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$1500 / 1Lakh INR budget(sort of) gaming rig suggestions/help

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  • Laptops
  • Gaming
  • Desktops
  • Systems
  • MSI
Last response: in Systems
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July 5, 2014 2:17:52 PM

Hi,

I am planning to sell my old MSI GE620 gaming laptop and with a little more money buy a new desktop gaming system. I don't wish to overclock or anything but I want to play games atleast for the next 10 years(even on lowest settings! lol).

I need a good FullHD monitor of atleast 21.5" screen size and I wish the motherboard to be multi-GPU capable to be able to add another GPU in the future, although it is not mandatory. I dont wish for a SSD as I think the HDD will serve me just fine, but any suggestions are welcome. I can wait for newer GPUs from both NVIDIA and AMD. And I need a good budget case which will keep all the components cool. Multiple components under each section means I may choose from either of them but anything new is always welcome.

RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 2x 4GB DDR3 (6899)
G.Skill RipjawsX 2x 4GB (6375)

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (5599)

GPU:
MSI R9 290 GAMING 4G 4GB GDDR5 (32800)
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 (???)

PSU: [Do these support Haswell?]
Seasonic S12G-550 550W (6200)
Seasonic S12G-650 650W (7450)

ODD:
LG GH24NS95 DVD Burner (956)
LiteOn iHBS312 Blu-Ray Burner (2000) [How are LiteOn products?]

CPU:
Intel Core i5-4670 @ 3.4GHz (14665)

Monitor:
BenQ GW2255HM 21.5" LED Backlit FullHD (6975)

Cabinet:
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC 03 Red Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming (4235)
Corsair Graphite Series 230T Windowed Mid Tower (5499)
Corsair Obsidian Series 450D Mid Tower (8115)

Motherboard: [Does this motherboard support NVIDIA GPUs?]
MSI H97 Gaming 3 (9480)

The price in brackets is in INR(Indian Rupees, $1~~61 INR). I will buy most of them from Flipkart.com, or local resellers if found at a lower price.

I need better suggestions/help for the PSU (as Seasonic recently released a Haswell compatible list of PSUs). I am trying to keep the price at a minimum while having very good performance.

Please help me with this rig.

[UPDATED on 20th September, 2014]

More about : 1500 1lakh inr budget sort gaming rig suggestions

Best solution

July 12, 2014 5:17:35 PM

t0rch said:
Hi,

I am planning to sell my old MSI GE620 gaming laptop and with a little more money buy a new desktop gaming system. I don't wish to overclock or anything but I want to play games atleast for the next 10 years(even on lowest settings!).

I need a good FullHD monitor of atleast 21.5" screen size and I wish the motherboard to be CrossFireX capable to be able to add another GPU in the future, although it is not mandatory. I dont wish for a SSD as I think the HDD will serve me just fine, but any suggestions are welcome. I can wait for newer GPUs from both NVIDIA and AMD. And I need a good budget case which will keep all the components cool. Multiple components under each section means I may choose from either of them but anything new is always welcome.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x 4GB DDR3 (6300)
G.Skill RipjawsX 2x 4GB (6375)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB (5550)

GPU: Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 290 TRI-X OC 4GB GDDR5 (35535) (It says it requires 750W power supply)

PSU: Corsair VS650 (3688)
Corsair GS600 (6999)
Seasonic S12G 750W (8650)

ODD: ASUS DRW-24D3ST DVD Burner (1195)
LiteOn iHBS312 Blu-Ray Burner (1800)
LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray Burner (5845)

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670 @ 3.4GHz (16790)

Monitor: Dell S2240L 21.5" LED Backlit (8699)
Dell ST2420L 24" LED Backlit (10499)
ASUS VS248H 24" LED Backlit (13860)

Cabinet: Corsair Carbide Series SPEC 03 Red Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming (4950)
Cooler Master HAF 912 Combat Mid Tower (5885)

Motherboard: MSI H87-G43 (6474)
MSI H97M-G43 (9200)
MSI H97 Gaming 3 (11825)

The price in brackets is in INR(Indian Rupees, $1=60 INR). I will buy most of them from Flipkart.com.

