Purchasing a new pc please help !!!

[rudra_chowdhury]

Hi Guys,

I wanna buy a new computer in September, I want to go for something like the following :-

Componet Model Name and No.
===============================================

Processor : Intel Pentium 4 2.8C HyperThreaded,800 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache
Motherboard : Intel D865GBF, 865 chipset, 800MHz FSB , Dual DDR Ram
Primary Storage : Samsung 160 GB IDE Hard Drive, 7200 rpm 5400
Secondary Storage : LITEON CD-RW 52X24X52X
Secondary Storage : LITEON DVD ROM 16X
Ram : Hynix Zion DDR 400 MHz , 256 MB X 2
Printer : Canon xnu i255
Display : Samsung MagicBright 17" Flat Screen
Graphics Card : GeForce 4 Ti 4400 128 MB / 256 MB
ATX Cabinet : Microtek 300W SMPS 52(C )
TV Tuner Card : Pinnacle PCTV Stereo
Keyboard : Logitech Black Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech Optical Mouse
UPS : Microtek
Floppy Drive : Sony


I want opinions about purchasing of a 128MB/256 MB standard graphics card at 5-6K and the purchase of the lowest possible 19" monitor , flat or otherwise .

Also I want to go for a 5.1 speaker set which one I should go for

I prefer Creative Inspire 5200 .


Pls help

[devianthulk]

Ur config looks pretty decent. But i suggest. u go in for
a DVD combo drive or DVD Writer (Liteon --- Rs. 5500/- only).

I've got a DVD combo.. but i repent not having gone in for
a DVD writer.

Anyways, the choice is urs.

[ujjwal]

Your config is good, but I am not sure you will easily find that graphics card ... maybe you should get a radeon 9600? It will be more future proof, as it is DirectX 9 compliant. Talking about future proofing, it makes sense to go for an Athlon64 based processor, especially as they have gone so cheap ...

[suave_guy]

Your current config. is fine if you prefer intel only....

My suggestions:
If you play games or in other words if ur a game freak....
1. Go for AMD 64-bit processor and couple it with upcoming nforce4 motherboard, the reason being that this motherboard supports new PCI express technology for more efficient graphics and gaming. Though you'll have to wait for this motherboard to arrive in the market but pci express cards are already in the market so i guess the launch of nforce4 will be soon. Even if you dont plan to go for pci express card rt. now, considering that its expensive, but still it will be a future proof decision, and the prices will fall in the near future anyway....
2. Its always better to go for two separate drives, so ur current choices for secondary storage is fine....
3. Your current choice of monitor is a good one since its flat and sleek but if you want to consider 19" monitor then a very worthy contender is samsung dynaflat 955DF 19" color monitor....
4. Geforce 4 ti is somewhat ok for a time being, but you would definately want to purchase a pci express graphics card in the future and i can assure you that it will be soon, if you love games
5. Go for SMPS with more wattage atleast 400W, 19" monitor, cooling solutions are always power hungry....
6. For 5.1 speakers creative 5200 is fine if you are on a tight budget, but if you are an audiophile and give preference to quality then go for altec lansing 5100 5.1 speakers @Rs. 10,000 approx.

Even if you dont play games i would still suggest you to go for an AMD 64-bit proccy and nforce3 mobo, and the onboard graphics card is decent enough for day to day needs....

Enjoy

[nikhilesh]

and dont take the 17"flat,take the normal one,u might even improvise on ur card.......

[rudra_chowdhury]

Thanks a lot for ur great advices guys .

This machine is specially meant for gaming so the graphics card is the most important component , I presume .

But should I go for Intel 915 chipset motherboard , it supports the PCI express cards and have Intel media accelarator pro 900 onboard graphics
with Intel hi definition audio .

The problem is that the PCI express cards are out of reach for me economically at this very moment . so whether to go for a Ati Card or a GE force FX card (maybe the 5700 Paladyne FX card of 256 MB memory and 475 MHz clock speed ) is the main question at this moment .

Also I want to ask the gaming champions what would be better going for a 17" Flat monitor or a ordinary ( non-flat) 19" monitor ( The flat 19" good ones cost abt 15-16K , so that is out of budget )

Thanks suave_guy for ur comments ,

can u tell me the appx. price of samsung dynaflat 955DF 19" color monitor ?

