Budget Rig @ 25k · DIGIT-ARC

1. What is the purpose of the computer? (Note: If you are planning to say multimedia, you will have to be more specific as all types of systems are capable of doing that)
A: HD Movies, Programming, Gaming(Little Bit) (In same order)

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

3. What is your MAX budget?
A: 25k. Can stretch little bit if needed.

4. Planning to overclock?
A: Not really. At least not now. May be after a year when latest games won't run

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A: Win 7 64 Bit, Arch / Ubuntu, Mac OS X (If Intel)

6. How much hard drive space is needed?
A: Min 1TB. Greater would be better.

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: Presently I've 1400x900, so looking for a actual upgrade. Full HD please.

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: 5

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A: Yes, I've done it many times. Still I'd prefer assembler.

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: Mid / End of this month.

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

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

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A: Kolkata

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
A:

Well, my present configuration is:

Intel Pentium D @ 3GHz
Intel D945GCCR
Transcend 1x1GB DDR2 @ 667MHz, Transcend 1x2GB DDR2 @ 800MHz
XFX NVIDIA 9500GT 1GB DDR2
WD 160GB HDD
Viewsonic 19" LCD
Frontech 500W SMPS
Microsoft Keyboard + Mouse Combo
LG DVD Writer
Creative 2.1 Speakers

After looking at Budget 25k Rig at PC Buying Guide of TDF and TE, I've selected few components by mixing them together.

So now with the * marks.
1. I don't like Seagate. How about WD?? I really don't trust Seagate Drives.

I know I've included the speakers for now, actually the wires of my Creative 2.1 has gone really bad, can go kaput anytime. So if I stay under budget after everything I'd like to go for a new set, otherwise I'll upgrade it later next month.

Few more options that I'm looking at...

Processor:
TheITWares - One Stop for all Gizmos!AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - TheITWares
TheITWares - One Stop for all Gizmos!AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core - TheITWares

Motherboard:
TheITWares - One Stop for all Gizmos!GIGABYTE GA-880GM-USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

RAM:
TheITWares - One Stop for all Gizmos!G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL
TheITWares - One Stop for all Gizmos!CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9

I've read the reviews of the components mentioned, and it looks fine. Still need your expert opinion to confirm.

So what are your opinions?? You are always free to modify any components if you think so.

BTW is SB Rig possible within this budget??

keep your current HDD. seagate/wd 500gb is now 4.2k.

my suggestion -

a 6770 will be good for little gaming at full hd.

for SB -

or you can get Core i3 2100 @ 6.2k + a 5670.

but imo first is best.

Yup jas's first config is ideal for krishnandu.

@ krishnandu

For programming , hd movies and occasional gaming, the athlon II x4 is all you need. Pair a 6770 like jas recommended and you're good to go. Don't buy hdd now as they are very pricey due to thailand floods. Stick with your current 160gb and upgrade later when prices fall.

One more thing.... Go for a am3+ mobo to keep some upgrade path intact for piledriver cpu's in future. ASUS M5A97 @ 5.9k would be better but does overshoot the budget by a good margin. Msi 880gm ud3h-usb3.0 is also another good option @ 5k.

See if you can save up and squeeze it in.

P.S-Logitech z313 @ 1.4k is lot better than al bxr1221. Benq g2220hdl now costs 6.8k and is fullhd with led backlighting.

batman Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P (rev. 3.1) has am3+ socket.

^^ Then its terrific. Op should stick with it. :smile:

But still if usb 3.0 and sata 6 ports may be necessary in future.

Thanks guys for the help

I was clear about AMD, but now little bit confused after taking a look at this one...

AnandTech - Bench - CPU

AnandTech - Bench - CPU

Even SB i3 2100 outperforms Athlon II X4 645.

What do you guys say??

^^ Yup, you can go for that as well. But in heavy multithreaded apps, the x4 performs a bit better due to having four physical cores whereas i3 2100 has 2 physical and two logical(hyperthreaded cores) i.e each core can receive two threads from its dedicated front end despatcher and process them concurrently. X4 will do the same but one thread per core.

4 physical cores always better than 2 physical + 2 logical ( to os, it appears as 4 cores) but i3 2100 has very strong single core performance which evens out the lack of two cores to a great extent.

So i3 2100 is also a great choice and even keeps the ivybridge upgrade path intact which is more promising than bulldozer and its upcoming derivatives. But your budget will have to be increased to fit in the 6770 as its bare minimum for a decent gaming experience.

Ok. Yeah, actually I'm planning to upgrade graphics card later on.

So whatever the the proccy may be (i3 2100/ i5 2400 / i5 2500k), the motherboard would be same??

^^ Yes all the three processors you mentioned above are of the same socket and would fit on similar motherboards.

if gpu later then yes 2400. but remember 2400 wont oc. you will need a 2500k + p67/z68 mobo.

M

This would be better for op as he plans by gpu later.

i3 2100 outperforms even 955BE

Component Make Price
Processor Intel Core i3 2100 6200
Motherboard MSI H67MA-E35 4700
RAM G-skill F3-10600CL9S-4GBNT(4Gx1) 1350
DVD Writer ASUS 24X Sata Black DVD 1150
PSU FSP Saga II 500W 2300
Case CM Elite 310 1500
Monitor Benq G2220HD 6950
Speakers Altec Lansing BXR1221 1000
Total 25150

Thanks for the suggestion guys

BTW I won't OC.

