New additions for desktop

S

Hello all,

I have a fairly old PC (5 years and running.)
I want to use it as a multimedia (viewing movies, listening songs, viewing TV) and storage pc (normal backup PC, downloading rig).
It is currently used for fairly low end jobs - downloading, music, movies etc. and occasional word, excel stuff.

The details of my PC is given below :

1. AMD Athlon 2200+
2. 256 MB DDR RAM
3. 160 GB Seagate Hard disk
4. Asrock K7VM2 Motherboard
5. Normal 300W SMPS
6. 17" CRT display - Philips
7. Windows XP SP2 , UBUNTU

I want to buy:
1. A 24 inch LCD display for my system which will allow me to watch movies and also to work on the PC occasionally (not on my priority list).
2. A fairly good SMPS (500W) as i want to add a second hard disk
3. A 320 GB Harddisk (until 500 GB is marginally high).
4. A remote control for the PC so that i can enjoy the movies and tv from my couch.
5. A decent sound card which supports surround sound - not overtly expensive (my onboard sound is not surround)
6. A decent surround sound system. I like good sound and music but am not a very big critic of sounds.
7. A good TV tuner card which has good audio/video quality. (I am going to switch to digital tv in a few weeks- they use the AV port in case of TVS. I guess the TV tuner will need the same type of ports).

It would be great if any of you can help me with my choices.
My budget excluding the LCD is around 10k (lesser the better) - recession blues.

Some additional points :
I know my RAM is low. :cry:

DDR RAM nowadays are very expensive and to go for DDR2 RAM I will have to change my whole processor/motherboard combo.

My system performs satisfactorily. :idea:

It is slow with Office 2007 and other heavyweight programs. But is more than enough for viewing movies, music, downloading.
My friends and me already use it as a backup and storage rig.

The PC is on for almost on an average of 15 hours/day and experiences fairly high file transfers throughout the day.

Any other suggestions or enhancements are very welcome.
As you all may have already understood, this PC is a damn favourite of mine and i do not want to throw it away just yet.

Cheers,
Sayantan.

Here you go
1. We will think about that when and if its in your priority list.
2. corsair cx400 for 3.5k or antec 430 for 3.5k. Or else you can grab a VIP silver (not gold) 500w (provided it says with active pfc on the power supply).
3. Choose western digital. Seagate quality and firmware reliability has dropped down dramatically. Besides they reduced the warranty to 3 years on majority of the drives. Better off with western digital green edition.
4. Dont know- not my line of expertise. Please wait till others advice.
5. and 6. Need to know the budget for sound card and sound card alone.
7. Dont know- not my line of expertise. Please wait till others advice.

S

Thanks a lot Sorcerer.

For the sound card my budget would be not more than 1.5k.
There is also another prob i forgot to mention.

My motherboard supports ony IDE.
But i wish to use SATA drives. I found that there are IDE to SATA converters available in the market.
Is it advisable to use a SATA hard drive using IDE to SATA converter ?
My 160 GB Hard drive that i am currently using is IDE.

4) you can get Pinnacle's Vista Media center remote that you can use with windows media center for TV viewing
5) Creative Audigy Value 7.1 is available for 1.5k-1.8k. Should be enough for your needs.
6) Logitech X-540: 5.5k
7) forget about vista media center remote. Just get Frontech internal tv tuner card and you will get a remove along with it and it costs around 700 bucks I think.

PS: Unless you have lot of DVD movies, check Logitech Z-2300 and Altec Lansing MX-5021. (2.1 THX certified monsters) price is 8k and 6.5k respectively

S

The Internal TV solution is exactly what i require.
But is the picture quality good enough? And can it be used with the current digital TV offerings?

I do not have lots of DVD movies.. but i see a lot of DVDs on rental.
I would like to be a little bit future proof. Maybe i wont need the sound card down the line, but i may well use the surround speakers when i choose to build a new rig.

And can you help me with this question also ?
My motherboard supports ony IDE.
But i wish to use SATA drives. I found that there are IDE to SATA converters available in the market.
Is it advisable to use a SATA hard drive using IDE to SATA converter ?
My 160 GB Hard drive that i am currently using is IDE.
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Posted again:
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Also what would be the cost of a 24" LCD widescreen display?
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Posted again:
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Also if 24" is very expensive what will the best option for a monitor if I want to watch TV and movies from a normal TV viewing distance...

