khunsanuk Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Hi, My current PC (of 4 years) is beginning to act up. A couple of times now it has just hung completely, and will not restart - beeping to indicate GFX issue. Have taken it to be checked yesterday, and of course no problem running in the shop The guy cleaned it and mentioned the RAM was dirty figuring that that might have been the issue. Guess it wasn't as it died on me again this morning Checked harddisk and RAM (no problems), updated to latest video drivers this morning. Anyway, I think it is time to just get a new one even though I can't really afford it. It is needed for work and I would hate to lose a bunch of work. So, have started to look around on www.busitek.com and kinda thought of this: CPU - i5-760 2.80GHz / LGA1156 / 8MB / 45nm Motherboard - P7H55-M/USB3 GFX - GT430 Memory - KHX1600C8D3T1K2/4GX Harddisk - WD Caviar Black WD6402AAEX (640Gb SATA-III) Case - Cooler Master Elite 310 PSU - Hybrid 2 RX-530SS 530W Total price for that is 20,280 Baht. Now as I don't really know much about hardware a couple of questions: - Is that an okay machine? - Is there a big performance diff between SATA-II 32MB and SATA-III 64MB? (Don't really need 640Gb as I already have a 1Tb external drive; price diff is only 200 Baht though, so guess not a big issue) - I can get an i3 as well for about 2800 Baht less? Would that be okay as well, or better to get the i5? - Is that motherboard okay, or would you suggest a different one? I really have no clue about motherboards. What will I use it for? Mostly work, i.e. web development, bit of gfx work (Photoshop), general PC stuff, maybe a little bit of gaming but not much. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizardKing Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Can't go wrong with an Asus MoBo, and that board gets good reviews. It seems that it has built-in GFX with the right processor - http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/H55_H57_CPU_Support/ - so if not serious gaming, why spend money on the extra card? I'd certainly go i5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 If you want some good advice and you have a bit of time to do research, join hardforum.com and ask them to help you do a build, being sure to let them know you're buying in Thailand--giving the busitek url to show what's available here. There's a specific way to post questions about a build in this thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1349433 Post the request for help in the General Hardware section: http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=824306febf381897beeef126935ef21b&f=40 Alternatively, you can just browse the advice already given to others on their builds to get an idea of what is the current 'sweet spot' for the various components. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Hi, Not really a fan of a build-in gfx cards to be honest. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Hi, Thanks for the link, have registered and am awaiting approval. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 - I can get an i3 as well for about 2800 Baht less? Would that be okay as well, or better to get the i5? You'd be better off using that 2800 Baht toward an SSD. You can get a 64 GB SSD for about that -- at least here in the USA. From the Windows Experience Index perspective, the HD is likely the slowest component in your system. Moving to an SSD and i3 will probably increase your WEI above 7. I use a 64 GB SSD on which core programs are installed. Secondary programs and data are stored on a HD. There is a significant difference in speed and WEI score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Hi, Prices are higher here, Busitek has a 40Gb for 3,990 Baht; 60Gb for 5,900 Baht. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Hi, BTW, what version of Windows 7 should I get? Basic 32-Bit enough, or am I better of getting the Premium 32-Bit? Couldn't care less about the Aero crap or Windows Media Center, nor do I have a network here (router supplies more than 1 computer, but that's not a network, right? (as I said, no clue about hardware ) Price diff is 890 Baht, so substantial. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton68 Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Hi, i'll give it a go. LizardKing already mentioned it, with the right CPU and this mainboard you may use onboard video. However the CPUs with this feature are all i3 or i5 dual core versus the i5 quad core without video. As you want to do some gaming you won't be too happy with onboard video, whether you go for Intel or AMD processors. With the choosen case you may look for another mainboard as the case is ATX format and an ATX mainboard would give more options for add-on cards. The chosen µATX board will fit but after plugging an video card you just have one PCI slot and one PCIe x1 slot left (the second PCIe x1 slot most likely covered by the video card cooler). There is also the option to have a nice small computer using an µATX mainboard and µATX case like the Cooler Master Elite 370 for the same price (plus front USB and front audio at the top of the cae instead of the bottom). The mainboard itself is quite nice and already has USB 3.0. Sata III doesn't make a difference with usual HDD, whether they have a Sata II or Sata III interface. Unless you have two Sata III drives connected to a Sata III controller and join them into Raid0. However there are SSD (Solid State Drives) that already make good use of Sata III like the Crucial RealSSD C300 drives. A bit expensive for my taste. Plus only usable as system disk so you'll need an HDD anyway. However, SSD speed up the system quite a lot. With Win7 I don't recommend using an SSD smaller than 60GB. You didn't mention the CPU cooler but you better not think of using the one boxed with the CPU. These will do the job but not unnoticed. Better go for the likes of an Scythe Samurai ZZ or the Scythe Mugen 2. Video card: the GT430 isn't for gamers. It's designed for office and video. If it should be for some gaming you'd be better off with a GTS450. With AMD cards it would be the HD 5750 or HD 5770. Power supply. When you have a close look at the mainboard you'll see it does have an 8-pin (or 4+4pin) ATX 12V power socket next to the CPU. The power supply only has a 4-pin plug for that. This will work, but it's far from perfect. This detail is easy to miss. Better look for a power supply that does have all the right plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 What you may want to do is just upgrade your Power Supply, Processor, Video Card, Mother Board, and Memory. (Keep your HDD, Case, DVD r/w, and Operating System) You'd have enough Baht saved for a decent SSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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