I need better suggestions/help for the PSU, ODD, Monitor and Motherboard. I am trying to keep the price at a minimum while having very good performance.

Please help me with this rig.


Prices for most of the parts in Flipkart are simply ridiculous. I strongly recommend that you get the parts from local reseller. You will save a lot more money that way.

Most of the prices listed below are from local reseller here in Chennai (As on 13 July 2014). Will be more or less the same all over india.

Intel Core i5-4690 3.5 GHz Processor Rs. 14885
(Since its a new build I recommend the recently released Haswell Refresh CPU from Intel which is better than i5-4670)
http://www.theitdepot.com/details-Intel+Core+i5-4690+3....

MSI H97 GAMING 3 Motherboard Rs. 10855
http://www.theitdepot.com/details-MSI+H97+GAMING+3+32GB...

Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) RAM (Model No: CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R) Rs. 7300
(It's a dual channel kit. Awesome Performance. The red color scheme will go well with your gaming motherboard)
http://www.flipkart.com/corsair-vengeance-ddr3-8-gb-2-x...

Seasonic S12G-650 650 Watts PSU Rs. 7450
(More than enough to feed your power hungry graphics card)
http://www.flipkart.com/seasonic-s12g-650-650-watts-psu...

MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB DDR5 ATI PCI E Graphics Card (R9 290 GAMING 4G) Rs. 32885
(MSI gaming graphics cards has Twin Frozr fans with great heat sink, keeps your card cooler and runs quiter. Comes with factory over clocked right out of the box. Awesome price performance ratio. Again the color scheme goes well with your MSI gaming motherboard.)
http://www.theitdepot.com/details-MSI+Radeon+R9+290+4GB...

Samsung 24 inch Monitor S24D390HL Rs. 13500
http://www.samsung.com/in/consumer/pc-peripherals-print...
(OR)
Samsung 22 inch Monitor S22D390H Rs. 10500
http://www.samsung.com/in/consumer/pc-peripherals-print...
(Beauty and Beast. All round performer. A great gaming monitor as reviewed by PCMonitors.info - Read the full review here - http://pcmonitors.info/reviews/samsung-s24d390hl. Speak to a local reseller, you might get it for even less price.)

Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-03 Red LED Mid-Tower Gaming Case Rs. 4160
http://www.theitdepot.com/details-Corsair+Carbide+Serie...
(OR)
Corsair Graphite Series 230T Windowed Compact Mid Tower Case Rs. 5810
(Comes in three colors - Rebel Orange, Battleship Grey, Black)
http://www.theitdepot.com/search.html?keywords=corsair+...

Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD (ST2000DM001) Rs. 5700
http://www.theitdepot.com/details-Seagate+2TB+SATA+Inte...

LG GH24NS95 DVD Writer Rs. 948
http://www.flipkart.com/lg-gh24ns95-gh24nsb0-dvd-burner...

Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 Keyboard Mouse Combo Rs. 840
http://www.flipkart.com/microsoft-wired-desktop-600-usb...

Total Rs. 95,523 (with 22 inch monitor)

Total Rs. 98,523 (with 24 inch monitor)

Total Rs. 97,173 (with 22 inch monitor & Corsair Graphite 230T cabinet)

Total Rs. 100,173 (with 24 inch monitor & Corsair Graphite 230T cabinet)
Share
July 13, 2014 3:42:55 AM

Hi yeskay,

First of all thank you very much for your suggestions. When I first started I thought an MSI build is actually going to cost more. (And nice editing too. Its always a pleasure to read a cleanly edited article/answer).

If I find your mentioned products with local resellers at a cheap price, there is nothing to stop me from buying them.
I have a few queries though.

CPU/GPU:
Should I wait for 5th-gen Intel core i5 processors or I rather go with the 4690?
Similarly should I wait for NVIDIA Maxwell and/or AMD Radeon R9 390?

RAM:
Is there any specific difference between buying-
Two 4GB Corsair Vengeance sticks
A dual channel Corsair Vengeance kit

PSU:
I think the R9 290 requires 750W power. Every online site says so. Any suggestions?
Also, does it support Haswell? It doesn't according to the this article.