DO NOT use coverters (sata - pata). there is big chance of data corruption

1) Yes. I am using it and the picture quality is excellent. also check winfast palmtop tv external usb card.
2) X-540+audigy value should be ideal solution for you
3) Better get pata driver if your mobo doesn't support sata
4) Dell 2409w is very good 24" monitor and costs around 15k. you can also check Samsung 2233w and Dell 2209W for 10k approx (these are 22" fullHD). But your graphics card may not support this resolution

What is the total budget you have for entire upgrade?

^^ its Samsung 2233SW BTW

S

Help with new rig !!

Guys,

My old rig finally crashed even before i could add the suggestions. :cry:

So i have to go and buy a new one now.

Well these are the things i have on mind :
UTILISATION : to be used for
1. Heavy programming
2. Simultaneous runs of various programs
3. Occasional DVD ripping

I guess the PC should have maximum RAM with fair enough power and stable performance.

BUDGET : 15k max
1. PSU - Preferably Corsair (checked out a model vx450 - Please let me know if its worth it.)
2. Processor - INTEL - Core 2 Duo (Dual Core should be ok too)
3. Motherboard - Should be good and atleast 2 years future proof.
Essential requirements : SATA enabled, 6 channel audio, on board graphics if possible, atleast 2 PCI slots, should be able to support DDR2 RAM upto 4 GB
4. RAM - 2GB DDR2 800 MHz
5. UPS - APC 600 VA
6. Hard Disk - 500 GB (donno if it can come widin d budget)

Components from my prevoius crashed rig :

1. DVD R/RW drive
2. 17" Philips CRT monitor
3. Cabinet
4. 160 GB Seagate hard disk
5. 256 MB DDR SD RAM (no use)
6. Some SMPS (no use)
7. Proccy / MoBo - has gone KAPUT !!

Please suggest a good configuration.
Need to buy it in 2 weeks.

1) Cooler Master extremepower 460W: 2.5k
2) E5200 Pentium dual core: 2.9k
3) MSI P45 Neo-F: 5.5k ( no graphics) or Gigabyte G31 based board: 2.5k-3k
4) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz: 1.5k for 2Gb stick
5) APC 650VA: 3.5k
6) 500GB HDD: 2.6k from seagate and 2.5k from Western Digital.

My pick would be this:

1) AMD Athlon X2 250: 4.5k
2) ASUS M4N78-E: 4.5k or Biostar 780G for 3k
3) Coolermaster 460W: 2.5k
4) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz: 1.5k for 2Gb stick
5) APC 650VA: 3.5k
6) 500GB HDD: 2.6k from seagate and 2.5k from Western Digital.

@op, dude u've allocated 10k for six items i.e. 1600/- avg. I don't think all are possible in that budget.

2>SMPS: 3500/- as per The Sorcerer
3>HDD: 2250/- (WD 320GB) (theitwares.com)
4>U want remote for Movies and TV or only TV? If only TV then internal TV Tuner cards would be cheap. 700/- as per desiibond
5>Sound card : The cheapest I could find is "Asus Xonar DX PCI-express Audio Card" costs 4650/- (primeabgb.com)
6>Speakers (5.1 only) : Good sound and cheap would be Creative solutions. Though X540 would be recommended but I found this more convenient "Creative Inspire 5.1 5300 PC multimedia" @3300 (primeabgb.com)

So it comes 14400/-

And, u r adding a 24" display. I guess u r expecting to watch HD content. But I'm very suspicious if ur RAM and lacking of dedicated GFX card would spoil ur movie viewing experience.

S

Thanks Desiibond.
I will go through the config.

S

hey rhitwick, i could not go for the configs that u were speking about.
the system on which i was planning to do the upgrades has died.

So building a new rig itself. Anyways thanks for the help.

S

@ Desiibond
I checked the MoBo specs.
The only visible difference between the MSI P45 Neo-F and Gigabyte GA-G31-S3L is the chipset : P45 vs G31. The GA-G31-S3L has graphics also to boot for. So i guess GA-G31-S3L would be good.

