The Ultimate 50K Entertainment PC

[technotragic]

Hi guys

I shall be purchasing a new comp in about 20 days time at Jamshedpur where I'll be beginning my MBA. My budget is approximately 50 grands and my primary usage would be music and movies with a bit of Microsoft Office, web surfing, research and multiplayer AOE on the University LAN. Ofcourse I'd like to keep it future-proof for the next 2 years I'll be there as I might delve into some heavy-duty games later on like Sims 2. I'll probably keep my computer switched on most of the time and my room will not have airconditioning.

Now after a lot of research I've come up with the following rig and it'd be great if you people could advice me on this. The prices are just approximately what I've read in the various forums etc. so please correct me if you find any discrepancies. Also feel free to advcie on & substitute any parts. I want this to be the most ultimate 50K rig possible in India currently.

Cabinet & SMPS - Antec SLK 1650B with 350W - 3000/-
Processor - AMD Athlon64 3000+ (Socket 939) - 7500/-
Motherboard - Asus A8N E - 8000/- (Does this have good Onboard Sound or will I have to go for a separate soundcard)
Monitor - 17" Flat CRT - Samsung 793 MB or Viewsonic E72DF or any other - 7000/- (Which one should I go for, and which 1 gives the best performance with regard to movies)
DVD RW - Liteon Dual Layer - 4500/-
Graphics Card - Absolutely no idea - Please advice me on a good PCIE one for under Rs. 5000/-. 6600GT is a tad too expensive at 10K.)
Speakers - Altec Lansing MX5021 - 9500/- - (I know these are too expensive but suits my primary purpose. The reviews seem to make this the God of 2.1s. I may not have much room for 4.1 or 5.1 and I hear they're crap in SUb10k category)
RAM - 2*256 Transcend 400 MHz - 3500/-
Hard Disk - 160 GB SATA Seagate - 4000/- (I already have Seagate Barracuda 120gb 7200 rpm PATA. Should I couple this with a SATA or PATA. Raid(0) is not an option coz I need a 2nd one higher than 120 gb preferably about 200 gigs as I already have about 500gb of movies & music on my friends' computers courtesy mIRC)
Keyboard & Mouse - Logitech or Microsoft Wired for about 1000/- (Please advice)
UPS - Please advice on this one - Shud be abt 2000/- (Non-APC as APC is way too expensive)
LAN - The institute recommends 10/100 MBPS LAN Card (Will the onboard LAN suffice?)
Headphones - Already have a pair of Sennheiser HD457 which I bought for about 1250/- at Dubai (An absolute bargain for the quality it offers)

Total comes up to about 55,000 which is a li'l overbudget but should do.

Please do advice me on this config ASAP and feel free to alter it in anyway possible.

 

[mohit]

ok here are some pointers

mobo and cpu combination is very good.

for grafix card you can go for a nvidia 6200 from xfx/leadtek/gainward . make sure you go for the non turbocache version.

speakers are very very expensive and u say u plan to use the rig for movies ... y not get a 5.1 setup then ? you can go for altec lansing 5100 .. its also under 10k i guess.

if not for apc then try tvs,numeric and get minimum 600VA.

for keyboard and mouse go only for microsoft. they are the best.

i think the onboard sound and lan are good enough. lets see what others have to say. someone who is using this board will help u out.

 

[Keith Sebastian]

Motherboard - Asus A8N E - 8000/- (Does this have good Onboard Sound or will I have to go for a separate soundcard)

Pretty decent, unless you're an audiophile.

Speakers - Altec Lansing MX5021 - 9500/-

You have expensive tastes. Get a demo for ATP3 (INR 3200/-) See if you like these. Will save you a lot. Good review here - *www.3dsoundsurge.com/reviews/ATP3/ATP3.html

Invest savings in an excellent APC UPS. (650 VA for INR 3800/-) Will give you 20 mins + backup and peace of mind. You can even plug in a fan if the Jamshedpur heat bothers you.

LAN - The institute recommends 10/100 MBPS LAN Card (Will the onboard LAN suffice?)

Onboard LAN your mobo is 1000Mbps (gigabit). On chip firewall. Line condition reporting. Excellent nVidia web based configurator.
No problems here.

