PC for music+movies+surfing+Photoshop in 25K

A friend asked me to help out with the config for a friend of his.
"Need pc for music+movies+surfing in 20K.
...Also, will be using Photoshop."

I said every few hundred bucks more will change config.
It shouldn't happen so that he gets something for 20K and then realises that he could have got something better by putting in a lil more and he could have afforded it too.
That would make for a very unhappy person.

"Ok. 25K.
Also make it 22" LCD for movies."

So after consulting some knowledgable friends,
dabbling with E5300/E7500 based configs,
suggesting using G31 with entry level PCIe gpu,
then moving on to Athlon II X2 with some mobo with DVI out.

here is what has come up finally.

AMD Athlon II X4 620 - 5.4-5.6K (2.6Ghz, quad core)

Biostar A785GE - 3.2K approx (hoping it's available in Mumbai and around that price)
(TA785GE was quoted at 5.5K iirc. once mobo+cpu price is high, AMD price advantage starts diminishing)

2x 2GB DDR2 800 - 4K-4.4K

WD 320GB - 1975/-

LG GH22NS30 sata dvd writer - 1K odd

Gigabyte superb 460- 2.2K

logitech (or Microsoft) optical combo - 600-700

cheap cabinet (with 120mm exhaust fan preferably)- 700-1K
19" widescreen- (1440x900)- 6.5-7.5K as per brand
22" widescreen )1680x1050 - 8K-9K

Mostly BenQ G2220HDA DVI full HDmodel (1920x1080)- price to be checked- 8K approx hopefully


User has been updated about using a smaller but good monitor eg Dell 2007WFP rather than a bigger TN. etc etc
But i am unsure of the exact requirements of this guy- if he only needs a basic rig for basic stuff and will use some PS or what.
I think buyer is unsure too.

Also what's the cheapest decent mobo with DDR3 support?
Will think of DDR3 if mobo+RAM cost remains more or less the same as with cheap DDr2 setup.
(DDR2 prices doubling so suddenly hurts and DDR3 went up too- that's adding insult to injury. )

Please check and drop in your suggestions.


p.s. this is the last config i am chalking out or even assembling for anyone;
just cause the request is from a very good friend to whom i am very much indebted too in terms of friendship.
After having done this 24x7 the last few years, esp trying to fix old rigs for free, as a hobby to help the needy/genuine and for no monetary gains, even sparing no time for self many a times, it's bye bye PCs and maybe TE too.
Hurts when people you tried to help term you as "middleman"/"dealer"/"used parts dealer" etc, especially behind your back.

Procc -AMD Athlon II x4 620 - 5.2k
Mobo -Gigabyte 785GMT-UD2H - 5.9k ( DDR3 mobo )
RAM -Transcend 2 gb 1333mhz -2.6k / Transcend 2x2 gb 1333mhz -5k
PSU -Gigabyte superb 460w - 2.2k
HDD - Seagate 500gb - 2.3k
Dvd writer : Samsung/LG dvd writer - 1k
Monitor : Benq G2220HD - 8k
Cabinet : CM Elite 310 - 1.5k
Logitech Mouse/KB -.7k

Total : 28.3k / 30k

If u r extremely tight on budget go for 2gb ddr3 now and later on upgrade it 4gb ddr3 in 1 or 2 months time.

Don't compromise on DDR3 mobo + Ram even if DDR2 mobo + ram cost less.
Difference is only 2k but u'll reap the benefit later on when DDR2 prices will further rise and DDR3 prices will be halved.

I know DDR3 2gb 1333mhz was 1.8k in may-june

[OT]
When there are guys like us who genuinely help people for free, some people won't digest how can a person put his dedication into their belonging without any profit(They have that feeling because they can't do that).

I do the same thing(recommend and assemble rig for free) and have bit fear in mind that people will call me middleman.
I do it for free so that, I could help them and get their blessings. But, if those same people will say such things behind back, it would be so frustrating, will make us uneasy,etc.....

Hey but this doesn't means that bye bye for PC & TE.(now can you live without PC?......maybe you can but not happily)

[/OT]

sorry for OT. couldn't resist.

Lose the quad. You really are in overkill territory for general usage with the Athlon II 240, so the jump to the 620 is pretty much meaningless, it'll consume more power and put out more heat. Plus the really flimsy coolers with the Athlon II/Phenom II has me worried.

Get a mobo with Sideport memory if you can, I won't worry too much about DDR2/3, this guy doesn't sound like the upgrading type and in any case unless you go to the 1600MHz RAM there's zero performance difference between DDR2 running low latency and 1333MHz generic DDR3, not even enough to justify the added cost.

In the same vein, I would go for the Intel setup with a cheap-as-chips mobo - there's no requirement for gaming or HD video, so why invest in the (more expensive) AMD chipsets? a low-end config will work fine, and a 2K graphics card added 6 months later will work fine in case your friend has a sudden urge to play Counter-strike. As a plus, the Intel setup can be clocked up a few hundred MHz on stock cooling and voltage.

On the other hand, the 240/620 and a 785G will also do - but I think that in this case, it's a halfway home.

Drop the idea of the 2007. It doesn't make sense to add cost, just get a cheap 22" TN panel. I know it seemed like a good idea when we spoke, but drop it already.

