PC Buying Guide - March 2011

[vickybat]

@ jaskanwar

Can you please point me to the spec sheet link? I am not able to find 6870 price.

I think prices of 6870 will come down further to the 11k mark as its US price is now $200.

Going to be a terrific buy at that price and all because of GTX 560.

 

[Ishu Gupta]

Spec sheet link
The universal hardware spec sheet/price list

SMC still list HD6870 (Normal and Twin Forzer) @ 14.5k

 

[Cilus]

Jas, there is no need to create separate configuration for each type of scenario, then there will be thousands of them. We can keep our rigs balanced between gaming performance as well as CPU intensive works.
While spending 100K, you are expecting the best of the both worlds and I think Core i7 2600k satisfy the criteria.
Now rather than putting a GTX 580 @ 28K, a GTX 570 @ 21K or a HD 6850 CF @ 20K will actually provide very good game-play experience when coupled with 2600K. It will also reduce the CPu bottleneck and provide extreme OCeing potential.
Rather than creating separate rendering rig we can actually sugest these alternate solutions within that configs, the way we put AMD or Intel based alternatives.
In my sub 85K suggestion I was able to put a 2600K along with a HD 6950. Do you think it will provide a not so good game-Play experience?

 

[desiibond]

@dessibond.
sorry for upsetting the music fans. . so anyways can you please list out speakers and sound card(if necessary) for all the budget as appropriate. i will make adjustements in the configs acc. to them. post the music hardware you feel should be there for every budget..

I remember sending you a DM with the list of soundcards and speakers right? anyways, let me see if you can make a new list.

btw, ID is desiibond. dessibond has a female flavour

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

@cilus i think you right. we should put i7 2600k in 100k also for best of both worlds
but i disagree on bottleneck part. i5 2500k is blazing fast and highly overclockable. not a bottleneck for multigpu setup IMO. even i5 2400 is better than i7 950...

@desiibond
yups but i want you to put up for the separate budgets. like which one is suitable for 125k and 100k and so on.

@cilus
i think we should wait for desiibond to put up music hardware and adjust accordingly. what say?
in the 85k i5 2500k + 6970 or 570 is very good one IMO. but yours is great too..unable to decide now ...if we go with yours a person can always add another 6950 in future. so he will get both goodies. and 6950 mostly sufficient currently. so i7 2600k + 6950 suits but it completely evades out 2500k from the guide....
also we will need separate rendering rigs. remember workstation gpus..

@vicky
ishu mentioned the link.

 

[rchi84]

I'm sorry if i keep harping about the 70K config, but i think it's the sweet spot in terms of performance/price.

Here's an idea. How about going in for a cheaper mouse, Changing to an AMD mobo/CPU combo (PII 955+ Biostar 790GX for eg) which comes to about 13K. with that 3 K savings, we can upgrade the GPU from the 6950 to a 570, which will make a HUGE difference to gaming.

since the 955 is a BE processor, we could OC to 3.6ish to reduce any CPU bottlenecks.

I guess i'm just trying to find the cheapest config that can incorporate the 570

 

[Cilus]

rchi84, Phenom processors are now old knights, there is no need to suggest them as the new sandy bridge processors bring such a Horse power that a Phenom II Oced @ 4 to 4.5 GHz cannot compete with them.
I don't think a person spending 70K wanna go for Phenom II when the i7 2400 is in the horizon.

And Jas, I think @ 85K budget Sandy Bridge 2500K and GTX 570 or HD 6970 is better than adding 2600K and HD 6950 as GTX 570 is available @ 21K. We can have our rendering rig @ sub 85K range along with 2600K.

 

[vickybat]

sandybridge processor are the way to go now considering the lower power draw and cooler temps. Phenom 2's are no longer worth suggesting until bulldozer arrives.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

ok as you say cilus. now desiibond reply fast please......

 

[topgear]

@vicky
i have to keep camparable prices otherwise it creates a mess for me. as for cyclone i will look at it when its available in india. for 6870 price check spec sheet. its 13.6k and 2 * 13.6k makes 27.2k if i am not wrong

@cilus
hmm as these are gaming oriented we can keep these separate and create other section for rendering rigs. what say?