ODD:
Should I go for a Blu-Ray reader just to future-proof my rig? Or rather stick to a DVD-RW drive?

Apart from that everything else is fine with me. I already have a good keyboard and a Razer DeathAdder mouse with a Razer Goliathus Fragged Control Edition mousepad.

The price range is fine with me and I think I'd rather go with this rig. Thank you again.

Regards,
t0rch

[UPDATED on 20th September, 2014]
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July 14, 2014 1:32:59 PM

t0rch said:
Hi yeskay,

First of all thank you very much for your suggestions. When I first started I thought an MSI build is actually going to cost more. (And nice editing too. Its always a pleasure to read a cleanly edited article/answer).

If I find your mentioned products with local resellers at a cheap price, there is nothing to stop me from buying them.
I have a few queries though.

CPU/GPU
Should I wait for 5th-gen Intel core i5 processors or I rather go with the 4690?
Same goes for the GPU.

RAM (The links appear incomplete but they work)
Is there any specific difference between buying-
Two 4GB Corsair Vengeance sticks [http://]
A dual channel Corsair Vengeance kit [http://]

PSU
I think the R9 290 requires 750W power. Every online site says so. Any suggestions?

ODD
Should I go for a Blu-Ray drive just to future-proof my rig? Or rather stick to a DVD-RW drive?

Apart from that everything else is fine with me. I already have a good keyboard and a Razer DeathAdder mouse with a Razer Goliathus Fragged Control Edition mousepad.

The price range is fine with me and I think I'd rather go with this rig. Thank you again.

Regards,
t0rch


CPU:
Don't wait for 5th gen, get this powerful yet energy efficient i5 4690 quad core CPU now.

Next new 14nm processor"Broadwell" from Intel is expected to release in 2015. Even if it releases in March 2015, the new technology will be made available in India only by June 2015 or later.

Your motherboard has support for 5th gen processors, So you can easily upgrade later.

GPU:
I would get MSI R9 280 3GB instead of MSI R9 290 4GB based on Price/Performance ratio. Don't underestimate the R9 280 which will give you a 75-80% of beasty R9 290 performance at a great price (see price below).

MSI R9 290 4GB Rs. 32,855
(OR)
MSI R9 280 3GB Rs. 20,655 (theitdepot.com)
MSI R9 280 3GB Rs. 19,750 (Flipkart.com)

- If you want best bang for your buck, then get the value oriented beast MSI R9 280.
- Minimum price difference between MSI R9 280 and R9 290 is Rs. 12,200 (Later see the "Other thoughts" section for what value added items you can get with this saved money).
- So you are paying Rs. 12,200 for that 20-25% extra performance in R9 290.
- If you want MSI R9 290, just get it (Ignore the "Other thoughts" section).


RAM:
- Both the Black and Red Rams perform the same. Only the color matters.
- Black has green board covered by black heat sink.
- Red has black board covered by red heat sink (I suggested this to complement the motherboard and graphics card that has both Red and Black colors on them. Will look great because you're choosing a cabinet with window).

Important - If you're going to choose black color make sure you get 2 sticks of 4GB with the same model number to avoid any compatibilty issues. Also whatever the color don't get a single 8GB stick. 2 x 4GB is always better.

PSU:
A good 650 watts is enough. Manufacturers always suggest a higher PSU requirement taking into consideration that a consumer may use a crappy cheap 750 watts PSU in their build instead of a good 650 watts PSU.

Check this practically tested list of PSU requirements for AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards and decide yourself. In the list if you come across, for example R9 290 CF, which means PSU requirement for Two R9 290 graphics card in Cross Fire (CF) mode.

Also in the list you can notice that the same 650 watts PSU is suggested even for R9 290X.

ODD:
- I suggest you stick to the DVD writer.
- Get a Blu-Ray ODD only if you have a huge collection of Blu-ray Movies which you would watch in your computer.

