Advice On What Desktop Configuration Is Good For 20,000 Bht

[JustAnotherFarang]

Hi guys

I want to replace my old but powerful 5yr old laptop with a desktop unit but the latest intel chips have me completely confused as to what is most suitable for my purposes. I dont need to buy a new monitor, keyboard or mouse etc etc, I just want a base unit which I can connect up to my own accessories. Looking at the machines on Tohome and Thanni .com (HP Pavillions and Acers) leaves me that they are a likely to have a weakness (like in built graphics card) so maybe its best to have a machine configured and sent to me from BKK.

I want a new machine which will be more suitable for video work (my first sorties), graphic design (photoshop, coreldraw etc etc) and of course a little gaming here and there. I consider myself a power/pro user who pushes his machines to their limits with lots of multitasking between programs so with a provisional budget of 20,000 that could grow if deemed necessary..... What unit or components would you guys reckon I should buy ?

Many thanks for your advice

JAF

Edited September 21, 2009 by JustAnotherFarang

[Beggar]

I want a new machine which will be more suitable for video work (my first sorties), graphic design (photoshop, coreldraw etc etc) and of course a little gaming here and there. I consider myself a power/pro user who pushes his machines to their limits with lots of multitasking between programs so with a provisional budget of 20,000 that could grow if deemed necessary..... What unit or components would you guys reckon I should buy ?

Many thanks for your advice

JAF

The 20.000 are for 1 graphic card or for the total system?

[Supernova]

I'd steer clear of brand-name machines, if possible. They're overly expensive and use proprietary parts which could prove to be an obstacle should you decide to upgrade components at some point in the future. Buying the parts and building it on your own is the way to go, IMO. It really isn't that difficult. You are likely to save quite a bit of cash and end up with a more powerful machine.

For starters, take a look at THIS.

[Spoonman]

20,000b is not going to build anything decent, 20k will get a mid spec duo core machine, for what you after i would double the budget (at a minimum), for what its worth ive recently built a new machine for myself, quad core processor @2.66mhz, 8gb of 1066mhz ram, gts250 (1gb) graphics card, 2tb of storage, gigabyte motherboard, Corsair 620w power supply unit, all in a tidy Lancool mid case, i had little change from 35,000B and my machine is by no means top end.

20k will buy a nice graphics card though !!!

Edited September 21, 2009 by Spoonman

[JustAnotherFarang]

I want a new machine which will be more suitable for video work (my first sorties), graphic design (photoshop, coreldraw etc etc) and of course a little gaming here and there. I consider myself a power/pro user who pushes his machines to their limits with lots of multitasking between programs so with a provisional budget of 20,000 that could grow if deemed necessary..... What unit or components would you guys reckon I should buy ?

Many thanks for your advice

JAF

The 20.000 are for 1 graphic card or for the total system?

The 20,000 is for the base unit, I may well consider paying another 3-5000 bht for a card is necessary.

Guess that only makes me an avid home enthusiast

JAF

[JustAnotherFarang]

I'd steer clear of brand-name machines, if possible. They're overly expensive and use proprietary parts which could prove to be an obstacle should you decide to upgrade components at some point in the future. Buying the parts and building it on your own is the way to go, IMO. It really isn't that difficult. You are likely to save quite a bit of cash and end up with a more powerful machine.

For starters, take a look at THIS.

Yes, I agree with you totally, building it myself is the way to go and I am impressed with the chip and the price that you recommended , so it all going to start somewhere around that and I will glean whatever other recommendations that I can from the guys in the know here

Many thanks and keep the suggestions coming, I appreciate all comments and opinions

JAF

[Supernova]

20,000b is not going to build anything decent, 20k will get a mid spec duo core machine, for what you after i would double the budget (at a minimum), for what its worth ive recently built a new machine for myself, quad core processor @2.66mhz, 8gb of 1066mhz ram, gts250 (1gb) graphics card, 2tb of storage, gigabyte motherboard, Corsair 620w power supply unit, all in a tidy Lancool mid case, i had little change from 35,000B and my machine is by no means top end.

20k will buy a nice graphics card though !!!

I disagree.

20K won't get you top of the line, but you can build yourself quite a powerhouse with this kind of cash (monitor not included).

