I should have been a little more frequent in updating this blog, because a lot has happened since the last post. Finally assembled my machine and got it running on 6th Dec '08.
1. Processor - Intel E8400
I was almost decided on this processor ever since Wolfdale became more popular.
2. Motherboard - Asus P5Q Pro
It was Asus P5Q SE till I saw this motherboard in a combo deal with the processor, and grabbed it right away.
3. Graphics card - Sapphire ATi HD 4830
The most popular graphics might be 4850, but picked this, as I don't expect to game a lot, anytime now.
4. RAM - Corsair 4 GB (2x2) DDR2 800 MHz
4 GB is quite the norm nowadays, so there was not much thinking into this selection.
5. Hard disk - Western Digital Caviar Blue 640 GB
A good performer from a brand getting very popular these days, there wasn't much to choose in this selection.
6. Case - Antec Sonata III
I had to leave the Antec P182 in favour of this case, after seeing good deals for this case.
7. PSU - Antec Earthwatts 500 W
The PSU came along with the case. Nothing much to select here either.
8. Keyboard - Logitech Access 600
This and the next component were the toughest to select, because I didn't have anything in mind. My only requirement was that the keys be soft. The keys of this keyboard are not as soft as I expected, as I came to know after using it. But still, it has a nice volume knob on the keyboard which is nice.
9. Mouse - Logitech MX 310
I mainly took this mouse for it keys on the side of the mouse, and it has been very helpful.
10. Operating System - Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Nothing much to decide here too. Vista is the present, not XP and 64-bit is the present and future.
There it is. The complete InTeGeR 2. And the yet to be born PC, is now born.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Monitor - Viewsonic?
When you don't have a clear idea on a topic, you trust the hardware sites. Well, their job is to recommend.
Found a great site for monitors (they are a hardware site). They are based in France and seem to do an extensive range of tests.
Based on their recent review on 22" monitors, have settled on Viewsonic VX2255wmb. It seems to be suited for all round performance. It mentions a glossy bezel/frame. I hope that the screen isn't glossy. :-) Should look for that detail.
Found a great site for monitors (they are a hardware site). They are based in France and seem to do an extensive range of tests.
Based on their recent review on 22" monitors, have settled on Viewsonic VX2255wmb. It seems to be suited for all round performance. It mentions a glossy bezel/frame. I hope that the screen isn't glossy. :-) Should look for that detail.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Welcome Marchian thoughts
Last update was in February, so let's see what has changed in the month. According to the timing here, it is past midnight, and March 1st hence.
Processor
E6750 it was the last time. Penryn has come in and become popular and the E8400 is gaining attention.
Price: 9,400
Total price: 9,400
Motherboard
Yes, I did mentioned the P5K-E the last time. But, what is the the big difference between both? Let's see - Newegg. It says the P5K-E has an ADI audio chip while the P5K has a Realtek. Also, P4 is supposed/expected to run on it. What matters? The price difference and it is $10 = ~Rs. 500? Can go for P5K-E then. No problem
Price: 7650 + 500 = 8,150
Total price: 17,550
Memory
Kingston 2 x 1 GB DDR2 800MHz as of now. G-Skill and Corsair are better, but they cost around ~3.5k. :(
Price: 1175 x 2 = 2,350
Total price: 19,900
Graphics card
8600 GT, it was thought of, before. With the release of 9600 GT, why not jump? Well, we'd like to, but doesn't seem to be available here, yet. So 8600 GT 256 MB RAM it is.
Price: 5,150
Total price: 25,050
Hard drive
1 TB is a favourite - Samsung Spinpoint F1, to be specific. Anyway, will be looking for the 500 GB ones - Western Digital or Seagate? Ok, Western Digital's 500 GB is cheaper. There is a GP series too. Wondering why it isn't listed.
Price: 5,250
Total price: 30,300
Optical drive
Samsung 203B
Price: 1,350
Total price: 31,650
Case
Would like to have the Antec P182. Seems awesome. Practically, might get the Antec Sonata III as it comes with as EarthWatts PSU too (or would go for a CoolerMaster Centurion case).
Price: 8,300 (incl. PSU)
Total price: 39,950
Power Supply
Discussed, right?
Display
22"er mostly. So what if its a TN-panel. Acer AL2216W looks great (5 stars on NewEgg).
Price: 13,400
Total price: 53,350
Speakers
Altec Lansing premium 2.1 (sample VS-4121)
Price: 5,100
Total price: 58,450
Headphones
Something from Sennheiser. Not decided on one yet, but budget is around 3k.
