NON- gaming pc w/o monitor for 24 k

M

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:ms word, excel, powerpoint, access , reader X , webbrowser (~8 tabs at a time average) , video/music/image editing , view videos (<hd quality) , music(little bit) , virtual dj , google sketchup , video dvd burning , photoshop , illustrator , little bit java programming (not now buit after 10 months or maybe 11)

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans:24 k ; already extended it may go upto 25 k not more that that .

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans:no

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: win 7 and xp

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans:500 gb ;i may go for a 1 tb one if budget permits but only after i have the base components futureproof for atleast 4 yrs

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. have a 18 inch crt samsung

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: i have keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans:this weekend if you guys help me out till then

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans:no i haven't but have had fun with my pc almost twice every month (it goes kaput every now and then)

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: kolkata yup from chandni

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: i need a futureproof pc that i wont spend big bucks on it in the next 4 yrs . at most 2k for dvdwriter or more ram if needed but not the core components like CPU , MoBo , hdd , psu
what i have planned :
cpu : i5 2400 (but topgear said that it is not easy nowadays)

really i'm bit bad on planning
what i need :
CPU , MoBo , HDD ,PSU , RAM , DVD WRITER , CABBY , UPS
I'm planning to use onboard graphics so no need of graphics card. (what i believe is :you only need it only when you play graphics hungry games which i'm not going to do)
most important : future proofing is wanted
and the mobo should be able to take the full juice out of the CPU and to multitask various apps listed at the top
"you are requested to kill my beliefs wherever necessary"

P

i5 2400-11k
gigabyte ga b75m d3h -4.2k
2x4gb corsair xms3 ram -2.6k
corsair vs 450-2k
cm elite 430-2k
asus dvd writer writer-1.2k
microtek heritage 650w-1.5k
total-24.5k

M

fast reply buddy
i was just wondering how you could fit all these inside 25k finally cought no hdd.
i dont think i need 8 gb ram i'll first put a 4 gb stick , if i need more, will buy a similar one afterwards.
and i think the b75 mobo is your favourite buddy. :-D

and cant i settle for a less cheap cabby just bcuz i have to get the hdd inside the budget. :-D

and you put a h61 mobo on a 12 k proccy ?? does it work good ??

Since the req are web surfing,ms office etc an i3 wouldnt be enough?
I dont know about the onboard graphics,but when i tried to run a simple game like limbo on aw old p4 with onboard graphics-it says it needs a shader 3.0 gpu

.

M

so you think i need a gpu too ??

i'm also gonna do some music and image editing and dvd burning.
and more importantly future proofing cuz i'm not gonna update the core components in the 4 years..

i also first thought of i3 but that would ,i believe , wont be able to perform good 2 yrs later

and that bloody antivirus is just another piece of performance sucking vampires out there.

P

no for casual gaming hd 200 is ~to a hd 6450
it also supports dx 10.1 and shader model 4.1
so old games like limbo counterstrike etc should play fine
edited rig-
i5 2400-11k
gigabyte h61m ds2-3k
generic iball cabinet 1.5k
wd cavair blue 500gb-3.8k
1x4gb corsair value ram-1.2k
asus dvd writer writer-1.2k
microtek heritage 650w-1.5k
corsair vs 450-2k
total-25.2k
hope you like this one

M

i couldn't understand the first two lines.
i think you intended hd 2000 ??

and i couldn't get any thing in the 2nd line

everything looks ok except the H61 mobo

if the cheap cabby is gonna cost just 500 bucks less , i'll go for the 2k one.
i think cm elite 311

and i'm getting the dvd writer for 900 bucks.

P

THE DVD DRIVE YOU MUST BE GETTING FOR 900RS would be a lg drive
lg drives are crap buy only a asus/hp one
dx 10.1 and shader model 4.1 is required for running games
the higher the shader mmodel and dx version the more graphics can be crunched out
please tell us why you dont you like that h61 mobo?
yes and i meant hd 2000 sorry!

