[URGENT BUILD] Buying Tmrw <30k

[guru_urug]

Hey Guys, Ive been away from the forums for a while. Going through life's worst rollercoaster! Feels good to be back.

A very good friend of mine approached me to build a PC for him urgently. Ive been out of touch lately with the market hardware, so I hope you guys can help

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: Gaming(Highest Priority), besides that normal desktop work, some coding and multimedia.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans:Rs 26k is the amount he has. Stretchable to 30k if its worth it. This is a 1 time investment for him and he would like to get the best possible

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: CPU,Not specifically(in case of non-k). GPU, probably when need arises

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Win 7 Ultimate 64bit

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: No need to purchase, reusing current one

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: No need for monitor also, 19 inch monitor. Also will connect to his sony bravia 32" at times

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans:
NOT BUYING:- Harddisk, Monitor,Optical drive, Speaker, UPS, Speaker, Mouse & KB

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: Tomorrow!!

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: I'll be assembling for him, Im well experienced with the job

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: Mumbai, Lamington Rd

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: For GPU, my personal choices would be between HD6850 and the HD7770. Thats the baseline, anything better would be a bonus.
With CPU, i guess athlons and phenoms are phased out and it makes more sense in getting a Intel SB. I am aware of the H77 boards that would be Future proofing, but Im not sure of the pricing on those.

NEEDED COMPONENTS:
Processor, Motherboard, RAM, GPU, PSU, Cabinet

Thanks

 

[RiGOD]

Component Make Price
CPU AMD Phenom II 960T 6960
Motherboard Gigabyte MGA-970A-UD3 6600
GPU MSI HD 6850 8850
RAM G.Skill Value 4GB DDR3 1150
Case NZXT Source 210 Elite 2400
PSU Seasonic S12 II 520 3770
Total 29730

 

[Piyush]

@guru
in case you (he) want a better GPU(which I would say you must), then

AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE @6k
Gigabyte GA-880GM @4.1k (the new one.. i.e. revision 3.1)
MSI GTX 560TI @13k

rest of the items from RIGOD's setup

 

[guru_urug]

Thanks for the config RiGOD and Piyush
Id like an Intel alternative also, just for comparison.
The PSU is great but what if I replace that with the
Corsair VS450 450W or the Corsair cx 430v2?
Maybe save some cash on that and get a card like 6870? I know the importance of a good PSU. But dont want excess headroom, since the config wont be changed till 3-4 yrs

 

[Piyush]

Thanks for the config RiGOD and Piyush
Id like an Intel alternative also, just for comparison.

you can get an i5-2400 but that way you would have to sacrifice GPU power
most probably you can get HD 6770 (at the best)

The PSU is great but what if I replace that with the
Corsair VS450 450W or the Corsair cx 430v2?
I know the importance of a good PSU. But dont want excess headroom, since the config wont be changed till 3-4 yrs

VS 450 is good but why to bother that when you can get a lot better PSU at almost same price
also do remember that the efficiency of PSU drops almost 5%-10% each year depending on usage and quality of components used (capacitor aging)
SO I'd still recommend you that PSU
If its not available, then go for Corsair GS 600W (GS 500W if you want to save some bucks)

Maybe save some cash on that and get a card like 6870?

GTX 560TI is better than HD 6870
so dont worry about saving for a card
currently its like this:
HD 6770<550 TI<HD 6850<HD 6870< 560TI<=HD 6950 (not including HD 7xxx series)
if you do want to save money for better card, then it'd be HD6950 , which is currently available @ 14.5k appx

 

[guru_urug]

@Piyush Thanks for the explanation.

Are the Phenom X4 series available now? I cant find them online at all

 

[RiGOD]

^^Check Flipkart.

 

[guru_urug]

The Phenom II x4 series is not available. Im talking abt the Denebs, not the Thuban and Zosma based phenoms.
And he doesnt want to spend more than 27k. I couldnt find a good AMD procesor in his budget. Dunno why AMD stopped the phenom production

How abt this?
Intel i3 2100----- 6.5k
Intel DH67VR----4.7k
G.Skill DDR3 4GB-----1.15k
Corsair cx 430v2 -----2.5k
NZXT Source 210 Elite-----2.4k

Total---17.25k
27-17.25= 9.75 for GPU
So maybe a MSi 6850 cyclone for GPU

 

[RiGOD]

^^Avoid the DH67VR, just 2 SATA ports. BTW you sure there are no Deneb's in Flipkart?

