The following tries to analyse reasons why corporates still need to use Windows XP while there are several better options available, and it also tries to present reasons why migration and hardware upgrading would be quite difficult.

Its purely the company’s decision to use an operating system. Public presumption of an OS as good or bad has nothing to do with how a business feels about it. So I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that a company enjoys using Windows 98. Infact, there actually ARE companies which rely on windows 98, office 2000, visual basic 6, etc and I have seen them in action. Believe me, the satisfaction level is indeed very high.

Migration is not an easy business for many. You need to train an entire workforce to accept a change and to do things differently. And as people grow older, their learning capability reduces. Its hard for a 50-year old clerk in some office to suddenly start using windows vista, when he hardly manages to use windows 98 for example.

For the very same reason, migration to Linux is also often heavy. How do you expect a several thousands of workers to suddenly use an OS which is as different from windows as communism is different from capitalism ? The REAL cost and time involved in training, which includes the loss in productivity during the training period, alone would make it much cheaper to continue using windows products.

And take a look at the economic situation today. Thanks to some brainless economic policies followed by some american banks, world is in recession and profits of several companies are dipping and most economies are slowing down. In such a situation, to expect companies to upgrade their hardware is nutty.

Besides, there is a role of common sense too for companies which are satisfied with Windows XP. If it ain’t broke, why replace it ? For the same reason, I have seen several billing machines in various department stores still use windows 98, and sometimes even windows 3.1.

However, going from an individual consumer’s perspective, if someone needs to buy a new rig, it always works out cheaper to buy vista than XP. That’s a solid fact which nobody can deny. But for a company which deploys several rigs for their work and which has already been using windows XP, windows vista is a costly affair indeed.

Windows XP has become more of a trap than anything else to most of the firms that use it. Vista might be easier to use, but when XP has been around for 7 years, people obviously find it easier since they are used to it. Most hardware can’t run vista. Migration to Linux needs several hours of training, while migration to mac means nothing more than having to spend money on not just training, but also software and hardware. It does not make sense in these uncertain times to make dramatic changes to the way a company functions, nor does it make sense to invest funds which could otherwise be used to rescue the company from the hard days ahead in front of them. Look at what happened to Satyam which tried to buy Maytas.

To conclude, continued use of Windows XP is a necessary evil. There is little most corporates can do about it. However, nothing stops individuals like you and me from moving away. Infact, its actually encouraged, so that when the time is right, a smooth migration can occur from XP to other OSes.

Phenom – The troubled one hoping to gain back the trust it lost

AMD Phenom was supposed to be AMD’s big hit. It was supposed to crumble opposition from Intel Core2 series hands down. But sadly that never happened. AMD not only was unable to gain the upper hand in mainstream and high end range CPUs, it also ended up loosing its much more secure and liked budget range spot to intel, because of Intel’s E2xx0 series. Unlike during the days of Athlon XP, when AMD was the perfect thing, being of a better performance as Intel at a lower price, but was ignored due to general public ignorance of AMD processors by many people, this time AMD had created lots of hype regarding Phenom. But unlike the days of Pentium D, when AMD was THE fastest CPU manufacturer and out-performed intel from every angle, Phenom failed. Miserably. It was not the Core2Quad killer. Core2Quad Q6600 was much more VFM and better performing than early phenoms. AMD was forced to release its CPUs at a much lower clockrate than originally planned due to a faulty B2 stepping. Profits were hard to come by since AMD had to sell the phenoms at a very low price to ensure customers.

AMD Phenom is no longer AMD Moron !

But now Phenom is fast catching up. Their issue with the buggy B2 stepping is solved with an enhanced B3 stepping and now amd is releasing higher clocked phenoms to combat intel CPUs. AMD is launching an innovative attack stratagy – release more cores than intel in a given price range. While synthetic benchmarks often tie some of the value to mainstream range phenoms, and sometimes phenom looses, it definitely scores more for multitasking and virtualisation thanks to its extra core or two. Its clock to clock performance might be lesser than intel, but performance has definitely improved.

Advantage Phenom – The Value King

AMD Phenom has become one of the most buyable processors for mainstream value PCs today. Combined with the 780G chipset motherboard, esp the cheap Gigabit 780G, you get a PC which can multitiask a lot, stay cool and green, have lots of expansion and input slots to keep things future proof, at the same time, ensure that future processors are usable, since AMD AM2+ socket can accept AM3 CPUs of the future.

Lets take a Core2Duo E7200 and compare it to a phenom X3 8450, which my friend Saurav Basu kindly dug up in the market for me and found its price to be an amazing 5.5K + Vat, ~= 6K in India. The penryn gives better performance per clock, agreed. The penryn gives better gaming performance, agreed. The penryn overclocks better, agreed. But do you get a better platform support ? Nope. For 4.5K, the max you get is a Biostar P35 which hardly has features of 780G like eSATA port, etc. Also, when you try to run virtual machines which are 64bit, you can do so only on phenom since E7200 lacks hardware virtualisation support. The extra core helps here too. For multitasking, phenom gives more juice since it has 3 cores. More parallel processing is possible. Finally, phenom’s 780G has an excellent onboard solution that totally pwns others in Hybrid Graphics mode. You can even use the rather OK onboard as it is, since it runs HD3200, an underclocked HD3450. But for Penryn, you need to buy an external card which is going to add to your budget. Lets say you DO buy an external card. Low end cheap ones include the ever popular HD3450. Now if you use this in penryn, I assure you that you would get only half the performance of phenom since phenom can run the dedicated card and the onboard card in hybrid graphics mode.