M

no sorry needed..
just because i have heard much bad about h61 from d6bmg

P

no h61 boards are good
i own one myself
only thing is you wont get usb3 and sata 3
rest of the config is fine
good luck!

I dont think the hd 2000 is anywhere near a hd 6450.its already slower than hd 3000 abt 20-50% depending on games.hd 4000 is on par with hd5450.see thishttp://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.htmlanyway they could play limb0 since they are shader 4.0.My friend has an i3 and a cheap gpu gt 210,i think,and he could play crysis 2 @low settings.

W

whatever usages you mentioned even a core i3 is sufficient so core i5 will be more than enough for all your needs in coming 4 years.as for lack of usb3 & sata3 these are not important unless you plan to transfer ~100gb or more data frequently to external devices & measure your system boot up time with a stopwatch

for viewing HD videos HD2000 graphics is sufficient enough.of course even a low end graphics card will be better but my suggestion is hold off buying graphics card until you really feel the lack of it.

P

oh iam sorry
the hd 2000 gfx are better than a geforce 210...... not hd 6450

M

i said i wont game but for music editing and image editing (i mean really hungry softwares like adobe photoshop , and others etc)
will it be good enough for like 4 yrs from now ??
and some sites say that after 2 yrs or so , all the softwares will pretty much need 4 cores so i3 may lag behind ..
sorry but i forgot things in my first post. just updating that.

TDP of sandybridge i5 cpu is 95w, right. Can h61 MOBO handle 95w cpus? I think they can handle max 65w tdp. Just my thought . May be wrong . Pls clarify on this

M

and the i keep at an average 7-8 tabs open.
if none of these gets affected after 4 yrs , i'll go for i3 2100

^^ i dont think so.
panwala has the combo.
and he's okay with it.

W

for image/video editing processor & ram are much more important.for music editing only cpu is the factor.no general usage software requires minimum 4 cores as of now & very less chances of this happening after 2 years.ofcourse softwares with multi core support will run faster on a 4 core i5 compared to i3(2 real cores+2 virtual cores created by hyperthreading/HT) but the question is are you the type of user who can actually benefit from this.for example if you are encoding videos from high quality sources like blu ray AVC,HD camcorders etc frequently using x264 & manual tweaking then difference between i5 & i3 is significant for you.if you are converting your typical videos/mkv's/avi's usually found on net & friends pc & convert 4-5 videos a day using video converting softwares using codec like divx,xvid & no manual tweaking then you won't notice significant difference between i3 & i5.

TDP is an issue only for AMD processors where lower end mobos support upto 95w TDP processors while phenom II x6 & FX series processors have 125w TDP.

M

i'll not be using those high quality vids but will be editing avi's /mkv's/mp4's with inserting frames in between , tweaking frame rates , very very mild video editing (making a video slideshow with text and pics along with sounds) , etc. hope you got what i'm trying to say..
and i wont be using any blurays or those hd cams.

What softwares are going to use for video editing and all?

W

then even a core i3 is sufficient for you.still i would recommend i5 because as per my experience it is always better to get the fastest possible processor in budget at that time & you seems to have the budget.still if for any reason you can't afford an i5 then i3 will still do the job for you.

M

videoediting also after 10 - 11 months.
the softwares ,as of now , i'v thought of are:
cyberlink powerdirector
and magix movie edit pro

If youre video editing with pro softwares like edius,vegas pro etc 4 cores will benefit.

M

the core thing i believe i'm afraid of is :
suppose i buy the i3 2100 but then there should be no time that the pc makes me feel that had i gone for the i5 , it would have been better.
just that.
i think you know the awkward feeling..
k.

i'have suffered a lot with my p4 i dont want any thing lagging with this one..

and if i5 is the pick , i wanted to know that is i5 3450 (ivy b) similar to the i5 2400
cuz topgear said that the i5 2400 is not easily available. so if it will not be available i would go for the ivy bridge.
i also found on google that ivy has heating issues.

Then,Go for the i5 2400,eyes closed.i feel like 4 cores are going to be a std in enthusiast machines for a long time.