I will also be against using Blu-Ray for backing up data. Why?
- You have to shell out atleast Rs. 6,380 for a decent LG Blu-Ray writer.
- Verbatim Blu-ray-R media 25 GB (a pack of 5) costs Rs. 650. Each cost Rs. 130.
- Or if you want Verbatim Blu-ray-RE media 25 GB (a pack of 5) a cost Rs. 1,100. Each cost Rs. 220.


For backing up data get a 1TB External HDD.

Other thoughts:
If you get MSI R9 280 insteal of R9 290:
- You save Rs. 12,200 minimum on the graphics card.
- You only require a Seasonic S12G-550 550 Watts Rs. 6,200 instead of Seasonic S12G-650 650 Watts PSU Rs. 7450 and again save Rs. 1,250.
- Plus you already have a gaming keyboard and mouse, saving Rs. 840 more.
- Overall you can save Rs. 12200 + Rs. 1,250 + Rs. 840 = Rs. 14,290. That's huge!

So now lets assume that you previously chose the highest Rs. 100,173 config, less Rs. 14,290, you still get a powerful kick-ass gaming PC for Rs. 85,883.


After saving money, you have two options:

Option 1 - Walk away with saved Rs. 14,290

Option 2 - Use Rs. 14,290, get a SSD and 1TB External HDD


SSD:
- Samsung Evo 840 120GB SSD Rs. 5,400
(Higher Read/Write Speed than Intel 530 SSD, 3 Years Warranty)
(Or)
- Intel 530 Series 120GB SSD Rs. 6760 (Slightly lesser Read/Write Speed than Samsung 840 SSD, 5 Years Warranty)

Which SSD?:
- No significant performance difference between Intel and Samsung in practical daily usage.
- Though Samsung has only 3 years warranty it performs slightly better or on par with Intel.
- Intel has better warranty which itself implies good performance with greater reliability like its Processors.

I would go with Intel. But again the choice is yours.

External HDD:
- Western Digital 1TB External HDD for backing up data Rs. 5,235


Let's assume that you get the Intel 530 SSD Rs. 6760 and Western Digital External 1TB HDD Rs. 5,235, when added to new PC config for Rs. 85,883, comes to Rs. 97,878

You can still save Rs. 100,173 - Rs. 97,878 = Rs. 2,295


=====================
To sum it up, you either go with:
=====================
- Previous PC Config for Rs. 100,173
(Get Only - MSI R9 290 4GB Graphics card, without 120 GB SSD and 1TB External HDD).
(OR)
- A New PC Config for Rs. 97,878
(Get All - MSI R9 280 3GB Graphics card, 120GB SSD, 1TB External HDD and still save Rs. 2,295)

Happy PC building!
m
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l
July 15, 2014 1:01:47 AM

yeskay said:
t0rch said:


CPU:
Don't wait for 5th gen, get this powerful yet energy efficient i5 4690 quad core CPU now.

Next new 14nm processor"Broadwell" from Intel is expected to release in 2015. Even if it releases in March 2015, the new technology will be made available in India only by June 2015 or later.

Your motherboard has support for 5th gen processors, So you can easily upgrade later.

GPU:
I would get MSI R9 280 3GB instead of MSI R9 290 4GB based on Price/Performance ratio. Don't underestimate the R9 280 which will give you a 75-80% of beasty R9 290 performance at a great price (see price below).

MSI R9 290 4GB Rs. 32,855
(OR)
MSI R9 280 3GB Rs. 20,655 (theitdepot.com)
MSI R9 280 3GB Rs. 19,750 (Flipkart.com)

- If you want best bang for your buck, then get the value oriented beast MSI R9 280.
- Minimum price difference between MSI R9 280 and R9 290 is Rs. 12,200 (Later see the "Other thoughts" section for what value added items you can get with this saved money).
- So you are paying Rs. 12,200 for that 20-25% extra performance in R9 290.
- If you want MSI R9 290, just get it (Ignore the "Other thoughts" section).


RAM:
- Both the Black and Red Rams perform the same. Only the color matters.
- Black has green board covered by black heat sink.
- Red has black board covered by red heat sink (I suggested this to complement the motherboard and graphics card that has both Red and Black colors on them. Will look great because you're choosing a cabinet with window).

