# Buying assembled PC - Is my Config good? Plz Help...



## aruncs78 (Sep 15, 2010)

Guys,

I will be buying a assembled PC this week and need to know if the below config and pricing is good enough? Its more for 3D anim stuff and encoding movies.

CPU AMD Phenom II 3.4 Ghz. 965 X4 Black Edition 8,339.00
GigaByte ATI 890GX Chipset GA-890GPA-UD3H 10,505.00
Corsair Memory DDR III 2x2 Gb 1333 mhz 4,822.00
PCI Express Geforce GTX460 1 GB DDR5 13,945.00
Cabinet Cooler Master Elite 430 without SMPS 2,885.00
SMPS Corsair 450W VX 3,711.00

 Total = Rs. 49029

Please note that I already have a monitor and HDD and DVD writer.

Also, is the Graphics card (GTX460) a must considering the fact that the motherboard already has in-build graphics capabilities.

And Should I go for DDRIII of 1333Mhz or try a higher - whichever the Motherboard supports?

Thanks and plz reply soon...

oops:


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## coderunknown (Sep 15, 2010)

as you mentioned 3D animation & encoding. so an immediate change is needed. change the X4 for an X6 1050T.

change the board to MSI 890GX based one. spending 10k on a motherboard is NONSENSE.

get more ram. preferably 6-8Gb.

the card is a good one. so is the PSU. stick to those. cabinet is also good.


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## bobby23 (Sep 15, 2010)

Go for Corsair 550W I don't think 450 is sufficient. If you want an idea about how much power you need go to eXtreme Power Supply Calculator v2.5


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## ashu888ashu888 (Sep 15, 2010)

get a good wattage PSU, preferably a 500+ W PSU...


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## Piyush (Sep 16, 2010)

VX 550W recommended here
6-8 gigs of ram + gtx 460 is not a joke

i'm not saying 450W will not be able to handle this stuff
but why take risks
 550 will be more future proof


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## Jaskanwar Singh (Sep 16, 2010)

for the card look at brands - zotac/msi.


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## pegasus (Sep 16, 2010)

Sam.Shab said:


> as you mentioned 3D animation & encoding. so an immediate change is needed. change the X4 for an X6 1050T.
> 
> change the board to MSI 890GX based one. spending 10k on a motherboard is NONSENSE.
> 
> ...


Sam sir- we get 1050T? How much?

10K on motherboard is not Nonsense- choice and requirement may change from person ot person.
Say you want Toyota Altis but are given Alto because the giver said spending 10L on car is nonsense?
makes sense?

More RAM is ok, 4GB or 8GB,
6GB sounds stop gap?
If i want to use 6GB, i get X58. 

X6 1055T
M4A87TD
GTX460
VX550
NZXT Gamma


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## Cilus (Sep 16, 2010)

> 10K on motherboard is not Nonsense- choice and requirement may change from person ot person.
> Say you want Toyota Altis but are given Alto because the giver said spending 10L on car is nonsense?
> makes sense?



Well pegasus, there should be huge performance gap between an Alto and an Altis, right. Alto cannot offer the performance of a Altis.

What Sam pointed out is going for a 10k motherboard for AMD based solution will give you hardly any performance difference and it is very very true. A 6k or 7k board from different brands will give you almost same performance.

And I know "choice and requirement may change from person ot person." But this is a Tech forum, here we suggest the optimum solution based on the money and performance, not based on personal choice.
If personal choice is the dominating factor for you, why bother to ask, go with your personal choice... Done.

Now Phenom II 1055T will cost you around 10k with 4% vat.
MSI 890GXM-G65 @7.2k will be gr8 as mobo.
And 1 thing, for getting a 6 GB ram, you don't need to have Triple channel memory controller like Intel Core i7 processors. Extra Ram will always help you on performance. ya, the performance improvement will not as great as Intel Core 7 processors.

This multi channel memory controller is a relatively new concept and it has became commercialized with AMD 64 bit and new Intel processors released at that time. before that, I think people also used multiple ram sticks in their system, without having Dual channel config and they had their performance improvement.

And regarding the DDR3 ram speed, 3D stuff, editing does not need very high speed or high performance ram. The normal 1333 MHz value ram is enough for it. Rather than purchasing expensive ram modules, add more value ram to the system. It will yield better performance.