M

k.
i'll not be going eyes closed though. kolkata is not such a good place, there are many pick pockets. haha
so whats the final system ??

i think we should finalize this tomorrow as i'have school tomorrow and .....
k.
tomorrow ..
post your views . they are helpful..

Ivy has heating issues when its ocd like sandy,i think.

W

from whatever i read on ivybridge heating issues it is a matter of concern only for overclockers & of course you have to buy an overclockable ivybridge K edition processor which i5 3450 is not.

Its a yay from me for the i5 2400,if you can find one

.Wait for others suggestions.However if i5 2400 is not available go for 3450,since its 5-10% faster than 2400,its 1.5-2k more but its always good to have more power on a locked Cpu.

M

ok then what for the mobo ??

please help me fill this :
please specify the model.
i'l go for a good cabby if budget permits otherwise i'l try to get a cheap .7k one

Component	Model	Price
CPU	I5 2400 OR I5 3450	11k
MoBo	<suggest> i had the ga b75m d3h in mind but.. (see my siggy)
PSU	<suggest>vs450	2.2
HDD	wd caviar black 1 tb (if in budget) or wb green/blue 500gb<suggest model>	5.1 k / 3.8k
RAM	Corsair DDR3 4 GB (1 x 4 GB) PC RAM (CMV4GX3M1A1333C9)	1.2k
DVD ROM	DRW-24B5ST	1.1k
Cabinet	will go for a good on if budget permits
UPS	<suggest>APC 600VA	2.1 k
Total

calculated the wattage needed by the config to be 242 watts.
so any entry level psu should be sufficient ?

for dvd drive i'll go for asus : Which DVD writer to buy .? - View Poll Results

please suggest mobo , psu , ups and hdd
so that the total budget doesn't go above 24 k

can anyone please reply and or suggest me for the config ????

W

i read about topgear's experience but if you keep blacklisting companies like this then you won't have any left to choose from.asus already has a bad reputation in this field & MSI too has some issues.my suggestion is unless you are in kolkata/will need service centre in kolkata you will be fine with gigabyte service.if still not convinced then that leaves only Intel H61 in your budget.rest of the components are fine except don't go for WD green series if you can afford blue/black.

M

that is why i'm asking you guys to suggest a not so cheap but within the budget mobo.
i live in kolkata.
i also have something similar in mind about the hdd but i dont think it'll fit the budget.
still i will try to get blacks if possible.
will the h61 be ok for the proccy ?
i mean will it bottleneck the cpu ??
i dont need usb3 , sata 6 gbps , pci3 ,
and most of the drives are sata 6 gbps. they should work fine with the sata 3 gbps ports. right ?

W

practically speaking mobo never bottlenecks a processor.H61 is fine for i5.sata 6gbps hard disks are only marketing gimmicks because normal hard disks can't even cross sata I 1.5gbps speed.to utilize 6gbps you need a very costly top of the line ssd drive.again pci3 is only relevant if you are a serious gamer planning on buying a ~Rs.20000 or costlier card/cards.

M

i'm investing 24 k for the whole box.
i dont think i'll spend so much money on graphics for playing..
i think video editing is far much better :-D

k.
now serious matters.
found this :
Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply @1.8 k
cx 430 is 2.4 k
and checked powersupply blacklist thread , its in the good brands.
so can i go for antec one.
its 2 year limited warranty v/s 3 yrs of cx
i know i mentioned vs 450 previously but it is out of stock even on the corsair website.

and sugegest a good h61 mobo.
and is h61 good for using onboard graphics ?

D

whitestar_999 said:
practically speaking mobo never bottlenecks a processor.H61 is fine for i5.sata 6gbps hard disks are only marketing gimmicks because normal hard disks can't even cross sata I 1.5gbps speed.to utilize 6gbps you need a very costly top of the line ssd drive.again pci3 is only relevant if you are a serious gamer planning on buying a ~Rs.20000 or costlier card/cards.

