AMD Trinity based HTPC/Entry level Gaming PC

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: HTPC/Playing games like Far Cry 2, Crysis 1, BF2 at High settings, 720p resolution
Playing racing Games like Dirt 3 on Medium settings, 1080p

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans: Over all budget 17.5K, MAX 18K.

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: Heard AMD Trinity are overclockable so yeah maybe in a year or two.

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 7

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: Already have my 320GB+500GB Ext. HDD and an Internal 500GB HDD

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: Nope, no monitor, wil use my Dell 17 inch for a while, then connect it to my TV when I get one

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: HDD, DVD ROM, Monitor, Speakers

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans:Jan 4th week.

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

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: Chandigarh. Asked my Local assembler to arrange parts, if he can't get the ones I want he will get it from FK or some other Website.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: I NEED this PC to last a while. By while I mean 5 Years. I know my HDD may give out, but that (and I may get a BDROM if prices fall) will be the only thing Ill be changing for the next 4-5 years. I need a mother board which has GOOD BUILD QUALITY, and I want all Parts to have a good AFTER SALES SERVICE in my region. I live in CHD so I guess that wont be a problem.

Please note: In a day or 2 my local assembler will tell me the prices of the components and Ill list them here ASAP
Here is my planned rig:
Processor: AMD A10 5800K/5700
Mother Board: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS/ASUS A55 alternatives/MSI FM2 A55 E33
RAM: Corsair Vengeance
PSU: Corsair CX430/Cooler Master Thunder 450/CoolerMaster GX450
PC Case: A Mini Tower with MicroATX mobo support. Shortlisted Cooler Master Elite 361

These are the things I want to buy! Please help me decide which of the 3 Motherboards should I go for and Which PSU.
I know most people will tell me to go ahead with Corsair but Ive been hearing LOTS of DOA and Smoked in less than 8 month User Reviews. Worried about that!
So let me know if the CM ones Ive listed are good or not, If they are and my dealer quotes a higher than 2.7K price for em Ill go with the Corsair.
About the motherboard, PLS I REPEAT I WANT THE ONE WITH BEST BUILD QUALITY.
And I would really like HDMI too, but only the MSI one has it. :'(
But I guess a DVI to HDMI converter will do the job WITHOUT and loss in quality right?
Thanks in Advance!

D

NZXT Source 210 Elite (1 Front USB 3.0 port) @ 2.6K

Asus F2A85-M-LE @ 5.7K( good mobo )

Rest all fine...

AMD A10-5800K @ 8.4K
ASUS F2A85-M-LE MOTHERBOARD @ 5.72K (Smcinternational.in)
G-Skill RipjawX 1600 MHz CL10 8GB X 1 @ 3K
Corsair CX 430 V2 @ 2.6K
Cooler Master Elite 361 @ 2.2K (Smcinternational.in)

How about this cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advance Mini Tower Cabinet - Cooler Master: Flipkart.com
IMO a good option for HTPC.

Processor: Intel Pentium G 645 - Rs 3400
Mother Board:ASUS MOTHERBOARD P8H 61-MLX - Rs 2800
GPU - MSI R7750-PMD1GD5/OC - Rs 6850
RAM: Corsair Value select 4GB - Rs1150
PSU: Corsair CX430 - Rs 2500
PC Case: Cooler Master Elite 361 - Rs 2200

Total - Rs 18,900.

Now you can honestly game like you should game and of course use it as a HTPC.It will game way better than a Trinity.

Cilus said:
AMD A10-5800K @ 8.4K
ASUS F2A85-M-LE MOTHERBOARD @ 5.72K (Smcinternational.in)
G-Skill RipjawX 1600 MHz CL10 8GB X 1 @ 3K
Corsair CX 430 V2 @ 2.6K
Cooler Master Elite 361 @ 2.2K (Smcinternational.in)

draco21 said:
NZXT Source 210 Elite (1 Front USB 3.0 port) @ 2.6K

Asus F2A85-M-LE @ 5.7K( good mobo )

Rest all fine...