I think i will go for the following config :
1) Cooler Master extremepower 460W: 2.5k
2) E5200 Pentium dual core: 2.9k
3) Gigabyte GA-G31-S3L : 3k
4) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz: 1.5k for 2Gb stick
5) APC 650VA: 3.5k
6) 500GB HDD: 2.5k from Western Digital.
Total: 16k

Thanks a lot.

savagex said:
@ Desiibond
I checked the MoBo specs.
The only visible difference between the MSI P45 Neo-F and Gigabyte GA-G31-S3L is the chipset : P45 vs G31. The GA-G31-S3L has graphics also to boot for. So i guess GA-G31-S3L would be good.

I think i will go for the following config :
1) Cooler Master extremepower 460W: 2.5k
2) E5200 Pentium dual core: 2.9k
3) Gigabyte GA-G31-S3L : 3k
4) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz: 1.5k for 2Gb stick
5) APC 650VA: 3.5k
6) 500GB HDD: 2.5k from Western Digital.
Total: 16k

Thanks a lot.

Just a small advise to you change MOBO to Asus p5kpl-cm save 0.5K and use this saving to buy Corsair CX400 instead of a CM EP 460W.

You can think about AMD as well.

Athlon X2 7750 BE @3.3K
Bioster A740 @2.7K

@surinder, ASUS P5KPL-CM comes with two RAM slots only and I think it doesn't support dual channel memory mode.

But he is going to use only one slot now and still one left for the future upgrade so he can go up to 4GB and I will be surprised if wants to go beyond that in future with this machine and yes this board supports dual channel memory mode.

A

@savagex, spend a lil more on your mobo get G33 or G41 chipset mobo, they too are good will cost you about 4.5K from Gigabyte, not that G31 has any drawbacks but you wont be able to upgrade much on your system, so if you plan to run long like 3-4 years then its wise to buy better mobo so that you can latter on upgrade your hardware(not proccy n mobo), secondly if you wanna playback HD content or view movies on 24 incher, buy a decent low level gfx card, in my experience as I have used onboard gfx only from intel, whenever I play 720p movies on 22 inch they become sluggish and few more problems.

you even get gfx card in 2K range, thats my suggestion

If u r not a gamer, my suggestion is don't spend too much for the SMPS. I think Powersafe 500W Silver @ 1.8k will be just fine for u. And also opt for a lower middle end Gfx card, if u r going to use a 24'' monitor. U can postpone the sound card for now, because today's motherboards offer fairly good output. I think Gfx card is the thing u should be looking for. Nvidia 9500 GT or ATI 4650 will be fine 4 u.
For memory, go for the Kingstone 2GB module at 1k. They will be just fine for u. In future u can go for another upgrade.

B4 buying a TV tuner card, check if it supports capture in Mpeg4 format. Then it will save a lot of space while saving TV content.

S

But is Athlon X2 7750 BE better than C2D E5200 ?

@savagex, NO.

S

Ok... Just to be sure are there any better performing AMD or Intel C2D processor in the 4k range than the E5200 ?

Athlon X2 250: 4.5k. Beats E5200 without any effort.

S

cool... thnx desiibond

S

@ Desiibond :
Any Mobo to boot for with the Athlon X2 250 within 4k range ?

most of gigabyte/asus mobos are available for 4.2k-4.5k. Look for 780G chipset based boards.

S

How is this board?
ASUS M2A-VM HDMI AMD 690G and SB600 Chipset ?
It has a lot of features. HDMI , TV out etc.... may of help later.
But on the flip side it seems that it is a fairly old mobo. (2007)

And what is the recommendation for Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP AMD 780G + SB700 Chipset ?

Also what is the price and performance of GA-MA78GM-US2H ?

M2A-VM is a pretty old board. not at all recormmended.

GA-MA78GM-S2HP is for audio

GA-MA78GM-US2H is for little bit extra stability while doing overclocking. it has extra cooper and SOlid capacitors.

S

Does the GA-MA78GM-S2HP support CRT Monitor ?
I have a 17" CRT monitor which i still use...
And is a D-Sub port same as a VGA port?

B

@savagex
ALL ANSWER YES

S

Thanks Blackbird !!
I will now see which one fits my bill...
Thanks to all.

S

I atlast decided on the config after a lot of googling, searching forums.
Got the quotaion right now from Golchha Comps Bangalore.

