PC Buying Guide 2012 - Q4

[max_snyper]

We are not fans....nor we do promote any company....its just the following things we grade a product...

1. what price point a particular product is provided to us.
2.how the product performs.
3.Is it value for money.
4.Is it available in mass quantity.
5.How is the rma services provided to a product (Important if you live in India)

If (nvidia)Kepler pawns (amd)Southern Islands...and its priced correctly(i mean competitively)..u'll see many suggestions on keplar than southern islands...as simple as that.

[ico]

looks like only ati radeon fans here...... no nvidia fans like me....

Since HD 48xx. ATi/AMD has generally created better graphic cards than nVidia at most price points. And also, they haven't had a *bad* product. nVidia had bad products in GTX 465/470/480/590.

If (nvidia)Kepler pawns (amd)Southern Islands...and its priced correctly(i mean competitively)..u'll see many suggestions on keplar than southern islands...as simple as that.

Don't worry about that. Kepler will be faster than Southern Islands on the cost of a huge die size.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

check these -

Sub 20k (Best for office work,movies,downloading)


Note -
rev 3.1 of Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P is better. rev 4.0 cuts on phases to 3+1 instead of 4+1.

Optional upgrades for 20k -

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Sub 25k (Best for office work, multimedia)


Note -
Another option is AMD Phenom II X2 560 @ 4900 and Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P (rev. 3.1) @ 2700.

Optional upgrades for 25k -

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Sub 30k (Casual gaming,multi media)


Optional upgrades for 30k -

Note -
rev 3.1 of Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P is better. rev 4.0 cuts on phases to 3+1 instead of 4+1.

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more soon!

athlons are not available.
and phenom 840 is 6k now.

[whitestar_999]

how about this budget option for those preferring intel & plan to upgrade to ivy-league with no plan of overclocking.

also it seems that market(nehru place) & online shops are increasingly getting the rev 4.0 & many shops(online as well) don't provide any info about which version are they selling.since rev 3.1 is older revision it is expected that all new shipments to market are 4.0 & will eventually replace the 3.1 version.

[vickybat]

@ Jaskanwar

Buddy scrape off the faster dual cores and stick with slower quad cores for the 30k config. Games are really becoming multicore optimized and dual cores won't be cutting it anymore that too without the support to handle more than two threads.

x4 will be fine here.

Are you touting for the X2 560 to unlock?

[Jaskanwar Singh]

batman athlons are not available anymore anywhere.

whitestar_999 ok.
actually smc has mentioned rev on their site. a 880g gbt is available in 4.0 and 3.1 rev but they have updated 3.1 to 4.0 for the above board sadly.

BTW phenom 555 and athlon 245 are available at prime. remaining money at saga II 500 which is 300 bucks more!

AMD Processor in India | Buy Processor Online at cheap Price

[vickybat]

^^ Oh man i've been out for too long. Then we can suggest llano quadcores instead. Make a 30k llano config buddy. Its best for this budget imo.

Lets not suggest expensive dual cores anymore.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

but batman llano tri core 3500 is there for 4650. quad is 6250 which will cut on gpu.

till 40k -

Spoiler:

Motherboard Notes -
1. rev 3.1 of Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P is better for overclocking. rev 4.0 cuts on phases to 3+1 instead of 4+1. Also rev3.1 hits its capability threshold with an x6 at 1.45V -

protective shutdown at this point despite cooling. And rev3.1 supports 140w processors onstead of 95w support of rev4.0. So try to find rev31 of that board.
2. Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H also has same case. rev3.1 is better. has 4+1 phase design and supports 140w processors and oppsoed to 95w support and 3+1 phase of rev4.0.

Sub 20k (Best for office work,movies,downloading)


Optional upgrades for 20k -

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Sub 25k (Best for office work, multimedia)


Note -
Another option is AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE @ 4500 and Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P (rev. 3.1) @ 2700.

Optional upgrades for 25k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 30k (Casual gaming,multi media)


Optional upgrades for 30k -

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Sub 35k (Entry level gaming,multi media)


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Sub 40k (Mid range gaming,multi media)


Optional upgrades for 70k -

---------------------------------------------------------------------

[d6bmg]

^ nice change in 25K rig.
A6 3500 would be more than enough for a 25K rig.

