What's your ideal Desktop Rig setup? » YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews

What’s your ideal Desktop Rig setup?

During our recent dinner over at Noem’s new home, she consulted me about getting a new desktop PC for her study/library. She already has a gorgeous white Macbook but she thought it would be better to get a desktop for those long-haul usage in the house. That should help ease the stress on the laptop battery too (since you won’t be using it that much when at home).

I saw her budget worth just over 50k and I thought I’d give her another option to look at. Here’s my recommended set up for the stay-at-home problogger and entrepreneur mom:

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Dual Core (2.0 GHz) – Php4,250USD 72INR 6,140EUR 69CNY 527
MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 – Php 4,110USD 70INR 5,937EUR 67CNY 510
(Socket AM2, 4 SATA slots, 4 DIMMs, 1 PCI-E 16X; 2 PCI-E X1; 3 PCI; 10 USB, Gigabit LAN; RAID (0, 1 & 0+1); SATA2; ATA133, Realtek 7.1 CH HD audio)
2 x 1GB Corsair 667MHz DDR2 RAM – Php 3,840USD 65INR 5,547EUR 62CNY 477
320 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 SATA – Php4,520USD 77INR 6,530EUR 73CNY 561
Lite-On 20x DVDRW w/ Lightscribe – Php 1,920USD 33INR 2,774EUR 31CNY 238
PowerColor X1550 256MB GDDR2 128-bit Dual DVI/TV – Php 3,430USD 58INR 4,955EUR 56CNY 426
2 x 19″ Samsung 940BW (1440 x 900) – Php 19,990USD 341INR 28,878EUR 324CNY 2,481 (Php 9,995USD 170INR 14,439EUR 162CNY 1,240 x 2)
Mars 722 Thermal Advantage 500 watts casing (with A4tech mouse & KB) – Php 1,720USD 29INR 2,485EUR 28CNY 213
Powercom Ace UPS 650 volt-amps – Php 1,770USD 30INR 2,557EUR 29CNY 220

Total — Php 45,550USD 776INR 65,802EUR 739CNY 5,653

The final set up should look like this:

The original quote to her by PCExpress was an Intel Pentium 925 3.0GHz and a 22″ AOC LCD screen. We skipped the Core 2 Duos entirely and I think the AMD Athlon x2 3800 still has the best bang for the buck. The dual monitor set up needed the x1550 for dual DVI support. Prices were taken from several sources including PCX and RSun Computers. I just love the mobo too — 10 USB 2.0 ports, 4 SATA2 slots and 4 DIMM slots of up to 4GB of RAM — lots of room for upgrades and add-ons.

Oops, I forgot the OS. You can get Windows XP Pro Home Edition for Php 4,580USD 78INR 6,616EUR 74CNY 568 or Windows Vista Home Basic at Php 5,250USD 89INR 7,584EUR 85CNY 652. Again, there’s always Ubuntu for free.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

30 Comments

mr nice ash says:

18 years ago

my rig just broke. fans are on but the bios do not start up. no beeps, i hear.

what must i do?
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Edwin says:

18 years ago

Call the technical support?

Reseat every card u have.
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BrianB says:

18 years ago

Aren’t desktops less tolerant than laptops. Use your PC all the time and you’ll be going to the computer shop quite often. Or maybe it’s because I don’t use air-con all the time.

I’m actually planning to buy a second laptop. Mine’s almost two years. Ideal I want one of those Asus eeepc that just came out. It’s an Internet laptop with some 512MB RAM. I don’t know if it can load office, though.
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vance says:

18 years ago

I’ll won’t get an amd setup at 50k!
CPU: Intel C2D 6420 2.13 Ghz 4mb cache 1066 mhz FSB P9600
mobo option 1: DFi infinity 965P-s dark P8k
Team elite ddr2 800 2 GB kit (2 x 1 gb) P7k
Seagate 250 GB Sata 2 with 16 mb cache maybe around 4k
VGA: palit 8600Gt 256 ddr3 P6600
Samsung 940 19″ widescreen P10k
Samsung 18x dvd writer w/light scribe P1800 for temporary use lang if a good Sata dvdwirter comes along aside from liteon’s 20x then i’ll get that.
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vance says:

18 years ago

over 50k just alittle: I’ll add an hec winppower ab 550watts P4k. lalo na sa dual monitor system and high end graphics card this will really help since stable ang flow ng current than the generic PSUS.
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noemi says:

18 years ago

if I add the windows xp pro it costs 7300 pesos. Also my HP printer worth 6900 pesos. still over 50 thousand.

Oy thanks for the advice.
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hoop says:

18 years ago

I’m biased to Intel Processors… chiefly because Intel has a factory here and has been providing jobs to Filipino’s for more than 30 years :D
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Ade says:

18 years ago

That rig is sooo drool worthy.
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BrianB says:

18 years ago

“if I add the windows xp pro it costs 7300 pesos. Also my HP printer worth 6900 pesos. still over 50 thousand.

Oy thanks for the advice.”

I think what Nomei means is that this is too fancy. Something more subdued. It’s for the LIBRARY. Noemi Why not get a secondhand G4. It looks like a lamp and it’s the best designed computer for libraries. You can probably get one for the price of a mid-range cell phone.
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wites says:

18 years ago

Try this one. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1822641,00.asp

It’s a $800 rig which will definitely do more than your library computer. With the current conversion rate it’s probably a little cheaper than 40k. So you can still squeeze in the printer and the monitor you like.

You may also change some of the peripherals if you like, i.e the case. But you really need a higher wattage power supply if you want to add more peripherals later. *smile*
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