Then, lets go to Intel CPUs on the higher end, like E8400. This is intel’s big and strong flagship dual core (lets forget the pricey E8500). Compare this to an AMD Quad Core Phenom, and lots of arguements as above, plus more come into picture.

Its all about 780G

Well, this wonderful chipset makes all the difference. It supports many features due to which amd can’t help but become a better choice than Intel. It has godly onboard graphics. It has lots of expansion slots. It has 5 SATA II ports and eSATA port for ensuring that you can connect all the HDDs you ever bought. It has support for upto 12 USB ports. And it supports 2 FireWire ports. Enough to connect anything. It has support for AMD’s future next generation CPUs. It supports PCIe 2.0 16x. Can things get any better for a 4.5K Budget motherboard ?

CrossFire gets more value with 790FX

Take a look at AMD’s Flagship gaming platform, the “Spider” Platform 790FX chipset. This does not have (and doesn’t need either) any onboard graphics, but it has ATI CrossFire support, and with ATI cards becoming cheaper by day, and purchasing power increasing, this makes the perfect Gamer’s choice. Its also a beautiful overclocker.

To Conclude

AMD has once again redeemed itself. Lets prepare for an AMD future. Hopefully this would ensure that the computing world is not lopsided again towards intel.

So finally, what do YOU feel about AMD now ? Has it successfully redeemed itself ? Do you think AMD now poses a valid threat to Intel ? Do you think its the right time to start hoarding AMD processors ?

PS: This article is just in revision #2 stage. Its still waiting edits. So bear with the bad spelling and grammer for now.

Introduction

I think it will be safe for me to get slightly personal in this little post of mine. Here I am going to describe how my life, as a geek and power user, goes on everyday with this computer of mine, which means anything but power. All this because I was never really a geek once, I was just a semi-backward guy who turned geek out of his own actions.

My Computer’s Configuration

My computer has a configuration most people would call really weak and old. It was bought in the second half of 2005, and even for a computer bought back then, my system is extremely weak. Holding everything tightly is a cheap motherboard which was 5k when I bought it, Intel D915GLVG. This board has onboard Intel GMA900 graphics, onboard RealTek “HD” ALC880 Audio, and almost NO expansion slots. The graphics sucks to the extreme, and it has issues running even basic things like the Compiz Fusion Composite Desktop manager. The onboard audio is also bad, and though its output is average, its input sucks. There is hardly any bass frequency absorbed by the input of this horrible audio chip. Advertised as a board with a PCIe Slot, this board has a PCIe slot indeed, but a PCIe 1x slot and god knows what GPU I may use in it. It also has 256mb of DDR1 RAM clocked at an effective clockspeed of 400MHz. This amount of RAM is hardly sufficient to run any good modern day OS at full speed. Compared to the rest of the system, at its core lies a rather better off CPU, an Intel Pentium “Prescott” 4 clocked at 2.66GHz and 1MB L2 Cache. This CPU was one of the better buys at the time of my system’s purchase, and hence I have least regret buying this. The Hard Disc is a slow Samsung 80GB SATA model, which is now proving to be too little for me. Then there is an Acer AC713 17″ CRT monitor, which was supposed to be Flat Screen, but it turned out that it was not. I have a cheap but decent Tech Com 2.1 Speaker System, a UPS from another no name company named Digital, an iBall designer cabinet thats anything but designer looking, and one of the world’s worst printers, the Epson Stylus C45.

How I bought this System

During the time of my purchase of my system, also my first computer, I was anything but a geek. I was a kid who had no idea of what was good and what was bad, and I only wanted to play games on this system. I should have bought an AMD Athlon XP/64 system instead, which would have saved me atleast 6K and would have given me a much better performance, but my total ignorance of technology, and the lies told by many to me about AMD processors ensured that I ended up with an ugly and worthless Intel System instead. I couldn’t understand what feature I should look for, and I also couldn’t follow the names of various parts of my computer’s motherboard. In simple words, I was what you can safely call a “Total n00b“.

I Turn A Geek

Like many over curious guys, I started experimenting (but within levels of safety) with my computer. I used to buy a technology magazine called Digit every month. Then I obtained an internet connection. Then curiosity turned to obsession, which turned to controlled obsession, then to interest, then I started considering it as a career. Lots of changes came by me (not just testosterone level increase related ones… lol) and I started finding this PC damn too weak for my use.

The Swordsman who fights with a Paper Sword

So there it is, the main title of what I am writing. I started feeling like a swordsman who is fighting with a paper sword. Normally guys just complain and try to get a better system. I did that in the beginning, but all I managed was an upgrade of my DVD-Combo drive to a DVD-RAM drive. Then I realized more upgrades are not as realistic as they sound. With a system too weak to satisfy me, I started to explore more, and tried to juice out more and more performance from my system without resorting to any upgrades.