Pretty much everything looks fine.

I truly feel for u. Some ungreateful persons come and allegate u of something that u r not. Like he is here for some money, dealer,middleman, promoter of a shop, things like these really piches ur hearts.

To h*e*l*l with these guys who can't identify the person's real feelings, generosity , kindness in taking time from their busy schedule to help others free without any money.

One of the main reason why I stay away from money matters/dealings. Suggesting people what to buy and at times even helping them narrow down to the dealer is ok, but buying for them etc. isn't.

With due respects,

Since he's the kind of guy who will avoid upgrading , athlon II x4 620 is better keeping in mind ab8 future years , if he wants to game and so on. Plus he asked a rig for photoshop requirements too other than surfin , movies, music. The Athlon II x4 620 will help in multithreaded applications like photoshop than a dual core(core 2 Duo,AtlonII x2 240)

I recommended DDR3 not for performance leap but for future upgradability when DDR2 prices will rise and DDR3 prices will fall.

With due respects, there can't be an intel rig that can match Athlon II x4 620 rig at this price point.

I feel we shud not repent after upgrading our pc and if he goes dual core +DDR2 now , definitely he will repent knowing just for some 2k-3k he could have had a futureproof rig

DC has some clockspeed advantage, so it's a question of what he's using and how much. Even in PS, a fast DC will render most filters quicker than a slow-clocked quad, though a quad is generally smoother.

AnandTech: AMD Athlon II X4 620 & 630: The First $99 Quad Core CPU

See how close the E7500 is to the 620, just two seconds off a complete test suite.

As for future upgrade choices of DDR2/3, you do have a point but you have to keep in mind the needs of the guy today as well. I don't see a rig with just 2Gb of memory as a viable option today, sorry. On a Win7 install with just this browser window and a torrent running in the background, I'm down to 104MB free of 4GB (256 is shared with video, so that could be ~350MB). This is really not enough, even if the machine is snappy enough for most anything. As of today DDR1600 is too expensive, so one is stuck with DDR1333 and when the upgrade does happen one will have to get brand new RAM, all of it, so there's no potential cost savings anyway.

In case you think otherwise, I'm an AMD fan - of the 15 systems I have had over the last 10 years, one has been Intel. One. But in this case, I advise spending the money where it matters. 25K is a very tight budget. Getting a rig to do all of this is asking too much, IMO. I think there's another thread asking for a similar config (Renegade, methinks) and I think a budget of that kind fits a general use rig with some light gaming, but anything with quality components for some kind of professional usage requires a bit more moolah.

I advised to buy DDR3 2gb now and later buy another 2gb in 1 or 2 months time. Going with DDR2 now by saving some 2k wud be foolish.

U shud never repent after upgrading that by spending some 2k more u cud have made ur system futureproof.

U can can save some 2k moolah on DDR2 mobo+ Rams DDR2 but u wud repent in less than 6 months when DDR3 prices wud be halved and DDR2 prices will rise further.

Just buy 2gb now . It will be enough for ur needs for 1 or 2 months and later and then buy one 2gb ddr3 more.

Think ab8 it.

Before deciding consider other people's opinions too

If you enjoy helping ppl, then those you helped would outnumber the snarky ones by a decent margin.

There's always the risk ppl will think otherwise but can they ever prove it

Proccy- AMD AthlonII X4 620 - 5.3k
M/B- Biostar A785GE - 3.2k (Has a very good IGP(HD 4200) capable of handling HD videos with eaze)
Ram- Transcend 2GB 800MHz DDRII -2k
HDD- Seagate 500GB 7200.12 SATA 3.5" - 2.3k
Monitor - BenQ G2220HDA DVI full HDmodel ~8-8.5k
Cabinet- Zebronics Bijili cabby with 400w SMPS - 1.7k
Optical Drive- any DVDRW- 1.1k
Speakers - Altec Lansing BXR1221 -1.1k
Micorsoft/Logitech combo - 0.7k
As you know more the core better it is for multi threaded apps. The Photoshop CS4 is one of those that uses all cores. This will cost you ~25.5k approx.
I would suggest you drop the generic PSU which will save you 0.5-0.6k and go for the Zebronics Pro 350w-1.5k. Will cost you 1k more but you will benifit in the long run considering the processor is a quad core with 95w TDP.

Well i completely agree with Karthi007 but i feel u shud not compromise on psu for futher expandability of a gfx.

I know a ddr3 rig wud cost u 2k above ur budget but it'll pay off when DDR3 prices r halved in the future and DDR2 prices rises.

I feel one shud not repent after buying something for pc knowing that had he spent some more money ( 2K-3k ) he cud have made his system futureproof.

Bikey, U know better than that at least.
For one person who may think like that ^ you have at least a dozen more who appreciate you.
So better stop thinking such stuff, and get back in line at TE.

{OT}

bikey ...you are the last person who should leave TE ....i also suggest and build stuff for people but really its not for they patting my back or money ....its just that i like to get hands on building stuff .. sometimes its frustrating , most of the time its very satisfying ...

we love you bikey ...i am sure TE overpowers the dumb people who call u names

OP has not mentioned the usage of a generic PSU anywhere.