Price: 3,000
Total price: 61,450
Keyboards and mice
Something simple from Logitech would do. Hmmm, wait, what is Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000? Logitech Wave is the same. :-) Can't find price for it
Price: 1,500
Total price: 62,950
UPS
APS ES-500 VA
Price: 2,550
Total price: 65,500
OS
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit?)
Price: 5,200
Total price: 70,700
Processor
E6750 it was the last time. Penryn has come in and become popular and the E8400 is gaining attention.
Price: 9,400
Total price: 9,400
Motherboard
Yes, I did mentioned the P5K-E the last time. But, what is the the big difference between both? Let's see - Newegg. It says the P5K-E has an ADI audio chip while the P5K has a Realtek. Also, P4 is supposed/expected to run on it. What matters? The price difference and it is $10 = ~Rs. 500? Can go for P5K-E then. No problem
Price: 7650 + 500 = 8,150
Total price: 17,550
Memory
Kingston 2 x 1 GB DDR2 800MHz as of now. G-Skill and Corsair are better, but they cost around ~3.5k. :(
Price: 1175 x 2 = 2,350
Total price: 19,900
Graphics card
8600 GT, it was thought of, before. With the release of 9600 GT, why not jump? Well, we'd like to, but doesn't seem to be available here, yet. So 8600 GT 256 MB RAM it is.
Price: 5,150
Total price: 25,050
Hard drive
1 TB is a favourite - Samsung Spinpoint F1, to be specific. Anyway, will be looking for the 500 GB ones - Western Digital or Seagate? Ok, Western Digital's 500 GB is cheaper. There is a GP series too. Wondering why it isn't listed.
Price: 5,250
Total price: 30,300
Optical drive
Samsung 203B
Price: 1,350
Total price: 31,650
Case
Would like to have the Antec P182. Seems awesome. Practically, might get the Antec Sonata III as it comes with as EarthWatts PSU too (or would go for a CoolerMaster Centurion case).
Price: 8,300 (incl. PSU)
Total price: 39,950
Power Supply
Discussed, right?
Display
22"er mostly. So what if its a TN-panel. Acer AL2216W looks great (5 stars on NewEgg).
Price: 13,400
Total price: 53,350
Speakers
Altec Lansing premium 2.1 (sample VS-4121)
Price: 5,100
Total price: 58,450
Headphones
Something from Sennheiser. Not decided on one yet, but budget is around 3k.
Price: 3,000
Total price: 61,450
Keyboards and mice
Something simple from Logitech would do. Hmmm, wait, what is Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000? Logitech Wave is the same. :-) Can't find price for it
Price: 1,500
Total price: 62,950
UPS
APS ES-500 VA
Price: 2,550
Total price: 65,500
OS
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit?)
Price: 5,200
Total price: 70,700
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Overall (thoughts)
Just thought I would update the blog with the thoughts running through. Have postponed buying to around May, due to financial conditions. My present PC MUST move over by then, as there are users (siblings) waiting for it.
Budget is fixed at around 65k - 75k. This would include the whole system + OS. I plan on fitting a good headphone within this budget too. But, let's see.
Processor - E6750. The choice has remained for a while. But, with the E8400 coming in, will have to wait and see. The thoughts linger on the Q6600, because I participate in Distributed Computing project too. Does BOINC have significant gains with 4 cores? Should find out.
Ok, some googling shows most applications we use are not optimized for 4 cores. So, dual-core it will be.
Motherboard - Asus P5K-E was a target mostly because of the fascination with the company Asustek, but this Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L seems to have a large number of fans. What are the differences between both? Should find out.
RAM - 2 x 1 GB or 2 x 2 GB. Cost-wise, former seems better. Would be experimenting with a low overclock, so it would be DDR2-800. Again, there are numerous timing related issues to be dealt with. Corsair seems to be quite costly compared to Kingston, so looking at the latter.
Video card / graphics card - For moderate gaming, 8600 GT seems fine, but upgrades are Radeon HD 3850 and the popular 8800 GT. Those cross 10k and so are out-of-reach. For a gamer who sticks with 18 Wheels of Steel, nah, not necessary.
Hard drive - Seagate or Western Digital? 320 GB or 500 GB? Is a second hard-drive necessary? No clear answers, let's see...
Sound card - (none) Onboard is becoming better, it seems.