Important - If you're going to choose black color make sure you get 2 sticks of 4GB with the same model number to avoid any compatibilty issues. Also whatever the color don't get a single 8GB stick. 2 x 4GB is always better.

PSU:
A good 650 watts is enough. Manufacturers always suggest a higher PSU requirement taking into consideration that a consumer may use a crappy cheap 750 watts PSU in their build instead of a good 650 watts PSU.

Check this practically tested list of PSU requirements for AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards and decide yourself. In the list if you come across, for example R9 290 CF, which means PSU requirement for Two R9 290 graphics card in Cross Fire (CF) mode.

Also in the list you can notice that the same 650 watts PSU is suggested even for R9 290X.

ODD:
- I suggest you stick to the DVD writer.
- Get a Blu-Ray ODD only if you have a huge collection of Blu-ray Movies which you would watch in your computer.

I will also be against using Blu-Ray for backing up data. Why?
- You have to shell out atleast Rs. 6,380 for a decent LG Blu-Ray writer.
- Verbatim Blu-ray-R media 25 GB (a pack of 5) costs Rs. 650. Each cost Rs. 130.
- Or if you want Verbatim Blu-ray-RE media 25 GB (a pack of 5) a cost Rs. 1,100. Each cost Rs. 220.


For backing up data get a 1TB External HDD.

Other thoughts:
If you get MSI R9 280 insteal of R9 290:
- You save Rs. 12,200 minimum on the graphics card.
- You only require a Seasonic S12G-550 550 Watts Rs. 6,200 instead of Seasonic S12G-650 650 Watts PSU Rs. 7450 and again save Rs. 1,250.
- Plus you already have a gaming keyboard and mouse, saving Rs. 840 more.
- Overall you can save Rs. 12200 + Rs. 1,250 + Rs. 840 = Rs. 14,290. That's huge!

So now lets assume that you previously chose the highest Rs. 100,173 config, less Rs. 14,290, you still get a powerful kick-ass gaming PC for Rs. 85,883.


After saving money, you have two options:

Option 1 - Walk away with saved Rs. 14,290

Option 2 - Use Rs. 14,290, get a SSD and 1TB External HDD


SSD:
- Samsung Evo 840 120GB SSD Rs. 5,400
(Higher Read/Write Speed than Intel 530 SSD, 3 Years Warranty)
(Or)
- Intel 530 Series 120GB SSD Rs. 6760 (Slightly lesser Read/Write Speed than Samsung 840 SSD, 5 Years Warranty)

Which SSD?:
- No significant performance difference between Intel and Samsung in practical daily usage.
- Though Samsung has only 3 years warranty it performs slightly better or on par with Intel.
- Intel has better warranty which itself implies good performance with greater reliability like its Processors.

I would go with Intel. But again the choice is yours.

External HDD:
- Western Digital 1TB External HDD for backing up data Rs. 5,235


Let's assume that you get the Intel 530 SSD Rs. 6760 and Western Digital External 1TB HDD Rs. 5,235, when added to new PC config for Rs. 85,883, comes to Rs. 97,878

You can still save Rs. 100,173 - Rs. 97,878 = Rs. 2,295


=====================
To sum it up, you either go with:
=====================
- Previous PC Config for Rs. 100,173
(Get Only - MSI R9 290 4GB Graphics card, without 120 GB SSD and 1TB External HDD).
(OR)
- A New PC Config for Rs. 97,878
(Get All - MSI R9 280 3GB Graphics card, 120GB SSD, 1TB External HDD and still save Rs. 2,295)

Happy PC building!


Hello yeskay,

Thank you again for your suggestions. Its really been very helpful. After going over your points I have finalised my rig. It is as follows (updated)-

OS:
Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro x64 (64-bit with Updates 1 and 2 installed)

CPU:
Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.5GHz [Rs. 14,665]

Motherboard:
MSI H97 GAMING 3 [Rs. 9,480]

RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 8GB Dual Channel Kit 4GB x2 @ 1600MHz (Model No.- CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R) [Rs. 4,900]

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD ST2000DM001 [Rs. 5,720]

SSD:
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB MZ-7TE120BW [Rs. 5,085]

GPU: [+Rs. 32,000 as a precaution]
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 [Rs. ??,???)
MSI Radeon R9 390 4GB GDDR5 [Rs. ??,???)

