New desktop for around 25-30k

[azbokikr]

Hi guys,

The purchase got delayed the last time. Positively buying the rig this week. Does to spec still hold good for the budget or is anything better recommended?

Another question, will the onboard gfx of the MSI motherboard be able to support full hd videos?

A quick response would be much appreciated.

 

[desiibond]

I am able to play 1080p on 780G chipset, so it shouldn't be a problem on 880G.

 

[desiibond]

I am able to play 1080p on 780G chipset, so it shouldn't be a problem on 880G.

 

[vickybat]

Processor: Core i5 760 2.8GHz @ 9.8k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 @ 8.4k
Ram: Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333MHz C9 @ ~2.3k
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB @ 1.9k
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD5450 1GB DDR2 @ 3.5k (cause processor doesn't have IGP nor motherboard have. nor any sort of video outs)
PSU: FSP Saga II 350W @ ~1.4k
Cabby: Cooler Master Elite 310 @ 1.5k
Monitor: Benq G2220HD 22" @ ~7.5k
Keyboard-Mouse: Logitech Keyboard Mouse @ 0.6k

TOTAL: 36.9k (market price close to 38k).

Pros: fast processor, USB 3.0/DDR3 motherboard. Full HD monitor.
Cons: only 2Gb ram, graphics card one of slowest available in market, HDD limited to only 500Gb, Power Supply only 350W (no heavy upgrade possible).

you wanted Intel, this what Intel means. pay more, get less.

No need to go with a 8.4k mobo if op has no intentions of overclocking.

I will change the config a bit

Core i5 760 2.8GHz @ 9.8k
MSI H55M-E33 @ 4.5k
Ram: Corsair VS2GB1333D3 4GB @ 2.3k
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB @ 1.7k
Graphics Card: MSI N450 CYCLONE Graphics Card @ 7.3k
PSU: FSP Saga II 400W @ ~1.6k
Cabby: Cooler Master Elite 310 @ 1.5k
Monitor: Benq G2220HD 22" @ ~7.5k
Keyboard-Mouse: Logitech Keyboard Mouse @ 0.6k

Total = 36.8k

Now this one is more balanced and way powerful than amd athlon 2 x4 based rig.

And intel doesn't always mean pay more get less. You pay more and get more and even much more. They are in a dominating position now so commanding a small premium over its competitor.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

^^HD5770 @ 7.5k is much better option.!! but keeping in mind the games he will play he doesnt even need a 5570
i will suggest a 23"-24" for movie experiance which primary. he also needs a 1tb storage. movies take up lot of space.
his budget was 30k

AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 4.5k
Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H @ 4.5k
G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNQ @ 1k
Sapphire HD5570 GDDR3 @ 3.5k
Seagate 500GB 7200.12 @ 1.7k
Seagate 1TB 7200.12 @ 2.7k
FSP Saga II 400W @ 1.6k
Zebronics Bijli @ 1k
Dell ST2320L 23" @ 10k

Total - 30.5k

 

[vickybat]

^^ well for 30k your rig looks good. Just swap that bizli with a cm 310. No need for a 5570 also cause op will add a good mid end card in future. The igp currently will be enough for hd movies and light gaming.

My post was against sam.shab's comment on intel. Ofcourse its the universal truth that when you pay more, you get more.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

yup he can sweep that with cm elite 310. i wanted to keep it close to his budget.

sammy wanted to say was that you pay for intel 760 but you dont need that much power. see his pros that he mentioned it as a fast processor. but yes he mentioned a costly mobo. also prices have fallen from then very much. better sammy reply on this.

 

[azbokikr]

Thanks for the response!