Agreed

M

so may you guys now help me with a good lasting h61 mobo???

i'm still waiting for a response.

have these in mind :
asus P8H61-M LE
asus P8H61-M PLUS
MSI B75A-G43

GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H ** looks good for the price and features

N

Why sticking with Intel ? In budget section, AMD is not at all a bad option, have you ever given that thought ??

Just expressing my views though, bellow config

AMD APU A8 3870K @ 3.0 GHz 3.0 GHz / 8 Core / HD 6550D DX11 @ Rs. 6,500
ASUS F1A75-M LE ~ SATA3 / USB3 (Find a lower spec board for money saving) @ Rs. 6,500
Corsair or G.Skill (4x2) 8 GB 1600 MHz @ Rs. 4,000
WD Green 1.0 TB ~ 64MB buffer / SATA3 / 7200RPM @ Rs. 5,000
DVD RW Any @ Rs. 1,000
Antek 450 @ Rs. 1,800
Cooler Master 311 / 310 @ Rs. 2,200

Total 27k

You are from Kolkata, chadni prices are really lower than Web Prices, like WD in web is around 5.2k which in chandi goes at around 4.2k

. Try for a local el cheapo cabi if you want to save some money there

too, 1k i guess can be saved from there too

Also some exp member can give you a lower spec board since this board is having CrossFire, which is no use of your, try from Gigabye, should come in at around 5k, thus getting the system in 24k mark..

M

you mean wd black ?

its 4 core.
a single 4 gb stick will be enough for me..

found this :
*us.digitalversus.com/cpu/face-off/11922-10301-versus-table.html

AMD has made a great step forward with its APUs thanks to a much improved graphics processing unit. However, gamers would still need to use a separate graphics card alongside this APU. Plus, pure processing performances lag behind the competition.

dropped the idea of amd
its good for gaming
if i have to go for 6-7 k proccy , i'll go for i3 3220

only mobo remaining guys..
please help..
will buy this friday or so..

i'm not for gaming. if i were to go for a gaming rig , would have definitely selected naxal's rig.. its quite good for gaming

*www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+A8-3870+APU

W

first of all never buy asus mobo costing less than 5000 no matter what the processor is(intel or amd).now among gigabyte & msi i recommend gigabyte.so after all this best H61 mobo is gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H & for next generation it is again gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H.after gigabyte only other options to consider are intel DH61WW or ASRock H61M(availability & after sales support might be an issue compared to intel).

A

mastercool8695 said:
and the i keep at an average 7-8 tabs open.
if none of these gets affected after 4 yrs , i'll go for i3 2100

^^ i dont think so.
panwala has the combo.
and he's okay with it.

you need more RAM

4GB is very less

also get ivy bridge 3450, as it has better onboard gfx, in such case H61 will not the mobo chipset to buy

my mistake you choose core i3

M

^^ so you recomment which mobo if i go for ivy 3450 ??
b75 ?
and didn't understand the last line
k.
asus out of the list.
now remains :

GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H ** looks good for the price and features, if i dont find i5 2400

GA-H61M-D2H if i find an i5 2400

and you mean the availability of asrock and its ASS will be bad as compared to intel ?

W

ASRock is available in limited areas & for RMA/after sales support you most probably have to spend extra time/money to send your mobo to service center compared to intel.once at service center though ASRock service is good i think.also 4gb ram is good enough for general usages.i use 2gb ram on an intel atom system & work often with 10-15 open tabs in firefox.my cousin uses all types of games/softwares/emulators/what not on his 4gb ram i5 mobile laptop & he never felt the need for more ram.

M

i just came about a buddy on the forum. he bought the gigabyte b75 mobo for 3.9 k + tax
so planning to buy it..
any other suggestions about the whole system , please post fast..
as the day is coming..

A

Intel DH77EB Motherboard vs Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Motherboard vs ASUS P8B75-M LE Motherboard vs ASUS P8B75-V Motherboard: Compare Motherboards: Flipkart.com

Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Motherboard sounds good to me

you can go with gigabyte mobo in both case. it is better than H61 mobos in higher price as well.