So, let me think, and if I can arrange more money will go for i5 otherwise will stick to i3.

And for HD Movies and little gaming for the time being I guess IGP2000 would suffice.

What say??

Another thing, do you guys suggest to wait till December and see if prices comes down??

All of you guys have suggested DVD writer whereas Krishnendu mentioned than he does not need one. So 1K saved n can be used for other purposes.

Here is my suggestion, not much different from others:-

Intel Core i5 2400 @ 9.5K
Intel DH67CL-B3 (16x,8.Ch.S,L / Vga & HDMi, USB 3) @ 5.6K
Corsair 4GB X 1 1333 MHz DDR3 Value @ 1.2K
Tagan Stonerock TG500 @ 3K
CM Elite 310 @ 1.5K
Dell ST2220L 21.5" Full HD LED @ 8K (HDMI, DVI-D n VGA) @ 8K

Total 28.8K. You can decrease 1K by going for the MSI motherboard. I have suggested you a better monitor, especially LED based because HD movie watching is the 1st priority of yours.

Thanks a lot Cilus

This one looks more promising. I'll be using Old HDD as of now, till the prices comes down again. And once it comes down I'll buy one 1TB.

One more thing, for the time being, if I use my old XFX NVIDIA 9500GT 1GB with this rig, will it be ok or overkill for the GPU??

9500 GT can't be a overkill, its not that powerful. But it will offer you smooth HD content playback. Use players like Media Player classic Home Cinema, Splayer etc which do have GPU acceleration support. It will allow you to apply post processing filters over the video to enhance the quality. The Intel 2000 HD IGP is capable of handling HD playback but cannot take load when lots of post processing filters are applied over the video content. So a dedicated GPU is always a welcome addition in a good HTPC.

Got it thanks...

Cilus said:
All of you guys have suggested DVD writer whereas Krishnendu mentioned than he does not need one. So 1K saved n can be used for other purposes.

Here is my suggestion, not much different from others:-

Intel Core i5 2400 @ 9.5K
Intel DH67CL-B3 (16x,8.Ch.S,L / Vga & HDMi, USB 3) @ 5.6K
Corsair 4GB X 1 1333 MHz DDR3 Value @ 1.2K
Tagan Stonerock TG500 @ 3K
CM Elite 310 @ 1.5K
Dell ST2220L 21.5" Full HD LED @ 8K (HDMI, DVI-D n VGA) @ 8K

Total 28.8K. You can decrease 1K by going for the MSI motherboard. I have suggested you a better monitor, especially LED based because HD movie watching is the 1st priority of yours.

Buddy benq g2220hdl (led fullhd) monitor is now available @ 6.8k and is a terrific deal imo. Two of my friends in delhi and pune respectively has already purchased the hdl at the above price. Its a lot better deal than the dell monitor which costs more than 1k.

vickybat said:
Buddy benq g2220hdl (led fullhd) monitor is now available @ 6.8k and is a terrific deal imo. Two of my friends in delhi and pune respectively has already purchased the hdl at the above price. Its a lot better deal than the dell monitor which costs more than 1k.

If op needs HDMI he can go for BenQ V2220 @ 8K It's Same as HDL but with HDMI & More Power Saving.

^^ Hdmi is not required for a pc monitor unless 3d comes in which benefit from the 1.4a standard. But for a sub 7k monittor, hdmi doesn't make sense because you never need to send audio signals to your monitor.

Dvi-d is good enough as its same as hdmi except that its incapable of transmitting audio signal along with video.

MyGeekTips said:
If op needs HDMI he can go for BenQ V2220 @ 8K It's Same as HDL but with HDMI & More Power Saving.

Nice suggestion. Why don't you guys post the latest prices in the *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-components-configurations/96218-hardware-price-list-spec-sheet.html and *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-components-configurations/143901-pc-buying-guide-2011-q4.html section.

It will help us a lot to create the PC buying guide in more optimized way.

Vicky, even dual link DVI is also capable enough to deliver 3D in PC monitors and in fact delivers more bandwidth than the HDMI 1.4a standard and the modern Gfx cards come with Dual Link DVI ports. HDMI is only having advantage if you guys wanna use the Bit streaming Audio capability of your Gfx card into your Display with integrated Speakers as DVI can't carry audio signal.
But since all the Monitors discussed above don't have integrated speakers, DVI or HDMI hardly makes any difference.

Ya, I'll, after I get this rig.

BTW if you don't mind, can you please suggest a good motherboard for i5-2500k?? Or the same motherboard will do??

Cilus said:
Nice suggestion. Why don't you guys post the latest prices in the *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-components-configurations/96218-hardware-price-list-spec-sheet.html and *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-components-configurations/143901-pc-buying-guide-2011-q4.html section.

It will help us a lot to create the PC buying guide in more optimized way.

This TDF member purchased it for 8.5K & Posted Pics Here:
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/1381610-post7789.html

My Friend Too Purchased this monitor for 8K.

^^ Prices have come down.

krishnandu.sarkar said:
Ya, I'll, after I get this rig.