AMD rig based on the old spec and the new one given by Jaskanwar Singh, i've come up with this spec:

Processor: AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 4.5k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H @ 4.5k -or- MSI 880GMA-E45 ??
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR3 1333MHz -price??-
Graphics Card: -NA- (As long as the onboard graphics can handle 1080p videos, i don't need a gfx card for now.)
Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GBx2 1.7k x2 3.4k (Do you get 250gig HDD nowadays? I'd like to have the OS and applications on a primary 250gig hdd and all the data on a 2nd+3rd 500GBx2 HDD)
PSU: Corsair CX400W -price??-
Cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 310 1.5K
Monitor: Dell ST2320L 23" @ 10k (Any other options in this price range?)
Keyboard+Mouse: Logitech Keyboard Mouse @ 0.6k
UPS: APC 650VA @ 2.8k

This should cost around 32k including the UPS. This seems ok to me. Any changes needed to the spec?

Coming to the Intel Core i5 based config, the MSI H55M-E33 doesn't seem to have USB3.0 support.

Processor: Core i5 760 2.8GHz @ 9.8k
Motherboard: MSI H55M-E33 @ 4.5k -alternatives with USB3.0 and SATA 2 support?-
RAM: Corsair VS2GB1333D3 4GB @ 2.3k
Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GBx2 1.7k
Graphics Card: -NA- (As long as the onboard graphics can handle 1080p videos, i don't need a gfx card for now.)
PSU: Corsair CX400W -price??-
Cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 310 1.5K
Monitor: Dell ST2320L 23" @ 10k
Keyboard+Mouse: Logitech Keyboard Mouse @ 0.6k
UPS: APC 650VA @ 2.8k

This will cost me close to 38k! Out of my budget TBH.

Also, i need to get a 2.1 speakers as the Altec Lansing VS2421 seems to have conked off. Budget is 3k, apart from the comp budget. I wouldn't mind buying the VS2421 again if they are still available. Suggestions please!

 

[vickybat]

Yup the i5 760 is out of your budget. Get the x4 and its pretty good. Save enough and go for a good mid range gpu in future. That monitor is very very good for the price.

For speakers , try altec lansing vs 2621 @ 1.7k. They have officially replaced vs2421.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

IMO you should go for gigabyte.
cx400w is around 2.7k
actually 250gb HDD will cost just around 100 bucks less than 500gb ones.not worth.

with 760 you will need a graphics as that doesnt have onboard graphics. but not to think about as you choose x4.

 

[azbokikr]

Thanks guys.

The rig is almost finalised. Just a couple of things (typed in red) that i still haven't decided upon. Will make the purchase this weekend.

Processor: AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 4.5k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H @ 4.5k
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR3 1333MHz @ 2.3k (How are G.Skill F3 compared to Corsair?)
Graphics Card: -NA-
Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GBx2 @ 3.4k
PSU: Corsair CX400W @ 2.7k (Considering a 500W PSU (FSP Saga II 500W) as i want to add a gfx card later. How much would a Corsair 500W PSU cost me?)
Cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 310 @ 1.5K
Monitor: Dell ST2320L 23" @ 10k
Keyboard+Mouse: Logitech Keyboard Mouse @ 0.6k
UPS: APC 650VA @ 2.8k

Total: ~32.5k including UPS.

 

[vickybat]

^^ corsair 4gb is 2.3k and not 2gb. Gskill is also good but stay with corsair. Infact both are good.

About psu , a vx 450 will be a good balanced psu as it can handle midrange gpu's easily upto a 6870. A 6950 or gtx 560 is also possible with vx 450. Cx 400 can handle upto a 6850.

You can consider seasonic S12II 520w bronze @ 4.1k which is also very good. Both the corsair and seasonic units are a lot better than fsp saga II 500.

About 500x2, are you planning to configure them in raid 0?

 

[azbokikr]

^^ corsair 4gb is 2.3k and not 2gb. Gskill is also good but stay with corsair. Infact both are good.

About psu , a vx 450 will be a good balanced psu as it can handle midrange gpu's easily upto a 6870. A 6950 or gtx 560 is also possible with vx 450. Cx 400 can handle upto a 6850.

You can consider seasonic S12II 520w bronze @ 4.1k which is also very good. Both the corsair and seasonic units are a lot better than fsp saga II 500.

About 500x2, are you planning to configure them in raid 0?