[vickybat]

but batman llano tri core 3500 is there for 4650. quad is 6250 which will cut on gpu.

till 40k -

Spoiler:

Motherboard Notes -
1. rev 3.1 of Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P is better for overclocking. rev 4.0 cuts on phases to 3+1 instead of 4+1. Also rev3.1 hits its capability threshold with an x6 at 1.45V -

protective shutdown at this point despite cooling. And rev3.1 supports 140w processors onstead of 95w support of rev4.0. So try to find rev31 of that board.
2. Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H also has same case. rev3.1 is better. has 4+1 phase design and supports 140w processors and oppsoed to 95w support and 3+1 phase of rev4.0.

Sub 20k (Best for office work,movies,downloading)


Optional upgrades for 20k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 25k (Best for office work, multimedia)


Note -
Another option is AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE @ 4500 and Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P (rev. 3.1) @ 2700.

Optional upgrades for 25k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 30k (Casual gaming,multi media)


Optional upgrades for 30k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 35k (Entry level gaming,multi media)


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 40k (Mid range gaming,multi media)


Optional upgrades for 70k -

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm then there's no option. But a card like 6770 needs a quadcore and will perform better in bf3 and other future titles. A person spending so much on a dual core will perish imo. My suggestion is to increase the budget a bit and atleast add the tri core llano. The difference between 25k and 35k config should only be the gpu. That's my take buddy.

[Cilus]

Jas, I was thinking if it is possible to fit a AMD llano based Dual core in the 20K segment. Came up with the following one but reached 23K actually. Check it out:
AMD A4-3400 (2.7 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache) @ 3.9K
Radeon HD 6410D Gfx (160 SPs)
Biostar A55ML+ @ 3.45K
G-skill RipjawX 1600 MHz 2 GB @ 0.7K
WD Blue 250GB @ 3.7K
Acer G195HQV 18.5" LCD @ 4.7K
FSP SAGA II 400W @ 1.9K
LG 22X SATA DVD R/W @ 0.9K
Logitech MK100 @ 0.5K
Altec Lancing BXR1221 @ 1K
Zebronics Bijli W/O PSU @ 1.2K
Zebronics 600VA @ 1.275K

[vickybat]

^^ Yup this is better one and even has a better ondie gpu. It will provide a very good multimedia experience for first time pc buyers.

[Cilus]

And here goes the 30K config. Modified the Display, Gfx card mainly. I have included a GTS 450 Cyclone edition which is on the par with HD 6770 because of its factory overclocking and the price is 500 bucks less. But these cost cutting enabled me to put a True Quad core Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Processor as per the Public Demand Also added SAGA II 500W PSU and 4 GB Ram

Here it goes:-

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 6.4K
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P (rev. 3.1) @ 2.7K
Corsair 1333 MHz 4GB Value Ram @ 1.1K
WDC 250GB Blue WD2500AAKX @ 3.7K
LG 22X DVD R/W @ 0.9K
ACer G205H 20" LCD (DVI, VGA) @ 5.3K
MSI Cyclone GTS 450 1GB GDDR5 @ 6.7K
FSP SAGA II 500W @ 2.2K
Zebronics Bijli(w/o psu) @ 1.2K
Zebronics 600VA @ 1.275K
Altec Lancing BXR1221 @ 1K

Total 33.75K. Speaker and Display prices are from Deltapage.com.

[vickybat]

^^ Yes this can be suggested .

I have a highend config in mind for potential buyers into serious multithreading:


Tell me your opinions guys. Should we include this for serious multithreading performance?

[Skud]

Make it 16GB RipjawsZ for quad channel, another 3-4k doesn't matter.