BTW if you don't mind, can you please suggest a good motherboard for i5-2500k?? Or the same motherboard will do??

MSI Z68A-GD55 @ 9.5K is the best VFM board as per my opinion. It is the only sub 10K board which comes with nice overclocking potential, 3 PCI- E X16 slot (X8-x8-X4) with Crossfire and SLI support. Performance and and feature wise there is no match of that board in sub 10K price range.

Cilus said:
MSI Z68A-GD55 @ 9.5K is the best VFM board as per my opinion. It is the only sub 10K board which comes with nice overclocking potential, 3 PCI- E X16 slot (X8-x8-X4) with Crossfire and SLI support. Performance and and feature wise there is no match of that board in sub 10K price range.

Has anybody ever reached 4.9 ghz or even 4.8 ghz ?

d6bmg said:
^^ Prices have come down.

So, what is the new price of V2220 ?

Thanks Cilus.

I'm sticking with Intel Core i5 2400 + Intel DH67CL-B3.

MyGeekTips said:
Has anybody ever reached 4.9 ghz or even 4.8 ghz ?

Stop criticizing product without any valid point. 4.8 GHz is a serious overclocking and very few people normally do that, even when armed with good CPU coolers. It is a sub $250 board and delivers the best for the price.
If you want 4.8 Ghz or more, get the premium boards like MSI GD80 or Asus Z68 pro and pay the premium.

It has reached 4.5 Ghz in tomshardware test of 5 sub $160 motherboards test and placed itself in the 2nd position in CPU overclocking. In Memory overclocking, it got the 1st position, offering 2271 MHz overclocking of the Ripjaw X rams. It also secured the 2nd place in load-power consumption.
It was only not recommended because of the low availability on the time of the review and little higher price over the Gigabyte one.

Check here: Overclocking : From $100 To $160: Five Z68-Based Boards, Compared

Cilus said:
Stop criticizing product without any valid point

When i criticize it i was just firmly asking has anybody reached higher clock because i was thinking of using it for my sandy bridge rig.

I've a confusion..!!

Here BenQ India | Products - LCD Monitors - G2220HD I see

Input Connector D-sub / DVI-D

And IntelÂ® Desktop Board DH67CL I see

Graphics
DVI-I and HDMI* connectors for processors with Intel® HD Graphics

So will the ports be compatible?? Will it work??

BTW there is no VGA port in both Motherboard and Monitor??

Looks like it'll work fine, after I get the GPU only as suggested above

MSI Global - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

DVI Output Dual-Link DVI-I x1
D-SUB Output 1
HDMI-Output 1

The review DELL ST2220L Review makes me thinking about going with Cilus's suggestion dumping BenQ G2220HD.

What say??

The positive thing is I'd get HDMI, which would be common to my Motherboard and GPU(later if I get it).

Otherwise I'm not getting anything common on the above two monitors.

Hey guys, I was just thinking, how about spending 1.5k more for 2500k. Is it worth the value??

Can I pair it up with Cilus's suggestion Intel DH67CL-B3??

As I'm never going to OC, won't the z68 be a waste??

So can you suggest me some decent board if Intel DH67CL-B3 not a good choice?

If you are not planning to oc then don't invest in K series processor.You can look into Intel Core i5 2400/2500 processors.Intel core i5 2400/2500+Intel DH67CL-B3 is good combo
P.S-You can't overclock i5 2500k in Intel DH67CL-B3.For oc 2500K you need Intel P67/Z68 chipsets based motherboard.

Ya, I'm not going to Overclock. Thanks for confirming

Pairing i5 2500K with a H67 based board is same as pairing 2500 with it. Because for overclocking, you need the combination of P67/Z68 motherboard and K series processor.
So if you can spend some more, get the i5 2500, not 2500K.

And Tenida has already stated it correctly.

And regarding your confusion, Intel DH67BL does have both HDMI and DVI port. So you connect the BenQ monitor with the DVI output of the Motherboard. There is no compatibility issues. D-Sub is our old VGA connector

BenQ HD2220 does come with VGA input but the mobo does not have one.

krishnandu.sarkar said:
Hey guys, I was just thinking, how about spending 1.5k more for 2500k. Is it worth the value??

Can I pair it up with Cilus's suggestion Intel DH67CL-B3??

As I'm never going to OC, won't the z68 be a waste??

So can you suggest me some decent board if Intel DH67CL-B3 not a good choice?

The K suffix means the cpu has unlocked multiplier i.e you can overclock a cpu by incrementing multiplier value without touching base clock. In 1155 cpu's , baseclock is locked and cannot be tinkered with.

So the only way to overclock is to increment multiplier count and that is only possible with k series processors and that too on a p67 or z68 motherboard.

Pairing a k series cpu with an h67 or h61 board is complete waste unless you want to use the 3000 series integrated gpu. But i would always recommend a discrete gpu with a sandybridge cpu and z68 mobo for using quicksync.

For you, stick with h67 if you don't want to overclock and get the i5 2500 (without the k suffix). It cannot be overclocked even if you pair it with a p67 or z68 motherboard.

@ cilus & tenida

Oh sorry guys. Didn't see your posts.