And the appx price of the AMD 64 with the best affordable corresponding motherboard . What would be the appx. combo price ?


The combo price for the P4 2.8 GHz and the Intel 865 GBF is Rs 13200 .


And anything about the new Ram standards or Should I stick with 512 MB DDR 400 MHz .

[blade_runner]

@ 5-6k u have very few options,
Radeon 9600Se 5.5k
Ennyah Geforce 5600 (pure) 5.5k
Ennyah Geforce 5700 (pure) 7k
Radeon 9600 7.5k
Fx5200's 3.3k to 4.5k

So its now upto u which card u shd go with ...............

PCI-E is still a nascent technology and isnt that useful right now. Even the PCI-E version of cards like 5700 cost arnd 10-11k right now whereas the AGP counterparts cost arnd 7k.

If ur a enthu gamer then i think u shud allot more money to gfx card and get a 9800pro for 14k.

[nikhilesh]

go for the A64 with a K8V and a radeon 9600,thats the best option,the A64 2800+ is the cheapest and is damn good.it costs only 7.2k.

[satanlives]

the graphics card i would definetly recommend you to go for the 9600 normal 128mb, It is awesome and it handled far cry with everything set on very high pretty well. I baught it last month and it is the best damn card money can buy for 7.5k
Intel Sucks go for AMD 64

Originally Posted by rudra_chowdhury

Hi Guys,

I wanna buy a new computer in September, I want to go for something like the following :-

Componet Model Name and No.
===============================================

Processor : Intel Pentium 4 2.8C HyperThreaded,800 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache
Motherboard : Intel D865GBF, 865 chipset, 800MHz FSB , Dual DDR Ram
Primary Storage : Samsung 160 GB IDE Hard Drive, 7200 rpm 5400
Secondary Storage : LITEON CD-RW 52X24X52X
Secondary Storage : LITEON DVD ROM 16X
Ram : Hynix Zion DDR 400 MHz , 256 MB X 2
Printer : Canon xnu i255
Display : Samsung MagicBright 17" Flat Screen
Graphics Card : GeForce 4 Ti 4400 128 MB / 256 MB
ATX Cabinet : Microtek 300W SMPS 52(C )
TV Tuner Card : Pinnacle PCTV Stereo
Keyboard : Logitech Black Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech Optical Mouse
UPS : Microtek
Floppy Drive : Sony


I want opinions about purchasing of a 128MB/256 MB standard graphics card at 5-6K and the purchase of the lowest possible 19" monitor , flat or otherwise .

Also I want to go for a 5.1 speaker set which one I should go for

I prefer Creative Inspire 5200 .


Pls help

1) Change the processor (2.8 is old it only has 475 pins, go for some 775 pin processor, theres one from the intel, i forgot the name, search it in the intel site else every thing is great)

2) Change the Mother Board( Go for the intel 915 series. supporst the 775 pins cpu, (this will make the cpu faster)

3) If you are going for the Pinnacle Tv tunner "BEWARE". dont install windows XP SP2 (the tunner does not work in the xp sp2, i have it my self, just install windows xp sp1, it works great in it).

4) Else every thing is just Great !!!!EENJOY!!!

[theraven]

spykids .. relax man
the 915 chipset still has nascent technology and adds to the cost for not much of a performance boost !!
that takes care of 1) and 2) ... as for 3 ... there should be updated drivers available on the pinnacle site
if not .. wait for it and monitor it

Originally Posted by theraven

spykids .. relax man
the 915 chipset still has nascent technology and adds to the cost for not much of a performance boost !!
that takes care of 1) and 2) ... as for 3 ... there should be updated drivers available on the pinnacle site
if not .. wait for it and monitor it

1) the 915 G series chipset supports the PCI express Cards (if i am not wrong). which is said to be much faster than the normal PCI slots.

2) if the 915 G series chipset has the PIV 3.0ghz HT (775 pins) Processor, and 865 has a PIV 3.0 Ghz HT (475 pins). the performance from the 915 will be much better.

3) i my self have the 865 GBF.

4) See rudra_chowdhury's configuration. i dont think 3K-4K will effect him. on top of that I dont know abt ur place but in Gujarat 865 are getting Extinct.