That's my two cents worth. And, all the best for your MBA.

Keith

 

[mamba]

go 4 acer af715 . its cheaper than the samsung n viewsonic counterparts n is the best in its category . look no further

check this months digit 4 a speaker shoot-out . u will get the solution there , 2 go in 4 2.1 or 5.1

try getting gainward 6200

rest looks fine

 

[deathvirus_me]

U could go for the Asus K8N mobo .. it has nForce3 250GB chipset ....only backdrop is that its socket754 but the good part is that u get a very good quality onboard 5.1 channel out ....

Get a Powercolor Radeon 9600XT ... at your budget this card will easily outperform the Fx's within the 5k mark ..

Go for the Smasng Syncmaster 793MB .. best picture ...

Get another 512MB DDR400 ram module .......

U can go for the Creative Inspire 5200 5.1 speakers .. they wont take much space and they sound great ...

 

[suave_guy]

well i wud definately recommend altec MX-5021 if u can afford it...its truly a master piece and since u mentioned that u dont have enough space then i thing 2.1 shud be ideal for u...but this one is not just another 2.1....its considered as one of the BEST 2.1 sys available in the market today..

ENjoy...

 

[supernova]

i too would recommend 2.1 only, as it's the woofer that matters a lot and there no point going in for a 5.1 with a lesser powerful woofer.
Moreover for 5.1 you might have to go for a separate sound card.
ATP3 is very good set of speakers. My friend is using them for 1.5 years.

 

[kbsg]

Hi m8,
You cud go in for a nforce 3 based motherboard!
It rulez! It has pretty descent onboard AGP. The onboard sound chip is also very nice (5.1 + dolby decorder)!

It also has an extra PCIe slot so that when prices of PCIe AGP cards come down a bit you can buy them!

 

[mohit]

It also has an extra PCIe slot so that when prices of PCIe AGP cards come down a bit you can buy them!

what do u mean by this ? plz explain.

 

[rohanbee]

It also has an extra PCIe slot so that when prices of PCIe AGP cards come down a bit you can buy them!

what do u mean by this ? plz explain.

I think he means the mobo has a Agp and a Pcie slot !! Thats something new i never knew they existed !

I read about this nforce3 which is a joint development between AMD and Nvidia. And it does not have a pcie slot !!. Here is the detailed article.

*www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20030917982606.html

 

[sumitava_b]

Hi m8,
You cud go in for a nforce 3 based motherboard!
It rulez! It has pretty descent onboard AGP. The onboard sound chip is also very nice (5.1 + dolby decorder)!

It also has an extra PCIe slot so that when prices of PCIe AGP cards come down a bit you can buy them!

Onboard AGP with extra PCIe slot!! Really amazing to hear. Does it exist?

in btw, technotragic, I really doubt that u will be able to play all those games and all while doing an MBA in XLRI...apart from seeing all the movies present in the LAN....

 

[rohanbee]

O believe me .................they will
These ppl never sleep !!!

 

[mamba]

y would ne sane manufacturer like 2 have so many buses on their mobo - pci , pcie n agp . all 3 of them

must b a typo

nice 1 tho

 

[technotragic]

Hey guys. It was great to get all your suggestions. Here's the updated config I've decided on after reading thru your suggestions n doing a li'l more research. (Once again, please lemme know if the prices go wrong somewhere. Mine are just estimates I picked up from various places. Also since I'll be buying this from Jamshedpur what do you think of the availability)

CPU - Athlon 64 3000+ (Socket 939 - Winchester) - 7500/-

MoBo - Asus A8N E - 8000/-

RAM - Transcend 400 DDR - 512*2 - 5500/-

Graphics Card - 6600 GT PCIe - 10500/- (Relatively inexperienced regarding this so I'll need help on brand and any other options available on this board)

Cabinet/SMPS - Antec SLK 1650B with supplied 350W SmartPower PSU - 3000/- (Once again is 350W enough as it is an Antec. Also do you think I'll get this at Jamshedpur. Wats the price of the SLK3700bqe)

Hard Disk - Seagate 160 GB SATA - 4000/- (Will also attach my existing Seagate 120 gb PATA along with it)

