Hi guys,
I'm looking to upgrade in the next week or so and have some urgent
redface
questions. Would genuinely appreciate feedback that you can give on any of these points...
Budget: Approx 60k, can go up but not too much. But don't bother calculating, basically I'm looking for a system that's high-end but not fanatically so.
Reusable from old PC:
2 x 19" LCDs
GEForce 6200 - Dual Head 512MB DDR (will upgrade, if necessary)
Keyboard & mouse
CPU:
Fastest Core 2 Duo available with my vendor: E8400
- Is it worth waiting for the E8500 or E8600? Any idea when they will be available and if the initial prices are unreasonably high when they launch?
- Would it be better to go for a quad core? I've heard two cores at higher GHz per core is better than more cores with lesser GHz because very few apps are really multi-threaded.
MOBO:
Names suggested by vendor: Gigabyte G35, Gigabyte DG33,
Intel DG33 FBC (all ~ Rs.5000)
I'm not really looking to overclock but I wouldn't mind shelling out more for something that delivers faster performance.
Any suggestion?
RAM:
Planning to go for 2 x 2GB (Rs. 1850 x 2)
Once again I would prefer something that runs fast out of the box, I don't want to risk overclocking coz my hardware knowledge is very basic, so any make/model that delivers above average performance? The MOBOs support 1200 MHz but most reccos I found run at 800 MHz, I wouldn't mind shelling out more for performance. Suggestions?
HDDs:
Planning on two Western Digital 500 GB Raptors @ 10000 RPM (Rs. 8500 x 2) and 1
Seagate or Western Digital 1 TB ( Rs. 8550-8900) for data mirroring. Haven't really looked at solid state drives but I assume they would be too pricey.
Any specific Western Digital models recommended for performance? What's the
SSD situation in India? Are they worth it?
Cabinet & SMPS:
I find it wasteful to pay too much for a cabinet so generic is fine, I assume the Core 2 Duo will run cool enough but I'll be adding a fan or three for the HDDs anyway.
SMPS - Looking for a good mix of budget & reliability. Any make to specifically ask for?
Sound: I listen to all my
music off the PC, have hooked the box to the component system. Will a separate sound card make a real difference over onboard sound if the PC is hooked up to a home theatre system? Any experience with a really good card that doesn't cost the earth?
Graphics: I'm OK with my current card [GEForce 6200 -Dual Head 512MB DDR] but I wouldn't want to miss the newer games so what's a good gaming card that supports two monitors?
Thanks again for any input.
Nosh.
BTW: Any good sites for looking up Indian prices for new products?
