Silent and Small Home PC - 25K

[RCuber]

PC for my dad , he needs a Desktop for day to day work, "Silent and Small" is his requirement , he wanted to go for all in on PC. but I said those will not be powerful enough , Mac Mini is out of my budget.

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: Use Home PC - iTunes, Movies, lots of browsing. pictures. CD Ripping. Watching TV and recording TV Channels.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans:25-30 K ( but I think 25K PC will be sufficient for the requirement)

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: Absolutely not

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Will buy Windows 7 Home Premium Retail version separately(yes you read that right), will check if Win 8 is good or not using a trial version.

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: 1TB preferred, but if 1TB cannot be included in the budget then 500GB

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: Yes. 19", if any monitor can cramp 1080p then its good else then next lower resolution. He doesn't want bigger screen..
Somehow convinced him for a bigger screen.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: need everything except UPS and Speakers (will decide on speakers later)

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: within two weeks.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Yes. it will be assembled by me.

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: Bangalore. Local vendors preferred as I know a couple of vendors. (I can go for online for PSU)

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans:

Im thinking about a Midrange AMD or Core i3.
4GB G.Skill Ripjaws.
WD 500GB/1TB drive
Need a rock solid PSU. I think either a 400W FSP Saga or Corsair will do.
there is a "Small" Cooler Master Cabinet.. need to check with that.
Also recommend silent Heat Sinks+fan if it can be accommodated under the budget.
a 19" dell monitor would be a great addition. 21.5" Monitor

PS: I hope my dad doesn't change his mind again.

 

[whitestar_999]

i am assuming midrange amd meant FM1 socket.go with intel pentium G620/630 & no need of getting gskill(1600 ram is useful only with amd FM1 socket processor) as corsair value 1333 ram will do fine.

 

[The Incinerator]

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H USB3 - Rs 3250
Processor : Intel® Pentium® Processor G630 - Rs 3300 (Edit)
Ram : Patriot Signature 2x2GB - Rs 800 Patriot Signature 1333MHz DDR3 2GB RAM
HDD : WD 1TB - Rs 4600
DvD writer : Samsung - Rs 950
PSU : Antec Basiq BP350 350W / Corsair CX430V2 - Rs 1800/Rs 2500
Cabinet : Cooler Master Elite - Rs 1750
Keyboard & Mouse - Rs 650
Monitor - Philips 21.5 inch 226V3LSB LED - Rs 8050 (FUll HD)

Total Rs 25,150

 

[RCuber]

^^
good config.. lets tweak a little.
monitor 19" , my dad doesn't require a "Big" monitor

negative on CM Elite.. I have it already .. anyway will keep 1.8K for cabby and look for smaller cabinet.

I think we can adjust for a better processor.. lets hit the Rs. 28K range..

can we include a silent cooler?

EDIT: this looks fine.. Elite 361

 

[whitestar_999]

GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 is not available in India/very hard to find.non-usb3 version is selling everywhere at ~3200.i3 is the max you should go for the usages mentioned.anything else(amd)/more powerful & it will mean heat & increased power consumption.

 

[The Incinerator]

That processor is adequate for the requirements you have posted.Rather than spending unnecessarily more on a processor its better to get a big screen which will be a boon for watching movies browsing and lite photo editing.Rest is up to you.

 

[RCuber]

^^ no bigger screen.. space constraint.. I already spoke to my dad and he is not willing for a 22"/21.5" monitor

 

[RCuber]

Updated the requirement. I will be buying the PC tomorrow from SP Road. Budget is flexible(30K).

I will go for Core i3 as he wants to record TV and Pentium Dual Core might struggle in this.

I'm not sure if to go for Sandy Bridge or ivy bridge as I heard there is some heating issues with ivy bridge(please correct me if I am wrong).
I could convince my dad to go for a larger monitor. I like this dell model S2240L @ ~9,232.00 on ebay(for reference)

So
i3 3220 - ~ 7.5K
Motherboard -???
RAM - 4GB Corsair (model not sure)- ~900
Monitor - Dell S2240L IPS ~9500
PSU - Corsair CX430V2 - ~2500
Cabinet ~2000
DVD Drive ~ 1000
HDD WD 500 GB Blue? ~4500
Wireless KBD/Mouse Microsoft or Logitech ~1500
AverMedia AVerTV SUPER 009 TV Tuner Card | Tv Tuner Card | Flipkart.com - 1403

only thing remaining is motherboard and CPU choice. Please suggest the same.

 

[Cilus]

As Gaming is not a major concern and you're willing to spend 7K on the processor, I think AMD offers a better choice. At that price, you can squeeze a 6 Core FX 6100 which is better in multi tasking than i3. So if you are opening 10 tabs in Firefox, ripping songs using Itunes and ruuning a Photo Editing software in background, FX 6100 will flex its mussles.

AMD FX 6100 @ 7.25K (smcinternational.in)
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 @ 5.2K
Antec Basiq BP350 350W @ 1.8K
WD Caviar Green 500 GB @ 3.7K
Corsair Value Series 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 1k

 

[RCuber]

^ Thanks Cilus, how is FC4100 vs i3 and G630 ???

also do recommend a Intel Motherboard. cause I Think my dad has the "Intel" bug (read Intel is the good one)

how about the monitor I stated?

Guys... Please reply.. I need to finalize the config tonight itself

 

[whitestar_999]

it seems like you are completely confused about what you want so let me put it in simple way:

1.if you want silent & small pc with low power consumption which will work fine with daily usage(including tv recording assuming no fancy recording settings)--->Intel G630 based config & save some money.

2.if you don't like to save money & spend all of it then get cilus suggested FX4100 config(except mobo because that doesn't have onboard graphics so to avoid buying a graphics card get a mobo with onboard graphics like gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 for ~4800) & hope that your father put it to good use(so it doesn't feel like money wasted) by opening 15 tabs in firefox while simultaneously recording TV in best quality H264 codec setting all the while playing HD video

 

[RCuber]

Yes.. I am confused as he wanted a laptop first .. then said All-In-One.. and now desktop..

 

[sumonpathak]

make him wait...get FM2...and make a small silent HTPC that can kick sufficient a$$

 

[RCuber]

Cant wait.. going tomorrow for purchase as this has been delayed for many months

 

[RCuber]

Update.. Going tomorrow.

going for AMD Config suggested by cilus except the mobo. monitor either dell S2240L or a Samsung model(yet to decide)

 

[whitestar_999]

for monitor i suggest take some video clips with you in pen drive & ask at the store to play them.also at least make sure that monitor settings like brightness/contrast etc are all set to ~50/normal mode(usually they are at max 100/movie/vivid mode or something like that).

 

[RCuber]

^^ thanks for the tip.. I am looking only for IPS panel .. any other suggestions apart from the dell one I have chosen?

 

[whitestar_999]

2240L is not ips panel.dell ips panel series starts from ~14000(ultrasharp series model nos. like U2311H etc).

 

[RCuber]

^^ Dell it does say its IPS

 

[Cilus]

Buddy, I have not suggested you FX 4100, I have suggested you FX 6100 which is a 6 Core Processor as you were willing to spend 7K over the Processor. Read my previous post properly.