[vickybat]

^^ Yes nice suggestion skud. I forgot about the x79 platform. Thanks for reminding me mate. I feel like i'm back after a long time and seem to have forgotten most basics.
Config edited.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

Jas, I was thinking if it is possible to fit a AMD llano based Dual core in the 20K segment. Came up with the following one but reached 23K actually. Check it out:
AMD A4-3400 (2.7 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache) @ 3.9K
Radeon HD 6410D Gfx (160 SPs)
Biostar A55ML+ @ 3.45K
G-skill RipjawX 1600 MHz 2 GB @ 0.7K
WD Blue 250GB @ 3.7K
Acer G195HQV 18.5" LCD @ 4.7K
FSP SAGA II 400W @ 1.9K
LG 22X SATA DVD R/W @ 0.9K
Logitech MK100 @ 0.5K
Altec Lancing BXR1221 @ 1K
Zebronics Bijli W/O PSU @ 1.2K
Zebronics 600VA @ 1.275K

And here goes the 30K config. Modified the Display, Gfx card mainly. I have included a GTS 450 Cyclone edition which is on the par with HD 6770 because of its factory overclocking and the price is 500 bucks less. But these cost cutting enabled me to put a True Quad core Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Processor as per the Public Demand Also added SAGA II 500W PSU and 4 GB Ram

Here it goes:-

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 6.4K
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P (rev. 3.1) @ 2.7K
Corsair 1333 MHz 4GB Value Ram @ 1.1K
WDC 250GB Blue WD2500AAKX @ 3.7K
LG 22X DVD R/W @ 0.9K
ACer G205H 20" LCD (DVI, VGA) @ 5.3K
MSI Cyclone GTS 450 1GB GDDR5 @ 6.7K
FSP SAGA II 500W @ 2.2K
Zebronics Bijli(w/o psu) @ 1.2K
Zebronics 600VA @ 1.275K
Altec Lancing BXR1221 @ 1K

Total 33.75K. Speaker and Display prices are from Deltapage.com.

buddy i am trying to somewhat bring prices close to budgets

@batman

Hmmm then there's no option. But a card like 6770 needs a quadcore and will perform better in bf3 and other future titles.

nope. depends on game to game. but BF3 performs same from 2600k to phenom II x2. http://www.techspot.com/review/458-b...nce/page7.html
it needs 2 cores atleast though. see how usage is maxed out on dual cores.

but yes quad will be good for future.

and BTW we had a poll which decided nothing above 100k

and just found out Pentium G620 is better than phenom II x2
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/120?vs=406

but its not better than athlon tri cores. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/119?vs=406

found some nice llano oc guides too -
http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30754
they oced 3500 to 3.7GHz from 2.1ghz! killer!!

@all
so what do you think of these -

Spoiler:

Motherboard Notes -
1. rev 3.1 of Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P is better for overclocking. rev 4.0 cuts on phases to 3+1 instead of 4+1. Also rev3.1 hits its capability threshold with an x6 at 1.45V

protective shutdown at this point despite cooling. And rev3.1 supports 140w processors onstead of 95w support of rev4.0. So try to find rev3.1 of that board.
2. Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H also has same case. rev3.1 is better. has 4+1 phase design and supports 140w processors and oppsoed to 95w support and 3+1 phase of rev4.0.

Sub 20k (Best for office work,movies,downloading)


Optional upgrades for 20k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 25k (Best for office work, multimedia)


Optional upgrades for 25k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 30k (Casual gaming,multi media)


Optional upgrades for 30k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 35k (Entry level gaming,multi media)


Optional overclocking upgrades for 35k -

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub 40k (Mid range gaming,multi media)


Optional overclocking upgrades for 40k -

---------------------------------------------------------------------

[vickybat]

@ Jaskanwar

Yes jas i remember the poll. But i think we can bend some rules for good. We cannot restrict the configs in this forum to be gaming oriented only. Giving a 30k + extra for a worthwhile config in this guide is not bad at all imo. Since x79 is a different platform altogether and has a lots of pros over 2600k in the multithreading scenario which is hard to ignore.

Since 3930k is relatively priced lower than the lot expensive big brother 3960k, i thought its a worthwhile addition to this guide for people looking at a powerful workstation,gaming or computing system which runs in heavily threaded environments. Thus thought of giving a config.

There's no harm really adding that imo. See if you can modify some components and add better ones and maybe include a workstation version of the same. You can consult other members about this buddy.

