# CPU, Motherboard & RAM upgrade for 20k



## hellknight (Dec 26, 2013)

*1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games  are you going to run? (Stupid answers like 'gaming' or 'office work'  will not work. Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word  'et cetera.')*
Ans: Virtualization (max 2 VM at a time), watching HD movies via XBMC, programming.

*2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.*
Ans: 20k (+2k)

*3. Planning to overclock?*
Ans: Maybe.

*4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?*
Ans: CentOS 6.5 & Arch Linux (primary), Windows 8.1 (only for gaming), OS X Mavericks (for testing the IPA files).  

*5. How much hard drive space is needed?*
Ans: None, I have 2 TB.

*6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention which screen  size and resolution do you want. If you already have a monitor and want  to reuse it, again mention the size and resolution of monitor you have.*
Ans: NO. I already have AOC F22 @ 1080p & Lloyd LCD TV at 768p. Intend to use them both.

*7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?*
Ans: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, SMPS, HDD, ODD, Cabinet, graphics card.

*8. When are you planning to buy the system?*
Ans: Ist week of January

*9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?*
Ans: Loads of time. I'll build it myself.

*10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?*
Ans: Himachal Pradesh.

*11. Anything else which you would like to say?*
Ans: Don't include AMD systems as they don't have support in OS X. Besides, the onboard Intel will be fine for me as I don't want to play games. I'm confused between Intel Core i5 4440 & 4570. Don't know which processor to pick as the price difference is just 1k.


Shortlisted this configuration.

*Processor Intel Core i5 4440 - 11390
Motherboard Gigabyte H87M-D3H - 7090
RAM Corsair XMS 3, 4 GB - 2428
VAT 1045.4
Total 21953.4*


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## rijinpk1 (Dec 26, 2013)

I5 4430 -12.5k /i5 4570 -13.7k
asus b85m g -6.3k /Gigabyte H87M-D3H - 7090
kingston hyperx blu 4gb -2.5k


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 26, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*

Go with i5 4430 , just 200mhz difference between 4430 and 4570 (not worthwile for extra price you pay)

Get h87 board


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## URPradhan (Dec 26, 2013)

Wait till 14th Jan 2014, and get an AMD Kaveri APU.


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 26, 2013)

URPradhan said:


> Wait till 14th Jan 2014, and get an AMD Kaveri APU.



It will not gone be faster than i5


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## hellknight (Dec 27, 2013)

AMD Kaveri is an APU and it will not have proper support for either Arch Linux & OS X. ATI has bad support when it comes to bleeding edge Linux distros. BTW, any idea about the price drop in the coming weeks?


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## URPradhan (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



hellknight said:


> AMD Kaveri is an APU and it will not have proper support for either Arch Linux & OS X. ATI has bad support when it comes to bleeding edge Linux distros. BTW, any idea about the price drop in the coming weeks?


What you are saying bro ? Linux distros do not work with AMD ??? Really laughable 



ASHISH65 said:


> It will not gone be faster than i5


It sits between high end haswell i5 and low end i7.


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## hellknight (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



URPradhan said:


> What you are saying bro ? Linux distros do not work with AMD ??? Really laughable



I *never said* that they don't work with AMD. And update yourself, there's a *difference* between APU & CPU. Also you might want to search* what is bleeding edge* when it comes to Linux. AMD graphics has pathetic support for Linux. It is so bad that the open source driver is faster than the official driver from AMD in some instances. 

AMD has only 2-4 guys who are working for Linux support whereas Intel has a dedicated team of 32 people who work for Linux support. 

Besides this is my current configuration :-

*AMD Athlon II X4 640.*
*Biostar TA 790 GX BE*
*3 GB DDR2 RAM*
*Palit GTX 260 Sonic Core 216 graphics card.*
*Corsair TX 650 V2.*
*AOC F22 monitor.*

Earlier I had ATI 4870 card, but it was so bad in Linux that I swapped it with my friend's NVIDIA GTX 260 card. Besides that, I'm a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) so don't educate me about Linux support, kid.


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 27, 2013)

> Earlier I had ATI 4870 card, but it was so bad in Linux that I swapped it with my friend's NVIDIA GTX 260 card. Besides that, I'm a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) so don't educate me about Linux support, kid.



Cool down


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## hellknight (Dec 27, 2013)

^OK. But he started it . Besides, I never said that AMD does not work with Linux. I've been running CentOS, Arch Linux, Debian, Ubuntu etc etc on that processor (including AMD Athlon X2 4400+) since 5 years.