First thing I learnt was that there is a way to make components stronger by “some geeky technique”(OC is anything but geeky) called overclocking. Well, then I heard Intel Motherboards can NEVER be overclocked properly, and I also noticed that my ambient temperature shown in the BIOS is rather abnormally high, and till date its higher than most overclocked rigs, so this meant NO overclocking for me. Now, since hardware was locked, I decided to move towards the software.

I noticed that my windows xp was an ugly bloated sin. Its windows media player sucked. Most software I had installed, like real player, quicktime, itunes, power dvd, musicmatch jukebox, etc. I got rid of them all. I started organizing my content better, and installing software in a separate partition. I also gained exposure to opensource software like OpenOffice.org and “community” freeware (freeware thats almost as good as opensource for all practical purposes) like Foobar2000. I gradually replaced many softwares with better ones, and soon I was at my hight of windows g33kery and Power Usage. But then, things again started changing. For the good.

I used to still occasionally buy Digit Magazine, and I once found a supplement for it, titled Fast Track to Linux. I quickly became interested. The idea of an alternative OS made me curious. I started reading it, and although it didn’t speak brightly about linux, it gave me a foundation. But I still didn’t touch linux for another half an year. When I did, I ended up creating the turning point of my life as a g33k.

Ubuntu. This funny name was the name of a Linux Distribution that was recommended to me by many. I had downloaded a few “Live” distros, and I tested them. Ubuntu appeared radically different from windows, and I decided to find out from experienced users what I must use. I went to http://linuxforums.org/forum/ and asked a question in the Newbie section. I was told that my computer was the perfect candidate for a Linux Upgrade(smiles), and I was advised to try out Ubuntu Linux. I installed version 7.04, to which I held on till recently. Initially, I had issues. I couldn’t connect to the internet for the first 2 months, since I had no prior experience to configuring a broadband connection. A solution for this I searched everywhere, and in the meanwhile ubuntu being just a sitting duck on my system which couldn’t do anything due to lack of required software. A friend of mine, whom I was the one who prescribed linux to, ended up finding the solution. I was happy, and a new phase began in my computer tweaking.

Internet access means a lot of things. A huge world is open to you, and you get to see and hear a lot about many things. Advice and ideas for nearly every situation in the world exists there. Computing with ubuntu was no different. I was surprised, because I heard that linux lacks much support. Instead, ubuntu had too much support, everywhere I went. I started noticing linux in more and more places, and I started customizing ubuntu. I made it look like a killer with the help of themes. I streamlined applications removing bloats like RhythemBox and adding other software like VLC, Xine, MPlayer, Audacious, etc. I also started using power software, especially those for purposes other than normal. With ubuntu studio, I was able to use my PC as an amplifier for my guitar. I found OpenOffice extremely useful for publishing articles and presentations. I started messing with software sources and I learnt to compile my own software. I even started GAMING on ubuntu, and to this day I can’t live without Urban Terror, my favorite all time game which also works on ubuntu and is a freeware. Life was fun on ubuntu, but I still had to often switch to windows for gaming, especially since I was addicted to gaming at that time and I wanted to run GTA Vice City, Unreal Tournament, Halo, etc on my PC.

But not for long. Studies forced me to leave games, and I felt better that way. I started spending more and more time on linux instead, because it was both fun and the experience could help me make a living in future. Then windows started having issues. Like all Windows systems, mine too goofed up, for the first time ever, and I was able to use it only in safe mode. So I started being on linux 99% of the time I was on my computer. Then ubuntu became to me what windows was once before. I started finding it a bit old. But since a new version was available for me, I decided to get myself an upgrade to whats the current release as of now, Ubuntu 8.04.

Now chaos started. Ubuntu 8.04 had EVERYTHING, and I mean everything. It was just too good. It had every single software in its repositories, it looked great. But all this came at a cost. My system once again started to bottleneck me. Ubuntu as it is was not stable enough anymore, and it lagged and hanged more than windows ever did on my system, all this because ubuntu was also going the good looks high eye candy over ease of use way, and hence started drawing up more and more system resources.

Happy Days Again

It was finally time for me to migrate. I needed to step into unexplored waters, and I decided to get a new distro. I went to the exact same forum as before for help, almost exactly an year later. I was suggested Debian “Sid” Unstable, but due to stability issues, I selected Debian “Lenny” Testing. I ditched lenny quite soon due to the lack of scope in Lenny, and ended up taking Sid, but in a different flavor, Sidux. This ensured stability for Sid by withholding unstable packages.

Now I again had the time of my life customizing. Sidux was extreme, and it was super fast on my system. I used it after tonnes of customization, and I still use it and I feel great. It has everything I might possibly need, and nothing more. Its repository may not be as huge as Ubuntu, but it was enough.

History Repeats

But… once again the system is starting to let me down. Its not able to run at full speed two main web browsers, Firefox3 and Opera 9.5. I am again feeling the familiar old ache, and I think its time to do something. Now, I realized that there was no way I can do anything about it since I am already at my near peak level of performance optimization. I also have little free time now. And hence, I feel that this race is finally over. There is little I can do now to ensure fast performance of my computer without missing some features. Compiling software and running distros like Gentoo, Crux or Arch would have been solutions, but compiling requires lots of dev packages. And with a tiny HDD, that is impossible for me.