M

@acewin : buddy your comment

my mistake you choose core i3

is making my mind race against my will.
please tell me what does that mean..

i'll have to take the risk.
will go for gigabyte ga b75m d3h for 3.9 k

Component Model price
CPU i5 2400 / I5 2320 --------------------------->11000
MoBo GIGABYTE-*GA-B75M-D3H*(rev. 1.0)----------> 3900
PSU CORSAIR VS 450 --------------------------->2100
RAM CORSAIR 1X4 GB STICK ---------------------->1100
HDD WD 500GB (3900) / WD 1 TB (4350)----------> 4350
DVD writer ASUS DRW-24B5ST / LG ---------------> 1100
UPS APC 600 VA --------------------------------->1950
Cabinet --------------------------------------->700
Total --------------------------------------->26200

its far from the budget.
please help.

any way to decrease it to ~24 k ??

W

you can get intex 600VA ups for ~1200 but with few minutes less backup time(still more than enough to save & shutdown system).other than this i don't see much chances of cost reduction.anyway difference between ~24k & ~26k is only 2000 which is not much.it is better to spend 2k extra now then regret later.

A

i am having my laugh now. do not know past 2 days most of my comments are not posted

M

@acewin i somewhere read about more members having the problem.
please pm me what you were going to post.(that is going to help me)

it is better to spend 2k extra now then regret later

due to this line i'have already extended the budget to 24~25 k.
i'll go for intex one..
700 left from that.
and i'll buy 500 gb @ 3.7 k
that will bring down the total.

still open to suggestions

A

I undestand that. Microtek UPS are relatively better than intex. But still APC is adivsable and do not switch from it
about core i3 due to your earlier posts I presumed that you have fixed on a core i3 proccy.
And about the mobo, on paper the mobo is quiet good

I am suggesting you may buy Microtek UPS.
BTW, how much are you gonna use DVD burners. if not much and you know or get to understand to boot from USB (here I am supposing you would have any pen drive).
or you can also use any old burner attach it with the rig only to get the installation done. If not and have friend with a system, you can format your HDD putting in his system and get OS installation done. Then remove it and put it back into your system.

M

i'm gonna use dvd burners.
so no issue with it.
will the i3 be futureproof enough for 4 years.
suppose i drop the idea of video editing , just virtual dj and adobe photoshop cs6 can run good on i3 ???

and what does that mean :

And about the mobo, on paper the mobo is quiet good

W

i5 is definitely recommended over i3 when planning for 4 years usage.intex ups is alright(many here are using it including myself).with this & 500gb hdd i think your total comes down to 25k which is reasonably good enough.if still not happy you can try a lower capacity hdd to further bring down the total.

as for acewin's comment here are some reviews from a major international online shopping site:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

M

will go for i5
and i selected the mobo only after reading the reviews ,
what i observed was that , almost no other b75 mobo had better comments then this.

i don't understand the meaning of "on paper " does that mean "as reviewed by others " ??

does it give enough backup time to shut off the running apps , and pc that will take approx 2 minutes (max) ??
i mean practically .. cuz the things given on the websites are not very practical .
as for my previous ups (which had gone kaput out recently) it didn't even last 15 secs
which model of intex ?

on the website, no info is given about backup time :*www.intextechnologies.com/webpages/producthomeups.aspx?pro_name=600VA+Style&category=Computer+Peripherals&subcat=UPS&subcat1=600+VA

W

backup time is dependent on the battery used inside ups.cheaper brands use cheaper quality batteries but even the cheapest local battery can give 2 min backup initially.with time the capacity of battery reduces so your old local battery stopped giving any backup.intex is a reasonably good brand only difference being it uses batteries with lower capacity than costlier APC(which means more backup time) & maybe slightly less quality but still it should be able to give you enough time for shutdown.backup time also depends on load.e.g.if ups is loaded 100%(pc processor running at 100% during video encoding+monitor+speaker)then backup time will be ~1.5-2.5 min even for APC.lesser the load more will be the backup time.