[blade_runner]

Dude 915's etc is ok.........but PCI-E has nuthing better to offer with the current games. PCI-E wont be exploited to the fullest currently. Plus the cost difference between PCI-E and AGP cards is more. For eg: a Fx5700 costs 7k and the same one cost arnd 11-12k for the PCI-E version. A wiser decision would be going for AMD 64 based solution.

And btw its LGA Land Grid Array and hence there are no pins !! this isnt PGA or Pin grid Array .....

[theraven]

listen to my man blade here
going for such a system will cost him 3k more. .. but going for cards that support it will cost him an overall of 7k plus

i used to think the same way as u dude new technologies are very tempting
but when ur not an ambani or tata and birla .. u have to think sensibly ... and sensible = amd now

[rudra_chowdhury]

Thanks a lot guys for ur excellent suggestions , a bit of net reasearch and a confirmation from DIGIT august issue ( the article on page 82 , "New Kids on the block" ) and I have finally decided for Intel 915 chipset and Intel P4 LGA 775 Processor )

The questiona about the motherboard leads to two results :-

1.

Intel® Desktop Board D915GAG Features


Form Factor microATX (9.60 inches by 9.60 inches [243.84 mm by 243.84 mm])
Processor Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 Extreme Edition processor in an LGA775 socket with a 800 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor in an LGA775 socket with a 533/800 MHz system bus

Memory Four DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
Support for DDR 400 MHz and DDR 333 MHz DIMMs
Support for up to 4 GB of system memory

Chipset Intel® 915G Chipset
I/O Control LPC Bus I/O controller
Audio Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem using the Realtek ALC860 audio codec.
Video Intel® GMA900 onboard graphics subsystem
LAN Support 10/100 Mbits/sec LAN subsystem using the Intel® 82562EZ Platform LAN Connect (PLC) device
Peripheral Interfaces Eight USB 2.0 ports
One serial port
One parallel port
Four Serial ATA interfaces
One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support
One diskette drive interface
PS/2* keyboard and mouse ports

Expansion Capabilities Two PCI Conventional* bus connectors
One PCI Express* x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector


2.




Intel® Desktop Board D915GAV can help revolutionize your digital life with support for Intel® Pentium 4 processors, Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900, PCI Express* graphics, DDR400/333 memory, and Intel® High Definition Audio.




Intel® Desktop Board D915GAV Features


Form Factor ATX (12.00 inches by 9.60 inches [304.80 mm by 243.84 mm])
Processor Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 Extreme Edition processor in an LGA775 socket with a 800 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor in an LGA775 socket with a 533/800 MHz system bus

Memory Four DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
Support for DDR 400 MHz and DDR 333 MHz DIMMs
Support for up to 4 GB of system memory

Chipset Intel® 915G Chipset
I/O Control LPC Bus I/O controller
Audio Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem using the Realtek ALC860 audio codec.
Video Intel® GMA900 onboard graphics subsystem
LAN Support 10/100 Mbits/sec LAN subsystem using the Intel® 82562EZ Platform LAN Connect (PLC) device
Peripheral Interfaces Eight USB 2.0 ports
One serial port
One parallel port
Four Serial ATA interfaces
One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support
One diskette drive interface
PS/2* keyboard and mouse ports

Expansion Capabilities Four PCI Conventional* bus connectors
Two PCI Express* x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector

[rudra_chowdhury]

The New Modified Configuration is as follows :-
==============================

Componet Model Name and No.
===============================================

Processor : Intel Pentium 4 LGA 775 3.0GHz HT,800 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache

Motherboard : Intel D915GAV, 915 chipset, 800MHz FSB , Dual DDR Ram , Intel Media Accelarator Pro 900, PCI Extreme Graphics , Intel High Definition Audio

Primary Storage : Samsung 160 GB Hard Drive, 7200 rpm SATA HDD
Secondary Storage : LG CD-RW 52X24X52X
Secondary Storage : SONY DVD ROM 16X
Ram : Hynix Zion DDR 400 MHz , 256 MB X 2
Printer : Canon xnu i255
Display : Samsung 997 DF 19" Flat Screen

ATX Cabinet : Microtek 300W SMPS 52(C )
TV Tuner Card : Pinnacle PCTV Stereo
Keyboard : Logitech Black Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech Optical Mouse
UPS : Microtek
Floppy Drive : Sony
Speakres : Creative Inspire 4.1 4400
And About the Graphics ,


I have decided to go for the time being with the onboard Intel 900 Media Accelarator Pro . According the DIGIT article it's much better than the Intel Extreme 2 on the D865GBF

Now , I would wait till December and would finally go for a PCI-Express

My Current Option is :-

GeForce PCX

NVIDIA unveils the GeForce PCX family of graphics processing units (GPUs): the industry’s first top-to-bottom family of PCI Express GPUs.