The paper needs more wood

Finally, I have decided to stay with sidux. This is only as light as it can get. So now, I am left with no option but an upgrade, an upgrade which I wanted all the time. But the trouble is, I can’t upgrade without any issues. I am going to be mostly leaving home (and my computer) in another year, and an upgrade will be useless because the rest of my family is happy with the system as it is. So only the most minimal upgrades can be done. I am settling for another 512mb of RAM to my system, which I can hopefully get without any issues, and which will work well with my current RAM. This way, I can have 768mb of RAM, which is 1.5 times the current minimum standard, and can hence stay on and pull the system for atleast an year, by which time I will be shifting and getting myself a laptop.

To Conclude

All I can say now is that I will ensure that I don’t make a mistake like the one I did buying this system three years back. Since I have enough knowledge about laptops, desktops, different internal components and linux now, and since now I am a full fledged geek, there is very little chance of me rushing or making a mistake with my laptop upgrade. I hope for goodwill’s sake that no newbie again makes a mistake what I once did, and gets proper advice before buying a new system. If anyone ever gets himself/herself a system like the one I did, then I would advice him/her to ensure that if an exchange is not possible, he/she atleast tries the best to keep it alive. Even if turning geek was necessary to do this.

The PC will be of an Intel based platform, because sadly, AMD is no longer living up to its expectations as far as cheap and good quality processors are concerned. All of its processors, perhaps with the exception of the extremely rare and elusive Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition are far below similarly priced processors from Intel.

Edit: With Recent release of its 780G platform and new Triple Core Phenoms, AMD is back in business. And it might even be better than Intel for people with a little different needs. But this is still an Intel based Guide, and for AMD based guide, just replace the CPU, Motherboard and GPU with suggestions shown IN THIS POST (click on link to visit).

The PC is intended to be as future proof and upgradable as possible, so that you need not suffer later by having extremely outdated parts. Expansion slots, ability to overclock, usability of some parts later in future, etc are given due importance. I won’t blindly suggest a rig here and you are expected to read the contents fully and only then, make a purchase after deciding what you need and what you don’t.

Important Note: Since I am publishing this now on wordpress.com, this becomes an internationally viewable site. But this post is mainly intended for an Indian audience. So please bear in mind that a small part of what I said here might NOT be applicable to you if you are not in India.

So lets get down to business and do the dirty work shall we ?

Computer Components

Motherboard

And old saying goes: A mother is a person’s biggest asset. And its no different when it comes to a PC. A good PC needs a good, rather, excellent Motherboard. It holds all your components together, and hence any fault in it can damage all other parts of your PC. So I am not going to be stingy here.

1. Abit IP35-E – And nothing less

Technical Specifications/Features( source: www.overclockersclub.com ):

Abit Engineered

Abit SoftMenu™ The original jumperless motherboard design allows for CPU setting changes completely through the BIOS. For GigaOverclocking! Boost your PC’s Performance by up to 50%. Convenient and easy-to-use fine tuning from within a self-explanatory

CPU

Support Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme/Duo/Quad processors with 1333/1066/800MHz FSB
Support Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme/Quad/Duo & Pentium® Dual Core Processors Chipset

Intel® P35 Express / ICH9 Chipset Memory

4 X 240-pin DIMM sockets support max. memory capacity 8GB
Supports Dual channel DDR2 800/667/533 un-buffered non-ECC memory LAN
Onboard Gigabit LAN controller supports 10/100/1000M Ethernet (MARVELL 88E8056) Audio
On board 7.1 CH HD Audio CODEC (Realtek ALC888)
Supports auto jack sensing and optical S/PDIF Out
HDMI ready header (SPDIF header)

Expansion Slots

1 x PCI-E X16
2 x PCI-E X1
3 x PCI

Internal I/O

1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88 MB
1 x ATA 133/100/66/3 IDE connector
4 x SATA 3Gb/s connector
4 x USB header (support 8 ports)
1 x FP-Audio

Back Panel I/O

1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x S/P DIF Out
7.1 CH Audio connector (Front, Line-in, MIC-in, Center/Subwoofer, Surround, Rear Surround)
4 x USB 2.0
1 x RJ-45 LAN connector

Serial ATA

4 x SATA 3Gb/s through Intel® ICH9 Form Factor

Misc Data

ATX form factor 305 x 245mm
PCB Color: Blue
RoHS – 100% lead-free process and RoHS compliant

This motherboard has been proven to be one of the best semi-budget/mid-range board out there. You can overclock a good processor to 40% easily without any difficulty, and with some or no cooling, even 100% OC is achievable on certain processors, like those from the E2xx0 series. It costs about Rs. 5,500/-.

This motherboard is not the cheapest in the world, but is a semi-performance board with a chipset which is assured to be able to live for atleast three years, gobbling newer generation processors without much difficulty.

If you want to get another board, its fine, but try to ensure that you get one which uses the Intel P35 chipset.

2. Biostar TP35D2-A7

For a cheaper alternative consider the Biostar TP35D2-A7 motherboard, which comes for Rs. 1,100/- less. But you may loose some small amount of overclocking headroom on this one, along with some features. As one must never be stingy for the motherboard, I recommend the Abit IP35-E only. But the choice is still there, and this can be the first downgrade option you have if there is some budget constrain. Again, I recommend that you start with the Abit IP35-E, then you can fall down to this if you need to invest money elsewere.