Thanks guys, so according to you getting K series proccy with this mobo is a waste unless I want to use IGP3000. As I'll be getting discrete GPU, this will be a waste.

So Intel DH67CL-B3 + i5 2500 and 6770.

BTW for GPU isn't Sapphire is more preferred brand??

Do you guys still recommend MSI one over Sapphire??

Both of them is good renowned brand.You can buy any of them.

Another thing, sorry If I'm making you guys confused.

So according to you better stick to 2400 or get 2500?? (Not 2500k)

Also if I get 2500k, I can cut down the GPU right now. As I guess casual gaming and HD Movies would be fine on IGP3000.

Check this out
SAPPHIRE HD 6770 1GB GDDR5-7.26K

MSI HD6770 1GB GDDR5-6.8k

Check this review
Intel Core i5-2500, Core i5-2400 and Core i5-2300 CPU Review

Thanks Tenida and all

Thanks tenida again, that linked helped me a lot.

Fixed my mind. Going for i5-2400 unless i5-2500 is 1000/- higher priced.

200MHz bump for 1000/- more is not a bad idea I guess. But not more than that, otherwise I'd go for i5-2400.

One more thing

On MSI R6770-MD1GD5 it's stated that Display Output (Max Resolution) 2560x1600.

Does that mean if I use 1920x1080 Resolution Monitor, the Graphics Card won't be able to output Full HD??

W

krishnandu.sarkar said:
Thanks Tenida and all

Thanks tenida again, that linked helped me a lot.

Fixed my mind. Going for i5-2400 unless i5-2500 is 1000/- higher priced.

200MHz bump for 1000/- more is not a bad idea I guess. But not more than that, otherwise I'd go for i5-2400.

One more thing

On MSI R6770-MD1GD5 it's stated that Display Output (Max Resolution) 2560x1600.

Does that mean if I use 1920x1080 Resolution Monitor, the Graphics Card won't be able to output Full HD??

2560>1920 & 1600>1080.2560x1600 resolution is intended for those running 2 or more monitors side by side as one big screen.

Sh*t man..!! Need a long sleep. Really got confused. Forgot basic maths

lol..!! Can't get worse than this.

Thanks buddy for correcting me.

^^ Nope its not like that. Running two 1920x1080 monitors side by side will yield a resolution of 3840x1080.

There are single monitors which have a native resolution of 2560x1600. Puuting two of these will yield 5120x1600.

6770 can drive a 2560x1600 res monitor (that's what the statement means) but gaming isn't advised in that resolution but you can watch movies though. Anyways, you'll be settling for a fullhd monitor, so no worries on that front.

Get i5 2400 and with the money saved, invest in a 6770 or a stock 6850 if budget can be stretched a little bit. Its 1.5k more than a 6770.

Thanks

Already stretched to 35k. Can't go more than that

Even I also like Vicky's idea of getting a higher end Graphics card instead of spending for i5 2500. In Full HD gaming (1920X1080[16:9] or 1920X 1200[16:10]), Graphics card is far more important than CPU. A Phenom II 965, armed with HD 6850 can perform better than i5 2400 + HD 6770 in 1080P.

If you're lucky there is a high chance of getting i5 2400 within 9K from the old stock. Invest the extra money saved to get either HD 6790 or HD 6850. As per my knowledge, reference models of HD 6850 from MSI, Sapphire or Powercolor are available at sub 9K price (excluding vat) in Kolkata. Also the motherboard prices are low in Kolkata and the DH67BL may be found over there couple of hundred bucks cheaper.
So get i5 2400 + HD 6850 Reference model, perfect for gaming.

For Monitor, what I've heard that BenQ G2220HDL is on the per with Dell ST2220L. So get whatever is cheaper.

Cilus said:
For Monitor, what I've heard that BenQ G2220HDL is on the per with Dell ST2220L. So get whatever is cheaper.

BenQ G2220HDL Model is superior than ST2220L my friend compared both when buying he told me HDL has better colour reproduction, better viewing angle then Dell.

@Krishnandu - Dude!!!!!! You can get a 6 core for this much AND cut down ur budget by 2.5k...!!

Lets get things into perspective here...

This is what you want to do -

1) HD Movies - 2) Programming 3) Little bit Gaming ...right???

1. HD Movies - You can do that with your current configuration!!!

2. Programming - For programming on windows you need to buy a Pentium/Athlon II Dual Core and it will fulfill all your programming needs. On linux your current machine is good enough.

3. Little Bit Gaming.(lets say u play 2 hours a day @ medium settings) - As you're going for a 22" monitor. I'll say go with a Sapphire HD 6750 1GB GDDR5 with a 955BE.

Core i5 is totally an overkill for your purpose - so is an HD 6770(So not meant for "little bit" gaming).

Also for gaming anything over 60fps that a cpu+gpu combo churns out is pretty much useless because your monitor is most probably limited to 60Hz refresh rate hence 60fps.

