Want A New System For 40000 INR

C

Hello everyone,

I am about to purchase a new PC. Had one which cost 77K which I bought last year June. however it had lot of non issues and ended up selling it for 25K. I dont want to repeat my mistake. I have very basic requirements here. Please help me out with compatible products

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
A: Web Browsing, Word Processing, Watching DVD movies

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: 40000 Rupees

4. Planning to overclock?
A: Never

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A: Ubuntu 10.10

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

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want?
A: Not sure. Flexible in getting screens from 18.5" to 22"

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10?highest)
A: 7

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A: Assembler. I have seena system assembled

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: january 2011

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A: No. I am looking for a system to last me for 2-3 years and then I will go for a MAC Pro

12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
A: I am not looking for sound cards

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A:Trivandrum, kerala. Like to purchase locally if possible or online

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
A:

I am not going to play any games. I have a PS3 for that.
I need UPS also within this budget
I need speakers and everything with this. I am not a music buff too. So no need of any high ualoty speakers, but it must be good to watch DVD movies

AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 5k
MSI 880GMA E45 @ 5.5k
G.Skill 2 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz @ 4.6k
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB @ 3k
LG 22X SATA DVD @ 0.9k
FSP Saga II 500W @ 2.2k
CM Elite 310 @ 1.5k
Benq G2220HD 22" LCD @ 7.3k
Logitech K&B @ 0.6k
Altec Lansing VS-2421 @ 2.4k
APC 650VA @ 3k

Total - 36k

this is more than enough for your needs.

C

Hello,

Thanks for your help.

How much more will I need to invest if I am to go for a full HD monitor and a graphic card that can run HD DVD movies smoothly?

Also about the 1TB HDD, I have heard that failure rate is more. So I am planning to go with a 500GB now... How much will a hybrid HDD cost?(Normall HDD+ SSD). Plus, I am not a huge fan of seagate. They have given me big problems in teh past. Any other reliable companies like WD?

Another question. Do you think I need a motherboard that costs 5.5k?

Update: Just came to know Benq G2220HD 22" LCD is full HD but lacks HDMI. It does support DVI. So is it better? How much will a DVI cable cost? I havent had Benq mintors, only samsung till now. Is it good quality? The reviews say that colors are not very good.

Also is the sugegsted motherboard a mATX board?

the monitor i mentioned is a full HD 22". if you want 24" have a look at Benq G2420HD @ 11k or so. you dont need a discrete gfx card to watch movies on a 22" monitor. its needed for gaming.
you can look at WD 500GB Blue @ 1.8k. combine 2 of these to get a 1TB. dont know about costs of SSD but you wont need those.
that mobo is a feature rich having usb3 and sata3 also. and is well within your budget.

Benq is very nice. many of the forum members are using this one and they say its great.
yes its and mATX mobo.

C

G2420HD and G2220HD has a huge diff in pricing? (Almost 4k). Anyway I think that will be abetter choice sicne I will be looking for watching movies frequently.

yes its and mATX mobo.

Should I stick on with mATX? Wont it be crammed?

you can look at WD 500GB Blue @ 1.8k.

I want a reliable one. Storage space does not matter much. I hardly store anything. Even my 120GB laptop has 70% free space.

you dont need a discrete gfx card to watch movies on a 22" monitor. its needed for gaming.

I used to have a xfx 8800gt alpha dog edition card in my previous system. Even then the HD movie transformers I played sometimes got stuck. That is why I asked.

A 8800GT is more than enough to play a full HD movie. For running this you need software players which support GPU acceleration. Use Media Player Classic Home Cinema or SMPlayer. These players support GPU acceleration and will run Full HD movies without a glitch.
And for GPU, you can get Sapphire HD4670 512MB GDDR3 Artic Accelero @ 3.9k. More than enough to fulfill your need.

C

Use Media Player Classic Home Cinema or SMPlayer.

Are they available for UBUNTU? What about VLC Media Player?

So the final config would be

AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 5k
MSI 880GMA E45 @ 5.5k
G.Skill 2 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz @ 4.6k
WD 500GB Blue @ 1.8k
LG 22X SATA DVD @ 0.9k
FSP Saga II 500W @ 2.2k
CM Elite 310 @ 1.5k
Benq G2420HD 24" LCD @ 11k
Logitech K&B @ 0.6k
Altec Lansing VS-2421 @ 2.4k
APC 650VA @ 3k
Sapphire HD4670 512MB GDDR3 Artic Accelero @ 3.9k
Total: 42.4K

Any additions or modifications? Do I need to downsize something or upgrade something sicne my main intention will be to watch HD movies?

Also could someone give me an INTEL counterpart? Does AMD give out much heat?

I would like to add one more question.

Do you think UBUNTU will not have any problems recognizing drivers for the components mentioned here?

^^ the config is perfect ,just buy it

AMD heating is an old myth. AMD works just fine.

Ubuntu will have no issues recognizing these components

C

ssk_the_gr8 said:
^^ the config is perfect ,just buy it

AMD heating is an old myth. AMD works just fine.