Optical drive - Should go the SATA way and the Samsung SH-203B seems to be very popular.
Case - Another area of big confusion. Like the Cosmos 1000, but it is costly (sheepish smile). Cooler Master and Antec are the players as Thermalright's Soprano cases seem costly and rarely available. Centurion 5xx or Antec Sonata (it has a good PSU too) mostly.
Power supply - Corsair is getting popular these days with their sets from Seasonic. 450VX was the initial target, but looking at the 550 VX too. People are suggesting the 520HX with all its modularity. What is that? If am going for the Antec Sonata, it has the EarthWatts, which is also highly recommended.
Display / monitor - 22" displays all have only TN-panel, so was looking at the 20"ers. 24"ers look too costly. At the end, does the TN-icity make a big difference? Might settle with a Viewsonic 22"er.
Speakers - A premium 2.1 needed as won't be looking for 5-channel sound. Altec Lansing and Logitech have good sets at the top. Logitech is said to be too boomy, while Altec Lansing is to be cleaner. Altec Lansing MX-5021, it will be, as of now.
Keyboard and Mouse - A multimedia keyboard + optical mouse from Logitech.
Operating System - Vista Home Premium - 32-bit or 64-bit. Would make more sense if I plan to upgrade RAM to 4 GB (if it is 2 GB now). Ubuntu would be the second OS.
A rough calculation with 2 GB and 320 GB brings this to 67.7K. Should try to sneak in a Sennheiser with the remaining amount (or bring down the speakers for that :-) ).
That's about it. End of ramblings.
Budget is fixed at around 65k - 75k. This would include the whole system + OS. I plan on fitting a good headphone within this budget too. But, let's see.
Processor - E6750. The choice has remained for a while. But, with the E8400 coming in, will have to wait and see. The thoughts linger on the Q6600, because I participate in Distributed Computing project too. Does BOINC have significant gains with 4 cores? Should find out.
Ok, some googling shows most applications we use are not optimized for 4 cores. So, dual-core it will be.
Motherboard - Asus P5K-E was a target mostly because of the fascination with the company Asustek, but this Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L seems to have a large number of fans. What are the differences between both? Should find out.
RAM - 2 x 1 GB or 2 x 2 GB. Cost-wise, former seems better. Would be experimenting with a low overclock, so it would be DDR2-800. Again, there are numerous timing related issues to be dealt with. Corsair seems to be quite costly compared to Kingston, so looking at the latter.
Video card / graphics card - For moderate gaming, 8600 GT seems fine, but upgrades are Radeon HD 3850 and the popular 8800 GT. Those cross 10k and so are out-of-reach. For a gamer who sticks with 18 Wheels of Steel, nah, not necessary.
Hard drive - Seagate or Western Digital? 320 GB or 500 GB? Is a second hard-drive necessary? No clear answers, let's see...
Sound card - (none) Onboard is becoming better, it seems.
Optical drive - Should go the SATA way and the Samsung SH-203B seems to be very popular.
Case - Another area of big confusion. Like the Cosmos 1000, but it is costly (sheepish smile). Cooler Master and Antec are the players as Thermalright's Soprano cases seem costly and rarely available. Centurion 5xx or Antec Sonata (it has a good PSU too) mostly.
Power supply - Corsair is getting popular these days with their sets from Seasonic. 450VX was the initial target, but looking at the 550 VX too. People are suggesting the 520HX with all its modularity. What is that? If am going for the Antec Sonata, it has the EarthWatts, which is also highly recommended.
Display / monitor - 22" displays all have only TN-panel, so was looking at the 20"ers. 24"ers look too costly. At the end, does the TN-icity make a big difference? Might settle with a Viewsonic 22"er.
Speakers - A premium 2.1 needed as won't be looking for 5-channel sound. Altec Lansing and Logitech have good sets at the top. Logitech is said to be too boomy, while Altec Lansing is to be cleaner. Altec Lansing MX-5021, it will be, as of now.
Keyboard and Mouse - A multimedia keyboard + optical mouse from Logitech.
Operating System - Vista Home Premium - 32-bit or 64-bit. Would make more sense if I plan to upgrade RAM to 4 GB (if it is 2 GB now). Ubuntu would be the second OS.
A rough calculation with 2 GB and 320 GB brings this to 67.7K. Should try to sneak in a Sennheiser with the remaining amount (or bring down the speakers for that :-) ).
That's about it. End of ramblings.
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