About budget cpu's, pentium g620 makes sense for budget systems as it has more instruction sets than outgoing amd phenom 2 dual cores. Tricores are better but cilus was saying they are not available anymore. See if you can fit some llano tricores like A6 3500.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

About budget cpu's, pentium g620 makes sense for budget systems as it has more instruction sets than outgoing amd phenom 2 dual cores. Tricores are better but cilus was saying they are not available anymore. See if you can fit some llano tricores like A6 350

thats what i did if you check spoiler.

[vickybat]

^^ Yes looks good. And what about sandybridge-E ?

[Jaskanwar Singh]

^err..ok

suggestions on these -


Sub 50k (Mid range gaming)



how to reduce cost?

[vickybat]

^^ I can't find a way to reduce prices. Prices have really increased a lot and there's hardly we can do anything. Let these be like this only.

Btw APC 800VA for 2.8k?? Where buddy?

[whitestar_999]

components like zebronics bijli are very hard to find in nehru place delhi & there is a very high probability that an avg/1st time buyer will get a wrong rev of motherboard.keeping all these in mind & a preference for intel here is my config based on my experience in nehru place.all the components are easy to find in nehru place & almost no chance of getting it wrong.


total:21900 with an option to upgrade to ivy league ivy bridge in future (miss the good old days of clarkdale,wolfdale..)

all components are named the way in which there is no confusion.either a shopkeeper will tell you he has intel dh61ww with pci slot or not.no confusion regarding revisions etc.processor & mobo can be bought from PL computers,nehru place(authorized intel dealer).intex usb mouse can be bought from any small shop.rest of the components can be bought from cost to cost,nehru place.fsp saga II need to be purchased online from theitwares but if you can find it at PL computers you can get it for ~1750.

pentium G620 operating temps & power consumption are very close to core i3 2100T so i have chosen a cheap cabinet,ups & 400W power supply as these are enough.even a generic 500W supply which costs ~650 is enough for this system but i chose not to include it.this system is faster than similarly priced dual core phenom with good enough onboard graphics more powerful than 760G.Llano graphics is better than intel but pentium G processor has better core performance.at this budget config only those who play games find llano better which in my opinion is a minority because even a decent gamer wiil get at least a ~3000 graphics card to play games.for rest intel config is the better option with everything running at stock speeds & no plan of overclocking.

[Extreme Gamer]

ivy league eh? Are you sure?

The 3930k is a bad chip. Go Xeon (SB-EP).

[Jaskanwar Singh]

whitestar thanks for config. will look into that.

batman its some other version of 2.8k. dont know. someone posted it

[d6bmg]

@vicky: Instead of 3930K, use 3960X which will make that 1.5L rig. Users who can buy buy 3930K, can easily afford the superior 3960X without any problem.

[Tenida]

@vicky: Instead of 3930K, use 3960X which will make that 1.5L rig. Users who can buy buy 3930K, can easily afford the superior 3960X without any problem.

Man.....are you sure....??

Intel Core i7-3930K Processor (12M Cache, 3.20 GHz) costs Rs.36K/-
Intel Core i7-3960X Processor Extreme Edition costs 60K

Its not just mere 2-5k difference, 30K diff. is huge.3930K is normal BMW and other is Ferrari

[Cilus]

ivy league eh? Are you sure?

The 3930k is a bad chip. Go Xeon (SB-EP).

Could you provide here some links or online shops in India where xeons are available?

Actually we want configs that can be purchased from here only.

[Extreme Gamer]

You can get Xeons in India.

Bitfang has some but the LGA2011 line will come in a few months.

[d6bmg]

Man.....are you sure....??

Intel Core i7-3930K Processor (12M Cache, 3.20 GHz) costs Rs.36K/-
Intel Core i7-3960X Processor Extreme Edition costs 60K

Its not just mere 2-5k difference, 30K diff. is huge.3930K is normal BMW and other is Ferrari

I've mentioned na, the total price would be around 1.5L once the rupee-dollar ratio stabilizes.

You can get Xeons in India.

At kolkata, one have to pre-order them through Intel Supply Chain of retailers.