PSU: [Still skeptical about Haswell support]
Seasonic S12G-550 550 Watts [Rs. 6,200]

ODD:
LG GH24NS95 DVD Writer [Rs. 1,050]

Monitor: [Great performing budget monitor as reviewed by DIGIT]
BenQ GW2255HM 21.5" LED Backlit FullHD [Rs. 6,975]

Cabinet: [Just WOW]
Corsair Obsidian Series 450D Windowed Mid Tower Case [Rs. 8,210]

===============
TOTAL
Rs. 94,285

Wow, that's about Rs. 6,000 less than what I expected/started with and I am getting a pretty decent powerful gaming PC including an SSD and next-gen GPUs. Thank you again for your help buddy.

Regards,
t0rch

[UPDATED on 20th September, 2014]
m
0
l
July 15, 2014 9:35:06 AM

t0rch said:
yeskay said:
13708608,0,1327335 said:


CPU:
Don't wait for 5th gen, get this powerful yet energy efficient i5 4690 quad core CPU now.

Next new 14nm processor"Broadwell" from Intel is expected to release in 2015. Even if it releases in March 2015, the new technology will be made available in India only by June 2015 or later.

Your motherboard has support for 5th gen processors, So you can easily upgrade later.

GPU:
I would get MSI R9 280 3GB instead of MSI R9 290 4GB based on Price/Performance ratio. Don't underestimate the R9 280 which will give you a 75-80% of beasty R9 290 performance at a great price (see price below).

MSI R9 290 4GB Rs. 32,855
(OR)
MSI R9 280 3GB Rs. 20,655 (theitdepot.com)
MSI R9 280 3GB Rs. 19,750 (Flipkart.com)

- If you want best bang for your buck, then get the value oriented beast MSI R9 280.
- Minimum price difference between MSI R9 280 and R9 290 is Rs. 12,200 (Later see the "Other thoughts" section for what value added items you can get with this saved money).
- So you are paying Rs. 12,200 for that 20-25% extra performance in R9 290.
- If you want MSI R9 290, just get it (Ignore the "Other thoughts" section).


RAM:
- Both the Black and Red Rams perform the same. Only the color matters.
- Black has green board covered by black heat sink.
- Red has black board covered by red heat sink (I suggested this to complement the motherboard and graphics card that has both Red and Black colors on them. Will look great because you're choosing a cabinet with window).

Important - If you're going to choose black color make sure you get 2 sticks of 4GB with the same model number to avoid any compatibilty issues. Also whatever the color don't get a single 8GB stick. 2 x 4GB is always better.

PSU:
A good 650 watts is enough. Manufacturers always suggest a higher PSU requirement taking into consideration that a consumer may use a crappy cheap 750 watts PSU in their build instead of a good 650 watts PSU.

Check this practically tested list of PSU requirements for AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards and decide yourself. In the list if you come across, for example R9 290 CF, which means PSU requirement for Two R9 290 graphics card in Cross Fire (CF) mode.

Also in the list you can notice that the same 650 watts PSU is suggested even for R9 290X.

ODD:
- I suggest you stick to the DVD writer.
- Get a Blu-Ray ODD only if you have a huge collection of Blu-ray Movies which you would watch in your computer.

I will also be against using Blu-Ray for backing up data. Why?
- You have to shell out atleast Rs. 6,380 for a decent LG Blu-Ray writer.
- Verbatim Blu-ray-R media 25 GB (a pack of 5) costs Rs. 650. Each cost Rs. 130.
- Or if you want Verbatim Blu-ray-RE media 25 GB (a pack of 5) a cost Rs. 1,100. Each cost Rs. 220.


For backing up data get a 1TB External HDD.