Processor

A processor is the heart of the system. And Intel makes good hearts. Almost all of them are excellent, and I shall recommend the two best VFM processors here.

1. Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160

This is the best baby out there. Though called Pentium Dual Core, its in no way related to those electric stoves the Pentium 4 series and the Pentium D were. This is a re branded Core2Duo processor based on the “Allendale” core, and is one of the meanest out there. It does not come with certain features like Intel Virtualisation Technology, and has only 1 MB of Shared L2 Cache, etc, but its all worth its wondrous price: Its only Rs. 2,700/-, and its default clock speed of 1.8 GHz can be zoomed up and taken to 3.0 GHz safely on the Abit IP35-E motherboard. You can get even 100% OC, at 3.6 GHz, with some luck or with a cooler(this, although not quintessential, does boost performance, and mainly gives you respect for being a 100% OCerl; and 3.0 GHz is recommended for being a safe limit). It has a 9x multiplier if you want to overclock. Other than all this, this is manufactured from the older 65nm process, and newer 45nm versions have not yet come out. But ITS STILL WORTH IT. What more could you ask for at Rs. 2,700/- ? This thing owns almost every single AMD Dual Core processor out there when given its share of overclocking, and hell ya its worth doing it.

2. Intel Core2Duo E7200

This little guy really IS little. Made from a 45nm process and belonging to the new Penryn family of Core2Duo CPUs, this processor comes at a default clock speed of 2.53 GHz, a respectable number indeed, and it dozen’t need to be overclocked to achieve great performance. It consumes very little power too. Most of you will be tempted to push it to 3.0 GHz, which is a highly achievable limit with Abit IP35-E, as it already comes at 2.66 GHz. Sure, go ahead, and enjoy yourselves; but be warned that at Rs. 5,700/-, Rs. 3,000/- more than E2160, this thing looses warranty on OCing. So you need to meet the risks of OCing a more expensive Processor like this. But prices are expected to come down, and lets wait and hope for the best. It has 3 mb of L2 cache, just the amount needed by most software, especially games. It has a Front Side Bus Speed of 1066 MHz, and should effortlessly run on Abit IP35-E. It has a 9.5x multiplier for overclocking. And yes, this also lacks Intel Virtualisation technology, but its of little concern to most people here. It needs to be mentioned that this is the cheapest penryn, but as in the case of E2160 appearing after E2140 and excelling its predecessor in every way and still costing only a trifle(Rs.200) more, we need to wait and see how E7300 turns out to be when it comes. But E7300 just has 10x multiplier and 2.66 GHz clockspeed, definitely not an improvement remarkable enough to consider over its predecessor, unlike the case of E2160, where its predecessor had only an 8x multiplier making all the difference in the world.

The Choice:

Personally speaking, I find both equally tempting. Each is the best at its price, so choose wisely. Both are evenly matched in potential, although E2160 is the best bang intel offers for your buck. If you need to perform processor intensive tasks, select the E7200. But if you don’t need too much of processing, E2160 will do. Besides, it can OC, and not many need over 3.0 GHz clock speed. The price difference of Rs. 3,000/- is good enough to offer some serious upgrades, so I recommend with maximum hesitation the E2160. Debatable.

The ram is one of the main thing a PC needs, and too little of this can make your computer dreadfully slow. But at the same time, too much of it is just a waste of money in maximum of the cases. You don’t usually need more than 4GB of it, and just 2 GB of Dual Channel 800 MHz DDR2 memory is the standard for today, and I too recommend it. Never go for 3 GB memory, its something like neither here nor there. Go for either a 1GB + 1GB configuration in Dual Channel, or a 2GB + 2GB configuration in dual channel. With the power needed to power the PC I am currently building for you, 2GB is enough.

1. Transcend Value RAM 2GB

This is a 1GB pair, consisting of two 1GB sticks of 800MHz each.
This is value ram, hence is really basic in functionality.
Latency: 5-5-5-18
Without heat spreader
Cost: Rs. 1,800/-

The ideal ram. This is Transcend’s value RAM, and it offers just that. You get affordable 800MHz DDR2 memory, which can serve you for quite a long time, as DDR3 looks far away as of now.

Hard Disk

The Hard Disc is supposed to contain all your precious data, and should be chosen with care. You must decide how much of data you may be storing, and buy a hard disc accordingly. But 320 GB is the minimum quantity, with 500GB being the mainstream number.

1. Seagate ST3500320AS

This is THE HDD I recommend to all of you.
It costs Rs. 4,150(from theitwares.com)
With 32 mb buffer and 500GB disc space, its a killer.
It gives you excellent value for your money.
And this 7200.11 model is the best in the market.

Optical Drive

An optical drive is quintessential for taking backups, carrying/delivering data to friends, etc. Today, we shall concentrate on only DVD drives, as Blu Ray Drives are quite quite far off. We are looking at DVD Writers which can read/write to DVD+-RW, DVD+-R, DVD-RAM, CD-RW, CD-R, etc. SATA will be the prefered interface, and speed is not a problem. DVDs today come at only 16x, while writers come at atleast 20x.