Anyways heres what i would suggest -

Processor Phenom II X4 955 5700/-
Motherboard Asus M4A88T-M 5000/-
RAM G-skill 2x2GB 1600MHz kit 2200/-
PSU Corsair GS 600 4500/-
Case CM Elite 310 1500/-
Monitor Benq G2220HD 6950/-
Speakers Altec Lansing BXR1221 1000/-

Total 26850/-

^^ I think Krishnendu wants a future proof config that's why he asked for the Sandybridge based config.
However, I like the idea, so just optimizing a little:-

Processor Phenom II X4 955 5700/-
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 AM3+ 4800/-
RAM Gskill Ripjaw 4GB X 1 1600 MHz 1650/-
PSU Corsair GS 600 4000/-
Case CM Elite 310 1500/-
Monitor Benq G2220HD 6950/-
Speakers Altec Lansing BXR1221 1000/-

Total 24,100. You can get Phenom II 965 if you want.

@ Lionking: Nice Config Just Change the Mobo to Gigabyte USB3 AM3.

Cilus - Dudeeee -> Dual Channel - 2x2 GB gives 21.4GB/s Bandwidth on AMD system while 1x4GB only gives 10.7GB/s.

MyGeekTips - Dude Asus boards are so much more reliable than Gigabyte + same chipset Asus boards tend to perform slightly better vs Gigabyte. Ive seen this time and again.

$$Lionking$$ said:
MyGeekTips - Dude Asus boards are so much more reliable than Gigabyte + same chipset Asus boards tend to perform slightly better vs Gigabyte. Ive seen this time and again.

That Depends on the Model plus Gigabyte RMA is lot better than Asus Handled By Crap Rashi Peripherals.

I've Seen Your Some Post i think you're a Asus Fanboy. :lol

MyGeekTips - Rashi is beyond crap i agree with you there.

@Chipset/Fanboy - Yeah ive tested most of this stuff myself and im sharing my personal experience here.

$$Lionking$$ said:
Cilus - Dudeeee -> Dual Channel - 2x2 GB gives 21.4GB/s Bandwidth on AMD system while 1x4GB only gives 10.7GB/s.

MyGeekTips - Dude Asus boards are so much more reliable than Gigabyte + same chipset Asus boards tend to perform slightly better vs Gigabyte. Ive seen this time and again.

He can later go for 4x4 which will wipe out a 2x2 setup. Its more futureproof to go with a single 4gb now. Single 2gb's are now obsolete.

Vicky - 2x2GB XMS3 available at prime for 1.5k. and 2x2gb will kill 1x4gb now!!

@Futureproof - you still have 2 DIMMS left on both 880GM-USB3/88T-M after 2x2GB.

P.S. Unless you're overclocking ur CPU ..a lot!!! adding sticks to the 3rd & 4th DIMM in a dual channel system will not make a difference.

$$Lionking$$ said:
Cilus - Dudeeee -> Dual Channel - 2x2 GB gives 21.4GB/s Bandwidth on AMD system while 1x4GB only gives 10.7GB/s.

MyGeekTips - Dude Asus boards are so much more reliable than Gigabyte + same chipset Asus boards tend to perform slightly better vs Gigabyte. Ive seen this time and again.

That bandwitdh is the theoritical maximum value of Dual channel config but in practical it never achives that speed. Different tests have shown that dual channel setup only delivers very minimum performance improvement in most of the applications and sometimes it is opposite, the performance reduces compared to the single channel config.

Another thing is the current market standard of DDR3 module is 4GB size, not 2 GB. So getting with a single 4GB will allow OP to add another 4 GB later to get dual channel config and will save one Ram slot for now. Vickybat has correctly point out that already.

And there is nothing like "ASUS boards are better than Gigabyte". I've used boards from all the major brands Gigabyte, Asus and MSI.

In fact Gigabyte boards are little better in lower-middle end segments than Asus. Also the board I've suggested does have USB 3.0 ports, 4 Ram slots and support for AM3+ CPUs, opposed to Asus M4A88T-M board which lacks all the features mentioned above.

Cilus -

That bandwitdh is the theoritical maximum value of Dual channel config but in practical it never achives that speed. - True.

Different tests have shown that dual channel setup only delivers very minimum performance improvement in most of the applications and sometimes it is opposite, the performance reduces compared to the single channel config. - How?? :O Can you please tell more - I beg to differ!!!

And there is nothing like "ASUS boards are better than Gigabyte". I've used boards from all the major brands Gigabyte, Asus and MSI. - Dude that is ur personal experience. In my experience Asus performed better everytime!!!

@Asus lacks USB 3.0 / AM3+ support /4 RAM Slots - Now M4A88T-M actually has 4 ram slots. I'm just saying that in my experience Gigabyte does not perform as well as Asus thats all dude...!!! :O

Guys thanks a lot

And Lionking, ya you are right, I don't even play 2 hours per day!! Make it 2hours per week on avg. I just like to try them out. Nothing more than that. Play 2-3 stages and uninstall them. Though there are exeptions(NFS MW, COD Series etc

).

Ya, I selected AMD Config first, but then thought about going with SB rig as it'll be more future proof.

And yeah, my present rig should be ok for HD Movies, I wouldn't have changed it, as there is no problems with the PC till now.

But HD Movies doesn't run smoothly, I don't know why.

Let me post summary of few videos which don't run smoothly.

