A PC Config For 20-25K

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Hello All,

My 6 yr. old P4 pc has been bugging me for quite sometime so i have made up my mind to buy a new pc withing 20-25k

(According to PC Build Questionnaire Template)

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
A:Multimedia+Animation+Gaming

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
A:Sure

3. What is your MAX budget?
A:25 K

4. Planning to overclock?
A:No

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A:Windows & OSX(Hackintosh)

6. How much hard drive space is needed?
A:250-500GB

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want? If you already want have one and want to use it, mention its resolution and size.
A:I have a Monitor

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
A:2

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A:Nope

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A:In 1 or 2 Months

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A:Yes, of course

12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
A:Hmm, Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, UPS

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A:New Delhi, No

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
A: I have listed out a rig which i found out in digit September Edition here it goes:

AMD Athlon 2 X4 640--Processor(I have up till now only used Intel)--4,600
500 GB WD Caviar Blue--HDD--1,700
Gigabyte GA-88OGA-UD2H--Motherboard--4,300
Corsair 2x2GB DDR3 1333 MHz--RAM--2,100
CM Elite 310--Cabinet--1,500
Corsair CX400--Power Supply

I have used my P4 PC for almost 7 years and i want to use the next one for the most i can.
Waiting for your reply ASAP

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Here's my suggestion for your requirements-

Component Make Price
Processor AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE 5500
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H 4000
RAM G-skill F3-10600CL9S-2GBNT 700
Graphic Card MSI HD 6850 Cyclone 9300
PSU FSP Saga II 500W 2000
Case Zebronics Bijli (w/o psu) 1000
UPS Intex 1KVA 1800
Total 24300

1 or 2 months is a long long time and prices will have dropped by then...you will get a better rig after 1-2 months in the same price.

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@ArjunKiller: i have a ups& whats a psu??

PSU= Power Supply Unit.
It supplies power to all components of the PC. Without which the PC is a Box
What is power supply? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer Dictionary

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@tech_freak: thankz

bruce_batman said:
@ArjunKiller: i have a ups& whats a psu??

It is what you know as SMPS. Normally it comes bundle with the cabinet itself. But they are very low end local models from Intex, frontech etc. If you need a powerful rig then a dedicated and branded PSU is a must buy.

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@Cilus: thankz for the heads-up will look into it

BTW, Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H is not available in most of the online shops as well as in local markets. So better get a Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 @ 4.8K. It does have support for Bulldozer CPUs and has USB 3.0 support.

Here's another 26K rig.

nbaztec, M4A78LT-M LE supports upto 95w cpus.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Motherboards- ASUS M4A78LT-M LE

Thanks Jas, my bad.

@ OP - if you are getting GA-880GM-USB3 make sure it's rev 3.1 or the cpu socket is black colored - which means support for AM3+ cpu ;-)

I think its better for op to opt for a sandybridge based rig because amd's bulldozer upgrade path doesn't look good right now.

core i3 2100 + intel h67-VR mobo combo should do good. The prices are 5.8k and 4.5k respectively. It will also pave way for future ivybridge 1155 cpu's that will be 22nm and use intel's patented 3d trigate transistors.

The above processor+mobo combo will give you almost equal performance with an amd 955 .be based rig even in multithreaded apps. Since bulldozer is out of the equation at the moment, rigs should not be purchased keeping a bulldozer upgrade path in mind.

Besides older am3 cpu's might get eol and also lack support of several newer instruction sets like avx and aes. Consider i3 2100 which is a hyperthreaded processor has almost similar performance as 955 be in almost all apps and better gaming performance, i see no harm going for it.

Since bulldozer is out of the equation at the moment, rigs should not be purchased keeping a bulldozer upgrade path in mind.

Vicky, I am not agree with you at this point. Ya, current BD lineup really sucks but there are plenty Phenom II X4 and X6 CPU available for upgrades and the Piledriver and the next iterations of BD CPUs will be also supported in the current AM3+ mobos. So at a restricted budget current AMD quad core + an AM3+ mobo is well justified.

^^Hey buddy this is not me but my frustration speaking. You're right that current phenom 2 x4 and x6 still makes sense but what i'm saying is that current gen cpu's have newer instruction sets which will be utilized by apps in future.

The most important imo is avx. Heard that cpu physics is also going to use avx instead of sse3/4 etc. See here.

So it will enhance game physics in future titles as well. That's why i'm more interested in sandybridge cpu's now.

The fx4100 and 6100 also support avx and should have been tailor made mainstream cpu's. But amd really screwed them up and us as well. Really i had very high hopes on the above BD cpu's.

