Buying guide: Building a budget PC under Rs 25,000

Building your PC can be an onerous task, especially considering the variety in terms of components out there. It is no surprise then that most buyers just go to a retailer’s shop with a budget and take whatever is offered to them within their budget. But if you are a Tech2 reader, we have a series of articles lined up to help you narrow down on your rig across budgets.

The first and most important thing while building a rig is of course deciding a budget. But we feel, even more importantly than that, is being absolutely sure of your needs and what you are going to use your rig for. Do you need a budget system or are you looking at a gaming rig or are you looking to set up a professional rig or do you just want a home theatre PC? Do you plan to upgrade components in the near future and will your system allow that? And so on.

So let us first start with a budget rig. Now with a budget rig you are looking at something simple and this is ideal for students or for office use. Your main needs include a system that does regular tasks such as working with Office documents, web surfing, playing back SD videos and audio files without breaking a sweat. System requirements for such a rig will be minimal. But before we start enlisting the components, you need to decide for yourself which Operating System do you want to buy. You can get either opt for Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic (32-bit) for Rs 6,250 or Microsoft Windows 8 SL OEM 64-bit for Rs 8,500. Since this is going to be doing basic tasks, you could even go with free Linux distributions if you don’t want to buy any OS.

Note: Before you go complaining about the prices being wrong, keep in mind that this is an average of street and online prices across Mumbai only. If you’re in any other city then the prices will vary and could be higher or lower respectively.

Processor: Intel Pentium G2020 - Rs 3400

Intel Pentium G2020 is a dual-core processor clocked at 2.9GHz. It comes with Intel HD graphics which is good enough to run multimedia content. The processor is more than capable of everyday tasks such as web surfing, working on office suites, watching movies and so on. It does not support Intel Quick Sync Video, but then again one is not expected to do heavy video transcoding on such a rig.

    Motherboard: ASRock H71M-DGS - Rs 3200

ASRock H71M-DGS is basically based on the Intel H61 chipset, comes with a dual-channel DDR3 ports, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports and six USB 2.0 ports. It has a DVI and a D-Sub port on the back panel.

RAM: GSkill RipjawsX 2GB - Rs 1450

We have been using the Gskill Ripjaws X memory kit in our test rig for quite a while so we can vouch for its performance. In an entry level rig, 2GB of RAM is enough to take care of most of your needs

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB (ST500DM002) - Rs 3250

Seagate Barracuda 500GB drive is fast thanks to the 7200RPM rotational speed. It offers an economical price point as well. The capacity is enough to accomodate an operating system, office suites, and a couple of other software, leaving you with enough space for data.

Graphics card: None

On a budget machine, you will need to skip a graphics card as you are not looking at gaming on this system or watching high bit-rate movie files or doing multimedia work. So skip the graphics card as the Intel HD graphics is enough to take care of the nominal graphical needs.

PSU: Cooler Master Elite 350W - Rs 1850

Do not compromise on the power supply unit when it comes to budget rigs. You will be tempted by big claims by local power supply companies, who offer higher wattage rating at this price, but these may not necessarily be efficient. Cooler Master Elite Power 350W is an affordable PSU offering around 70 per cent efficiency. It comes with a 24-pin ATX power connector, an 8-pin CPU connector, three SATA power connectors and houses a 120mm fan to keep the components cool,

Cabinet: Antec VSK 4000 - Rs 1850

Antec VSK 4000 is a mid-tower cabinet coming in an all-black minimalist design. It has five 3.5-inch internal HDD bays, two USB 2.0 ports, one 120mm fan on the rear side. It can take in the ASRock H71M board.

Monitor: LG 16EN33S - Rs 4750

LG 16EN33S is a 15.6-inch LED backlit LCD monitor having a native resolution of 1366x768, which is good enough considering this is a low end system.  It comes with a 3-year warranty period.

Keyboard / Mouse: Logitech MK100 Keyboard/Mouse combo - Rs 750

Logitech is a renowned brand when it comes to PC peripherals and the MK100 offers a good keyboard/mouse combo.

Samsung SH-224DB DVD Burner - Rs 1050

If you have content on DVDs/CDs which you want to be able to consume, or if you want to install software of CDs the go for this DVD writer.  

Speakers: Creative SBS A35 Desktop speakers - Rs 650

You want something which does not occupy much space and is affordable. The Creative SBS A35 speakers run on USB power and have a maximum RMS of 1W per speaker. They are loud enough to fill a single room with the audio.