Monitor - Samsung 793MB - 7500/-

DVD RW - Liteon Dual Layer - 4500/-

Keyboard & Mouse - Logitech or Microsoft Wired - 1000/-

UPS - APC 500VA - 2500/-

Sound Card - Onboard for now (Shall add 1 later when I have the dough)

Speakers - Altec Lansing ATP3 - 3000/- (Okay, given all u ppl's suggestions I dont think I'll be goin for the MX5021 now. Any other suggestions here, if the budget could go up to 5-6 grands. Prime purpose is music and watching DivX movies)

@sumitava_b I know it'll be tough to game, movie & music in XLRI given the dearth of free time there but the passionate ones manage to cut down on their sleep and get on with it.

That's all for now. Please do chip in with your comments/suggestions.

 

[premrajeev]

U wont have to repend on ATP3. They r marvellous.
Go in for 1 GB of RAM, if performance matters. 512 is considered adequate.

Go for 600 VA ups. Check the power requirements of ur monitor.. U should consider 600VA as u have a 17 incher.

Also go for a nice webcam if u have access to the NET. That should be useful @@

I think IBM is good but not available nowadays in mumbai.

 

[agrawal.vini]

Need a Config

Hi Mohit,

I am planning to buy a new PC in Bangalore for my home use. I would be using it for Gaming & movies & will have broadband connection to go with it.

Could you please adv mem as to what would be a reasonably good configuration. I like to reasonably high graphic games

Thanks

 

[godzi_85]

hmmm
asus a8n -e -- 9k
amd 3000+ venice core - 7.5k
xfx geforce 6600gt 128 mb ddr3 - 10.5k
cabinet + 400 watts true power psu - around 2.5k
creative inspire 2.1 - 1900
seagate sata 160 gb - 4.2k
logitech keyboard mouse combo - 700-1000 Rs
samsung 793 mb truly flat - 7k
512*2 - transcend/ hynix d43 memory - 4-4.5k

total --- 48100 ...
good enough?

 

[chinmay]

well...godzi...as u cn see vini requires a gaming rig..so i think 512 mb of ram will be fairly adequate for any high end game....instead he can spend on 6600gt 256 mb Transcend for Rs. 13500 -(np price)...he should also invest in a 5.1 speakers because today all the games support suround output...so creative inspire 5.1 (rs 4900) will be best

 

[mohit]

@agrawal.vini
hey buddy... first of all sorry for a late reply.. i had not seen this post.. now for a good gaming rig here goes,

amd athlon 64 bit 3000+ (939 pin) - 8,000/-
amd athlon 64 bit 3200+ (939 pin) - 9500/-

msi k8n- neo 4 platinum (nforce 4 ultra) - 9500/-
msi k8n-sli-platinum (nforce 4 sli) - 12,500/-

512*2 ( 1 gb ) pc 3200 (ddr 400 mhz) kingston/corsair - 5500/-

liteon dvd-rw - 4500/-

160 gb sata hdd seagate - 4000/-

xfx/leadtek/gainward 6600 gt - 11,000/-
for sli , buy 2 of the same cards

min. 400 W power supply (antec.coolermaster) - 3300/-

good chasis (antec,coolermaster,vip) - 2,000/- onwards
i love the antec super lanboy - 5200/-

altec lansing speakers VS-3151 R (5.1) - 6,000/-

Sound card , i dont have much idea, u can for for creative sb live 7.1 (24 bit) - 1900/-

microsoft keyboard / optical mouse - 1,600/-
go for cordless if u want 2.

and ya samsung lcd 17" 710n - around 18,000/-
or
samsung magic bright 2 17" crt - around 8,000/-

 

[godzi_85]

@chinmay d...
hmm ya 512 is good enough but if performane matter then 1 gb is the way to go..
and as far as i know... the performance diff between 256 and 128 66oogt isn`t much.. and its not worht going for the 256 mb.... correct me if i`m wrong..
and as far as speakers are concerned.... ya 5200 is a good choice.. but if unlike me you do`nt have the space then its no point iun buyying 5.1..
and plus if you wanna spend on a 5.1 then spend on altec lansing.... as it s got more punch then the creative speakers..