Code:

General
Unique ID                                : 182503423470614157500611284723509226700 (0x894CE17D84F73A0CA1BD274BEED3ECCC)
Complete name                            : F:\Downloads\Fast.&.Furious.5.The.Rio.Heist.2011.MultiSub.1080p.BluRay.DTS.x264.RiplleyHD\Fast.&.Furious.5.The.Rio.Heist.2011.MultiSub.1080p.BluRay.DTS.x264.RiplleyHD.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 9.25 GiB
Duration                                 : 2h 10mn
Overall bit rate                         : 10.2 Mbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2011-08-21 23:08:28
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v4.8.0 ('I Got The...') built on May 24 2011 03:12:58
Writing library                          : libebml v1.2.0 + libmatroska v1.1.0

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
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I don't know but 9500GT should be good with HD Movies, but it's not doing so. But on VLC I the no. of lost frames keeps increasing. Same with WMP, Totem and others. Tried both on Windows and Linux.

But other movies runs fine.

It may be because of my Monitor as it's resolution is 1440x900. But then the movies runs fine on my laptop Dell Vostro 1015.

So I think it must the proccy which is not capable enough to handle all these.

Other than this, PC gets hell lot slower with ~10 tabs on Chrome + VS2010 + SQLServer 2008 R2.

Though I use Linux in general. But the scope of gaming is totally off in this PC. So I'd like to open the scope of gaming too, to try out new games.

So considering all these, and future proof, I'm inclined towards SB.

This is the total story for which I'm looking to upgrade

want to clear a concept.

The mentioned Gigabyte Board is saying regarding memory--Support for DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules.
This means upto 1333Mhz it will support normally and for 1800 it needs to be overclocked.

Then how will Gskill Ripjaw 4GB 1600 MHz be supported in this board?

^^ will clock down to 1333Mhz.

krishnandu - 1st things first - install "msi afterburner" or any other application capable of monitoring "gpu usage".

2) You can see cpu consumption in the performance tab of the task manager.

So Id say that fire up an HD video that you have issues with and monitor the cpu & gpu usage both. If there is very high cpu usage & ~zero gpu usage then ur gpu is NOT decoding the video.

If yes then you should try reinstalling gpu drivers. and run the above monitoring sort-of-test again...

you should also try vlc 1.1.0 it brings hardware acceleration(I have not used it myself yet but that might help you with HD videos.)

On linux use nouveau drivers > theres not much 3d there in linux anyway unless youre an animation specialist or that sort of workload u have.... nvidia proprietary drivers might have issues on linux.

Other than this, PC gets hell lot slower with ~10 tabs on Chrome + VS2010 + SQLServer 2008 R2.

Chrome is sensitive to RAM & CPU Cores. - Its nicely threaded & uses lot of ram.
SQL Server 2008 R2 - All database applications are very CPU cores intensive.
Visual Studio - Its probably only dual threaded.

Anyways, you should probably go with a Phenom II X6 1055T(or a 1090T if u can stretch ur budget) with an AM3+ board like Cilus recommended as your workloads are core intensive...

and i5 2400 is future proof??? you know if by this time next year you feel that you should've had a faster processor you would have to buy a new mobo+cpu - You have no other option at all (phased out 3 sockets in 4 years - WAY TO GO GUYS!!)!!!

AMD is always more future proof - More cores for less!! That really works - apps are getting highly threaded by the day and probably going with a higher core count is the solution here.

Also you have the options to only upgrade the cpu(I can slap in an Athlon II X4 in a 6 year old AM2 board and the suck3r will still work with a BIOS update!!

) or overclock the CPU on the AMD platform open. So maybe a year later if you change your mind about overclocking or you want a budget upgrade you can do that on an AMD platform. - That my friend is future proofing!!

Thanks, that's a really nice explanation

Now I'm again confused between AMD Quad/Hexa Core or Sandy Bridge.

^^ Amd phenom 2 1055t is no match for core i5 2400. Neither of the hex cores are. Listen mate more cores are good as they facilitate threading but its not that simple. IPC also has to be higher as well as efficiency.

Currently intel trounces amd in both these scenarios. In simple terms, intel's 4 cores are more capable than amd's current 6 cores. They don't deserve a purchase now as they are priced close to sandybridge.

I'm damn sure that SQL server( heck even the mighty oracle server) will fall in front of sandybridge. Try it to believe it.

All the tasks you mentioned are a piece of cake for the i5 2400 and yes its faster than amd's 6 core offerings in all these tasks no matter how heavily threaded they are.

Only in video encoding tasks amd's 6 cores have a small advantage over quadcores ( i would say they are equal) you know apps like handbrake (open source).Overall i5 2400 is the processor to get eyes closed at its price point.

Amd's current scenario is highly skeptical and is not that future proof after bulldozer's dismal performance. On the other hand, intel's ivybridge offereing for 1155 socket is much much more promising and offers a great upgrade path as it will fit all existing h67,h61,p67 and z68 boards.

People who bought the 990fx boards before hand are cursing themselves and are sticking with older phenom 2 cpu's instead of bulldozer. Amd is now heading to launch 2 more chipsets next year i.e 1090fx and 1070fx. This seems to be their latest strategy of launching new chipsets every year's beginning and new cpu's at year end to challenge intel's sucessful tick tock strategy. But all their efforts are falling apart with intel's strong showing.

