New Budget PC $200

[Satish]

Hello all,
I can't make up my mind and need your help. I am planning to upgrade my 8 year-old desktop on a very tight budget ($200). Here are the details:-

1. Processor
AnandTech, in its Fall Budget System Buyer's Guide, recommends Celeron G530 so I am planning to go with that.
₹3000/- (~ $55)

2. Motherboard
Gigabyte's GA-B75M-D3H; there are two versions - rev 1.0 and rev 1.1 - I am keen to take the rev 1.1 one but availability is a little issue. Rev 1.0 is widely available though.
₹4500/- (~ $80)

3. RAM
Gigabyte mentions I need to go with an Ivy-Bridge processor to support DDR3 1660Mhz, so I chose two Transcend JM1333KLN-4G sticks totalling 8GB.
₹2000/- (~ $35)

Some context:-

The primary OS is Ubuntu with Win 8 RC running alongside (until Jan '13). Not sure if I would buy Win 8 later but I could and want to keep that option.
- Browsing, email and chat
- Movies/videos and encoding for my iPod Touch or Android phone (mostly using handbrake)
- Decent performance with virtualization - I try out other linux distros (Mint, Xubuntu, etc) in VirtualBox.
- No gaming whatsoever.
- No support needed for overclocking (I don't have a clue)
- Monitor is 1080p and I would prefer to connect via HDMI (to allow me to connect my work laptop via VGA).
- A new HDD isn't required; I can re-use my current one. In any case most of my data is in my external WD MyBook.

I live in India so although there's no brand preference, availability could be an issue. I plan to set this up by the end of this month but I can wait if there's an expected release soon.

The reason to go with B75 chipset is to spare myself from upgrading the mobo too when I can afford one of the Ivy Bridge processors (i3-3225?).

I would love to have suggestions/recommendations on this configuration and if there are better options available (within the budget, ofcourse).

Thanks
Satish

[TheStu]

If your system is 8 years old... I would be concerned about your power supply. And your hard drive is SATA?

[Satish]

Originally Posted by TheStu

If your system is 8 years old... I would be concerned about your power supply. And your hard drive is SATA?

Yes, I forgot to mention. I replaced my PSU just a month ago (newer is 450W) - the old one went kaput.
And I upgraded my hard drive an year ago to WD Caviar 500GB SATA (3 Gb/s, though)

-
Satish

[TheStu]

Originally Posted by Satish

Yes, I forgot to mention. I replaced my PSU just a month ago (newer is 450W) - the old one went kaput.
And I upgraded my hard drive an year ago to WD Caviar 500GB SATA (3 Gbps, though)

-
Satish

Well, I don't see anything majorly wrong with the parts you picked, though someone else may want to chime in. What's the difference between the rev 1.1 and rev 1.0 of the mobo?

[Satish]

Originally Posted by TheStu

What's the difference between the rev 1.1 and rev 1.0 of the mobo?

Not much - Gigabyte added another 4-pin ATX 12V power connector. The rev 1.1 has 8-pin while the rev 1.0 has 4-pin. There seems to be other utility firmware included - Easy Tune and EZ Setup but I guess I wouldn't be using them anyway.
Good that you asked - I checked my power supply and found that it has only one 4-pin 12V connector. So no use waiting for rev 1.1.

[VirtualLarry]

Just so you know, the 8-pin is for greater CPU current delivery. But you can plug a 4-pin PSU ATX12V cable into half of the 8-pin EPS12V connector. It will work, you don't need a PSU with an 8-pin CPU power connector.

[Insert_Nickname]

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

Just so you know, the 8-pin is for greater CPU current delivery. But you can plug a 4-pin PSU ATX12V cable into half of the 8-pin EPS12V connector. It will work, you don't need a PSU with an 8-pin CPU power connector.

Or if that refuses to work, you could use a 4-pin ATX12V to Molex adaptor. This is also useful if you have a multiple rail PSU.

[Ken g6]

If you're going bargain-basement, and you don't need USB 3.0, then you're probably paying to much for a motherboard. Here's a cheap ASRock H61, for Rs. 2781.

An i3 would be useful for many things, like video encoding. But sadly it doesn't look like you can afford one. Still, a G630 would be a step up from a G530.

Edit: It looks like that H61 board will support Ivy Bridge CPUs with a BIOS update. That requires already an older CPU...which is what you're getting at this point. Edit2: Wrong board.

Can you afford an older i3 in this build? I'm not sure at this point.

[Satish]

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

Originally Posted by Insert_Nickname

Thanks for the info; good to know that.

Originally Posted by Ken g6

If you're going bargain-basement, and you don't need USB 3.0, then you're probably paying to much for a motherboard. Here's a cheap ASRock H61, for Rs. 2781.

A nice alternative but I prefer to have HDMI to connect my monitor. My monitor has VGA that I use to connect my work laptop (sadly my laptop doesn't have HDMI out) and I don't want to fiddle with the wires on the back everytime I want to switch. I looked at KVMs but again too big a hole in my wallet.

Originally Posted by Ken g6

Can you afford an older i3 in this build? I'm not sure at this point.

I noticed that the newer i3-3220 is also available now and costs ₹400 more than the older i3-2120.
Guess I need to re-work my budget; getting an Ivy Bridge i3 for ₹4000 more sure looks tempting.

[kleinkinstein]

A $200 budget is cause for careful consideration. Not quite there, but this is close. Just back out what you'll be porting over from the old rig.

Intel Core i3-2120, $110
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3, $79
RAM1: Samsung Green 8GB (2x4) 1600, $29
RAM2: G.Skill 4GB (2x2) 1333, $18
Radeon HD 7750, $85
Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB, $65
Corsair CX430 V2 430W, $20
Samsung 22x DVD Burner Model SH-222, $14
Fractal Design Core 3000, $39

$441 total for 8GB
$351 total for 8GB and iGPU

$429 total for 4GB
$339 total for 4GB and iGPU

[bononos]

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

Just so you know, the 8-pin is for greater CPU current delivery. But you can plug a 4-pin PSU ATX12V cable into half of the 8-pin EPS12V connector. It will work, you don't need a PSU with an 8-pin CPU power connector.

Is that alright for every config or just the ones with low powered cpus?

[mfenn]

Originally Posted by kleinkinstein

A $200 budget is cause for careful consideration. Not quite there, but this is close. Just back out what you'll be porting over from the old rig.

Intel Core i3-2120, $110
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3, $79
RAM1: Samsung Green 8GB (2x4) 1600, $29
RAM2: G.Skill 4GB (2x2) 1333, $18
Radeon HD 7750, $85
Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB, $65
Corsair CX430 V2 430W, $20
Samsung 22x DVD Burner Model SH-222, $14
Fractal Design Core 3000, $39

$441 total for 8GB
$351 total for 8GB and iGPU

$429 total for 4GB
$339 total for 4GB and iGPU

OP is in India.

[mfenn]

Doing the straight currency conversion, $200 is Rs. 10800.

i3 2120 Rs. 6950
ASRock H61M-HVGS Rs. 2772
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB Rs. 2580
Total: Rs. 12302

If you were to get only 4GB of RAM to start off with, you would be at Rs. 11012. You could then pop in another DIMM whenever you got the rest of the money.