The GeForce PCX GPUs will deliver better graphics and more vibrant digital media to PC consumers through the additional bandwidth and features offered by Intel’s new PCI Express bus architecture. Since the GPU has the largest bandwidth demand of all the PC subsystems, NVIDIA has been a key contributor to the joint definition, development, and deployment of PCI Express solutions.


And My Chioce of Card is :-

NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5750 GPUs: designed for high-performance gaming with NVIDIA’s full suite of cinematic effects and an unmatched feature set.

[suave_guy]

Yea dude the current config. is fine....

But u need to take care of one thing.... intel is providing you the high defination audio and also the latest games like doom3 and upcoming half life-2 will be demanding 5.1 audio setup atleast....and also the dvds you are going to watch will sound more better and natural in 5.1 setup....
So if somehow you can squeeze in 5.1 speakers in the current config. instead of 4.1 setup, then it would be absolutely fine!

Enjoy

[theraven]

yeah .. dont opt for 4.1 speakers right now
wait and buy 5.1 .. seriously .. u wont be able to upgrade speakers too often unless u got a lot of dough
one more thing. . with this config ... 300w is crap
infact 300 is almost dead anyways
350 is the new standard
with this config do some justice and get a min. 400w psu

[sidewinder]

go for an intel 915 express mobo with gma onboard

pm me your use & budget

[ganesh8]

If you are going to use the machine for gaming, then you need to make sure you have a good graphics card. It is pointless to spend so much and then have a jerky machine while playing games. The purpose of upgrading will be defeated.

I would say cut corners in other components and go for a Nvidia 6800GT based card or ATI X800Pro. If Budget is a constraint, then you should at least get a 5900XT or a 9800Pro or 9800XT based card.

If you are going to depend on low ned cards or on board cards, forget about playing the latest games in their full glory

[rudra_chowdhury]

Dear Ganesh8 ,

Now abt cards allow me to correct u a bit , when u say onboard graphics are not for gaming , u mean it in the hardcore gamer's way . it's all right . But it's wrong to underestimate the gr8 onboard display solns form INTEL . Now the Intel Extreme 2 can support most games even Far Cry . I played it ona friend's D865GBF without graphics cards . The only games not to run are POP 2 : Sands of Time , The Matrix and Doom III .

NOw with a PCX graphics cards in near future I See no harm as this is machine is meant to be a complete home entertainment solution and that doesn't start and finish with games alone ! .

[KHUBBU]

save ur eyes, DONT opt for 19" monitors!

[rudra_chowdhury]

A more complete solution, at least by some aspects ........

================================================== =============================
Componet Model Name and No.
================================================== =============================
Processor : Intel P4 Socket 478, 3.0GHz HT, 800 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache
Motherboard : Intel 875PBZ Neo, 875P chipset, 800MHz FSB , Dual DDR Ram
Primary Storage : Samsung 160 GB SP1604N Ultra ATA, 7200 rpm
Secondary Storage : LG CD-RW 52X24X52X
Secondary Storage : SONY DVD ROM 16X
Ram : Hynix Zion DDR 400 MHz , 256 MB X 2
Printer : Canon xnu i255
Display : Samsung Magic Bright 17" Flat Screen
ATX Cabinet : Microtek 300W SMPS 52(C )
TV Tuner Card : Pinnacle PCTV Stereo
Keyboard : Logitech Black Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech Optical Mouse
UPS : Microtek
Floppy Drive : Sony
Speakers : Creative Inspire 5.1 5200
Graphics Card : GeForce 5600 FX , 128 MB
Sound Card : Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1 SE

[blade_runner]

If u got a little dough left go for transcend or Kingston RAM. Hynix though gives satisafctory performance, spending a few 100 bucks more will give u much better performance with Kingston or Transcend even corsair if u can afford it.

Get a bigger SMPS just to be future-proof in case you upgrade.

The fx5600 is a no go, get a Radeon 9600np for 6.8k dude. Much better performance imo.