1. AMD Athlon II X2 250 : 4400
2. Gigabyte Mobo GA-MA78GM-S2HP (AMD 780G + SB700 Chipset) : 4800
3. DDR2 RAM 2 GB 1 *2 DUAL CHANNEL KIT Corsair : 3000 (i guess i got the price for DDR3. DDR2 2 GB x 1 should cost around 1500 :lol:

)
4. APC UPS 650 VA : 2900
5. PSU : Cooler Master RS460-PCARA3-EU Extreme Power 460W : 2500

Total : 16,100
VAT (4%) = 644
Grand Total : 16,744

Please let me know if the config is OK for low to moderate gaming and some heavy computing.
Will be going to Golchha to finalize it.
Thanks to everyone and desiibond in particular. :smile:

S

I checked the following prices at SP road today.

Golcha - Ankit - Anandit

1. Processor : AMD Athlon II X2 250 : Rs.4500 - Rs.4400 - Rs.4450

2. Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP AMD 780G + SB700 Chipset : Rs.4775 - Rs.4600 - Rs.4750

3. Corsair DDR2 2GB [CM2X2048-6400C5 (1 X 2GB DDR2 800MhZ C5)] : Rs.1700 - Rs.1475 - Rs.1100(Transcend)

4. UPS : APC 650VA: Rs.2900 - Rs.2975 - Rs.2750

5. PSU : CoolerMaster RS460-PCARA3-EU Extreme Power 460W : Rs.2500 - Rs.2500 - Rs.2600

Golchha looked good to me. I have done many transactions with them before.
Think i will go with them.

Let me know for any after thoughts.
Total : Rs. 16375 - Rs.15950 - Rs.15650

Total (after 4% VAT) : Rs.17030 - Rs.16588 - Rs.16276

S

Guys need some suggestions here : Terribly confused... :-?

Proccy : AMD Athlon II X2 250
Mobo : Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP

Will my mobo support 1066 MHz DDR2 RAM ?
Because memory controller for AMD resides on the CPU itself.
Also how to have Dual Channel mem support.
Googled a lot and got very confused.

And please rate my Poccy + Mobo combo out of 10 which will be used for moderate gaming, high resolution movie watching and be 3 years future proof.

EDIT : Please also keep in mind that my budget was 15k and i have already overshot it by 3k. So going for any type of more expensive solutions is out of the question for me... :cry:

(Price structure in the earlier post).

BTW i have made up my mind to go with a Corsair VX450 PSU so that i can add additional components without a headache....

Please HELP ME guys... :-|

first, you won't find much increase in speed if you go for 1066Mhz RAM and it's costly too.

second, don't worry about dual channel. get two ram modules and put them in same colored slots.

S

Thanks Desiibond.... Buying a new rig is a tiresome but a pretty fullfilling job.
Am just loving it, learning about new proccys, mobos, pros and cons of each.

Anyways can you let me know where to get my rig from ? Golcha - Ankit - Anandit ?
Golcha guys seemed a little bit more informed than the others.

What say ?

as Golcha is giving 1yr onsite warranty, i would go with Golcha. or check where you get it for cheaper price.

A

go for lil better 500W PSU, will be better for future addons. and its price is only 300 bucks more IMO, rest quiet a decent choice. going for kingston will decrease your price lil, but corsair RAMs are the best.

S

Ya Acewin, I know that 500w would be better. But reviews tell that Corsair vx450 can safely deliver power upto 570 W.
*www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/540/10

Anyways at first i was going for a CoolerMaster solution, but later decided on Corsair.
Beleive me i cannot afford a single penny more than 18k (without the HDD)... which is already much stretched than the 15k (including HDD) that i started with.

S

desiibond said:
as Golcha is giving 1yr onsite warranty, i would go with Golcha.

Even i am going for Golchha....

Will update you all when i get my rig.

Thanks to all and particularly Desiibond.

A

well if u r going fo VX450 then no worries, its more than enough

S

Guys one more question.
How would be the performance of the combo ?

AMD Phenom II X2 550 + Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP AMD 780G + SB700 Chipset ?

Phenom II X2 550 costs just Rs 700 more than the AMD Athlon II X2 250. So thinking of going for the Phenom II X2 550.

I am just going on stretching my budget...... when will i stop ??

I am also attaching a comparison of the
Biostar TA790GX 128M 5.x and Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP (rev. 2.1) mobos.
The prices are similar in the 4.5k range.
Please let me know what you people feel and what would be the best mobo for me.

I am looking into an HTPC setup with casual gaming.

S

Guys,
At last got my new desktop. :smile:

AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H
Corsair 2GB DDR2
Coolermaster 460W Real Power Pro
WD 550GB SATA Green

Total cost : 19K