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## pegasus (Sep 16, 2010)

Cilus sir-
You on one hand post very relevant and sound suggestions.
But not all can comment as maturely as you or some other senior members do.
Some seem to have a free run with their suggestions, sometimes bordering on absurdity.
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/hardware-discussions/130618-should-ddr2-rams-pair.html#post1281794
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/hardware-q/131569-suggest-proccy-mobo.html

I am new here, want to be a part of the community and not here to pick a fight- absolutely honestly and sincerely. 
But i feel it's the duty of every member to post only if they have the correct information.


Cilus said:


> Well pegasus, there should be huge performance gap between an Alto and an Altis, right. Alto cannot offer the performance of a Altis.


But neither can the Altis offer the VFMness, cost per Km and other value related advantages an Alto offers, especially to someone who is not looking at performance and looks at cars only as a means of commuting.
Always 2 sides to a coin except in the movies. 


Cilus said:


> What Sam pointed out is going for a 10k motherboard for AMD based solution will give you hardly any performance difference and it is very very true. A 6k or 7k board from different brands will give you almost same performance.


There wasn't an issue if he had said it the way you said.
But one cannot claim it to be nonsense. (in CAPs that too )
Even cars have variants with the same body+engine- there is always a reason why one has to pay more (though at times it is a bit too much).
Perfomance difference with mobos of the same chipset at stock spped is not huge maybe.
But at least product quality/stability/reliability and features offered are more usually- just as a pricier car would maybe claim to be safer or more stable at higher speeds


Cilus said:


> And I know "choice and requirement may change from person ot person." But this is a Tech forum, here we suggest the optimum solution based on the money and performance, not based on personal choice.
> If personal choice is the dominating factor for you, why bother to ask, go with your personal choice... Done.


Now you are making that bit too personal. 
Optimal need not imply cheapest too.
All price segments may have their own optimal solution?


Cilus said:


> And 1 thing, for getting a 6 GB ram, you don't need to have Triple channel memory controller like Intel Core i7 processors. Extra Ram will always help you on performance. ya, the performance improvement will not as great as Intel Core 7 processors.


I was just pulling his leg on the triple channel part- it obvious as X58 doesn't fit our OP's requirement or budget.
But most users get 4GB or 8GB- especially as good ram is best bought in kits (matched pairs).
6GB does seem stop gap for those who seem serious about their work/profession.


Cilus said:


> This multi channel memory controller is a relatively new concept and it has became commercialized with AMD 64 bit and new Intel processors released at that time. before that, I think people also used multiple ram sticks in their system, without having Dual channel config and they had their performance improvement.


Dual channel memory controller is so old tech. :S
And why not promote good/new technology, especially if doesn't cost you extra.


Cilus said:


> And regarding the DDR3 ram speed, 3D stuff, editing does not need very high speed or high performance ram. The normal 1333 MHz value ram is enough for it. Rather than purchasing expensive ram modules, add more value ram to the system. It will yield better performance.


I have not mentioned RAM in the suggested config.
Since he may buy a GTX460, already seconded by others, i just suggested a cheaper board with no onboard gfx and diverted the money to VX550 (mainly for the 2x PCIe power connectors).
If some more is left, the OP may buy himself 8GB instead of 4GB(/6 GB). 

Not everything can be or has to be stated explicitly imho.
But i hope you too understood what i wanted to convey.
This is just a casual discussion for me even if there are differing opinions and no way does it undermine the respect i have for all the seniors/gurus here who take time off to help others. 
But we should also not forget what Spidey's uncle had told him- went something like "with great power comes great responsibility" iirc.


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## coderunknown (Sep 16, 2010)

pegasus said:


> Sam sir- we get 1050T? How much?



for around 2k more he should get the X6 over the X4. with the i7 950 avl at 15k, i7 930 should have a slight price drop. this should force the X6 1090T close to 12k & the 1050T below 10k.



pegasus said:


> 10K on motherboard is not Nonsense- choice and requirement may change from person ot person.
> Say you want Toyota Altis but are given Alto because the giver said spending 10L on car is nonsense?
> makes sense?



yes i know 10k mobo is premium one but see what he going for:

890GX based = Xfire ready. no to SLI.
GTX460 = with a Xfire ready board, he limited to using it. had he went for a HD5770/HD5850, it'll make sense spend on a 10k board thats based on 890FX (X16+X16 Xfire) or 890GX. also, i feel he can go for GTX470 (or a pro card) instead of spending 10k on a board when a 5k will bring him a descent entrylevel board.