1. Samsung SH-S203F

This is the chosen DVD-RAM drive. Its the best there is in the overall mainstream category. Its the world’s first 16x Dual Layer DVD Writer. Ordinary DVDs can be written at 24x. It takes all formats effortlessly, and verbatim, sony, moser baer, etc perform excellently in it costs Rs. 1,250/-, and comes bundled with the usual Nero 7 Essentials. Definitely no competition to this drive, as its expected to stay for atleast 4 years, with DVDs comming at only 16x and as I said before, Blu Ray Drives are too expensive now. And this thing has aced over other drives in benchmarks too.

Cabinet

You need a good looking and sturdy cabinet to hold the PC of yours. Go for one with USB, Line in and Line out ports in the front. I recommend two models:

1. Zebronics Gaming Series Bijli cabinet

This one is a serious looker and a real sturdy one. It has a structure looking like a portable CD Player in the front containing a Temperature Monitor, Two USB ports, a speaker jack, a line in jack and the start/restart keys. This is priced around Rs. 1,500, and is definitely worth it.

2. iBall Entry Level Designer Cabinet

This series has good budget cabinets at around Rs. 600-650.

Keyboard and Mouse

These, being the primary input devices, should never be taken lightly. Ideal input devices should be durable, fully functional and most importantly, Ergonomic. Nobody looks at mice which have only two mouse buttons. Ball Mice are history. Scroll is quintessential. And Laser mice are the way to go. So we are looking for a Laser 3 Button Scroll mouse. Keyboard + Mouse combos from some companies are rather good and offer excellent value for your money.

1. I recommend Microsoft or Logitech Multimedia wired keyboard + laser mouse combo.

Both brands are highly ergonomic, and have all the buttons you will possibly need for customisation. The basic recommended sets I am talking about cost Rs. 1,200/- approximately for both brands.

2. Logitech Basic keyboard/mouse combo.

If you want to go more cheap, try this. Its only Rs. 500/- and the keyboard has excellent feedback, the keys being really great to press, being neither too laptopishly soft, nor disgustingly hard to press.

Power Supply Unit

This is the component that’s even more highly placed in computer importance hierarchy than motherboard, because one fault on your PSU, and the entire PC may burn out. Also, getting the correct wattage is important because your computer needs sufficient power to run.

1. Cooler Master eXtreme Power 500W

This is what you should get if you care a lot about your PC. It sets you back by about Rs. 2,500/-, but beware, 500W is not for power draining PCs…. but…. lets leave this PSU for the higher end rigs shall we ? I am trying to stay on budget here…

2. VIP 600W PSU

This is the more down-to-earth “standard” PSU, for around Rs. 1,000/-

3. Zebronics 400W PSU

This baby is bundled with the Zebronics bijli cabinet I suggested you to buy. I suppose it can successfully manage to run the PC, if you are using a low power rig, and is worth a try. Good if you want to save some cash, because an awesome looking cabinet in combination with a decent PSU for a budget PC at a Budget rate is not something that’s too common these days.

Monitor

Now comes the slightly tough part: Your needs may vary all the time, so I can’t go into a great deal of detail. So I shall just suggest a commonly accepted and wanted size: 19″ Wide Screen

1. Dell SE-198WFP

Features:

1000:1 typical contrast ratio
1440:900 ideal resolution
Brightness 300 cd/m2 typical
160° / 160° typical viewing angle
5ms typical response time
DVI-D with High Definition Content Protection (HDCP)
Video Graphics Array (VGA)
AC power cord connector
Kensington® security port (cable lock sold separately)
VESA-compliant mount (100 mm)
cable management
3 years on-site next day replacement warranty
Adjustability: Tilt
Rs. 9,200

This is another of those good looking and highly functional monitors from Dell. Its definitely a great buy, and can handle all games you throw at it effortlessly, unlike some other LCDs.

2. Samsung Flat 798MG

17″ Flat CRT monitor
Rs. 5,700/-

this is a more budget oriented monitor, and performs quite well. I have used it myself, and its not bad.

Graphics Card

Things get interesting here, because the Graphics Card is one of the most talked about things in PCs and is essential for activities like Gaming. As the P35 based motherboards come without an onboard GPU, you need to buy a dedicated card for your video processing needs. This is a Value PC building guide, but I am still going to suggest some higher end cards just to give you an idea of what choice you have, and if you are a gamer, you can still manage to reduce budget allotment for the motherboard by going for the BioStar model, go for the standard keyboard/mouse combo instead of higher end multimedia combos, skip cooling, and then buy a high end GPU and play games like Crysis. It might not be worth it for some, but others might want it. That’s why I have suggested some cost cutting options occasionally.

1. MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 OC Edition

This is (one of) the most VFM GPUs out there. Comming at Rs. 12,000/-, and being able to comfortably handle games like Crysis at high settings, this GPU is a Killer. Though its next generation, the 9xxx series is out, only the 9800GTX, 9800GX2 have been released in the high end segment, which are not at all worth the money you need to spend for them, and the 9600GT, which is only slightly less than the 8800GT OC edition, but not with comparable performance(the next card is only a rebranded 8800GS, so it doesn’t qualify as a proper 9 series card). Its not yet compatible with DirectX 10.1, but more than makes up for this shortage with its amazing performance.