Other thoughts:
If you get MSI R9 280 insteal of R9 290:
- You save Rs. 12,200 minimum on the graphics card.
- You only require a Seasonic S12G-550 550 Watts Rs. 6,200 instead of Seasonic S12G-650 650 Watts PSU Rs. 7450 and again save Rs. 1,250.
- Plus you already have a gaming keyboard and mouse, saving Rs. 840 more.
- Overall you can save Rs. 12200 + Rs. 1,250 + Rs. 840 = Rs. 14,290. That's huge!

So now lets assume that you previously chose the highest Rs. 100,173 config, less Rs. 14,290, you still get a powerful kick-ass gaming PC for Rs. 85,883.


After saving money, you have two options:

Option 1 - Walk away with saved Rs. 14,290

Option 2 - Use Rs. 14,290, get a SSD and 1TB External HDD


SSD:
- Samsung Evo 840 120GB SSD Rs. 5,400
(Higher Read/Write Speed than Intel 530 SSD, 3 Years Warranty)
(Or)
- Intel 530 Series 120GB SSD Rs. 6760 (Slightly lesser Read/Write Speed than Samsung 840 SSD, 5 Years Warranty)

Which SSD?:
- No significant performance difference between Intel and Samsung in practical daily usage.
- Though Samsung has only 3 years warranty it performs slightly better or on par with Intel.
- Intel has better warranty which itself implies good performance with greater reliability like its Processors.

I would go with Intel. But again the choice is yours.

External HDD:
- Western Digital 1TB External HDD for backing up data Rs. 5,235


Let's assume that you get the Intel 530 SSD Rs. 6760 and Western Digital External 1TB HDD Rs. 5,235, when added to new PC config for Rs. 85,883, comes to Rs. 97,878

You can still save Rs. 100,173 - Rs. 97,878 = Rs. 2,295


=====================
To sum it up, you either go with:
=====================
- Previous PC Config for Rs. 100,173
(Get Only - MSI R9 290 4GB Graphics card, without 120 GB SSD and 1TB External HDD).
(OR)
- A New PC Config for Rs. 97,878
(Get All - MSI R9 280 3GB Graphics card, 120GB SSD, 1TB External HDD and still save Rs. 2,295)

Happy PC building!
said:


Hello yeskay,

Thank you again for your suggestions. Its really been very helpful. After going over your points I have finalised my rig. It is as follows-

CPU
Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.5GHz [Rs. 14,885]

Motherboard
MSI H97 GAMING 3 [Rs. 10,885]

RAM
2x Corsair Vengeance 4GB @ 1600MHz [Rs. 6,200]
(I'd rather go with two black ones as they are about Rs. 1000 cheaper and according to you, have no performance difference than the dual-channel kit, which is about Rs. 7300 on Flipkart)

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD ST2000DM001 [Rs. 5550]

GPU
MSI R9 280 3GB GDDR5 [Rs. 19,750]

PSU
Seasonic S12G-550 550 Watts Rs. [6,200]

ODD
LG GH24NS95 DVD Writer [Rs. 948]

Monitor
Samsung 22" S22D390H [Rs. 10,500]

Cabinet
Corsair Graphite Series 230T Windowed Compact Mid Tower Case [Rs. 5,810]

Total
Rs. 80,738

Wow, that's about 20,000 less than what I expected/started with and I am getting a pretty decent powerful gaming PC. Thank you again for your help buddy.

Regards,
t0rch
said:


That's a solid value oriented powerful gaming PC. Cheers!
m
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September 20, 2014 5:10:02 AM

LOL, I haven't had the time to buy stuff due to some problems so I will wait till the exams are over (about 20 days from now).
It also allowed me to consider the NVIDIA Maxwell GPUs and probably AMD Radeon R9 300 series. Some prices have went up, others down and I have updated accordingly. But in any case, this is my final rig (my "final rig" post).

Sorry to disturb you bro but I have a few queries!

>>> Can you tell me if it will be better to--
-- Use the entire SSD as OS drive only with important applications installed like Steam, Origin, VLC, WinRAR, Anti-Virus, etc
OR
-- Use 60GB for the above and 60GB as cache for the HDD? <-- If this, then how to do it.