Now back on topic, what is the difference between Corsair's Vengeance series & the XMS3 series? And is paying extra for Vengeance series justified?


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 27, 2013)

They both are same in performance, XMS3 has better overclocking potential. get whichever is cheaper


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## URPradhan (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



hellknight said:


> I'm a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) so don't educate me about Linux support, kid.


 Oh! Sorry uncle, Pranam


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



URPradhan said:


> Oh! Sorry uncle, Pranam


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## rijinpk1 (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp;amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*

xms3 runs at 1600mhz with 1.65V while vengeance and most others like ripjawsx etc can do it at 1.5v.
i recommend kingston hyperx blu>gskill ripjawsx> corsair vengeance> corsair xms3



ASHISH65 said:


> They both are same in performance, *XMS3 has better overclocking potential. *get whichever is cheaper


over vengeance? how? any proof?



URPradhan said:


> Oh! Sorry uncle, Pranam



ha ha


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## hellknight (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp;amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



URPradhan said:


> Oh! Sorry uncle, Pranam



Thank you, putra. Tumhare bachche jiyen 



ASHISH65 said:


> They both are same in performance, XMS3 has better overclocking potential. get whichever is cheaper



XMS3 is cheaper. So will be getting that..


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## avinandan012 (Dec 27, 2013)

@op get corsair value more than enough for usage. If you are not going to write/run any memory intensive code then the x-tra speed by vengence/xms is not worth it.

 btw does anyone running any XEON based system ???


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## rijinpk1 (Dec 27, 2013)

avinandan012 said:


> @op get corsair value more than enough for usage. If you are not going to write/run any memory intensive code then the x-tra speed by vengence/xms is not worth it.
> 
> btw does anyone running any XEON based system ???



there will be significant difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz ram, but higher that does not have much effect on daily life.  refresh time is better and overall performance would be even more snappier provided the cpu is compatible.


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## hellknight (Dec 27, 2013)

So, apparently, VT-d is supported only on Q87 chipset. Whereas AMD provides the equivalent AMD-Vi on almost every chipset. If it weren't for this hackintosh I would've gladly went with FX-8350. But then, FX-8350 and the compatible board doesn't have onboard graphics I think.


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## avinandan012 (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*

search local markets for Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v3(on FCLGA1150) should be around Rs.16000.


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## rijinpk1 (Dec 27, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp;amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



avinandan012 said:


> search local markets for Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v3(on FCLGA1150) should be around Rs.16000.



within a budget of 22k, it seems impossible.



hellknight said:


> So, apparently, VT-d is supported only on Q87 chipset. Whereas AMD provides the equivalent AMD-Vi on almost every chipset. If it weren't for this hackintosh I would've gladly went with FX-8350. But then, FX-8350 and the compatible board doesn't have onboard graphics I think.



vt-d is supported by non-K series intel cpus


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## hellknight (Dec 29, 2013)

OK.. Me saving money and going with this configuration :-


*Intel Core i3 4130 @ 3.4 GHz, 54 W TDP & HD 4400 - Rs.7500*
*Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H - Rs. 7700*
*8 GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3 - Rs. 5100*
*Total - 20200.*

Reasons behind this :-


In the last 4 years I've played _*only 10 games*_ (Crysis, Crysis 2, Crysis 3, COD 4, COD Black Ops, COD Black Ops II, Tomb Raider, Bulletstorm, Far Cry 3 & Battlefield 3 (played that for 1.5 years, multiplayer). I don't game much.
Secondly, if I use a computer for 6 hours daily, _*then 1 hour is spent in a virtual machine*_, 2 hours on internet & 3 hours in XBMC. So low power FTW.
Lastly, if I decide to get a graphics card in the near future then this CPU is more than enough.
Ars Technica article where _*they used a Pentium Dual core with GTX 660*_ :- Everything you need to know to install SteamOS on your very own computer | Ars Technica . I'm not going to install a card much higher than this one.
Anandtech article on a _*single cpu-single GPU*_ - AnandTech Portal | Best Desktop CPUs: Holiday 2013 . They also said that a single Core i3 is enough for a single high-end card.

What do you guys say?


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 29, 2013)

i3 is not recommended for Virtualization, Get i5 atleast


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## harshilsharma63 (Dec 29, 2013)

hellknight said:


> OK.. Me saving money and going with this configuration :-
> 
> 
> *Intel Core i3 4130 @ 3.4 GHz, 54 W TDP & HD 4400 - Rs.7500*
> ...



i5 4430 (12000)
Gigabyte GA-B85-D3H (6290)
Kingston HyperX Blu 1600 MHz 4 GB x2 (4800)

total: 23k

> Why are you choosing an H87 board?
> i5 will be much better than i3 at virtulization. BTW which VM will you be running?