P.S.btw your pc only will consume ~241W at 90% processor load(calculated using extremevision online power calculator).600VA means 600*0.6=360W true power.so if a ups can give 2 min of backup time with full load of 360W then with 241W(pc processor at 90% load)+monitor(assuming 80W)=321W will give you ~3-3.5 min backup easily.of course if your pc processor is at lower load(say ~10-20% watching movie etc) then backup time will be even more(say ~5-6min).

Im getting more than 5-8 mins without shutting down with my 600VA UPS.

M

@ nanducob : please specify the company / model
will go for intex then.

The model is V guard slender 600,its 1.6k with 2yr warranty,i think.its written 10-15mins backup in the warranty card however i never used beyond 8-10 mins

W

@mastercool8695,you asked the wrong question.instead of asking which company/model first ask for pc configuration to assess the load.i already posted about that in my previous post.your system total load(at 90% processor load) including monitor will be ~320W for which any decent brand 600VA ups(intex,microtek,luminous etc) can give ~2.5-3 min backup & lesser the load more will be the backup time(again see my previous post).

M

sorry
please give me either one of the blacklist or whitelist names for the ups.

going market tomorrow.

going for i5 2320 or 2310 if budget doesn not permit i5 2400 is okay ???

W

as such there is no list here but intex is considered by many here including myself as best budget option.if you have the budget then APC is the best option.in between there are microtek,luminous,numeric.you can get any i5.in fact my suggestion is get the cheapest i5 possible(2310 or 2320).

M

okay.
thanks.
any tricks to follow while buying ??

i mean for good discounts.

nanducob and aAdirulz , you can comment too..

is it possible to get a samsung monitor within 5 k price range ??
i'm not gonna buy now but after 2~3 months..

W

moderators cilus & topgear are from kolkata.you can ask them as they have good experience regarding various shops service.

mastercool8695 said:
is it possible to get a samsung monitor within 5 k price range ??

20" with 1366*768 = 5.6k appx

M

thanks. everyone..
just contacting mods. cilus and topgear

M

bought it yesterday.
works like a charm...
yippeeeee

played a video was like :shock:

W

good to know.btw what about video.

Congrats

M

thanks all
about video
i watched a 899 mb video on my previous pc
it felt like i were watching a slideshow of pics
hehehehe
finally found it was actually a video

N

congrats

I know people have issues with services, but rather than staying on track, they blow it way out of proportion. Out of all the kolkata population here with Gigabyte motherboards, how many of them had issues with Gigabyte for RMA? The answer is not so different from number of people around South India with Asus motherboards, is there? IINM, there is now one more centre opened in Kolkata exclusively for Gigabyte motherboards now, and as far as Asus goes, that should be one of the reason they tied up with Digicare (although the effective usefulness will obviously take some time to reflect back). Does the person with "don't buy viewsonic" and "don't buy gigabyte" on his siggy care to explain that? I am aware of viewsonic screen issues back during 19 inch 16:10 days when TN panels were a craze. I have a friend who has Dell 30 Inch IPS panel with 2-3 dead pixels and Dell has some weird issues replacing his panel. Lets blacklist Dell while we're at it- yes *sarcasm*?

You're highlighting a 2010 thread. Be realistic. With that level of thinking, you shouldn't buy Seagate because of 7200.12 RPM failures and WD Green because older Green die out pretty quickly.

Every brand has highs and lows. The purpose of having sections is to let people as much as possible and highlight it to the manufacturers "Dude, this is what your people have been doing behind your back and no1 will entertain this!", not for bashing companies. If people want to do brand bashing like how fanboys do it with Samsung and Apple/Nokia, then there's simply no point in helping people here. Unless a brand has a history of duping customers with substandard products and make an impression that they do not wish to improve, what's with brand bashing?

A

@Sorcerer, both are topgear's posts.
@mastercool8695, point you are putting here though your sig is not very good. It is a known fact how stupid service center guys are. They do not care about brand image the prduct company is carrying. Really Gigabyte is a very reputed company in Electronics market. Everyone has some or the other problem in getting RMA done.
Same goes for viewsonic.