Ubuntu will have no issues recognizing these components

Intel i3 530
Gigabyte H55M-USB3
G.Skill 2 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz
WD 500GB Black
LG 22X SATA DVD
Seasonic s12 380w/Corsair cx400
CM Elite 310 @ 1.5k
Benq G2420HD 24" LCD
Logitech K&B
Altec Lansing VS-2421
APC 650VA

What do you think of the above configuration?

Athlon II X4 635's 4 physical cores are better than Core i3-530's 2 hyper-threaded cores. I think this.

C

ico said:
Athlon II X4 635's 4 physical cores are better than Core i3-530's 2 hyper-threaded cores. I think this.

What about HD movie performance? Which is better? I am not into multi tasking. So, All I care about is smooth playback of HD movies

coolguythampy said:
What about HD movie performance? Which is better? I am not into multi tasking. So, All I care about is smooth playback of HD movies

Athlon is the better option
buy it without any worries

coolguythampy said:
What about HD movie performance? Which is better? I am not into multi tasking. So, All I care about is smooth playback of HD movies

Playing movie is a multimedia applications and highly multi threaded application. So more the number of cores, smoother performance you get. Athlon II 635 is better option here.

^^Intel provides better performance while AMD gives you more VFM products...In this case i wud suggest to go for the athlon 635 as it delivers slightly better performance(mostly) in all aspects...though both of them are good see what will be your total cost of CPU and MOBO and then decide..

S

i don't know why all support amd.
just see
Bench - CPU - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

^^ People here suggest AMD all the time because they are cheap as compared to similar offerings from intel...On performance level Intel is ahead but people don't want to pay double of the amount for products which keep changing every year...
Those looking for 1 time buy should go with intel..but for the rest of us AMD suits better...

saikat1990 said:
i don't know why all support amd.
just see
Bench - CPU - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

and the benchmark has inconclusive results as i3 is better in some tests and the athlon in the others...But 635 is definitely better as it has 4 physical cores compared to 2 physical.....

saikat1990 said:
i don't know why all support amd.
just see
Bench - CPU - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

in the bench you mentioned just look at the cinebench R10 multithreaded benchmark. hope you got the reason..

not all are favourable to i3. notice that in some benchmarks lower is better is also written. 635 excels in multithreading while i3 in single threaded. so to keep the rigs more futureproof we suggest 635 instead of i3.

keviv219 said:
^^ People here suggest AMD all the time because they are cheap as compared to similar offerings from intel...On performance level Intel is ahead but people don't want to pay double of the amount for products which keep changing every year...
Those looking for 1 time buy should go with intel..but for the rest of us AMD suits better...

and the benchmark has inconclusive results as i3 is better in some tests and the athlon in the others...But 635 is definitely better as it has 4 physical cores compared to 2 physical.....

there is nothing like you mentioned. just see the multithreaded benchmarks and 635 is ahead..amd will also change socket with launch of bulldozer..

By "Products that change every year" i was reffering to the general computer parts not amd or intel specifically..and yes in some benchmarks other than those which needs multithreading i3 is ahead..
But as i've said earlier athlon 635 is better than i3..

And if your compare equivalent models of amd and intel u will find intel is better..eg. I5 760 and athlon 635 or phenom 955..

Don't put generic statement like "Intel is better in performance while AMD offers value for money". These kind of statements are too much generalized and creates confusion. While choosing the right processor for a given budget, we have to see at this price point which processor will offer better performance, no matter whether it is AMD or Intel. We have to compare by an specific Intel CPU and an AMD CPU in the same price range.
A given example is at the price range within 6-7K, Intel's offering is Core2Quad 8300 and AMD's offering is Athlon II 640. Now Athlon II 640 is better performer and also having less price, so we will suggest that.

Our suggestion should be like that, not "Intel is better" type of thing.

Exactly my point..its confusing for me too..but i wrote this in response to saikat1990's query..

I'll be more clear in my future suggestions..thanx..

@cilus
640 is now at 5.2k..645 at 6.4k...moreover dont you think 945 at 7k makes somewhat better sense.

@keviv219
there is no point in comparing a 5k processor with a 10k processor. at 10k 1055t is there to compete with 760. 760 for gaming and 1055t for multithreaded apps..

Jas,are yaar, stop some times to criticize or pointing out the loop holes. I was just giving an example how we should suggest or compare things to make it clear and I never stressed to provide an error proof, future proof, value for money solution. It was just to show how we should compare things and provide
better suggestion.

no buddy i wasnt criticizing..i was just mentioning the updated prices.

That's what I tried to tell you Jas. Here referring price not actually relevant as I was not giving a real suggestion, it was just an example.

cgt- I feel the following config is good for your requirements and should be low on power consumption too.
Intel core i3 530/540 - 5K approx
ASUS P7H55D-M PRO - 6.2K approx ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
2x 2GB DDR3 1333MHz Corsair XMS3 - 4.1K approx
500GB Seagate 7200.12 - 1.8K approx
DVD writer - 1K approx
Corsair CX400 - 2.5K-2.7Kapprox
CM Elite 310 cabinet - 1.6K approx
22" LCD - 8K approx
keyboard and mouse - 0.6K approx
Altec Lansing VS4621 - 3K approx
APC 650VA - 3K approx
Total- approx 37K
With some money left, you may get some 23"/24" 1080p LCD monitor if you want.