Check this as well.

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bruce_batman said:
5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A:Windows & OSX(Hackintosh)

For clearing my doubt...
Can i make hackintosh with AMD?I heard that i cant.

^^ Yes you can.

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thankz for all your replies ppl i am going to my hardware guy to ask for config lets see what he suggests me will post the config here

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Here's Da Config:-

Processor-i5 2400
Motherboard-Intel DH 67BL/67CL
RAM-4GB DDR3
HDD-500GB
Cabinet-iBall Bullet
Graphics Card-XFX HD 6450
Wireless Mouse+Key-Logitech MK260

How is it??

^^ Go for arjun's suggested config with mobo being changed to GA-880GM-USB3 .
The above config is not a balanced config.
For cabinet though the iBall Bullet looks good but it is has cheap build quality with no cable management and is heavily overpriced.
Coming to 6450,it is not at all a card with which you can do gaming.

The CPU + Mobo configuration is very good and future proof. Sandybridge i5 2400 is a bang for the buck processor and outshines all the current Phenom II X4 and X6 CPUs as well as all the Bulldozer based 6 cores.
For motherboard, get the DH67CL board as it is a full ATX board.
For Ram, get the Corsair Value Ram 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 1.2/1.3K.

But the Gfx card is not capable of any games as it is a HTPC card, used for wathcing High defination contents. Get at least Sapphire HD 5670 512 MB GDDR5 @ 4.2K

BTW, I'm guessing you are getting the bundled SMPS with the Iball Bullet cabinet. Now that is the worst part of your rig. Local PSUs are very bad, they never deliver the quoted rating. So don't even think about ading a decent Graphics card with it. So get a separate and branded SMPS first. FSP SAGA II 500W @ 2.2K. I know you may need to extend your budget for it but beleive me, it will extend the lifespan of your rig as well as letting you add components in future without thinking of power requirement.

Let us know the price breakup of each of the components too.

@ OP - tell us the resolution and size of your monitor and at what resolution you will play games ??

yep, for gaming it's better to get a decent gfx card at 5-6k range at-least and a good quality PSu like FSP Saga II 500 or Corsair CX430v2 ;-)

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ok so with everyone's help the now config stands at:-

i5 2400
GA 880GM USB3
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
Cabinet-???(any suggestions)
Graphics Card-??(any suggestions)
Wireless Mouse+Key-Logitech MK260
SMPS-FSP Saga II 500

Also reading this my dad gave me a raise of 5 k so the budget stands at 30 K Max

bruce_batman said:
Here's Da Config:-

Processor-i5 2400
Motherboard-Intel DH 67BL/67CL
RAM-4GB DDR3
HDD-500GB
Cabinet-iBall Bullet
Graphics Card-XFX HD 6450
Wireless Mouse+Key-Logitech MK260

How is it??

this config has a very slow graphic card. barely any improvement over Intel's IGP.

bruce_batman said:
ok so with everyone's help the now config stands at:-

i5 2400
GA 880GM USB3
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
Cabinet-???(any suggestions)
Graphics Card-??(any suggestions)
Wireless Mouse+Key-Logitech MK260
SMPS-FSP Saga II 500

Also reading this my dad gave me a raise of 5 k so the budget stands at 30 K Max

you can't use an AMD mothwerboard with an Intel processor.

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@ico: u have a nice config in ur sig how much did it cost you??

bruce_batman said:
@ico: u have a nice config in ur sig how much did it cost you??

A config similar to mine would cost around ~70k.

My suggestion would be this:

ArjunKiller said:
* slight change in ArjunKiller's reccomendation *

Component Make Price
Processor AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE 5500
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 4800
RAM 2 * G-skill F3-10600CL9S-2GBNT 1400
Hard disk WD Blue/Seagate 500 GB Hard disk 3800
Graphic Card MSI HD 6850 Cyclone 9300
PSU FSP Saga II 500W 2000
Case Zebronics Bijli (w/o psu) 1000
UPS Intex 1KVA 1800
Total 29600

If you want to buy Intel, then Intel i5-2400 + Intel DH67BL is going to cost you 9500 + 6000.

This is around 5-6k more than the above config.

Also, please read this thread regarding power supplies: *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/power-sup...89-power-supply-blacklist-thread-newbies.html

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@ico and rest will be da same???

bruce_batman said:
@ico and rest will be da same???

yes...

Only motherboard and Processor need to be compatible i.e. made for each other.