Thats going over my budget!

Like I said, max 18K
This is my Secondary PC/Something Ill give to my younger brother so that is the Max I can spend on it! :'(

saswat23 said:
How about this cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advance Mini Tower Cabinet - Cooler Master: Flipkart.com
IMO a good option for HTPC.

It is but it only supports Mini ITX motherboards!

The Incinerator said:
Processor: Intel Pentium G 645 - Rs 3400
Mother Board:ASUS MOTHERBOARD P8H 61-MLX - Rs 2800
GPU - MSI R7750-PMD1GD5/OC - Rs 6850
RAM: Corsair Value select 4GB - Rs1150
PSU: Corsair CX430 - Rs 2500
PC Case: Cooler Master Elite 361 - Rs 2200

Total - Rs 18,900.

Now you can honestly game like you should game and of course use it as a HTPC.It will game way better than a Trinity.

Sorry, forgot to mention it!
I will add another GPU if I think I need it! A friend of mine has a HD6670, who has been using it for only 4 months, and He will upgrade soon(this June) to a GTX650ti, and he'll sell the HD6670 to me for 2.5K, Still in warranty for another 4 years so I guess thats a better option for me!

D

About the GPU, is it DDR3 or DDR5??

if DDR5 , then you wont need APU better go with G45 without GPU

The only reason one gets a APU is if he cant get a GPU but you are getting one so no use of APU.

it will also save you some money.

Buddy, HD 6670, both the GDDR5 and the DDR3 version can work with the IGP HD 7660D in Hybrid Crossfire Mode. Only if OP is planning to get a higher end GPU then he can opt for a i3 3220 system. G645 is not recommended as OP has the budget for higher end Processors and the new Games like Far Cry 3 has already shown that the Pentium G series cause serious bottleneck in the game.

FarCry 3 will be affected more by a non competent GPU than a non competent CPU.

Didn't get your point. I clearly mentioned that if OP is planning to add a powerful GPU later then he should opt for i3 3220. Even a A10-5800K is also better than G645 in terms of CPU performance. PildeDriver CPUs are also showing good scaling in Far Cry 3.

Cilus said:
Didn't get your point. I clearly mentioned that if OP is planning to add a powerful GPU later then he should opt for i3 3220. Even a A10-5800K is also better than G645 in terms of CPU performance. PildeDriver CPUs are also showing good scaling in Far Cry 3.

Umm yeah, Not planning to get a 'High End' GPU. Like I said, Ill only get a GPU IF I need it. I need a more power full CPU than the GPU cuz I may want to teach my brother a bit of programming on it, he just opted IT instead of S.S.T in School. And play a few games on it. Don't want him addicted to gaming at this age, cuz Ive seen a few friends going down that road, and not studying for their +1 exams cuz they were to busy 'Playing CS 1.6'. Id rather want him spend his time learning programming. Im getting a good i5 GTX 660 rig in October for myself, after my +2. Ill let him play on it once a week but not more than that, which is why Im buying him a separate rig with good CPU power and moderate GPU power.
So my question again,
1. Which Motherboard? the one suggested is a bit expensive, Im happy with a good A55 chipset too, as long as it is of good build quality and can resist some damage that a defective Corsair CX430(lots of em now a days) may cause.
2. Which Computer Case, yes the CM Elite 361 is compact but what about plastics/metals used? Are they of good quality? Or should I just forget the compactness and go with a Bitfenix Merc?(Cant get NZXT anywhere in Chandigarh, not sure if Im too happy buying online from anywhere but FlipKart.)
3. Any other suggestions?

and the GPU is a Saphire HD6670 2 Gigs DDR3, (Yeah I know I know the '2GB' doesnt increase performance but he didnt know that)

Then get A10-5800K but try to squeeze the A85 Motherboard I've suggested. The IGP is unmatched by any Intel IGP till date and the CPu performance is better in multi-threaded apps and slightly lower than i3 in single threaded apps. But you will get overclokcing support, better instruction set support (FMA3, FMA4, AES etc)_ which are missing in i3 3220.

