New PC config options?

[ob1]

Hi,

I'm new to the digit forum, and am an active subscriber of the print mag.

I need to purchase a new PC. Well, not a whole PC, just the cabinet with everything inside it.

I've been going through a lot of threads which are in a way, specific buying guides, but most of them are casual to extreme gaming configurations. Hence, my query is a bit different from most others.

I'm not really into gaming, to be honest. i occasionally play Grand Prix 4 or C&C Renegade online, and thats about it. I do watch a lot of movies on my PC though.

Being from the media field, i use my PC for HD video playback and editing, and that brings me to the main point. I'm ideally looking at a config with video capabilities rather than extreme gaming.

My budget for the new cabinet with everything inside is 25k, but i'd appreciate it if i could have 2 options, one each of 20k and 25k.

I already have a config in mind, but i'd like some of your opinions and options before i share that.

And since my current desktop HDD has crashed, i'm looking to purchase this new system ASAP. Hence, a few quick replies would be greatly appreciated.

 

[topgear]

Cofig No . 1
AMD Phenom 9550 Rs. 6500 ( Quad gives better perf in video editing than simillar priced C2Ds)
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Rs. 5000
2x 2GB Transcend 800Mhz DDR2 Ram Rs. 2300
Palit 9600GT Rs. 6200
2x 500GB Seagate HDD Rs. 6000

Total Rs. 26000

2nd :
Intel e7300 Rs. 5500
MSI P35 Neo F Rs. 4500
2x 2GB Ram Rs. 2300
Palit 9600GT Rs. 6200
320GGB Seagate HDD Rs. 2200

Total Rs. 20700

Suggestion : Go for config No. 1

 

[ob1]

hey topgear

thanks for the response... here's what i have in mind, a lot of which is similar to the options u gave me....

Processor
Core2Duo E7300 2.66 GHz Intel 5,200

Motherboard
1. IP35E Abit 4,800
2. P43 Neo MSI 5,200
3. P45 Platinum MSI
4. P45 Neo F MSI 5,200

RAM
2 x 2 GB DDR2 800 MHz Transcend 2,000

HDD
500 GB SATA Seagate 2,975

Graphics Card
1. GeForce 9800 GTX Nvidia
2. Radeon 4850 ATI
3. HD3450 GDDR2 HDMI GeCube
4. 9600 GT Palit

DVD Drive
1. 20xD Asus 1,400
2. 22xD LG 1,100

Cabinet + PSU Pro Cube mATX/Cm690 Zebronics


I'm confused mainly about the motherboard, graphics card, and cabinet. Could you tell me which of the ones i've shortlisted are good for my purpose and why?

Also, some idea of prices would help.

PS: I'm not really sure abt the AMD thing. Dunno why, but i think i'd rather stick with Intel.

Thanks.

 

[Aniruddh]

Processor
Core2Duo E7300 2.66 GHz Intel 5,200

Motherboard
3. P45 Platinum MSI
OR
4. P45 Neo F MSI 5,200
OR
Biostar P45 very stable and one of the best when comes to overclocking arnd 6.5-7k

RAM
2 x 2 GB DDR2 800 MHz Transcend 2,000 OR Gkill Pi 3k or Corsair XMS2 2.8k

HDD
500 GB SATA WD

Graphics Card
Radeon 4850 ATI
OR
:-4670-arnd5.5k

DVD Drive
20xD Asus 1,400
OR
Samsung 22x Sata

Cabinet + PSU Pro Cube mATX/Cm690 Zebronics
Go for Cm690 with Corsair 450VX PSU

 

[Power_user_EX]

forget E7200(3MB cache) consider E8200 (6MB cache @ 2.83Ghz) - its better option @ 8k

 

[topgear]

e7300 when oced to 3Ghz will outperform e8200

@ ob1 - For video editing quad core phenom 9550 scales better than dual core intel. If you want to stick with intel go for Q8200.

& HD videos takes a lot of HDD space & need good hdd performance. So pair up two seagate 500GB 32MB buffer HDD in RAID 0 config.

For Mobo P45 Neo F MSI 5,200 is fair.

For GFX card considering your need your 1st option is 9800GTX+ ( You can take the advantage of upcomming cuda supported apps with this card )

& If you need a really VFM card that gives neck to neck performance compared to 9800GTX+ go for Palit or Sapphire HD 4850 though it doesn't supports cuda.

For DVD writer Samsung is fair enough choice.

For cabby get CM690 is a very good choice & for PSU get CM 500W extreme.

 

[sakumar79]

Since you are not into gaming but only watching movies, I would recommend an AMD based rig with 790V based motherboard at least for the 20k rig...

Cabinet+SMPS - 2.5k
320GB HDD - 2.25k
DVD-Writer - 1.1k
2x2GB HDD - 2.2k
ASUS M3A-H-HDMI motherboard - 7.3k

Total without Processor - 15.35k
Remaining for processor - 4.65k => Go for AMD X2 - 6000+ at 4.15k...

Or, go for Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H with same chipset but 3k less... Then you can go for 7.65k for Processor =>Phenom 9550 at 6.8k

Arun

PS: There is a major reason why you should go for AMD - It is because you are not into gaming. The 780V chipset of the AMD motherboard is very good in terms of graphics capacity and is capable of playing even recent games. Movies will play fine without spending extra for a graphics card... The extra cash you save by cancelling the gfx card can be distributed to cpu, ram and hdd as per your requirements... I seriously recommend that you go for an AMD rig.