[mattcodes]

I got a desktop HP Quad Core 2.66ghz, 2GB RAM, 320gb disk, dvd writer etc.. machine with 18.5" monitor included for 21,000 baht at tesco. A dual DVI graphics card (I already had a 22" lcd monitor) and another 2gb RAM set me back another 3,000 at Banna IT. 24000 all in. Runs beautifully (win 7 64bit)

Do you really need top of the line? Does your usage demand it? Most people that upgrade from 2gb to 4gb swallow a placebo and never get near that commit level of 4gb to benefit. I cant see why most people would need to go beyond 4gb/4cores

Do you want to bother with the hassle of building it yourself? Making sure it doesnt sound like a 747 taking off (HP, Dell etc.. will run almost silently out the box with no expensive fan)? That it doesnt overheat and reset every X minutes? Running CPU & system burn-in for 24hrs to make sure the blend of components you selected work nicely (the big boys already do this for each config). That it doesnt make you like look a boy racer with the neon strips (sorry it seems like building a pc is like car modding recently) etc.. etc.. I gave up on all that years ago, unless you do hit the big spec >4gb ram, > £100 graphic card its usually a false economy.

Edited September 21, 2009 by mattcodes

[Supernova]

I got a desktop HP Quad Core 2.66ghz, 2GB RAM, 320gb disk, dvd writer etc.. machine with 18.5" monitor included for 21,000 baht at tesco. A dual DVI graphics card (I already had a 22" lcd monitor) and another 2gb RAM set me back another 3,000 at Banna IT. 24000 all in. Runs beautifully (win 7 64bit)

Do you really need top of the line? Does your usage demand it? Most people that upgrade from 2gb to 4gb swallow a placebo and never get near that commit level of 4gb to benefit. I cant see why most people would need to go beyond 4gb/4cores

4GB RAM should be the minimum one should aim for nowadays - especially now that everything is 64-bit.

It would be foolish to buy top of the line components. As general rule, I usually aim to build computers using parts that are two or three notches down from the latest and greatest; with the exception being budget CPUs like the all-new AMD Athlon2 X4-620. At this level, prices are more than reasonable for the performance being offered.

[Spoonman]

I disagree.

20K won't get you top of the line, but you can build yourself quite a powerhouse with this kind of cash (monitor not included).

yeah i spose one could cobble together something semi decent for "around" 20k

here's a quickie pricelist one from Thanni.com that i threw together, would be adequate i guess.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz - 6,140.00

ASUS "P5Q SE PLUS" motherboard - 3,340.00

Western digital 640gb HDD – 2160.00

Corsair DDR2 PC- 6400 3gb ram 1800.00

Asus gts250 graphics card (512mb ddr3) 4740.00

Coolermaster 500w power supply – 1800.00

Coolermaster elite case 1200.00

total = 21180

Ditch the coolermaster case and PSU for a cheap and nasty generic with its own PSU and thats defo under 20k...

Edited September 21, 2009 by Spoonman

[JustAnotherFarang]

I disagree.

20K won't get you top of the line, but you can build yourself quite a powerhouse with this kind of cash (monitor not included).

yeah i spose one could cobble together something semi decent for "around" 20k

here's a quickie pricelist one from Thanni.com that i threw together, would be adequate i guess.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz - 6,140.00

ASUS "P5Q SE PLUS" motherboard - 3,340.00

Western digital 640gb HDD – 2160.00

Corsair DDR2 PC- 6400 3gb ram 1800.00

Asus gts250 graphics card (512mb ddr3) 4740.00

Coolermaster 500w power supply – 1800.00

Coolermaster elite case 1200.00

total = 21180

Thats a pretty good setup although I am interested to hear what the comparisons are between the intel and the amd chip mentioned previously. I am not looking for top of the line as the premium is never really worth it to a home enthusiast but I would also want a far bigger (1 to 1.5 tb) hard disk and a minimum of 4gb ram but its plain sailing really as I can contact Thanni and ask them to put it together for me

Thank you for taking the time to put this together for me

JAF

[spacemunk]

I disagree.

20K won't get you top of the line, but you can build yourself quite a powerhouse with this kind of cash (monitor not included).

yeah i spose one could cobble together something semi decent for "around" 20k

here's a quickie pricelist one from Thanni.com that i threw together, would be adequate i guess.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz - 6,140.00

ASUS "P5Q SE PLUS" motherboard - 3,340.00

Western digital 640gb HDD – 2160.00

Corsair DDR2 PC- 6400 3gb ram - 1800.00

Asus gts250 graphics card (512mb ddr3)- 4740.00

Coolermaster 500w power supply – 1800.00

Coolermaster elite case - 1200.00

total = 21180

Thats a pretty good setup although I am interested to hear what the comparisons are between the intel and the amd chip mentioned previously. I am not looking for top of the line as the premium is never really worth it to a home enthusiast but I would also want a far bigger (1 to 1.5 tb) hard disk and a minimum of 4gb ram but its plain sailing really as I can contact Thanni and ask them to put it together for me

Thank you for taking the time to put this together for me

JAF

AMD and intel chips are basically on par at stock.