I don't think i've to say more on this front.

See this as well:

i5 2400 vs phenom 2 1090t anandtech bench

Ya, I've already read all those bechmarks and decided on i5 2400.

Now after reading his comments I just gave a thought.

Ya as far I know, More Cores needed when you are much into gaming or encoding and all, it'll be faster and better. But for tasks it really doesn't mean more cores = better, it's efficiency of each core = better.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

avichandana20000 said:
want to clear a concept.

The mentioned Gigabyte Board is saying regarding memory--Support for DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules.
This means upto 1333Mhz it will support normally and for 1800 it needs to be overclocked.

Then how will Gskill Ripjaw 4GB 1600 MHz be supported in this board?

All the current AM3 processor support 1333 MHz ram speed by default. So whatever Ram having higher speed than 1333 MHz, you plug into your motherboard, they will be downclocked to 1333 MHz.

You have to increase the memory multiplier value to 4 in BIOS to enable the XMP-800 profile which makes the Ram to run it at 1600 MHz speed. If your motherboard supports the XMP profile (XMP profiles are present inside a Ram module and contain the information about all the speeds with timing details, the Ram can operate on), then you have to select the XMP-800 profile directly from the mobo.

@ krishnandu.sarkar

Actually encoding is also a task but that task is heavily threaded or in simple terms the process is divided into multiple sub-processes (a.k.a threads) to assist thread level parallelism.
Now each of these threads will go into cpu cores for execution. Lets say there are two cpu's x and y having 4 cores and 6 cores respectively.

You start application z which has 6 threads.

Now processor x will take 4 threads at once while y will take all 6. Lets assume x has a higher IPC than y. Let each thread take 2 seconds for execution per core in cpu x while cpu y takes 6 seconds to process the same thread per core.

Cpu x will take two cycles to execute 6 threads as it has maximum 4 cores. So the total will be 4 secs to execute 6 threads.
Cpu y will execute all 6 threads in parallel and complete the task in 6 seconds in a single cycle.

We see that despite cpu x having a lack of two cores processed the same process two seconds faster than cpu y which had an advantage of two cores.
The only advantage that cpu x had is single threaded performance or simply cpu time required to execute a single thread of m instructions.

I hope you get the point now mate. :smile:

Yup..!! That was really a great explanation

vickybat said:
@ krishnandu.sarkar

Actually encoding is also a task but that task is heavily threaded or in simple terms the process is divided into multiple sub-processes (a.k.a threads) to assist thread level parallelism.
Now each of these threads will go into cpu cores for execution. Lets say there are two cpu's x and y having 4 cores and 6 cores respectively.

You start application z which has 6 threads.

Now processor x will take 4 threads at once while y will take all 6. Lets assume x has a higher IPC than y. Let each thread take 2 seconds for execution per core in cpu x while cpu y takes 6 seconds to process the same thread per core.

Cpu x will take two cycles to execute 6 threads as it has maximum 4 cores. So the total will be 4 secs to execute 6 threads.
Cpu y will execute all 6 threads in parallel and complete the task in 6 seconds in a single cycle.

We see that despite cpu x having a lack of two cores processed the same process two seconds faster than cpu y which had an advantage of two cores.
The only advantage that cpu x had is single threaded performance or simply cpu time required to execute a single thread of m instructions.

I hope you get the point mate now mate.

Very fluid explanation even for a 14 year old like me.

vickybat said:
@ krishnandu.sarkar

Actually encoding is also a task but that task is heavily threaded or in simple terms the process is divided into multiple sub-processes (a.k.a threads) to assist thread level parallelism.
Now each of these threads will go into cpu cores for execution. Lets say there are two cpu's x and y having 4 cores and 6 cores respectively.

You start application z which has 6 threads.

Now processor x will take 4 threads at once while y will take all 6. Lets assume x has a higher IPC than y. Let each thread take 2 seconds for execution per core in cpu x while cpu y takes 6 seconds to process the same thread per core.

Cpu x will take two cycles to execute 6 threads as it has maximum 4 cores. So the total will be 4 secs to execute 6 threads.
Cpu y will execute all 6 threads in parallel and complete the task in 6 seconds in a single cycle.

We see that despite cpu x having a lack of two cores processed the same process two seconds faster than cpu y which had an advantage of two cores.
The only advantage that cpu x had is single threaded performance or simply cpu time required to execute a single thread of m instructions.

I hope you get the point now mate.

Nice explanation Vicky. It clearly shows even if a processor does have less number cores than another but has far superior single-threaded performance, it can actually beat the one with more number of cores. Rep + for you.

Listen mate more cores are good as they facilitate threading but its not that simple. IPC also has to be higher as well as efficiency.

Vicky - Higher IPC is good. But the performance is NOT dependant only on IPC, but on many other factors. Cores matter as much as IPC do and probably more today with everything moving towards GPGU and all.

Currently intel trounces amd in both these scenarios.

^^If you really think this to be true then you should get your facts set straight. Run wprime 32/1024 on an Intel quad core and an AMD 6 Core and you're in for a surprise my friend. AMD X6 will beat the living crap out of Intel Quad Core inn multi threaded apps.

