggested is an upgrade or downgrade ?

here is my suggetion

FX 8320 @ 10.1k
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 @ 5.2k
G.skill RipjawsX 4GB 1600MHz @ 2.4k
NZXT gamma @ 2.3k
Antec VP450P @ 2.6k

If your current graphic card is working properly then go ahead buy this rig... since you dont want much gaming GPU upgrade will be waste.

Great config Ankush, and yes- I will be using my current graphic card.
One question- Can i use my existing PSU ?

 

[Cilus]

Infact, is there any need for upgrade the whole rig. Get a LGA775 motherboard with DDR3 ram support and a mid-range graphics card and you are done:-

Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2PT LGA775 Motherboard @ 4.5K
Corsair Value Select 4GB X 2 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 4K
Sapphire/HIS HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 @ 6.8K

 

[Abhishek Nama]

Infact, is there any need for upgrade the whole rig. Get a LGA775 motherboard with DDR3 ram support and a mid-range graphics card and you are done:-

Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2PT LGA775 Motherboard @ 4.5K
Corsair Value Select 4GB X 2 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 4K
Sapphire/HIS HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 @ 6.8K

Initially, I thought of getting the board. But the board doesn't have any 6gbps headers, I wont be able to use my existing ssd to its fullest.

Is there any motherboard(LGA 775) with Sata III and DDR3 support?

 

[amjath]

the processor you suggested is an upgrade or downgrade ?

second post of mine ll not face palm you

 

[Abhishek Nama]

Can anyone tell me if this will work with my motherboard.

It requires a PCI E 2.0, however, I don't think my mobo has one. Can anyone confirm?
If yes, can you confirm if the pricing is right on eBay, it seems a bit high.

 

[Cilus]

All PCI versions are backward compatible to their older version. However, tou will get PCI-E 1.1 speed...PCI-E 2.0 can provide twice the bandwidth of PCI-E 1 standard theoretically.

 

[Abhishek Nama]

All PCI versions are backward compatible to their older version. However, tou will get PCI-E 1.1 speed...PCI-E 2.0 can provide twice the bandwidth of PCI-E 1 standard theoretically.

Yes, even if I buy that card, it won't be of much use to me.
Initially I planned to upgrade only the Mobo and the Ram, but there are no motherboards- LGA 775 which have SATA 3 and DDR3, So I am forced to upgrade the CPU as well.

Any suggestions?

 

[athosms17]

@OP Go in for a i5, the best u can get at this budget.

 

[ankush28]

Infact, is there any need for upgrade the whole rig. Get a LGA775 motherboard with DDR3 ram support and a mid-range graphics card and you are done:-

Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2PT LGA775 Motherboard @ 4.5K
Corsair Value Select 4GB X 2 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 4K
Sapphire/HIS HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 @ 6.8K

for this suggetion

 

[athosms17]

Don't you think the ram won't run at 1333mhz?? The default is 800 mhz for the old CPU's.

 

[harshilsharma63]

Don't you think the ram won't run at 1333mhz?? The default is 800 mhz for the old CPU's.

you can decrease ram's speed in bios to whatever is supported.

 

[Cilus]

That Gigabyte motherboard supports Ram speed of 1333 MHz through overclocking or by increasing the Ram multiplier from BIOS. Both AM3 and Intel Sandy bridge Processors have default ram support of 1333 MHz but we use 1600 MHz ram by increasing the memory multiplier. In case of LGA 775 based motherboards, the memory controller is inside the motherboard and can support higher speed ram than the default speed of the CPU through Ram multiplier increase.

 

[Abhishek Nama]

Thank you for your suggestions Ankush, Amjath and Cilus.
I may consider going with the Gigabyte 775 motherboard for now and if my budget permits may go for a better upgrade!

 

[athosms17]

you can decrease ram's speed in bios to whatever is supported.

If u are running ram at 800, better go in for DDR2. Y spend on a DDR3 mobo?