@rchi84
oops thanks for pointing it out. so sub 70k should look like this then IMO(suggestions welcome) -

Sub 70k (Mid range gaming)

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 2400 @ 9.5k
Intel DH67CL @ 6.5k
Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB @ 2.3k
Sapphire HD6950 2GB @ 18k
Seagate ITB 7200.12 @ 2.7k
LG 22X SATA DVD @ 0.9k
Corsair VX550W @ 4.7k
CM USP100 @ 3k
DELL Ultrasharp U2311H @ 13.7k
Razer Death Adder @ 2.1k
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 @ 1k
APC 800VA @ 3.5k
Altec Lansing VS2621 @ 1.6k

Total - 69.3k

added a HD6950 2GB

@dessibond.
sorry for upsetting the music fans. . so anyways can you please list out speakers and sound card(if necessary) for all the budget as appropriate. i will make adjustements in the configs acc. to them. post the music hardware you feel should be there for every budget..

@topgear
nice one. ..but why a 5570. i think we will include it in general purpose rigs?

@all
post your suggestions for general purpose and rendering rigs. after that physx.

many time I saw people who are buying entry level rigs with a newly launched cpu complain about the slow gfx in gaming - they just don't want to buy a expensive gfx card later - most of the time shopkeepers just suggest them some stupid card as a gaming card and they happily buy it so I thought it would be just best to include a good but cheap gfx card so thjis kind of users can have everything possible at the time of buying their rigs for the very first time.

 

[DragoKnight]

Hi,
Where can i get a Corsair VX550W in Hyderabad?

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

no problem topgear

 

[siddhesh222]

What changes should I make to the 35k config, If I need a config within 30k MAX?. It's for my friend actually, he wants it to focus more on gaming. Thanks in advance.

 

[desiibond]

for big budget rig, I would pick

1. ASUS Xonar STX + Logitech Z-5500D for movie buffs and
2. ASUS Xonar ST + Audioengine 5 (A5) for music buffs

for 100k rig, put in ASUS Xonar STX and Logitech X-506. For anything less, check ASUS Xonar DX to tie up with X-506 for movies and Z-623 or Audioengine 2 (A2) for music.

 

[vickybat]

@ desiibond

Buddy, if you can quote the individual prices of the speakers, it would be very helpful. Gives a more clear picture to the buyer.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

desiibond prices please as vicky mentioned.
also what about those who love both music and movies at same time??

now what to do? shall we postpone guide updation with SNB. and update the current ones?

 

[topgear]

^^ yep, I think we should stop recommending SB for a while until mobos based on Z68 comes out.

 

[vickybat]

now what to do? shall we postpone guide updation with SNB. and update the current ones?

Yes, i think we should stop recommending sb for a while until the motherboards are rectified by intel. z68 is still far off and intel will rectify motherboards before that.

Intel has stopped all existing p67,h67 chipsets and all motherboard manufactures has been notified the same. The fix will take 1 -2 months.

 

[desiibond]

Z-5500 should cost around 16k if I am right.
Xonar ST and STX are selling at 9k price point
Xonar DX and D1 cost 5k. (only diff between these two is socket. one's PCI-E x1 and other is PCI)
Audioengine 5 should blow 26k-30k out of one's pocket
Logitech X-506 should cost around 5.5k

Those who love movies and music may obviously go for a 5.1 and use it as 2.1 when listening to music. Do note that Xonar STX does not support surround and no dolby/dts etc. It's audiophile card for music lovers to power premium stereo setup and premium headphones.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

desiibond i remeber you pmed me another xonar . it was for something which also i dont remember(of course music and movies but you mentioned something else too). . only thing i remember is was 10k or so. wait was it D2?? . i think you differenciated between it and STX.
isnt there a good 10k speakers also.?
BTW dont you think spending 25-30k on speakers in 125k rig is tooo much. .
what about F&D F6000? it got good rating in digit.
what are differences between ST and STX?