If you are not getting a GPU ,the Trinity Rig with an A85 is apt.

The Incinerator said:
If you are not getting a GPU ,the Trinity Rig with an A85 is apt.

Cilus said:
Then get A10-5800K but try to squeeze the A85 Motherboard I've suggested.

Hmmm

any particular reason why? Im a bit iffy on increasing my budget.

Because A85 chipset offers features like USB 3 and SATA III 6 Gbps, missing in A55. USB 3.0 ports are very useful as all the external storage devices are offering it. You will get far better data transfer speeds.

But shouldnt I just go with the ASRock FM2A75M-DGS then(when it arrives, according to ASRock india's fb page, 2nd/3rd week of JAN)
Cuz the only difference b/w an A75 and an A85 is that the A85 has 8 instead of 6 SATA III, and RAID 5 support. The ASRock one is available for 60$ in the USA so will be priced around 3.5K-4K in India.
Shouldnt I just go with that?
But again, cuz it so cheap I doubt how good the Build quality will be. :/
Any help/suggestions?

Well, if you can wait till the release of the Motherboard then okay, A75 is the way to go. I didn't suggest it because of the nonavailability till now.

Hmm
I guess Ill wait for it then. BTW Are Solid Capacitors better? The A75 DGS model doesnt have them although the MSI A55 E33 does.

Ill still look into the whole thing and I believe Ill spend more on the motherboard and choose a better one when more models are available to choose from.

The As Rock build quality to BIOS is of suspect in many instances,though they offer very value for money products. The PCB in most of their boards are very thin and not very inspiring. But that dosnt mean they are a bad company but Im iffy about them at the moment. Choose an Asus or Gigabyte.

So Will an A55 ASUS have good quality? I Dont see any A75 coming soon on Flipkart. The A85X are a bit expensive, but I guess Ill go with the one suggested, for 5.7K, by collecting some money.
Ill sell my old PS2, PSP and C2D E7200 processor.

You don't need to sell all of those components to get a A85 over A55. You can keep the PSP, rally a good device. :-D

Umm I checked Flipkart for Cabinets, and its only displaying 2!
When I searched some up all say they are permanently discontinued! Whats going on?

They're probably updating their site. Check after couple of hours.

Cilus said:
They're probably updating their site. Check after couple of hours.

Nope, still only 3 Cabinets. Did something happen at a warehouse of there's or something?

I was gonna buy a Bitfenix Merc Alpha PC Case from there. :-?

Merc alpha was a good choice.
Dont know how and why it is discontinued so soon!

So, you can opt for CM K380 instead. Its available on snapdeal for 3.2k.

Ill try with the Bitfenix at some other online store, or try to get one locally.
Lets see.

Is Bitfang better or TechShop.in?
Found the Bitfenix Merc Alpha there, wanna know which of them is more trust able.
And do either of these companies offer Cash On Delivery?
If not, which is the safest way for the money transaction? i.e. a way where I can cancel the money transferred in case I dont receive the product.

ok, BUMP
My Local Computer guy says he can get any Cooler Master at all. So pls suggest me a good one under 2.8K. Im a bit sad though , had my heart on the BitFenix

saswat23 said:
Merc alpha was a good choice.
Dont know how and why it is discontinued so soon!

So, you can opt for CM K380 instead. Its available on snapdeal for 3.2k.

Cant fiind that either -_-

BUMP
Ok now the Bitfenix Merc Alpha is back on Flipkart.
Which one of these should I get if Im getting both at the same price? (2.9K)
Please help, finalizing my PC, then Im going off thinkdigit for a while.

-_-
BUMP level: ITSSS OVERRRRR 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!