From all of the suggestions given, I have come to a conclusion for this config:
Also, the SP Road guys keep telling me that the Prices of all computer items have increased. And minor fluctuation will be there everyday.
1. Processor
- Intel Core 2 Quad
Q9450 (2.66GHz 12MB L2) - Rs. 16500
OR
- Intel Core 2 Quad
Q9550 (2.83GHz 12MB L2) - Rs. 17000
I will go for Q9450. If price difference is within 500 for Q9550, then will go for Q9550.
AFAIK from the
official Intel PRICELIST HERE, both Q9450 & Q9550 are priced the same, due to the fact that Q9450 is being replaced by Q9550 & will no longer be manufactured. But the Indian shopkeepers sell these two for exorbitant prices.
2. Motherboard - ASUS
P5Q Deluxe - Rs. 11600
It will overclock better than the P5Q Pro
AFAIK from reviews over the net. I will overclock later, so will go with this motherboard.
3. Memory -
Corsair DDR2
2x2GB 800MHz - Rs. 5800
Will be going with Corsair brand for its Overclocking, Quality & Warranty wise - very good. Not going for Corsair 1066MHz as it is 10k for 2x2GB model. Will check if Kingston 1066Mhz is available for cheap.
4. HDD
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
500GB (32MB Buffer) - Rs 3450
OR
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
640GB (32MB Buffer) - Rs 3950
Will go for 640GB if available.
5. PSU -
Corsair 750W (CMPSU750TX) - Rs. 8100
I think this will support SLI/Crossfire Easily rather than go for the 620W one which would be crunch for it wrt TWO GTX260/ATI 4870 irrespective of Motherboard.
6. Cabinet - Cooler Master CM690 - Rs. 4100
No change in this. It is spacious & very well ventilated. Lots of good reviews all over the net for the Price/Performance it gives as a Mid-Tower Cabinet.
7. DVD Writer - Sony SATA - Rs. 1200
I prefer to stay with Sony rather than Samsung/LG/Moserbaer. I have no probs with my earlier Sony 16x DVD Writer till date.
8. K/B & Mouse -
Logitech Combo - Rs. 700
Will buy Gaming K/B & Mouse Later. For now, this would suffice.
Regarding Wishlist Items,
UPS - Currently, I have a 650VA UPS which gives me around 23/13 mins backup (without/with LCD monitor on). The older system I have consumes around 90W. Newer system will consume around 350-400W @ max load. My 24" LCD would consume around 60-70W. So was thinking of going for a 1.5KVA which gives me a backup of 10-15mins. Actually might go for an inverter for my house shortly. So will be mostly going for a APC 800VA @ 4700. Before buying, I Will check if the current UPS can support both the systems when power goes & the total Power consumption.
Other items like Soundcard, Speakers, Gaming Keyboard & Laser Mouse, TV Tuner Card & CPU Heatsink will be bought by end of this year.
WRT the graphics card, I have finally decided on these 2 options: NVIDIA GTX 260 Core 216 or ATI Radeon 4870 1GB. Dunno if both are available in Bangalore. But, I am willing to wait till it arrives.
I have read some reviews on Techreport, AnandTech, ExtremeTech & others. This is what they say:
* it is not clear on which to choose as both are equally good
* both cards are good, but NVIDIA is a better option
for GTX 260 : It is Fast, good power efficiency, low noise. But Poor performance with AA modes above 4x.
for ATI 4870: Excellent AA performance, especially 8xAA. Poor idle power utilization, reference cooler could be better.
Check reviews here:
The Radeon HD 4870 1GB: The Card to Get
GeForce GTX 260 reloaded vs. the Radeon HD 4870 1GB
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 and ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB Review
I have also read many more Heated-Discussions between the two cards. The final conclusion I got from all that was to buy the card wrt "which game supports which card better".
Even then, I am still in a confusion as to which one to go between the two. If I go for NVIDIA, i can't SLI. Will have to buy a newer m/b. If I go for ATI, I can crossfire but the P45 chipset will be a bottleneck. So Help me to decide between these 2 GRAPHICS cards. And you can point out if I said something wrong anywhere.
Also, the Nehalem/X58 launch dates of Nov 18th are haunting me to go for that.