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@ico: buddy der's a prob its going over budget

Intel will definitely go above the budget. AMD will not.

You can buy HD 6770 card instead of HD 6850. HD 6770 is around 7k and sometimes less.

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i am so glad i asked you ppl will get back to u on dis!!

on a not so related topic, how much do u think i should sell dis pc for

Branded LG MyPC
P4 2.66 Ghz
2GB DDR
250GB HDD
256 MB Graphics Card

if the HDD is in good condition just keep it for now ;-)

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topgear said:
if the HDD is in good condition just keep it for now

and sell the pc without the hdd??

^^ If possible, yes. Price of HDD is shooting upto the sky due to flood in Thailand. So, best choice would be to keep that HDD with you, which will till HDD price become normal once again.

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i found that i have a spare 40 GB hdd will try and make it usable as i recall i did not boot da last time i tried to !!

^^ To be very honest, you can't really do much with 40GB HDD. It have too small space to work with.

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yup installed and tried 40 GB Hdd and it worked!! installed a hdd myself for the 1st time

so how much can da pc sell for??

Hardly 2500 without the monitor. Pentium 4 is a rubbish chip.

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@ico: nice thankz for the info

it aint that bad and its working has 2gb ram 256 mb graphics card

bruce_batman said:
@ico: nice thankz for the info

it aint that bad and its working has 2gb ram 256 mb graphics card

It is.

Which 256MB Graphic card is it...anyways?

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its a geforce fx 5500 nvidia

trust me i've been using this pc for 6 YRS.

and 6 yrs is a really long time

lol, Geforce FX 5500 is very very slow from today's standards. Still 2500 unless you find a 'jamoora'

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ico said:
lol, Geforce FX 5500 is very very slow from today's standards. Still 2500 unless you find a 'jamoora'

hahahaha

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hey ppl i am getting the following rig in 25K

Intel Core i5 2400
Intel DH67BL
4 GB DDR 3
Zebronics Bijli 2 without SMPS
GeForce GTX 460
FSP SAga2 500 W

and selling da p4 pc for 3K

is it good enough?

Buying from Nehru Place? You won't find FSP Saga II 500w....I can vouch for that. Most probably you'll be forced to buy Cooler Master PSUs. AVOID THEM.

Instead of GTX 460, get HD 6850....5% more performance and 15% lower power consumption. Price is more or less same.

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nope gettting from jwala heri(near my place) he told me he would have the exact config, and "HD 6850 is out of stock" according to him

Yes, my vote also goes to 6850. Its a bit powerful than gtx 460 and consumes much less power. Besides if you get some factory overclocked 6850's like msi 6850 cyclone , then the performance also goes up compared to stock 6850's.

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i know about the 6850 maybe i can check somewhere else and put it myself

i wanna run some of the new games will they run in both of them without any jerks??

kk then. Get GTX 460 from your dealer in Jwala Hedi itself as he has everything with him.

Coming down to Nehru Place for a damned card would be a PITA.

yup, both cards are good for gaming.

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@ico: PITA??oh u mean pity and nehru place is whole lot a far and thankz for help everyone

and also buying logitech MK260 is dat good too??

bruce_batman said:
@ico: PITA??oh u mean pity and nehru place is whole lot a far and thankz for help everyone

and also buying logitech MK260 is dat good too??

PITA = pain in the a$$.

Nehru Place is quite far from where you live...so would be difficult.

imho, Wireless combos suck. And only because of the mouse you get. Batteries dry out very quickly. I don't mind wireless keyboards though.

Prefer a wired combo.

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actually why i went for a wireless was because the wire gets stuck and the keyboard's wire is freaking small and when i drag it towards me the wire falls off the pc

I agree with you on that. I use a wireless keyboard for the same reason. But wireless mouse is something which I run away from.

But I don't think disconnection of wire would be a problem with USB keyboards. Old keyboards used PS/2.

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da company says the mouse has a batttery life of 5 months

It might have...(my Microsoft mouse lasted only two weeks at max lol), but personally I wouldn't want my mouse to give up on my when I have urgent work. Better buy extra cells in advance for emergency purpose.

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recharge-able or normal??? and i also have a spare wired one for emergencies

^^ now that's your wish.

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okkkkkkk

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i bought the MK260 and using it to type now i must say it is fabulous but i do also have a tension to remove and put batteries again and again

^^ From the reviews it looks like battery of MK260 is good, and you don't need to worry too much about the lifetime of the batteries.

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thank you all i got my pc few days ago thank u all

^^ congrats ;-)

- post the detailed config with prices.