10k is the way to go if going for X58 but when going for AMD, 10k board doesn't makes much sense.

also 1 important thing, a PC should never be compared to a car. i used to have this signature but changed it.



pegasus said:


> X6 1055T
> *M4A87TD*
> GTX460
> VX550
> NZXT Gamma



ASUS is the God of crap board nowadays. every motherboard carries some kind of super odd problem.



Cilus said:


> What Sam pointed out is going for a 10k motherboard for AMD based solution will give you hardly any performance difference and it is very very true. A 6k or 7k board from different brands will give you almost same performance.



thats exactly what i mean.



Cilus said:


> Now Phenom II 1055T will cost you around 10k with 4% vat.
> *MSI 890GXM-G65 @7.2k will be gr8 as mobo.*
> And 1 thing, for getting a 6 GB ram, you don't need to have Triple channel memory controller like Intel Core i7 processors. Extra Ram will always help you on performance. ya, the performance improvement will not as great as Intel Core 7 processors.



this is an excellent board for money. VFM board.



Cilus said:


> And regarding the DDR3 ram speed, 3D stuff, editing does not need very high speed or high performance ram. The normal 1333 MHz value ram is enough for it. Rather than purchasing expensive ram modules, add more value ram to the system. It will yield better performance.



the triple ch memory stick (that comes in factor of 3) cost same as 8Gb value or performance ram brought separately/as a kit. why? are the tri ch memory kits priced so high cause its going to be used with a premium proccy or cause of their low latency & high OC headroom?



pegasus said:


> But i feel it's the duty of every member to post only if they have the correct information.



yup. thats right. many times i posted infor that don't have solid proff (cause i read it in articles by Anand or at Tom's HW).



pegasus said:


> There wasn't an issue if he had said it the way you said.
> But one cannot claim it to be nonsense. (in CAPs that too )



yah that was something i shouldn't have done 



pegasus said:


> I have not mentioned RAM in the suggested config.
> Since he may buy a GTX460, already seconded by others, i just suggested a cheaper board with no onboard gfx and diverted the money to VX550 (mainly for the 2x PCIe power connectors).
> If some more is left, the OP may buy himself 8GB instead of 4GB(/6 GB).



newegg filled with numerous user comments about this board having bad audio & some ram/PCIe X 16 problem. but yes, audio is one common problem on most Asus board (that use VIA audio. ASUS is VIA fanboy ). So its best (& safe to say good decision) to keep a good distance from Asus motherboards.


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## Cilus (Sep 16, 2010)

1st of all, weather is very hot here right now. Lets cool it down. We are not at all fighting, we are just having conversation and I believe it leads to a solid configuration for the OP...

And pegasus, you don't need to call us *Sir. *We are feeling very old. We all are the member of a family and no one is Sir here.



> the triple ch memory stick (that comes in factor of 3) cost same as 8Gb  value or performance ram brought separately/as a kit. why? are the tri  ch memory kits priced so high cause its going to be used with a premium  proccy or cause of their low latency & high OC headroom?



Even If you place 3 value rams in triple channel config, they will yield better result. Correct me if I'm wrong, I think by saying *triple channel memory stick*, you mean the premium level rams. There is nothing like they are made for triple channel config, even if you place those rams in a dual channel config, they will perform better. 
And you already mentioned (although in question form) because of the low latency and high overclocking potential
For example check the Kingston 3 X 2GB Ram with 9 Cache Latency
is available @ $117, whereas GSkill Pi 3 X 2 GB ram with 6 Cache Latency is available @ $200.
Buying them as dual channel or Triple channel configuration is just for max compatibility as they are of exactly same type.


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## pegasus (Sep 16, 2010)

Sam sir- you are a senior member.
And sometimes noobs take words literally.
Hence the request to all to think before we post. 
(BTW, why 'WindWithMe'?)

No offence but if you read it in articles on AT or Tom's, please do make sure to post the links.
Else it does severe discredit to them or to you- either ways. 

This seemed to have ok reviews.
Newegg.com - ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard


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## coderunknown (Sep 16, 2010)

Cilus said:


> And pegasus, you don't need to call us *Sir. *We are feeling very old. We all are the member of a family and no one is Sir here.



i already told him once. but he still continued use the word "sir". feels really uncomfortable.