Cilus said:
That's what I tried to tell you Jas. Here referring price not actually relevant as I was not giving a real suggestion, it was just an example.

ok sorry

W

Which one to Get from the list below,

1. AMD Athlon II X4 635 V/s Intel Core i3 530
2. AMD Phenom II X4 955 V/s Intel Core i5 650
3. AMD Phenom II X6 1055T V/s Intel Core i5 760

Please keep in mind for Price-to-Performance Ratio and availability in Mumbai.

whoru007 said:
Which one to Get from the list below,

1. AMD Athlon II X4 635 V/s Intel Core i3 530
2. AMD Phenom II X4 955 V/s Intel Core i5 650
3. AMD Phenom II X6 1055T V/s Intel Core i5 760

Please keep in mind for Price-to-Performance Ratio and availability in Mumbai.

1) X4 635.
2) X4 955 because of price. And i5 750 much is better than 650 for just .5k to 1k more
3)1055T for multi-threaded apps and i5 760 for gaming

C

Hello,

I may be able to extend my budget to 45000 INR. Could you help me with the system which I will upgrade every year.

I can set aside 10K for upgrades every year.

My intentions are only watching movies and no gaming (Even my PS3 sits idle)

Would you recommend a higher end motherboard to make future upgrade easier?

AMD Athlon II x4 955
MSI 880GMA E45
G.Skill 2 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz
WD 500GB Blue
LG 22X SATA DVD
FSP Saga II 500W
CM Elite 310
Benq G2420HD 24" LCD
Logitech K&Bk
Altec Lansing VS-2421
APC 650VA
Sapphire HD4670 512MB GDDR3

Can you suggest changes? I decided to go with AMD anyway

for watching movies you dont need a phenom 955. its a great overkill. athlon II x4 640 @ 5.2k will be more-4 than sufficient!!
what will you upgrade in future? if you are building this rig for only watching movies it will last for a long-10 time.

i fully agree with jassy. ok lets edit your config a bit.

coolguythampy said:
AMD Athlon II x4 955 ---> Athlon II X4.
MSI 880GMA E45 ---> Gigabyte GA-MA880GMA-UD2H. good all round board.
G.Skill 2 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz ---> for now 2Gb enough.
WD 500GB Blue ---> get 1Tb. as movie will fill up the 500Gb faster than you thinking. or get 500Gb Blue + 500Gb Green.
LG 22X SATA DVD
FSP Saga II 500W ---> have a look at Corsair CX400W or get the 400W unit from FSP.
CM Elite 310
Benq G2420HD 24" LCD
Logitech K&Bk
Altec Lansing VS-2421
APC 650VA
Sapphire HD4670 512MB GDDR3 ---> do you really need it? i'll say get the HD5570 512Mb.

C

Jaskanwar Singh said:
for watching movies you dont need a phenom 955. its a great overkill. athlon II x4 640 @ 5.2k will be more-4 than sufficient!!
what will you upgrade in future? if you are building this rig for only watching movies it will last for a long-10 time.

I will upgrade every year if required... Currently I watch my movies using my TV, but it's not full HD. So I am planning to watch HD movies (rarely) using my new computer.

My other uses will be web browsing and word processing. My current laptop which is a celeron M and 2GB ram does those things very well. Only glitch is HD movies cant be viewed properly.

Ok. So how is this build?

AMD Athlon II x4 640
Gigabyte GA-MA880GMA-UD2H
G.Skill 2 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz (Prefer 4 GB just in case)
2* WD 500GB Blue
LG 22X SATA DVD
FSP Saga II 400W
CM Elite 310
Benq G2420HD 24" LCD
Logitech K&Bk
Altec Lansing VS-2421
APC 650VA (Do I need this much???)
ATI HD5570 512Mb (Which brand???)

Thanks

"APC 650VA (Do I need this much???)" - u can even go for 550VA tho 650 wud b better!

C

ssb1551 said:
"APC 650VA (Do I need this much???)" - u can even go for 550VA tho 650 wud b better!

How much back up time can I expect with a 650VA and 550VA UPS for the above configuration?

nice one by sammy..bahut dino baad sam ka bhi mood ban gaya rig suggest karne ke liye! :-D

for gfx card brand look at sapphire or msi.

^^ nothing like this yaar. you don't give me (or anyone) any chance to suggest something better.

I didnt understand sam.....

i mean the config suggested by u are always best & suites the OP's requirements perfectly. only a small problem. you always cross the budget by at least a few hundred to a couple of thousands.

yaar asi bhi koi baat nahi ho gayi..i really miss your opinions in every thread of suggestion!

not possible as i getting really busy nowadays so whenever i can & its needed, i pass comments (you can see i online mainly at or after midnight).