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## hellknight (Dec 29, 2013)

Where did you find 4430 for 12000?

Reasons to stick to H87 over B85 :-

*No RAID in B85 but it is there in H8*7 (*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1150)
*100% compatibility with OS X Mavericks* (Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide December 2013). So no headaches of messing with kexts and DSDTs.

I'll be running various distros in Virtualbox, you know, distro-hopping, testing them in virtualbox. It is easier to test distros in VirtualBox then to physically install them. But most importantly, a virtual machine of CentOS will always be there on my system, permanently.

EDIT:-

Damn it. Poor research on my part. B85 works perfectly with OS X. Time to rethink the decision.


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 29, 2013)

12k is of local price. you can get @12.6k at flipkart - Intel 3 GHz LGA1150 4430 i5 4th Generation Processor - Intel: Flipkart.com


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## rijinpk1 (Dec 29, 2013)

i3 4130 does not support vt-d which is handy for virtualisation.


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## hellknight (Dec 29, 2013)

rijinpk1 said:


> i3 4130 does not support vt-d which is handy for virtualisation.



The only board which supports VT-d is Q87 chipset based which I can't find anywhere. VT-x is supported by every board.


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 29, 2013)

hellknight said:


> The only board which supports VT-d is Q87 chipset based which I can't find anywhere. VT-x is supported by every board.



AFAIK  VT-d support is only need by cpu and bios update.

see here - Desktop Boards &mdash; Compatibility with Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)



> Intel® Desktop Boards require the following components to support Intel® VT or Intel® VT-d:
> 
> Intel® Processor that supports Intel VT
> BIOS with Intel VT or VT-d support (found on the Security menu in BIOS setup)
> A third party VMM (virtual machine manager) may also be required


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## hellknight (Dec 29, 2013)

Intel is confusing everyone on this planet. Damn Intel, things are so easy with AMD. One socket & one chipset to rule them all. 

See this..

ARK | Compare Intel® Products


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 29, 2013)

Sorry my bad that support is only for Intel Desktop boards


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## hellknight (Dec 29, 2013)

^No problem. See, Intel is using their performance monopoly in everything. For eg:-


There's no support of VT-d in consumer (H87, B85 or Z87 boards). According to them, enthusiasts don't virtualize.
There's no support of VT-d in unlocked K-series processors (either overclocking or virtualization). You can't have both.
And above all, socket change every year.

I've to cool my mind and rethink the decision for few days.


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## Cilus (Dec 29, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*

Hellknight, I'm no Linux expert to suggest you or teach you but looking at your current config, I think you can live with partial update, even with Mackintosh support.

R$egarding AMD Graphics driver in Linux, though the official Catalyst support is not up to the mark, AMD has shared the tech details to open source driver developers and there are plenty of Open source drivers available which can handle the AMD Graphics with ease.
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATI.2FAMD
Mesa (computer graphics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Here are some links for Mac OS-X installation:-
Custom PC, can I run OSX? - OSx86 10.6 (Snow Leopard) - InsanelyMac Forum
New installation: Mac osx 10.6 - sabertooth 990fx - amd fx-8350 - ati hd 7800 series - OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - OSx86.net Hackintosh
[Tutorial] How to Install OS X Lion 10.7.3 on AMD AM3+ FX Bulldozer - Full 64bit - Page 5 - Guides & Tutorials - OSx86.net Hackintosh



Here are some links for Mac OS-X installation:-

*www.osxlatitude.com/how-to-install-mac-os-x-snow-leopard-on-your-amd-system/

*www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/217107-custom-pc-can-i-run-osx/
*www.osx86.net/topic/18638-new-inst...ertooth-990fx-amd-fx-8350-ati-hd-7800-series/
*www.osx86.net/topic/16342-tutorial...073-on-amd-am3-fx-bulldozer-full-64bit/page-5


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## hellknight (Dec 29, 2013)

Thank you so much for the links. I'll be thinking what to choose tomorrow & the day after. Will be reading a tonne of reviews, guides & benchmarks. And then, in the first week of January, I'll place the order.


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 29, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



hellknight said:


> Thank you so much for the links. I'll be thinking what to choose tomorrow & the day after. Will be reading a tonne of reviews, guides & benchmarks. And then, in the first week of January, I'll place the order.