From the link in the end here is something for you -

wprime 1024m

Intel Core i7 2600k - 245.201 sec
Phenom II X6 1090T - 260.458 sec
Phenom II X6 1055T - 297.836 sec
Phenom II X4 980BE - 334.54 sec
Core i5 2500K - 352.733 sec
Core i5 2400 - 375.476 sec

AMD X6 1055T beats Intel i5 2400 or for that matter even 2500k, So does the 1090T(Its right up there with i7 2600k which costs about twice as much.)
Core i5 2400 is THE VERY LAST IN THE RACE IN A MULTI-THREADED SCENARIO.

I'm damn sure that SQL server (heck even the mighty oracle server) will fall in front of sandybridge. Try it to believe it.

Have you ever tested it?? Database applications are highly multithreaded. Your mighty Oracle is licensed per core. They have a reason for that. Otherwise they would be licensing per some other performance measure and AMD would have been obsolete from database centric server, which it isnt.

All the tasks you mentioned are a piece of cake for the i5 2400 and yes its faster than amd's 6 core offerings in all these tasks no matter how heavily threaded they are.

X6 1055T will anyday beat i5 2400 in any database related application. Combine that with the high amount of threaded workload the OP is going to put on the machine i5 will not stand a chance against X6(Im even surprised that he posted his current machine gets - slow as hell - when it should just have just STOPPED!!!).

Your 2 second 4 core/ 6 second 6 core math is also wrong unfortunately - Intel does not have . Its more like 4sec 4core / 4.8 sec 6 Core (AMD being 20% behind in IPC).

So when you calculate 6 threads its 8secs for Intel & 4.8secs for AMD.

Amd's current scenario is highly skeptical and is not that future proof after bulldozer's dismal performance.

Current scenario is sceptical - I totally agree! I HATE RORY READ! He's an epic A**. I HATE WHAT HE DID TO AMD. That is NOT the AMD way! Jerry Sanders' policy was - "People first, products and profits will follow!"

and 8150's performance is not dismal - its disappointing - we were all expecting better right??

8150 performs between 2500K & 2600K and is priced accordingly in between them. Unless you think performance of 2500K or 2600K is dismal I dont know how 8150's performance is dismal!!????? IPC sucks but things will get sorted out in probably a years time. And I dont think the OP will upgrade cpu before 1 year atleast??!!

On the other hand, intel's ivybridge offereing for 1155 socket is much much more promising and offers a great upgrade path as it will fit all existing h67,h61,p67 and z68 boards.

Yeah I have not seen any official announcement from Intel and unless that happens Im not believing you. There has been some news that pins might be compatible but u still hv to buy a new board etc.. ALL RUMOURS!!!!!!

What the fact is that Intel has changed 3 sockets in 4 years!

See this as well:

**www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/44339-intel-core-i3-2120-core-i5-2400-lga1155-processors-review-6.html

In conclusion - i5 2400 for the money - a bad choice vs 1090T!!! Enjoy!

If he were overclocking > Core i5 2500K was the way to go eyes closed - very awesome OC potential and performs really good at higher clocks and is only about 10k!!

^ Doesn't this say more than enough ?

vickybat said:
i5 2400 vs phenom 2 1090t anandtech bench

^^Actually no! if you look into more detail you'll find the reason to that too...

First of all Vicky was not comparing 1090T with 2400 or 2500, he was comaring 1055T and there is no doubt that Sandybridge offering beats it in most cases, especillaly in gaming, which a normal user will do.
I really doubt that here OP is planning to use huge database operations where he can get the benefit from a 6 core CPU.
2ndly FX 8150 can only compete with 2500K in very highly muti-threaded apps, not any other area. Check ou the HardOCP review where in gaming performance it was crushed by 2500K. You have to look into the power consumption too.

I really like your idea of getting a Phenom II quad core for OP's type of use but if he wants future proof solution, i5 2400/i5 2500 is better choice than 1055T.

And 1090T is bearely keeping with 2400 with only heavily multithreaded scenarios, not anywhere else. Even the highly multi-threaded Adobe suits are also performing better in 2400. In gaming and other works it is simply beaten by the i5 2400, if you beleive the Anandtech CPU bench.

$$Lionking$$ said:
^^Actually no! if you look into more detail you'll find the reason to that too...

What details are you talking about??

$$Lionking$$ said:
^^Actually no! if you look into more detail you'll find the reason to that too...

And may I ask what are that/those detail(s)?

Surely using MS SQL Server 2008 R2?

Prefer Phenom II X6 core in that case.

With Piledriver coming on AM3+, I'd say both AMD and Intel platforms are going to see one generation of processors more. Nothing is "future proof" except the cabinet and PSU.

Real world performance difference i.e. in basic tasks isn't noticeable in current gen processors. All are more than fast enough. Just decide upon your work load and then make a choice accordingly. Quite frankly, rather than being Phenom II X6 vs i5-2400, it should be going down to the motherboard imho.

Thanks ico

Going for Intel i5 2400 / 2500.

No bitterness for AMD, just due to reason of the benchmarks @ Anandtech.

Ico - Hey dude..

krishnandu - Whichever you buy buddy... I hope u enjoy ur new rig!!

Thanks

I guess it's time to close this thread.