Please advise on budget for basic desktop PC

[Shivam]

Please, has anyone had any experience with buying a AMD FX-8350 eight-core Processor @ 4.0 GHz based system? Is this a 2013 component and comparable to i7? Thanks.

I was planning to buy it sometime back but read something about its performance that I changed my mind. I don't exactly remember what it was that made me plan to continue with AMD Phenom. I suggest searching its reviews and comparisons with equivalent Intel processors.

 

[Staxxx]

It appears it's more of a competitor with Intel's core i-5 processor and even that is better in some regards. So back to where I started.

 

[Santy]

There is nothing like i5 except i7.
AMD FX 8350... well, may be little close.
But not there yet. Not at all.

 

[Staxxx]

OK, a new dilemma. I am being advised not to buy a used PC but to go for a new build. The used PCs are obviously much better value. The bills for one of the systems are 5 months old and the other system is 2 months old. The seller of one has just left IIT Kanpur and the seller of the other seems to be a high-level executive in a company here in Bangalore. Has anyone had any experience buying used desktops and can advise?
Now I am not sure what risk I am getting into, particularly if I test the PCs and they work fine initially.

 

[Nishanth]

Avoid used stuff unless the seller is some one you really trust. With used stuff you never know what has happened with it, there might be some internal damage or tampering which would void the warranty.

With whatever budget you have get best possible basic components and then later on add stuff like extra RAM, Graphics card, SSD.

Processor -

AMD FX-8350 beats i5 chips when it comes to Photoshop performance, Photoshop CS6 makes good use of multi core processors and AMD FX-8350's octa core helps it perform better than the i5 chips. Softwares with support for multi coreprocessors for video editing, 3d modeling and video encoding would also be faster on the AMD FX-8350. But for all other applications and gaming the i5 is the clear winner. Choose the one depending on your use.

Motherboard - Get any ASUS or Gigabyte which has your desired features. If on a strict budget then go for the ones in the range of 4K or go for some mid range boards in the 7K range. If the motherboard has built in graphics then you can avoid a graphics card for now and later if you feel the need for it then you can always add one later.

RAM - Go for 4 or 8GB of RAM, if you feel the need for more then add more later.

Hard disk - Go for a 7200rpm Segate or WD.

PSU - A 500W Corsair should be enough if your not going for one of those mid-high end graphics card. You can use a online power consumption calculator to get an idea of how much power your system would need and based on this you can go for a higher rated model if needed - Power Supply Calculator

OS - Go for Windows 8 home edition, it is available for 6K. Why do you need a Windows 7 Ultimate version? Do you need some ultimate version specific feature like BitLocker encryption? or else you can go for Windows 7 home premium which is available for around 7K but retailers hardly get stock of this version, so availability might be a problem.

If your budget is low for the above specs then you can always go for i3 or some Quad or 6 core AMD processor and save around 5K.

Prices of all PC components are set to rise because of the weakening Rupee, so you better decide and buy before prices rise

 

[Staxxx]

Nishanth, a super big thanks for your input.
I think it best I go for a new build. I was thinking of going for the i5-3570k processor precisely because it is one of the few i5 desktop processors with the Intel HD4000 GPU onboard. I do not need to invest in a discreet GPU for still image processing of the level that I plan to do, I am advised from many pros. However, I am happy to look into the AD-8350 chip instead although I am not sure if it has an on-board GPU or whether I may have to buy a discreet one.

In fact they have the following config pre-built for Rs. 36,000:
AMD 8 CORE FX 8350 4GHZ/ 16GB DDR3 1600MHZ /WD 1TB HDD 7200 RPM / ASUS 970 M5A97 R 2.0 CHIPSET MOTHER BOARD/ WIRELESS KEYBOARD + MOUSE / DVD RW /COOLER MASTER ATX CABINET WITH SMPS / 2 GB NVIDIA/ATI GRAPHICS CARD

I think it is Transcend RAM, which I hear has a terrible reputation. Hate the wireless K&M but I think they could switch it for a wired one. No idea of the PSU, but I assume it will be of a basic spec. They (Golchha) have the same build with an Intel 3770 3rd gen chip for 40,000.

 

[Nishanth]

The AMD FX-8350 does not have built in graphics, so if your going the onboard graphics route then the i5 makes sense. I think you will not be using Photoshop for any resource heavy tasks, so the performance difference between the i5 and the AMD FX-8350 will not be usually noticeable while using Photoshop CS6 for basic editing.

The pre-built config looks good but check if there is price difference between this and a custom build with the same config. It makes sense to go for a pre-built config if its cheaper than a custom built config, or else better to go for a custom build with your choice of components.

Transcend is ok for the price, but they are quite slow when it comes to service/replacement and might take a few weeks for a replacement. Corsair is much better when it comes to replacement and service, most of the job gets done within a week. While Corsair might be priced little higher it has better quality and comes with a 10 years warranty, while Transcend offers a 5 year warranty.

If your going for the pre-built config make sure that you get the standard comapany warranty for all the components. Some pre-built config sellers only offer a 1 year dealer warranty for all components, but the company warranty for components are anywhere between 1-10 years.

 

[Santy]

Also there are many experiments showing that photoshop doesn't use more than 4 cores of the processor. Infact it uses only two cores for majority of its functions.

 

[Santy]

These were my choices when I built my PC

MB Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H 32GB DDR3
SMPS Corsair Gaming Series GS600 80 PLUS
Case NZXT Gamma Mid Tower
HDD WD Caviar Black 1 TB
SDD OCZ 60 GB AGILITY 3 SATA III
RAM Corsair Vengeance 4 GB x2
OPT Samsung DVD RW SH224

Cost of the above at that time was around Rs. 24k
You can save more on SMPS and HDD (switch to blue or green)

After that I added Logitech G400 (1.7k), Microsoft wireless keyboard (1k), used Benq monitor (5k), i5-3470 (Rs. 12k), Radeon 7850 (Rs. 15.5k), TPlink wifi+adapter (1.5k), WD Green 2TB (5.7k), Fans (1k) and some more components, I dont remember.

Just for some reference I mentioned these cost details.

 

[anm]

Manav - why do u think mac mini will not be up for the task? The i7 and i7 server edition with dual hdd should be very good - specially with a fusion or SSD drive. Mac mini - Buy Mac mini Computers - Apple Store (U.S.)