2. Palit Sonic nVidia GeForce 9600GSO 384MB GDDR3

This is currently the king of cards with maximum Value for Money out there. Its actually a rebranded 8800GS, and performs excellently available at just Rs. 6,300/-. I recommend this card to those who seek to build a system that is a power horse but is still cheap. Its performance is similar, though slightly lower, when compared to the Radeon HD3870, meaning its a perfect powerhorse card for the masses. It happily and effortlessly plays all the games released till date at maximum settings, with only a few exceptions like Crysis. There is also a rumour going around that for a particular brand of this card, some modding can be easily done to make this perform at par with the 8800GTS. Great indeed.

3. Mercury nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB GDDR3

This card is now a monster, being available at just Rs. 3,000/-. Perfect mid to low range performance is offered by the 8600GT, and due to its recent cost dip, it has become very attractive indeed. This card can also play crysis at sub medium settings, but anything high and this will start whining and complaining a lot. It has no difficulty with most games. It lacks DirectX 10.1 support, but that really isn’t an issue these days because the propability of exclusive directx 10.1 games hitting the market looks atleast 2 years away. I need to mention though, that this is not the best 8600GT in the world. It might be one in the bottom, but that doesn’t stop it from curshing all other cards at this low a budget.

The Choice:

I recommend the last card, Mercury 8600GT if you want a PC with casual or slightly lighter gaming needs. If you are going for only upto 1024×768 gaming, this is perfect. The middle one is for the happy gamer looking for a card that’s cheap, reliable and usable for playing even games like Crysis at high quality. As I said in its description, the 9600GSO is just too good. 8800GT only if you NEED to game, and by NEED I mean Never Ending Explicit Desire. Since the arival of 9600GSO, 8800GT has now become almost pointless on a VFM system like this. Its definitely not recommended at this budget, but, its all your choice in the end.

ATI cards are actually as cheap as, and often cheaper than similar performing nVidia cards abroad. They support directx 10.1 and are manufactured from a 55nm process as opposed to nVidia’s 65nm. They are also higher on features. But they come at huge prices in India, so with deepest regret, I have revised this article removing them. If you go abroad, then definitely buy HD3870, HD3650 or HD3450. These are dirt cheap abroad and in similar guides written by someone from the US, these cards will be mentioned.

Cooling System

If you are looking to overclock the system a lot to increase performance, you might need a cooling system to ensure that you don’t screw up. Its not needed for non OverClockers. But, if you are the kind of guy who wants to pump up his CPU clockspeed by 100%, and GPU speed by 30%, you need this. Its a good idea to get this and the E2160, because the money saved by skipping the E7200 can be put to making the E2160 much stronger than you can make E7200 without cooling. And this benefits the GPU as well.

What you need is a good budget cooler, as this is a value PC, not one where you can throw money into and get a high end vapour cooler. I am going to suggest two cheap and efficient air coolers. But these are ineffective without ventilation, so please take care of that. Its VERY important when it comes to Air Cooling. The following can manage decent levels of cooling, with milages like 15 Kelvin.

1. Cooler Master Hyper L2

2. Artic Freezer F7

Both these are good budget coolers and retail at around Rs. 1,700/-. This is quite good, because E2160+Cooler is cheaper and more performance when OCed than E7200 when OCed. Ofcource, nothing stops you from going E7200+Cooler, in which case you will end up with possibly 4GHz per core. And that means insanely high performance, especially with many games and applications today optimised for Dual Core and still to be optimised for Quad Core. But the budget may go a bit high with E7200 and Cooling, so take care there.

Speaker System

Next up, you need a good set of speakers, because the motherboard I have suggested has an excellent onboard audio. Good speakers mean that you get to turn your PC to a HiFi music system. From personal experience and that of many others, and taking into consideration budget related factors, here are the speakers I am suggesting:

1. Philips Easy Fit Earphones

This is not really an option for you, its just a pair of earphones I am mentioning not because they sound godly, and they certainly are not meant to replace your speakers. So why am I mentioning them ? I am mentioning them because they offer very clear sound quality, for almost all types of music, fit comfortably in your ears, and can last around 6 months of rough use. But the thing that’s most special about them is their price. Rs. 45/- only. Just Rs. 45/-. Imagine what you can do now. By getting this pair of clear and neat earphones, which are amazingly good and VFM, you get to save up a lot of cash on speakers if you don’t intend to buy a set or if you don’t need to hear sounds from your PC very often. These earphones are much more worth their price than any other noisemaker out there, and weather its Creative EP630 or Apple iPod, no earphone can beat this thing when it comes to overall value for money. Several made in China (apologies to the Chinese readers here) earphones are costlier than this but still sound horrible. The easy fit headphones also exist, but they suck. This one is the best thing ever for the ultimate money saver.

2. Logitech R-10 2.0

This is the standard issue 2.0 speaker system. I have tested both this and the Creative SBS 2.0, and found that both sound about the same but this one packs a deeper bass. Both are priced around Rs. 425/- to Rs. 500/-, but Rs. 450/- is the common bargainable price in most places. So this guy wins thanks to the better bass(although both are bad, as in all 2.0 systems). Don’t buy 2.0 speaker systems if you are into Heavy Metal music like me, or if you listen to lots of deep bassy music. This will spoil such music. 2.0 is more suited towards light Bollywood, Symphony, Classical and Pop music than heavier stuff. This will do if you need a basic clear sounding and working audio system.