Cilus said:


> Even If you place 3 value rams in triple channel config, they will yield better result. Correct me if I'm wrong, I think by saying *triple channel memory stick*, you mean the premium level rams. There is nothing like they are made for triple channel config, even if you place those rams in a dual channel config, they will perform better.
> And you already mentioned (although in question form) because of the low latency and high overclocking potential
> For example check the Kingston 3 X 2GB Ram with 9 Cache Latency
> is available @ $117, whereas GSkill Pi 3 X 2 GB ram with 6 Cache Latency is available @ $200.
> Buying them as dual channel or Triple channel configuration is just for max compatibility as they are of exactly same type.



thanks a lot bro. the latency & timing thing always make me confuse 



pegasus said:


> Sam sir- you are a senior member.
> And sometimes noobs take words literally.
> Hence the request to all to think before we post.
> (BTW, why 'WindWithMe'?)



yes. little tensed (cause of the heat & humidity & college load).



pegasus said:


> (BTW, why 'WindWithMe'?)



its an old tag. forgotten the actual reason of use  



pegasus said:


> No offence but if you read it in articles on AT or Tom's, please do make sure to post the links.
> Else it does severe discredit to them or to you- either ways.
> 
> This seemed to have ok reviews.
> Newegg.com - ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard



yes. but searching for a specific line isn't a easy task. cause hardly they review 1 particular product. and to make things worst i use GPRS. searching will take sometime.

this is the link to the USB 3.0 board. i am talking about the non-USB 3.0 board (there used to be one). i was thinking of going for this one (when i brought my system sometime ago) but after seeing that it have ram & Audio problem (with Rashi always there to give super bad treatment if something turns out to be bad) decided not to buy it. add to it, everyday i came across Asus board problem here. and everyone suggested me take the safe route.


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## pegasus (Sep 17, 2010)

No more sir- but everytime i address anyone, please consider i typed that in invisible chars. 

Sam- google for 'windwithme'- you will be pleasantly surpised if you don't know about him already. 

Another thing i always wanted to discuss with you is-
Future price prediction of low-end items due to price cuts on higher priced items is simply speculating.
One place you had mentioned DDR3 1333 will become dirt cheap, even going on to post  the price you envisioned them to be at a year down the line.
Here you discuss- possible(/may not be possible) price cut on i7 930 and even carry over it's effect on AMD chips- things that have not happened yet or may not even happen maybe.

In our hardware world, expensive stuff sees price cuts and the entry level stuff gets phased out and the next higher model replaces it at the same price point.
It has been observed that there usually is a minimum mark for every segement below which manufacturers don't let the market price drop.
eg.
We now get E5400/E5500 at almost the same price point the E5200/E5300 was at some time back.
But we won't find the latter at a much cheaper price.

DDR3 1333 is amost standard stuff for us but do we get DDR3 1066 dirt cheap just like you envisioned DDR3 1333 to be when DDR3 1600 is considered basic stuff for most rigs?

We may discuss such stuff casually with our forum or other pals in person/IM etc but posting that on forums is a big no-no imho; especially on threads seeking suggestions on what to buy now.

E21xy/E5x00, G31/G41, DDR2 800 were most probably the only items we have seen such low prices for.
Computers have not been and most probably won't be so fast for so less, imho.


Cilus said:


> For example check the Kingston 3 X 2GB Ram with 9 Cache Latency
> is available @ $117, whereas GSkill Pi 3 X 2 GB ram with 6 Cache Latency is available @ $200.
> Buying them as dual channel or Triple channel configuration is just for  max compatibility as they are of exactly same type.


Cilus- you meant Cas Latency (CL) i presume. 

Adding to what Cilus said,
buying a good quality RAM kit (2-3 sticks in one pack) offers us maximum compatibility/stability as we get-
- 2-3 very similar or almost identical memory sticks that are from the same batch and offer similar quality on both as result
(good ram also has better PCB and component quality compared to value stuff)
- use the same chips (again from the same batch usually)
- handpicked/binned chips as per the specs/price range
- Factory-tested by the manufacturer to perform flawlessly in a pair/threesome. (pun not intended) 
- Manufacturer assurance to provide same or equivalent or better kit when RMAed.
(hence if one stick dies, we need to send all sticks for RMA and we get a fresh new kit of the same or something that is equivalent or better in specs as per availability)

sorry for all this O/T mods and everyone else. 
I didn't know how to say all that and didn't want to start a new thread for something not very important either.