Only when overclocked Intel blows AMD away. Im talking about AMD X4 940 and higher vs i7core chips.

CPU - Intel C2Q8200 - 5,740.00 บาท

Mainboard - Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L - 2,180.00 บาท

Rams - kingston valuerams 2gx2 ddr2 800mhz - 2,360 บาท

Graphic - Biostar ATi HD4890 1GB DDR5 - 6,440.00 บาท

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache S-ATA II - 2,940.00 บาท

Casing - Coolermaster Elite series - 1,182 บาท

Power Supply - Scythe GouRiki 500w - 1,920.00 บาท

pretty decent set up for 22,762 บาท for both work and gaming.

pricing taken from Thanni

Edited September 22, 2009 by spacemunk

[JustAnotherFarang]

I disagree.

20K won't get you top of the line, but you can build yourself quite a powerhouse with this kind of cash (monitor not included).

yeah i spose one could cobble together something semi decent for "around" 20k

here's a quickie pricelist one from Thanni.com that i threw together, would be adequate i guess.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz - 6,140.00

ASUS "P5Q SE PLUS" motherboard - 3,340.00

Western digital 640gb HDD – 2160.00

Corsair DDR2 PC- 6400 3gb ram - 1800.00

Asus gts250 graphics card (512mb ddr3)- 4740.00

Coolermaster 500w power supply – 1800.00

Coolermaster elite case - 1200.00

total = 21180

Thats a pretty good setup although I am interested to hear what the comparisons are between the intel and the amd chip mentioned previously. I am not looking for top of the line as the premium is never really worth it to a home enthusiast but I would also want a far bigger (1 to 1.5 tb) hard disk and a minimum of 4gb ram but its plain sailing really as I can contact Thanni and ask them to put it together for me

Thank you for taking the time to put this together for me

JAF

AMD and intel chips are basically on par at stock.

Only when overclocked Intel blows AMD away. Im talking about AMD X4 940 and higher vs i7core chips.

CPU - Intel C2Q8200 - 5,740.00 บาท

Mainboard - Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L - 2,180.00 บาท

Rams - kingston valuerams 2gx2 ddr2 800mhz - 2,360 บาท

Graphic - Biostar ATi HD4890 1GB DDR5 - 6,440.00 บาท

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache S-ATA II - 2,940.00 บาท

Casing - Coolermaster Elite series - 1,182 บาท

Power Supply - Scythe GouRiki 500w - 1,920.00 บาท

pretty decent set up for 22,762 บาท for both work and gaming.

pricing taken from Thanni

Thanks SpaceMunk, this is nearer to the specification that I want, with a dvd player and a sound card that should wrap up the price around 25,000 which seems reasonable indeed.

I was dithering about the AMD vs Intel chip but I shall stick with Intel unless anyone can give me a better reason not too

Thanks for all your advice so far guys

JAF

[Supernova]

Intel vs AMD debate... it all comes down to a matter of personal preference really. Both have plenty to offer in terms of features and performance.

Comparing Intel and AMD chips side by side, you'll see that Intel has the upper edge. Most benchmarks will confirm this, not that benchmarks are the telling the whole story, but it's a good indicator. For me, I prefer AMD -- always have, always will. Not only are they cheaper, but are also very good for overclocking. Personally, I think AMD does a better job of overclocking than Intel. I'm not talking about who can achieve the highest GHz, but taking into consideration value vs performance factor. If you're on a tight budget and are looking to get the best bang for your buck, go with AMD.

Whatever you decide to get, Intel or AMD, will be more than adequate for your computing needs.

[JustAnotherFarang]

Intel vs AMD debate... it all comes down to a matter of personal preference really. Both have plenty to offer in terms of features and performance.

Comparing Intel and AMD chips side by side, you'll see that Intel has the upper edge. Most benchmarks will confirm this, not that benchmarks are the telling the whole story, but it's a good indicator. For me, I prefer AMD -- always have, always will. Not only are they cheaper, but are also very good for overclocking. Personally, I think AMD does a better job of overclocking than Intel. I'm not talking about who can achieve the highest GHz, but taking into consideration value vs performance factor. If you're on a tight budget and are looking to get the best bang for your buck, go with AMD.

Whatever you decide to get, Intel or AMD, will be more than adequate for your computing needs.