3. Logitech R-20 2.1

Back to business now. One more from the Logitech R series. This is the set of speakers you need to be looking at if you are after listening to songs. Two speakers and a Subwoofer, deep sound, even frequencies, crystal clear audio. This set costs Rs. 1,200/- and is worth every rupee. If you want a general perpose speaker system that can do nearly everything effectively, I suggest this, because it has a good output, nice clarity, deep bass, and can be effectively used while gaming too. So if you are not sure which to buy, buy this.

4. Creative Inspire T6060 5.1

If you are a gamer, or if you watch a lot of DVD movies, you might want 5.1 audio. The sound card supports it, so I suggest you this set. A subwoofer and five speakers to deliver you the perfect yet budget surround sound. This set has one of the best quality audio output for 5.1 speakers. Creative Inspire T6060 sets you back by Rs. 4,200/-. It might appear a bit costly at first, but its sound makes it worth it. As not everybody will be interested in buying 5.1 speakers for a value PC, I have set this aside as the last option, but to some it might be the very first option.

The Choice:

Earphones for those who don’t need to hear sounds from their PC often. Speakers in 2.0 for those who don’t listen to much music or those who listen to only light music. Speakers in 2.1 for the masses, these are general purpose usable by everyone kind of speakers, and anyone from a gamer to a music enthusiast can get these. 5.1 for the avid gamer and/or movie buff; surround audio really IS a thing you MUST hear, but its on the expensive side.

Web Cam

Most of you might be interested in video conferencing over the internet or recording video via your computer. For this, you need a web camera. I am going to present some common and efficient web cameras which are available in the market.

1. Logitech QuickCam Cam Family

1.3 megapixels = 800×600 video resolution
a good high quality webcam for home use
Rs. 1,400/-

2. Techcom Ssd-642k

low resolution webcam
built in microphone – a bonus
shaped like a human foot.
Rs. 450/-

The Choice:

The quickcam is a high resolution camera for those who need clear quality videos, and the ssd-642k is a budget webcam which produces low quality videos but is just usable. Take the former if you need high quality videos of a decent resolution, and the later if all you need is a cam to have your face seen by the person you are chatting with. The later has a built in microphone, which can help you knock off the costs from the products below.

Microphone

You can make voice calls to people for free over the internet. This reduces expense on normal phone. For this, you need a microphone. It can serve many purposes, from recording voice/music to chatting to voice commands to any voice recognition software to gaming.

1. Techcom Ssd-642k

already mentioned above…
this is a low end webcam with mic attached

2. Intex Headphone/Mic combo

This could have been in the speakers section, but due to the fact that these headphones don’t sound good enough, I placed this item here. Anyway, this is a basic budget set of headphones with mic attached. Just Rs. 100/-. Average quality, good enough for the casual user.

3. Zebronics ZEB 1000SM

This a mainstream quality microphone, and it has a flexible stand.
Microphone : 6×5/58±2dB
Frequency Response : 30Hz~16,000Hz
Impedance : 2.2kOhms
Sensitivity : 105dB/mW
Plug type : 3.5mm stereo
Cable Length: Approx 1.8m
Rs. 200/-
[specs from zebronics website]

The Choice:

If you are not a serious mic user nor are you a serious webcam user, get the Techcom Ssd-642k. Its perfect for those who want to do nothing but chat. For a standard cheap headset, intex headphone/mic combo is the way to go. But if you are one who needs high quality, buy the Zebronics ZEB 1000SM. Its a minimum if you are looking to do activities like recording your own music, etc.

UPS

An Indian is an Indian only if he experiences lots of power cuts. Lets face it – we experience Way to many power cuts in India and hence a UPS for a computer is quintessential. We are not looking at 1 hour 2 hour backups, because for a home PC all we need is 10 minutes to save all open doccuments, close all applications and shut down the system. So we are going to look at one standard budget UPS.

1. PowerSafe 600VA

Good Quality Home UPS
Provides backup of ~10 minutes.
Rs. 1,950/-

I mentioned just one product here. Why ? Because its the best there is for budget conscious buyers. Its under two thousand rupees and provides enough backup time to turn the system off. Its also a reputed brand and you can rest assured that this thing will last.

CLOSING ADVICE

A computer needs to be only as powerful as the work given to it. So when you buy a computer, don’t just try to go for the most powerful(and consequently most expensive) components. Plan out everything properly. For example, if your main need is multimedia and home theater, don’t buy E7200 or 8800GT. At the same time, don’t be too cheap either. If you plan to play Crysis at high resolutions, the same E7200 and 8800GT become a must, so don’t get stingy.

Always choose components with priorities in mind. Invest more money in areas which are important to you. And in situations where you still have some extra cash, consider upgrades you can never go wrong with. Examples are better motherboard, more hard disc capacity, higher model keyboards, larger displays, etc. If you are short on cash, chip away in areas you won’t regret cutting costs. For example, less ram/hdd, etc.

Do not be stingy when it comes to those components which are very important and whose malfunction can damage the system. This includes Power Supply Unit and the Motherboard, along with the UPS.

Finally, ensure that you buy products WITH warranty. Grey market maybe tempting, but expensive stuff without warranty is a strict NO. If you plan to buy an overclocking E2160, and if you intend to mod/mess with it which may void warranty, there is nothing wrong with grey market.