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## coderunknown (Sep 17, 2010)

pegasus said:


> Sam- google for 'windwithme'- you will be pleasantly surpised if you don't know about him already.



AFAIK this the signature of a writer from TH. not know much about him but read a couple of article on motherboard. very detailed & simple to understand. but didn't came across any review by him this year. you know him? any link? 



pegasus said:


> Another thing i always wanted to discuss with you is-
> Future price prediction of low-end items due to price cuts on higher priced items is simply speculating.
> One place you had mentioned DDR3 1333 will become dirt cheap, even going on to post  the price you envisioned them to be at a year down the line.
> Here you discuss- possible(/may not be possible) price cut on i7 930 and even carry over it's effect on AMD chips- things that have not happened yet or may not even happen maybe.



by dirt cheap i didn't mean the price will come to that the price of potatoes  i know what you mean. DDR3 ram price will come down to around 1.2k/2Gb of 1333Mhz value ram. it should (A-Data & Hynix can be found for . cause by next year, there hardly will be any new chip (maybe Intel will into couple of fast Dual Core E6*** processors as rumored) that needs only DDR2. all will use DDR3 (Atom now on DDR3 as well). so if the price remains constant, it doesn't makes much sense. price should come down slowly but surely. cause the price of manufacturing will come down, and to be competitive someone will drop price a bit. than second one. and so on. but yes, after a certain point, manufacturer will simply drop the production of slower ram & shift to a faster to keep themselves profitable. Eg: DDR3 800 & 1066 no more available.



pegasus said:


> In our hardware world, expensive stuff sees price cuts and the entry level stuff gets phased out and the next higher model replaces it at the same price point.
> It has been observed that there usually is a minimum mark for every segement below which manufacturers don't let the market price drop.
> eg.
> We now get E5400/E5500 at almost the same price point the E5200/E5300 was at some time back.
> But we won't find the latter at a much cheaper price.



oops. maybe i should have read before posting. i written above almost same thing as you written here.



pegasus said:


> DDR3 1333 is amost standard stuff for us but do we get DDR3 1066 dirt cheap just like you envisioned DDR3 1333 to be when DDR3 1600 is considered basic stuff for most rigs?
> 
> We may discuss such stuff casually with our forum or other pals in person/IM etc but posting that on forums is a big no-no imho; especially on threads seeking suggestions on what to buy now.



1066 is EOL i think. only Lynx seems to have it (a month ago when last checked).

yup. i agree fully. 



pegasus said:


> E21xy/E5x00, G31/G41, DDR2 800 were most probably the only items we have seen such low prices for.
> Computers have not been and most probably won't be so fast for so less, imho.



you probably right. cause of instead of low price for Athlon II X4 620, they made it EOL.


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## aruncs78 (Sep 18, 2010)

Guys,

Firsty thans for all the suggestions. I am complete newbie and may not understand the detailed techie stuff. 

I will put some clarifications on the config that I had chosen.

The Processor was chosen as X4 965BE beacuse of the overall comparison charts at anandtech.com that conparitively this is the best for overall performance though X4. Also, I got to know that though there might more cores in X6, it may not be very useful for tasks which may not require all cores and AMD is not good at optimising here as Intel is. I chose not to go for Intel purely from a pricing perspective.

For the MB, I saw in the AMD.com site that this was the best Gigabyte MB (i like Gigabyte somehow) for this X4 965BE processor. I wanted USB3 (since I have Seagate 2TB ext HDD with USB3), HDMI support (for LCD), and some upgradability for X6.

I am ready to go for another Graphics Card or choose to have it in my next buy - The reason for GTX 460 is that Chip gave it Best value for money in their latest edition.

It might be that i am depending too much on reviews from sites and magazines and wud have made a completely stupid config.

Therefore, I wanted all your help to make it better. You cud use my config list - strike out anything you might think is utterly stupid and put in your replacements.

Though, money is not an issue - I dont want to overspend as Gaming is secondary & 3D Anim and Video encoding is primary.

All valuable comments and criticism to my post is welcome..


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