>>> With everything set up and starting the first time, what settings should I do in the BIOS, like Intel XMP Memory Profile for memory, RAID mode to identify and use SSD as cache or something like that.

>>> About the Seasonic S12G PSU, according to THIS WEBSITE, the Seasonic S12G does not have Haswell compatibility and produces some errors as noted by Corsair in the article. Any suggestions?

>>> Also, which port is better for connecting the monitor to the GPU- HDMI or DVI (also, whats DVI-D and DVI-I)?

Thanks in advance and Regards,
t0rch
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September 20, 2014 6:05:06 PM

t0rch said:
LOL, I haven't had the time to buy stuff due to some problems so I will wait till the exams are over (about 20 days from now).
It also allowed me to consider the NVIDIA Maxwell GPUs and probably AMD Radeon R9 300 series. Some prices have went up, others down and I have updated accordingly. But in any case, this is my final rig (my "final rig" post).

Sorry to disturb you bro but I have a few queries!

>>> Can you tell me if it will be better to--
-- Use the entire SSD as OS drive only with important applications installed like Steam, Origin, VLC, WinRAR, Anti-Virus, etc
OR
-- Use 60GB for the above and 60GB as cache for the HDD? <-- If this, then how to do it.

>>> With everything set up and starting the first time, what settings should I do in the BIOS, like Intel XMP Memory Profile for memory, RAID mode to identify and use SSD as cache or something like that.

>>> About the Seasonic S12G PSU, according to THIS WEBSITE, the Seasonic S12G does not have Haswell compatibility and produces some errors as noted by Corsair in the article. Any suggestions?

>>> Also, which port is better for connecting the monitor to the GPU- HDMI or DVI (also, whats DVI-D and DVI-I)?

Thanks in advance and Regards,
t0rch


Get any one of these SSD:

- Samsung Evo 840 120GB SSD Rs. 5,400 (Higher Read/Write Speed than Intel 530 SSD, 3 Years Warranty)
(Or)
- Intel 530 Series 120GB SSD Rs. 6760 (Slightly lesser Read/Write Speed than Samsung 840 SSD, 5 Years Warranty)

Since your are going to use Haswell Refresh Intel i5 4690, no need to do anything in the bios. Just do the following:

Install only the SSD first (Dont install your HDD drive).
Boot your PC and install OS.
After OS installation complete, shutdown.
Now install your additional 1TB or 2TB HDD drive.
Boot the PC and log in to our OS and format the additional drive.
Install all your favorite programs on SSD.

All XMP and other stuff will be taken care of by quality Intel Motherboard you are going to use. And RAID is a different concept. So don't get confused. If you want to do RAID config you need 2 SSDs. But I wont recommend that. Because the there is very little performance benefit if your RAID config two SSDs. Also the cost you spend to RAID config two SSDs for very little or no noticeable performance improvement is simply not worth it.
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About Seasonic PSU S12G

Your system will run fine with the this power supply. When haswell PC goes into the deep sleep, it doesn't wake up. You have to go to the back of your PSU, turn the switch off, then turn back on again in order to wake the system up.

Just go to bios, turn off the deep sleep modes and you will not encounter this problem. This will not affect your computer performance in anyway. But if your still not comfortable with that PSU, get Seasonic M12II 650W. Also note that article about Haswell certified PSU list is a old one that was published before Haswell Refresh CPUs were released.
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GPU to Monitor - Use DVI-I (Dual Link, support both Digital and Analog signals) is enough no HDMI required.
Visually there is no difference between HDMI and DVI-I.
HDMI is required only for people who are going to listen to music with speakers that comes attached with monitors. In your case I think you will be using a dedicated separate 2.1 or 5.1 speakers. So no need for HDMI. But If you still want to use HDMI that also no problem.



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September 21, 2014 7:10:05 AM

So, I shouldn't use 60GB of the SSD as cache for the HDD?

And regarding the PSU, Seasonic is a legendary brand, but I just wanted to confirm.

Thanks for the answers mate. Cheers !!
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