I think a VX450W should suffice then. I won't be needing anything more than a 6870 anytime soon.

And no RAID0 setup plans. I plan to use the HDDs in this way. One 500GB HDD for my Windows+Linux OSes and related apps (overkill! i know!). The other one for all my data. i'll add another HDD as and when needed.

1TB HDD would mean greater risk of losing all my data rather than partial data loss. And, correct me if i'm wrong here, but my understanding is that 1TB HDD design/production are still not as stable/mainstream as the 500GB ones, therefore are more prone to failures. Is this understanding right?

 

[vickybat]

^^ Nope it isn't right. 1tb harddrives are as stable as 500gb ones.Two 500gb are advised if you go for raid 0. The transfer speeds both read and write will be increased considerably.

Else stick with a single 1tb as its cheaper too. Opt for a wd green for better power savings or wd blue for balanced performance. Seagate 7200.12 is also an equivalent option.

But my personal choice is wd. Been using them for the last 7 years and absolutely no harddisk failures recorded ever.

 

[azbokikr]

^^ I want to keep the OS and data on separate HDDs. A single 1TB HDD will be cheaper than 2x500GB HDD, but the latter will give me more flexibility when it comes to formatting the reinstalling the OSes, taking the HDD out to friends place for data transfers etc etc.

[EDIT:] I was reading a Dell ST2310L review. They did not rate it well. Are there any other options in this price range?

And i'm just curious, can the exact same config be used for an AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE based rig? How much would the X4 955 BE cost?

 

[vickybat]

^^ Ok as you wish.

Instead of going for a phenom instead of x4, i suggest u the intel route for a gaming processor. The i5 760 is the choice of cpu. Its a very fast gaming cpu but below sandybridge.

Amd 955 be is 6.8k. But if strictly amd, then go for an x6 instead of x4. The cheapest x6 i.e the 1055t will cost you 7.8k and is the better option.

For monitors , check dell st2220m @ 8.5k

 

[azbokikr]

^^ I'm not much into gaming. Hardly get time to game! If i want to get into heavy gaming, i'll consider getting a PS3 or XBOX360.

This will primarily be used for movies + internet + music + work. Work involves hooking up to a remote server via the internet and running simulations from there. So i don't see the point of going for an expensive Intel rig.

The Dell ST2220M does not have HDMI port, which is essential for me. I'm considering going for a AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE and using the money saved to buy the BenQ G2420HD monitor. What say?

P.S: Sorry if i sound a little picky. This would be the first PC i'd be buying with my own money and also i'm changing my rig for the first time in over 6-7 years! Hence i want to get the best setup in my budget and for my usage.

 

[vickybat]

@ azbokikr

Well then stick with athlon 2 x4. No need to invest in a dual core processor like 555be and it will do you no good. Athlon 2 x4 is very good in multitasking and serve you better.

For movies, you can definitely consider Benq G2420HD and it will satisfy all your needs. I would have suggested dell st2220l which has hdmi port and is 8.5k. But its availability is a bit scarce. So stick with benq or try recently released samsung 23inch monitors.

Opt for a low end gpu like 5570 or 5450 to accelerate Hd content better. Thats my personal choice and it will serve you better adding additional filters and proper decoding of hd content using media player classic homecinema or any other gpu accelerated player. The additional textures and effects are wonderful to watch in a full hd monitor.

 

[azbokikr]

^^ Alright then. I'll freeze the spec except for the monitor.

What's the model no.s of new Samsung 23" monitors? Any options in AOC? Max budget is 11k.

And how'd you rate BenQ monitors compared to Samsung or Dell or AOC in terms of quality, life and A.S.S?

 

[vickybat]

^^

Well i would rate samsung and dell a tad higher than benq. But benq has improved a lot better and is a serious challenge to both. Their quality now is quite good and currently, they arguably have the best 3d monitor.

Check Samsung P2350 @ 10.8k. A little high budget will get you a Dell UltraSharp U2311H @ 14k which is an ips panel. These will definitely satisfy your needs.