 

[guru_urug]

Ahh my bad ....but the 970 is outta the budget..I was hoping for the 955BE or the 960 :/

Any alternates for the Intel DH67VR?

 

[RiGOD]

MSI H67MA-E35 or DH67BL/CL

 

[Piyush]

The Phenom II x4 series is not available. Im talking abt the Denebs, not the Thuban and Zosma based phenoms.
And he doesnt want to spend more than 27k. I couldnt find a good AMD procesor in his budget. Dunno why AMD stopped the phenom production

Total---17.25k
27-17.25= 9.75 for GPU
So maybe a MSi 6850 cyclone for GPU

then you should go for this setup
AMD FX 4100 3.6GHz @ 6.3k
Asus M5A97 AM3+ @ 6.2k
4gb ddr3 1333MHz @ 1.1k
NZXT Source 210 Elite @ 2.3k
Corsair cx 430v2 @ 2.5k
HD 6870 @ 11.5k
TOTAL=30K

This rig is much better than

Intel i3 2100----- 6.5k
Intel DH67VR----4.7k
G.Skill DDR3 4GB-----1.15k
Corsair cx 430v2 -----2.5k
NZXT Source 210 Elite-----2.4k

 

[the_conqueror]

then you should go for this setup
AMD FX 4100 3.6GHz @ 6.3k
Asus M5A97 AM3+ @ 6.2k
4gb ddr3 1333MHz @ 1.1k
NZXT Source 210 Elite @ 2.3k
Corsair cx 430v2 @ 2.5k
HD 6870 @ 11.5k
TOTAL=30K

This rig is much better than

No, its not. OP should better stick to the i3 config. FX 4100 is not recommended. Though Phenom II 965 BE is a good alternative. i3 and Phenom ii will offer a better performance than FX.

 

[Piyush]

No, its not. OP should better stick to the i3 config. FX 4100 is not recommended. Though Phenom II 965 BE is a good alternative. i3 and Phenom ii will offer a better performance than FX.

well i doubt whether i3 2100 will be enough for him even after 3 yrs
coz he wont be upgrading until 4yrs
and my opinion still would go for Phenom IF available

 

[the_conqueror]

well i doubt whether i3 2100 will be enough for him even after 3 yrs
coz he wont be upgrading until 4yrs
and my opinion still would go for Phenom IF available

But buddy, you suggested him a bulldozer processor, FX 4100. Phenom II is fine, but it has less availability.

 

[guru_urug]

Thanks for all the help RiGOD, Piyush and the_conqueror
Finally bought all the stuff for my friend today. Heres what we got,

FROM theitwares
Intel i3 2100
Gigabyte GA-H61M D2H ----- 9550/- (mobo+procy)
4GB corsair value ram-------1150/-
MSI Afterburner GTX 560(non ti)-------10900/-
1 additional CoolerMaster fan(120mm)-----250/-

The zotac 560 was also available @ 10.4k in primeabgb, but my friend wanted a dual fan version worrying heat issues.

From Primeabgb
Seasonic S12 520W------3500/-
NZXT Source Elite 210-----2500/-

THANKS AGAIN GUYS!!

 

[Sainatarajan]

The core I3 may struggle wid high cpu demanding games. U culd hav gon wid dis.
I5 2400 @10K
DH61WW @3K
4 GB RAM @1K
Seasonic S12 520W @ 3.5K
NZXT Source Elite 210 @2.5K
PALIT GTX 560 @ 9.5K
TOTAL @ 29.5K

 

[guru_urug]

Well I suggested the i5, but he wanted to save some cash. And the i3 is a very capable processor! It compares to a phenom x4 955 even in multi-threaded tasks.

AnandTech - Bench - CPU

I dont think it should be a huge problem and the upgrade path is open. But thanks for the opinion

 

[Piyush]

well if he is more inclined towards games, then this rig would good enough for him
congrats btw

 

[rajatGod512]

If it matters now Flipkart: AMD 3 GHz AM3 Phenom II 960T Processor: Processor .