Yes, I have seen on Anandtech comparison studies and gleaned quite a bit of information from there so far. I cant find a website which shows direct comparisons between all the chips, so I would be interested to hear what you think would be a contender from the AMD range in price and performance against these :-

CPU - Intel C2Q8200 - 5,740.00 บาท

Mainboard - Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L - 2,180.00 บาท

Many thanks

JAF

[JustAnotherFarang]

Whilst trying to compare the intel and AMD chips, I came across this article from Techspot which talks specifically about the intel chip that Space Munk suggested........

"The cheapest quad-core processor that Intel currently has on offer is the Core 2 Quad Q8200. Priced at $150, it is considerably more expensive than the Athlon II X4 620. Although we did not include it in our benchmarks, the Q8200 can be considered slower than the Q6600 as it is clocked 70MHz lower and features half as much L2 cache. This plays out favorably for AMD's budget quad-core part, as the Athlon II X4 620 had no problem beating the Q6600 in the majority of our tests."

If this is true, then surely I would be paying over the odds for a chip that does not compare so favourably......any opinions please

JAF

[spacemunk]

Whilst trying to compare the intel and AMD chips, I came across this article from Techspot which talks specifically about the intel chip that Space Munk suggested........

"The cheapest quad-core processor that Intel currently has on offer is the Core 2 Quad Q8200. Priced at $150, it is considerably more expensive than the Athlon II X4 620. Although we did not include it in our benchmarks, the Q8200 can be considered slower than the Q6600 as it is clocked 70MHz lower and features half as much L2 cache. This plays out favorably for AMD's budget quad-core part, as the Athlon II X4 620 had no problem beating the Q6600 in the majority of our tests."

If this is true, then surely I would be paying over the odds for a chip that does not compare so favourably......any opinions please

JAF

whats the link to the article? I wanna see how they tested both chips.

Edited September 22, 2009 by spacemunk

[spacemunk]

dbl post =\

Edited September 22, 2009 by spacemunk

[JustAnotherFarang]

Whilst trying to compare the intel and AMD chips, I came across this article from Techspot which talks specifically about the intel chip that Space Munk suggested........

"The cheapest quad-core processor that Intel currently has on offer is the Core 2 Quad Q8200. Priced at $150, it is considerably more expensive than the Athlon II X4 620. Although we did not include it in our benchmarks, the Q8200 can be considered slower than the Q6600 as it is clocked 70MHz lower and features half as much L2 cache. This plays out favorably for AMD's budget quad-core part, as the Athlon II X4 620 had no problem beating the Q6600 in the majority of our tests."

If this is true, then surely I would be paying over the odds for a chip that does not compare so favourably......any opinions please

JAF

whats the link to the article? I wanna see how they tested both chips.

I have sent you the link "mentioning" the comparison as I dont know how to insert the link here. Would be interested in your opinion on the article on the whole

JAF

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

I have built a system with an AMD Quad-Core 6000+, 4 GB of RAM, 1 GB graphics, 500 GB HDD, 2x DVD burner, memory card reader, Enermax PSU and Logitech keyboard+mouse (wired) for 35,000 Baht. Most "expensive" computer i have built to date. Oh, that price included a 26" wide screen Samsung LCD monitor, but no Windows (buyer had Vista Ultimate already).

I don't give a toss for benchmarks as all benchmarks favour certain processors and mostly Intel (Intel pays more and that's why their processors cost more, too). In every-day use it makes no difference if you run Intel or AMD - just that AMD costs WAY less, and so do mainboards for AMD processors vs. mainboards for Intel ones.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[JustAnotherFarang]

Hi.

I have built a system with an AMD Quad-Core 6000+, 4 GB of RAM, 1 GB graphics, 500 GB HDD, 2x DVD burner, memory card reader, Enermax PSU and Logitech keyboard+mouse (wired) for 35,000 Baht. Most "expensive" computer i have built to date. Oh, that price included a 26" wide screen Samsung LCD monitor, but no Windows (buyer had Vista Ultimate already).

I don't give a toss for benchmarks as all benchmarks favour certain processors and mostly Intel (Intel pays more and that's why their processors cost more, too). In every-day use it makes no difference if you run Intel or AMD - just that AMD costs WAY less, and so do mainboards for AMD processors vs. mainboards for Intel ones.

Best regards.....

Thanh

Hi Thanh

I am just looking to glean as much information as I can before I make an informed purchase. Its not so easy get the right blend of components and if I can save some money and not lose much in performance then I will be quite happy to try AMD chips and mainboard. So please do throw your hat in the ring and offer a comparison to the Intel chip and motherboard mentioned previously and I will be quite happy to go off and research and learn more about it

I really do appreciate all the information you and the rest of the guys have offered. It will help me pinpoint my purchase soon I am sure

JAF