Also Read every post of this - LGA 1150 Haswell Motherboard with proper VT-d support - AnandTech Forums

It might be helpful


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## hellknight (Dec 30, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*

Thanks.. Will do that first thing tomorrow.

Update:- 

Finalized this configuration.


*Component**Model**Specifications**Price**Processor**Intel Core i5 4440**3.4 GHz, VT-x, VT-d, HD 4600**11390**Motherboard**Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H**H87, DVI, VGA, HDMI, USB 3.0**7090**RAM**Kingston Hyper X**1600 MHz, 4x1 GB**2400**Total**21924*












Went for this configuration because HD 4400 is not supported by OS X. And going with a quad-core was a good idea.
Will be adding another 4 GB module in the month of February. 8 GB will be enough for me.
The prices are of Cost-to-cost. The total includes VAT.


Thank you all for your kind inputs. Much appreciated.


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## harshilsharma63 (Dec 30, 2013)

^ Nice config


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## ASHISH65 (Dec 30, 2013)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp;amp;amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*



hellknight said:


> Thanks.. Will do that first thing tomorrow.
> 
> Update:-
> 
> ...



Good one and i5 @11.3k  that's good price. 

What did you find about VT-d support ?

mobo support needed or not ?


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## hellknight (Dec 30, 2013)

^The only thing that VT-d supports in my config will be the discrete graphics card. Everything else works fine in this non-VT-d processor (Athlon II X4 640). So, I guess that CPU and motherboard will be fine.


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## rijinpk1 (Dec 30, 2013)

excellent price for the cpu.


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## hellknight (Jan 9, 2014)

I'm going to place the order tomorrow evening. Do you think that shelling out Rs. 1060 extra is worth for *Intel Core i5 4570* over *Intel Core i5 4440*?

Difference :-

*Model**i5 4440**i5 4570**Clock speed**3.1 GHz**3.2 GHz**Turbo speed**3.3 GHz**3.6 GHz**QPI Link **1**0**Graphics max frequency**1.1 GHz**1.15 GHz**Intel TSX-NI**No**Yes**Trusted Execution Technology**No**Yes**Price**11490**12450*

I've no idea about QPI. Would someone enlighten me?


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## ASHISH65 (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: CPU, Motherboard &amp; RAM upgrade for 20k*

Get i5 4570 

Everything You Need to Know About The QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) | Hardware Secrets


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## harshilsharma63 (Jan 9, 2014)

i5 4570 for 12450 is really a good VFM.


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## rijinpk1 (Jan 9, 2014)

yeah. i5 4570 at that price is really good.


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## hellknight (Jan 17, 2014)

The items have been acquired!!! 

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1600x1200q90/20/f5me.jpg

The processor.

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1600x1200q90/543/vkrh.jpg

The RAM

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1600x1200q90/541/wzf0.jpg

The motherboard and processor

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1600x1200q90/835/irt7.jpg

The pathetic cooler


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## rijinpk1 (Jan 17, 2014)

hellknight said:


> The items have been acquired!!!
> 
> *imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1600x1200q90/20/f5me.jpg
> 
> ...



nice 
how much did you pay for adata ram? why not kingston?
now assemble


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## hellknight (Jan 17, 2014)

^Actually, friend got this from Delhi. The Kingston HyperX Blue was out of stock. So, that's why settled for ADATA. Another reason to get ADATA was that it is easily available in my home-town whereas Corsair & Kingston's Hyper series are not. That's why.


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## harshilsharma63 (Jan 18, 2014)

Congrats  post pics of cabinet interiors.


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## bssunilreddy (Jan 18, 2014)

hellknight said:


> I'm going to place the order tomorrow evening. Do you think that shelling out Rs. 1060 extra is worth for *Intel Core i5 4570* over *Intel Core i5 4440*?
> 
> Difference :-
> 
> ...



Very good prices.Really gr8 Config.Post pics of the cabinet Interior.


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## hellknight (Jan 20, 2014)

Sure.. will do that once I get my camera back from my younger brother who took it for an outing. Currently I have LG Optimus One which has pathetic camera quality.


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## hellknight (Jan 22, 2014)

Here are some benchmarks.. 
*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/268/j5xo.png
*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/41/qoqa.png
*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/547/f5d2.jpg
*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/607/w9wr.jpg

Sorry.. I don't have a camera right now. Will upload the images once I get my hands on my camera.


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